New Order & Kraftwerk: The secret of THAT Blue Monday choir sound | In the Box
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- Опубликовано: 2 авг 2024
- In which Mylar Melodies explores the #sampling rabbit hole behind one most evocative choir sounds in music, casually recreates Blue Monday, and discovers the untold secret behind THAT sound! Check out M-Tron Pro Complete here: bit.ly/3qA8lOA
Plugins & Gear Featured
⚙ GForce M-Tron Pro Complete: bit.ly/3qA8lOA (This 'Complete' version is the one that include the Optigan soundbanks and all others)
⚙ u-He Repro: bit.ly/3IfyPur
⚙ u-He Diva: bit.ly/3I9BrKz
⚙ Arturia Solina V & Emulator II are part of V-Collection 8: bit.ly/34XXxRX
⚙ Ableton Live: bit.ly/3Khi7gc
⚙ Arturia KeyStep 37: bit.ly/33Ke4rO
Thanks so much to Dave Spiers & Pea Hicks, and endless endless respect to #Kraftwerk and #NewOrder!
Further Watching/Credit to:
💡 Pea Hicks Tape Vault Video: • Optigan / Orchestron M...
💡 Pea Hicks Demos the Orchestron Vocal Choir: • Vako Orchestron Optica...
💡 Check out Pea's wonderful site for all things Optigan: optigan.com/
💡 Obituary for T.G.Wright Jr: www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/...
Chapters
00:00 Now, How do you Feel?
01:08 THAT Choir Sound: Sampling Kraftwerk
03:46 Meet The Mellotron
05:00 Meet The Vako Orchestron
06:00 Meet the Optigan
07:37 Another Legendary Kraftwerk Sound
08:40 Recreating Blue Monday!
13:08 The Pea Hicks Tape Story
17:11 Discovering the Secret
19:18 A Contextual Story from Dave
20:23 Mapping the Rabbit's Journey 
Видеоклипы
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Have you sent your amazing analysis to the members of New Order? I assume they will be interested in.
Small correction... Kraftwerk's Radio-Activity was released in 1975. Trans-Europe Express is the album from 1977.
Giorgio Moroder Einzelganger 1975 meses antes que Radio Activity, Trans Europe Express VS I Feel Love, Working To The Midnight Shif, Queen For A Day, I Need You y el Álbum From To The Eternity todo ello en 1977 😎
Kraftwerk en la escena Electrónica Alemana:
• Kraftwerk 1969 "Organisation" Electro Concreta, Ruido & Krautrock.
• Kraftwerk 1970-1972 Electro Concreta, Dusseldorft & Krautrock.
• Kraftwerk 1973-1974 influenciado por la electro concreta moderna, tape músic y trabajos de muchos productores y desarrolladores de Europa y EEUU pilares y padres de la Electrónica Concreta y Moderna : Jarre, Kingsley, Cecil, P. Prilly (J.J. Perrey), Raymond Scott, T. Blake, Claude D. Jean, Derbyshire, Dissevelt, T. Lasry etc.
• Kraftwerk 1975-1977 y a través de toda su carrera influenciado en mas modelos electrónicos fluidos: Moroder (Einzelganger 75/Electro Munich), Moroder (EDM Synthpop & NRG 77), Peter Bauman & Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dreams/Electro Berlin), Jean M Jarre (Electro Francesa), Schulze, Vangelis, Dan Lacskman (Telex), Ryuichi Sakamoto (YMO) entre otros grandes productores y genios de la época...estas son las bases más fundamentales para el desarrollo de la segunda generación del EDM de los 80s y sus nuevas ramas: House, Techno, Synthpop, NRG, Freestyle, Italo, New Beat, Trance, Ácid House, Eurobeat etc...
Kraftwerk 👎 50 años de su Electro Experimental, Dusseldorf & Krautrock.
• The NRG & Synthpop Sound of Giorgio⚡Moroder, father of EDM since 1977 👍
Blue Monday, Our Love de Moroder 1979, base Synthpop & NRG de la EDM...
That choir sound. My favourite thing from my favourite New Order tune.
I never knew most of this, thank you! Always great to learn more music history. Blue Monday is very special for me, because it was the song that was blasting out of a big Bose PA when I entered the concourse of the students' union on my first day at university in 1983. That feeling of being no longer a child, living away from home, and beginning my life for real... it's kind of attached to this song, and always will be.
That was epic! What a journey.
This is why I love youtube. A single sound that is taken for granted has such a long and rich history. It puts a smile on my face to see when he finally traces through the 13 + generations that lead to Blue Monday. I could watch content like this all day. Makes me appriciate both music and our interconnected world more.
This was an absolute joy! I’ve loved electronic music for about 45 years and hearing you speak so richly and respectfully about the provenance of some of the sounds which have tracked my life was actually quite moving. Thank you for making this.
Wow, thank you!
Love this - I always enjoy a bit of Sound Diving and research sleuthing to find the sources of classic sounds! Thanks!
Wow. What a great video. You've outdone yourself again. I still get goosebumps every time when I hear the choir sample kick in and the string melody (and the occasional tear). That didn't change with your excellent reproduction. Shows that Blue Monday truly is one of those all time classics pop songs.
Thanks so much for the kind words - it really deepened our appreciation for the track as well, simple music is often very hard to make!
This is so bonkers. I can't believe how much depth you have gone into here, but I love it! Such vital electronic music history.
man, after watching this video I feel great as well! thank you for this nice analysis, not a lot of people do these awesome insightful videos about the technicals of a classic song.
awesome job. 😊
That exact choir sound is actually heard at the beginning of the song titled "TV" by Karl Bartos' band Elektric Music. That song is a must hear.
Ooo, great topic, getting real nerdy about a specific sound.
Love it, cheers.
that is one of deepest rabbit hole of sound I've seen - amazing !!! really
Best watch in ages, great vid. Would love to see some deep dives into the famous M1 sounds or even some emulator sounds.
Nice one, glad to see people nerd-out over so many topics on RUclips.
Wow! I was just trying to find out the other day about the radioactivity -choir sound, as I haven't been able to reproduce it in reason and have found it really intriguing, like the best electronic choir sound I have heard. And now after not finding much info about orchestron, this very video appears in my feed, cheers!
We read your mind and are here to help! 😂
Me, watching at the start: "23 minutes? Waaay too long!"
Me at the end: "is it over yet?"
Every year I play Blue Monday on... blue monday - that's why this was recommended to me :). I liked every second of your explanation! Love Kraftwerk and New Order also. I still have several original recordings on vinyl - of which 2 of them are Radio Activity and Blue Monday.
Thanks for this interesting journey!
Fascinating stuff and some great story telling. Nice one!
Fantastic deep dive! Thanks for sharing your journey!
Fascinating video, Alex! Wonderful and informative stuff!
Quality content here. Love it. That M Tron Pro is so good. I think this is a superb cover . It’s very close to what they did
Great vid mate!
I knew exactly what you were talking about from the title and greatly enjoyed your acoustic archeology. Nice one
TIL about film / optical sound recording. Wow. Thanks so much. Every day is a school day with Mylar Melodies.
Amazing Story. Was fun to watch. Thanxxx 🙂
The string synth sound was probably from an ARP Quadra. Joy Division used a Solina for Atmosphere, but that was not theirs - it was a hired machine at the studio which was there from a recording session by another band. When Joy Division bought their own string synth it was the ARP Omni II that is all over the Closer album and can be seen in the Love Will Tear Us Apart video. That machine was stolen in New York the first time New Order toured the US, and was then replaced by the ARP Quadra that was used extensively on the first album.
I think this sound was also used for "dark and long (dark train)" by underworld
I was about to comment that exact thing, glad someone did.
It's funny that I learnt about the existence of the Orchestron and its use in Radioactivity yesterday in a RUclips documentary about Kraftwerk .. excellent video, thanks!
This was lovely. Thank you.
top notch. subscribed x
Absolutely brilliant. I was completely absorbed in that.
Great info, thank you!
If you dont get the sounds exactly right, you get the Top Of The Pops version of Blue Monday :)
This is the first Gear4music video I've watched. What an amazing history lesson. No pressure, but I hope the rest of your content is this interesting 👍 Subbed...
Fantastic video thank you so much for taking the time to undertake all this research and present it in such an accessible way. If you are a fan of New Order I recommend reading Bernard Sumner's autobiography which explains some of the technical challenges they had creating music on the stuff available in the early 80s.
Excellent story - thanks!
lovely journey, thx!
wow!! Very interesting and impressive "detective work" Bravo! Thanks!
WOW! Such an amazing story. Great insight, thanks.
Thank you Mylar!❤️
Underworld's Dark Train springs to mind when I hear that chord.
Great video! I absolutely love how Kraftwerk used the Orchestron, it really has a special quality to it.
Totally agreed. That infinite sustain just invites drone music, combined with the crackly texture, it's one you can really lose yourself in.
Excellent job! Bravo! "Sample of sample..." I wonder if the guys in Kraftwerk while listening to Blue Monday said "Hey that choir sounds like ours in Uranium!"
Amazing!
Thank you so much for that little piece of music history! I’m not a musician, but it was very fascinating to learn. I’m fans of K and NO.
what a story! thx for sharing it
MANNNN i have been looking for that sample from source all my life.😇🤗
Love this breakdown as much as I love Blue Monday. Thank you for tracking down the details, it makes be feel great to know the history.
Awesome 👍
That was a lovely story, thank you. :)
Wow, that was the most convoluted story I have ever heard, and I loved it.
Epic story on an epic record and that sound!
Absolutely, a wonderful historical "obituary". Thank you for making my day :)
Amazing.
Great video.
I just had a conversation about Kraftwerk's Electric Cafe, where my complaint was their choice of preset samples. The author responded that was not necessarily unique to that album - and here you have demonstrated exactly that very thing. It's always a good thing when being partially wrong leads to new insights... and in this case, some awesome info.
Very informative. Thanks!
What sampler was used on that album? Emulator?
@@zachhaywood1564 Dunno. Google results suggested Emulator I (or II) and Synclavier for resynthesized voices. A thread hypothesized something like an SP-12 or maybe custom ROMs for their Drumtraks or Linn drum model. I'd love to know for sure.
fantastic
In the great lockdown of 2073 people will rediscover the informative bonhomie of this video and be soothed in there lonesome ordeal.
Oh I love the Orchestron, it has such a lovely lo-fi sound to it.
Kraftwerk bought one shortly before they left for America for their Autobahn concert tour in 1975 and they've used it extensively in concerts between '75 and '81.
Radioactivity with the choir sounds and Trans-Europe Express with the violin strings are probably the best examples of it.
Lovey stuff. In an amusing inversion Kraftwerk phoned New Order to ask how they got the exact kick drum sound on Blue Monday. (See Fast Forward by Stephen Morris).
Also the trick to the sequenced line was that it was just slightly off the beat because of a step entry mistake in the SCI Poly Sequencer, rather than being played live it just sounded natural and funky due to that error. There’s a doco where they go into this in great detail.
That's amazing thanks, we need to check that out! It's an interesting one the kick drum, someone else pointed out that there's a sub underneath it, which definitely seems right as it's hard to get quite the same punchiness from just dry samples of the DMX...
@@Gear4musicSynthsTech I used to think that too and have always layered my DMX kick with a sub ... but if you listen closely, the subby punch only sets in when the bassline starts, so my bet would be on the Moog! Great video, I'm a sucker for those rabbit hole / deep dives!
@@Gear4musicSynthsTech
Sorry this two years late.
The kick drum sound was a mixture of the dry sound from the DMX and a PA rig mic’d up in another room at Britannia row studios where it was recorded.
Great video.
Amazing 'searches' !!!
Nice!
God damn supposed to be sampling and you sucked me in with this shit! Great video well done.
This video, and some I've watched about the 'Amen' break, are some of the most fascinating things I've seen regarding electronic timbres. Also, regarding generations, as a though experiment, count how many doors you have to open and close in a typical day to get to and from a specific place. Then add in all of the other odds and ins of travel. Many generations of doors opening and closing.
Superb commentary, right on the money.
What a fascinating story. Thanks
Wow.... what a great knowledge
Dude, this goes deep!!
Very interesting. Thanks
Thank you!
Learnt a lot about the early days of sampling.
So funny you made that mention about Ferris Bueller owning an Emulator, but not a car...I love that movie, but that has always bugged the hell out of me 😂😂
I use to sample that part on my Casio SK 1 which i still have today. And i still have Krafwerk's Radio Activity album on tape. Glad i didn't threw it out. It's very easy to sample., and make it into a loop.
Wow thank you
Brilliant video!
But that chord keeps making me think of the start of I'm Not In Love.😂
Very nerdy but also very interesting.
Ooh my gosh I loved this video. Blue Monday is my no1 fav song (and also Planet Rock, how strange they both use the same origin sample(mind blown)) and I understood every little detail you said about the song. Now my next task is to sample the Kraftwerk sample into my S2400. I looove (yes 3 o's) to recreate songs that make my neck tingle. (Sadly dont own a DMX(yet)).
My question to you is how was the bass sound made?
Awesome
Thanks Ian!
Now I also feel great !
I agree, copy a tune you like with the gear u have. Back around the time Blue Monday came out I did this song. I had a Yamaha DX9 and a Pro-one, home made drum sounds, a Powertran DDL. I researched how to get human voice sounds from a library book. I recorded it on a Tascam 244 and I did the vocal. It taught me so much. I know this song note for note and all the tiny changes, so I know what you mean about the 3% !
Great story, thanks.
Awesome story!
Amazing piece of work...I have always loved the Mellotron since I first heard one in 1972 on 'Queen of Dreams' by The Strawbs (on the John Peel Show). For me, it's the sound of Gormenghast. But I have always imagined too those far-off sessions where an actual choir, real people, went 'aahhh' or string players played a D...is there any material out there concerning the musicians involved? Are any still alive or their relatives? To think that they live on in the thousands of recordings using their unknown samples...
right on man...
Correction. Uranium and the album it’s from (radioactivity) came out in 1975 not 1977
Is this also on Dark Train and/or the Pet Shop Boys cover of "where the streets have no name"
I agree with you on that
I've always wondered how bands like REAKTON, for example, manage to simulate that old Kraftwerk sound so well. But this might be the solution. Thanks for this great video. Music Non Stop
And now I can't get 10CC's "I'm not in love" out of my head!
that's a whole other can of worms, the way they recorded the "choir" was by singing the actual notes themselves, they just did the notes they needed for the song, put a looped cut of them in reels and used the mixing console in the studio as a mellotron of sorts.
it's such an insane thing they did for such a beautiful song.
@@luancervantes6124 "beautiful" yes, a superb track from a very creative duo.
@@hundovir There were four of them.
@@jeffblack5024 Nope, definitely 10.
Yeah, i know it was four - I was misremembering and thinking that Godley & Creme were solely responsible.
My grandparents had an Optigan when I was a kid, I played it a lot (well, pressed keys down anyway)...wish to heck I had it still, wish to heck I had an Orchestron!!! :-D Uranium creates the radioactive ray! [also would love to hear Rick Wakeman's fabled & tragic Birotron!]
Fantastic. I think some of the choir sounds from the Fairlight or Emulator II (can't remember which) came from the Mellotron. And a number of the Mellotron sounds came from the Chamberlin - that was probably actually legal as the bradley's did a deal with Chamberlin after it turned out they had unknowingly infringed Harry's patents. re the Orchestron sound it would be interesting to hear the original tapes - I sort of thought that it sounds different simply because of the Orchestron playback which seemed to be even more lofi than the Mellotron.
Only 1 mellotron sound came from the Chamberlin; 3 violins.
I'm thinking about the BBC program Dr. Who and its original theme song, I have often wondered if Ralf would have heard it as a teenager and been influenced in some way by it. I also wonder what were his early inspirations for deconstructing and reconstructing sounds? The Dr. Who theme music was so primitively made yet sounds so intentionally lush and lavish. It and every Kraftwerk are true journeys into sound.
I still want to know about the original recording! It feels like it is so close now!
What make Blue Monday Drums, is the sub pulse root note under the kick that works in tandem with the Moog Source.
Great tip that I totally missed when making this! In a weird way it almost sounds more like the record when the DMX kick drum is pitched UP a little, but then adding a sub underneath would bring that fullness back. - Mylar
@@Gear4musicSynthsTech It's very audible on The Beach (Blue Monday B-Side) when it comes in and out.
@@Gear4musicSynthsTech I should add, it's at 1:13 on The Beach. ruclips.net/video/Bn66szsjUGw/видео.html
Interesting. I thought that they used the Roland VP330 voice choir. But what was the voice chorus used by Jon Foxx on The Garden? It seems to have been a bespoke device of some sort, but created a similar sound to the vp330.
Yes definitely not VP-330 on Radioactivity, but good question regarding John Foxx! In certain registers it definitely sounds like the 'Human Voice' from the VP-330 on The Garden, and seems to have a softer release which you would expect from a string synth (or versions of).
Wow great great 💓💓💓💓💓
Stock Aitken Waterman used it a lot in their early music with Divine.
Blue Monday is one of my all time favourites. This has been a fascinating journey of where that choir came from. I knew it was from an emulator II but just assumed it was a sample from its own sample bank. I wonder if the choir are still around and tried to claim royalties?
One has to assume the original (truly original!) choir were likely brought in for a one-off session fee, so potentially would have not seen royalties? Sadly this is likely lost in the mists of time now.
A bit of trivia or coincidence, Martin Rushent offered Joy Division £70,000 in 1979 to sign to the Genetic label after recording a few demos with them. They went with Hammett and the demos were never issued. Later released on the Heart and Soul box set 1997.
There was a Swedish singer by the name Gaby Stenberg that had a Mellotron and she made recordings of different insects. She sought out insects with the right pitch so there were no pitch shift involved. I heard a recording once at a live performance when I was around 7 or 8 years old and have never heard it again. I would live to hear it again.
That's incredible! Love the idea of tuned insect noise being turned into a full Mellotron tape bank. One for Dave Spiers of GForce to unearth...!
Fascinating. Thanks for that.
Thanks Robin! 🙌