This clip was done for a series of videos produced by the BBC, called "Rockschool", which had many different guests, like John Taylor, Omar Hakim, and many others. It was basically all about how MIDI, and other types of instruments, like the guitar, bass, and drums, are used to write songs, and some techniques used by these great musicians. I used this series for a school project back in high school. It's worth a look.
Since there are a few comments about the type of computer Vince is using it is a 6502 based Acorn BBC Microcomputer and almost certainly the UMI MIDI interface and software that was available for it. He was still using the same setup when I saw Erasure in 1997. By 1985, due to Government subsidies almost every school in the U.K. had one or more of the BBC computers, although I doubt if many had the MIDI interface as I have read it cost more than the computer. What happened to Acorn? For their next range of computers they came up with a processor architecture which they called the Acorn / Advanced Risk Machine. The processor design was more of a success than the computers and with incremental improvements has been used in a few other companies products, like the Apple Newton, Gameboy Advance, Samsung Galaxy phones, and just about every product made by Apple today.
Wow this is classic! I love all the classic, exotic hardware!!! I just realized how much effort it took just to make a pattern back then...just the amount of hardware, and the effort to overdub and switch back and forth between keyboards and modules!!! Amazing!!!
+nemisysone MUCH EASIER THEN! Modern day sequencing, requires booting a computer, launching software to sequence, loading a template, configuring tracks, configuring routing, turning on your midi interface, launching a VST, setting up your tempo , bars and arrangement and then maybe your off and running. I have a LINN 9000 to sequence, all I have to do is: turn it on, set my tempo, bars, turn on my synths, and Im off and going. Cheers!
Casio CZ1000 ..used one of those circa 1985 ,along with a Casio SZ1 4 track real time(minus quantize ) step time sequencer and Yamaha Rx Drum machine.Painstaking but rewarding at the time lol..
He would have loved the MPC stand alone units if they were made yet LOL! I think he did eventually use one in the 90's as part of his stage tank during the tour of the Chorus album. He was ahead of his time!
Way ahead of his time, a brilliantly gifted electronic music composer, and I'm 61 years young, and have an extreme respect of people who are just naturally good at what they do, regardless of their sex or sexuality.
Muito gratificante, conhecer a história de profissionais que contribuem para o cenário musical e que eternamente serão lembrados, artistas de sucesso parabéns, ele que inventou esse equipamento ?
The mystery we will never know - If a 1985 Vince Clarke could compose music with primitive computer systems then, what could he have done with music software of today that is limited to the talent an imagination
I remember hearing in a different interview that a lot of the songwriting is worked out on more “traditional” instruments like guitar and piano, before he gets to the electronic bits. Too distracting otherwise. Makes sense to me.
@VacTrooper The Yamaha RX5 was released in 1987, as was the RX7. The drums in this video - from 1985 - are being generated by a RX11 and the percussion sound are coming from a TR-727 :) There was once a free magazine given away at music stores in the UK called "Making Music" - issue 2 had Erasure on the front page and a 2or3 page feature inside detailing the production of Wonderland and the Circus. Vince explicitly states that he used the RX11 and TR-727 - same as in this video.
thedivinechemical - yeah i absolutely agree with what dimebag said. I made the change a few years ago and it changed the way i make music for the better no question.
The hours that must have been eaten-up using the limited technology to achieve sounds in your head. Luckily this was his home studio or the record company would be bankrupt. The enforced snail-like pace had it's benefits; there was more attention to detail - no dissimilar to travelling the same stretch of road by car then by foot. The latter takes longer but infinitely more rewarding - unless its a motorway....
This is the most insane comment in years. He is laying down a beat right there. Super fast. Besides the weird computer everything is the same for me, CV gate, CV sequencers, he can tape that beat down to his recorder, mix it in. Most of his rigs used CV gate to sync up, Juno/TR-909/ and this is exactly how I do it still today., This is how my Mini moog communicates with my stuff.
The big advantage he had was that only a few bands like Kraftwerk had done stuff like this before. He actually made a very similar comment himself in an interview a couple of years ago. I doubt if anyone ever listened to a Depeche Mode back when he was with them and said "This sounds like ....insert earlier band name here"
Wowzerama! This clip is the biggest inspiration as to why Aphex Twin got into making music, according to this very insightful and human interview: pastebin.com/raw.php?i=w9jyrnMb
LOL im sure ive commented on this before, but apart from the UMI sequencer on his BBC micro ( which he carried on using up until the last two erasure albums cause of all the analog gear), the 707, 727 and the casio cz1000 SUCK EGGS. Thank god he always used an oberheim xpander and the system 100m, althouhg having owned both myself, the system 100m is a real bastard to use musically.
I wonder if Alan Wilder was using the BBC sequencer or did he jump on the Atari at some point..I know he used cubase for a while then jumped over to logic
Depeche Mode were also using a BBC Model B around the same time in this clip in Paris: ruclips.net/video/g9bXkRnBeE0/видео.html but the sequencing software looks different to Vince's. WTF software were they both using?
wow, programming drums without even being able to hear them, we really are spoilt rotten nowadays!! and still i cant make a bloody track-we moan that we want more and more and more, and now i have choice paralysis because there's is way too much to choose from?!
@paulmarland It really is not. Look up RX5 samples online, those aren't Roland sounds at all. I have an RX5 and it sounds EXACTLY like that in everyway
It's called a "sampling" were you put together a buch of music in a mixer. OMD used this technic and most of the "New Wave" band in the 80's. A "sample" is were RAPpers get a piece of a HIT SONG and rip other musician off!!!
Видеоклипы
This clip was done for a series of videos produced by the BBC, called "Rockschool", which had many different guests, like John Taylor, Omar Hakim, and many others. It was basically all about how MIDI, and other types of instruments, like the guitar, bass, and drums, are used to write songs, and some techniques used by these great musicians. I used this series for a school project back in high school. It's worth a look.
Mr. Vincent Clarke - Synthpop Genius ! Greets From Poland ;-)
Back from Wimbledon,Vince Clarke shows a short demo on programming
russell perez Hahaha... he’s a genius!
@@PabloDeModeOfficial That's exactly how I describe him to everyone.
A lot of good music came out in the 80´s i still love it :)
Since there are a few comments about the type of computer Vince is using it is a 6502 based Acorn BBC Microcomputer and almost certainly the UMI MIDI interface and software that was available for it. He was still using the same setup when I saw Erasure in 1997.
By 1985, due to Government subsidies almost every school in the U.K. had one or more of the BBC computers, although I doubt if many had the MIDI interface as I have
read it cost more than the computer.
What happened to Acorn? For their next range of computers they came up with a processor architecture which they called the Acorn / Advanced Risk Machine.
The processor design was more of a success than the computers and with incremental improvements has been used in a few other companies products, like the Apple Newton, Gameboy Advance, Samsung Galaxy phones, and just about every product made by Apple today.
Wow this is classic! I love all the classic, exotic hardware!!! I just realized how much effort it took just to make a pattern back then...just the amount of hardware, and the effort to overdub and switch back and forth between keyboards and modules!!! Amazing!!!
+nemisysone MUCH EASIER THEN! Modern day sequencing, requires booting a computer, launching software to sequence, loading a template, configuring tracks, configuring routing, turning on your midi interface, launching a VST, setting up your tempo , bars and arrangement and then maybe your off and running. I have a LINN 9000 to sequence, all I have to do is: turn it on, set my tempo, bars, turn on my synths, and Im off and going. Cheers!
nemisysone midi sequences
@@javd007 hmmnn.. some food for thought
@@javd007 I LOVE dawless
This was from a BBC2 programme called 'Rockschool' - A series of classes for aspiring pop/rock musicians, with an in studio band! True!
i like the fact he was using a casio for the master :--)))
Casio CZ1000 ..used one of those circa 1985 ,along with a Casio SZ1 4 track real time(minus quantize ) step time sequencer and Yamaha Rx Drum machine.Painstaking but rewarding at the time lol..
And to think what he would have done with a copy of Reason 10 back then........
Vince Clarke is the prototypical nerd in both behavior and appearance. But he can play the synthesizer.
He would have loved the MPC stand alone units if they were made yet LOL! I think he did eventually use one in the 90's as part of his stage tank during the tour of the Chorus album. He was ahead of his time!
Way ahead of his time, a brilliantly gifted electronic music composer, and I'm 61 years young, and have an extreme respect of people who are just naturally good at what they do, regardless of their sex or sexuality.
Derek Revell: Vince Clark is a heterosexual male. Your last line is........weird.
Vince Clarke is not Gay! N he the Eddie Van Halen of the synthesizers!
@@roncaudle7284 Ya that was strange...he must be one of them gay guys that thinks he's still oppressed
Vince is a very straight man who has no problem with gay people
Happy Ester Holidays ! I love Vince Klarke and his hits... I like him as person
BBC comp and the coffee cup. Vince was ahead of time here and a pure gem clip
wow and all that on a state of the bbc computer.
vince is a synth genius
maestro ud es un verdadero genio,...
a this age I was learning basic in the school, and this guy was already doing amazing music.
You make it look so easy Vince.. the 'Synth Mozart..
Muito gratificante, conhecer a história de profissionais que contribuem para o cenário musical e que eternamente serão lembrados, artistas de sucesso parabéns, ele que inventou esse equipamento ?
i wonder how it looks vince clarks backyard or garage... probadly with a lot of broken keyboards ,cords or electronic stuff all over around :D
Legend.
Sir Vince Clark!
Vicent Clarke is the best to make eletronic songs all the times!
The mystery we will never know - If a 1985 Vince Clarke could compose music with primitive computer systems then, what could he have done with music software of today that is limited to the talent an imagination
I remember hearing in a different interview that a lot of the songwriting is worked out on more “traditional” instruments like guitar and piano, before he gets to the electronic bits. Too distracting otherwise. Makes sense to me.
@VacTrooper The Yamaha RX5 was released in 1987, as was the RX7. The drums in this video - from 1985 - are being generated by a RX11 and the percussion sound are coming from a TR-727 :)
There was once a free magazine given away at music stores in the UK called "Making Music" - issue 2 had Erasure on the front page and a 2or3 page feature inside detailing the production of Wonderland and the Circus. Vince explicitly states that he used the RX11 and TR-727 - same as in this video.
Bollox its the Umi sequencer software running on a BBC micro, if i'm not mistaken he used this up till about 7 or 8 years ago.
Old Skool,with the master himself
@VacTrooper It's a Yamaha RX11 and a Roland TR-727 (the white machine in the foreground)
genius at work
lol the drink on top of the computer
thats a great vid :P
Genius At Work.
nice...
Some say Vince is still looking for the LOCAL OFF button.
Umi Sequencer, on a BBC micro.
Thank you - took the question right out of my head.
True!
one of the few human beings Id be totally humbled by If i met in person. THE analog synth master..par excellence! :-D
thek2plan on myspace
Master
hes got both a 707 and 727 in there, the latin sounds are the 727 but the kick and clap are definetly 707.
Genio
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Yeah from 1985, thanks Vince ...
This is a time before Vince switched over to fully analogue. Was his Casio keyboard Midi'd to a Roland TR707 and TR727?
thedivinechemical - yeah i absolutely agree with what dimebag said. I made the change a few years ago and it changed the way i make music for the better no question.
damn.. it's 1985 and he is calling it a "page"
the bbc b computer not seen one o them for ages
Nice Roland TR-707 on the front, was his 808 broken? 😊
The hours that must have been eaten-up using the limited technology to achieve sounds in your head. Luckily this was his home studio or the record company would be bankrupt. The enforced snail-like pace had it's benefits; there was more attention to detail - no dissimilar to travelling the same stretch of road by car then by foot. The latter takes longer but infinitely more rewarding - unless its a motorway....
This is the most insane comment in years. He is laying down a beat right there. Super fast. Besides the weird computer everything is the same for me, CV gate, CV sequencers, he can tape that beat down to his recorder, mix it in. Most of his rigs used CV gate to sync up, Juno/TR-909/ and this is exactly how I do it still today., This is how my Mini moog communicates with my stuff.
The big advantage he had was that only a few bands like Kraftwerk had done stuff like this before. He actually made a very similar comment himself in an interview a couple of years ago. I doubt if anyone ever listened to a Depeche Mode back when he was with them and said "This sounds like ....insert earlier band name here"
Wowzerama! This clip is the biggest inspiration as to why Aphex Twin got into making music, according to this very insightful and human interview: pastebin.com/raw.php?i=w9jyrnMb
Oh man, Kona, we gotta catch up... including 80s synth music... :D
Yeah it was shown on BBC 2 on a saturday or sunday morning from memory
LOL
im sure ive commented on this before, but apart from the UMI sequencer on his BBC micro ( which he carried on using up until the last two erasure albums cause of all the analog gear), the 707, 727 and the casio cz1000 SUCK EGGS. Thank god he always used an oberheim xpander and the system 100m, althouhg having owned both myself, the system 100m is a real bastard to use musically.
Beautiful windos Pentium 4
It's an Acorn BBC Master, not a Windows PC. It is 8bit and runs on a completely different hardware architecture than a PC.
@Kiber3lo looks like
basic sequencer for the atari...which became emagic logic audio...
Respekt
Have a nice Day :)
ritchi spike
Hes undoubtedly the best in the world with The Synthesizer.
CLEVER SOD!!!XXXXXXXXXGREAT
...great...
who complicated the old stuff was.
local off!
I wonder if Alan Wilder was using the BBC sequencer or did he jump on the Atari at some point..I know he used cubase for a while then jumped over to logic
Depeche Mode were also using a BBC Model B around the same time in this clip in Paris: ruclips.net/video/g9bXkRnBeE0/видео.html but the sequencing software looks different to Vince's.
WTF software were they both using?
@@DustyCustard Vince used UMI. It came with the MIDI interface and from what I have read was twice the price of the BBC Micro it ran on.
Listen to New Life and Tora Tora Tora by Depeche Mode, if you wan't to hear his best composing
Curt Wakeman Curt... I’m sorry to tell you this after 10 years, but Tora Tora Tora is written by Martin Gore.
joyita.
what sequencer is he using here? is it on an apple II? or a commodore? im guessing Dr.T's???
probably Cakewalk. Dr.T's didnt come until 88/89(if i remember). on Amiga.
if i had to guess thats an Atari
That's a BBC Micro - not sure what the software is.
@@GlennBroadway UMI
Negative. I can't tell the color of the machine from the video real well, but it's definitely either a 707 or 727. Cheers!
what song is that?
anybody knows what drum machine that is?
wow, programming drums without even being able to hear them, we really are spoilt rotten nowadays!! and still i cant make a bloody track-we moan that we want more and more and more, and now i have choice paralysis because there's is way too much to choose from?!
Is that a BBC Micro? It looks like a BBC micro.
TheRealWinsletFan its a bbc b I think lol
Yep, he's on record as saying he used it for UMI and took it on tour to the 'States, proved very reliable.
Who Is the name of the song?
Is this an actual song? If so what? Or is he just messing about
WHAT IS PROGRAMM IN 1985?????????????
Wasn't Vince young then and had more hair.🎹
no, that's not an Atari
Computah
@noizy4 It's not. It's all the Yamaha RX-5. Or RX-7. Can't really tell. Those are all purely Yamaha sounds, not Roland sounds at all.
@paulmarland It really is not. Look up RX5 samples online, those aren't Roland sounds at all. I have an RX5 and it sounds EXACTLY like that in everyway
Q le pasaba a Andy q cantaba tan mal?
Εχεις κορη
It's called a "sampling" were you put together a buch of music in a mixer. OMD used this technic and most of the "New Wave" band in the 80's. A "sample" is were RAPpers get a piece of a HIT SONG and rip other musician off!!!
less is better, buy a drummachine.
zx spectrum