Depeche Mode’s Live Setup Revealed
And the plug-ins are all hosted in Muse Receptors?
PE: “Yes, we’ve got six of them: two per keyboard player. Each pair is a main A and a backup B doing the same thing. Then we’ve got a custom-built switch box at the side of the stage so we can switch between each keyboard player’s Receptor if something goes wrong.”
Each keyboard player has a backup Muse Receptor should the worst happen.
Is there any live sequencing going on?
PE: “The Receptor stuff is completely separate from the playback side. I’m doing all the program changes on the Receptors here, off stage, but we are using both Ableton Live and Pro Tools alongside the Radars. Each is on a separate MacBook Pro. Ableton Live is being used just for live drum processing while Pro Tools is there for the program changes that are flying about on stage, changing the keyboards and stuff like that.
Paul controls the Receptors from his laptop.
“It works like this: The Radars are kicking out time-code which is going into Kerry’s laptop running Pro Tools. So Pro Tools runs in time with the Radars. Program changes are fired out of Pro Tools for the guitar rig and the keyboards on stage, and into a bit of software that I wrote that controls Ableton Live in the second computer. You load all your projects into it and when it gets the change it closes songs in Ableton Live and loads the next one up. I used it on Snow Patrol and Verve too, with Logic, but it seems to work with Live too.”
Sorry, Pro Tools and Ableton Live? Live is doing live drum processing?
PE: “Yes, it’s quite complicated! But Kerry went down to Christian [Eigner, drummer]’s place in Austria and they ummed and ahhed about the best way to do it. And this is what they came up with. The band decided they wanted to use live drums, but they wanted them to sound like electronic drums, depending on the song, of course. “We decided not to use triggers so we’re taking the live drum sounds into Live and processing them live. The drum sounds are going in via a MOTU 828 interface, processed in software then output via another 828. Live is so versatile – they tried it out and they love the sound. No latency, and we can get the electronic sounds we need whenever we need them.”
So there’s plenty of playing, but how many tracks come off the Radar?
PE:“18. Though it changes from track to track. The band tend to play all the lead sounds. All the big riffs that you’d recognise are all played, mainly using the Receptors. Meanwhile incidental stuff, percussion that Christian doesn’t play, some of the strings that Peter [Gordino, additional keyboards] doesn’t play come off the Radar.
Ableton Live, Andrew Fletcher, Christian Eigner, Edirol PCR-800, GMedia ImpOSCar, Jez Webb, London O2 Arena, Martin Gore, Massive, Midas XL8, Muse Receptors, Native Instruments Kontakt, Paul Eastman, Peter Gordeno, Pro Tools, Radar System, Roland RD-700, Shure SM57, Sounds, Synthogy Ivory, TC Electronic G System, Tour Of The Universe, Virus Polar, Virus TI2
This is awesome stuff but, where was this published before.
Credits can be found at the end of the article.