50 ICONIC Depeche Mode Riffs/Melodies 1981 to 1993 

50 Iconic Depeche Mode riffs and melodies demonstrated on the keyboards, using the original sound banks where possible.

Isn't "Nothing" such an underrated song. Amazing to listen to that and "Sacred" with some top quality headphones

The riff of Tora Tora Tora! is underrated

It’s so inspiring to hear how their sound developed through that period of their career. I still wonder how Alan and Flood made the sound at 14:40. It’s so beautiful, melancholic and catchy at the same time.

I could listen to the guitar loop for Never Let Me Down @ 10:00 for ever. It never gets old.

Never let me down again - it was long time my main ringtone theme

Love it especially Rush a very underrated song

My uncle was a musician in the 60s, and he overheard me listening to Some Great Reward back when it was a relatively new release. He commented that if he had come up with the symphonic assault that is Master and Servant he would be a millionaire. Such a strange comment coming from an old hippie, but there you had it. My favorite riffs are in Shake the Disease and am glad you highlighted several. Such a sophisticated, stood-the-test-of-time track. Many iconic riffs for sure! Great idea for a video.

Pimpf: what a great concert intro it was !!

It's worth noticing how each of these samples is a masterpiece by itself in terms of sound design.

It's kind of you to refresh Alan's memory! After seeing your video, he's now ready for the next DM tour 😁 🤚👋🐔

Who knew that the opening riff to Never Let Me Down Again was just a low G?! Jokes aside, this was very insightful. Stellar job! 💯

Love those fateful bell sounds(#47) in "in your room".

This is just brilliant, made an old guy feel 21 again, god bless you for this video 🤩👋👋💚

Which band has 50 such good songs? Incredibele.

Aha takes me back, in my youth I could sit for hours with a depeche mode casette tape in a casette player and a yamaha pss toy keyboard going Play Pause Play Pause trying to work out their melodies and riffs. Their music just had a magical even spiritual essence for me. Thanks I enjoyed that.

I find it very soothing to play the 'riffs and hooks' from Sun & The Rainfall, Nothing, Bkack Celebration, Fly On The Windscreen, Lie to Me, Things You Said. Plus many more. And I heard a rumour a press conference is planned in Berlin for 4th October. Fingers crossed 🤞

Man, once you get to Violator and SFAD the layering and attention to detail is breathtaking. AW is King.

The impact of Depeche Mode music on a person is simply amazing. Even a short fragment of a melody you played evokes such feelings as if I listened to the whole song. Incredible! My favorite riffs are in Shake the Disease, Stripped, Master and Servant, Never Let Me Down Again, Behind The Wheel and many more! Probably almost everything! Thanks for the great video, you are gorgeous as always, Vaughn!

Such a fun video, full of surprises! Never let me down again is my all-time favourite Depeche song and I especially LOVE that opening riff. I once heard Alan Wilder ❤️ explain in an interview how they created that which was very interesting. I was gobsmacked to see that the whole thing is programmed onto just one key!

Thank you for these. Halo was my fave, lol. But seriously, these riffs make you realise how deep and layered those DM tracks are. One could make full ambient soundscape albums just based on each track.

What a fabulous video :D I especially liked Pipeline, Shake the Disease, Nothing and Rush.

It's amazing how they merge major and minor that gives the songs 🎵 a kinda sad/ darkness about them, also demonstrates how a simple riff can make a wonderful song, I remember Martin's demo of 'Silence' so simple yet complicated at the same time (do you know what I mean) and also hat's off to yourself for demonstrating 50 riffs perhaps beginners or people who have a synth but find it difficult you've gave them some great ways to play some Depeche tunes, stay safe, Mr VG.

Wonderful Iconic Masterpieces Memories

Great compilation Vaughn! I played this 3 times. I miss songs from A Broken Frame though. My Secret Garden, Nothing To Fear, See You and The Sun and The Rainfall has some great keyboard melodies. Maybe another time. 😊

I never get bored of this stuff, my playlist is funnily enough 101 tracks (It's true 😂) but that does include concerts as well. I only have music pre 2000, not a lot suits me after that. Between depeche mode, Duran Duran, ultravox and crowded house, not much goes through my earholes. That era for me is like baked beans, never get tired of them and it makes me think of my younger years. Hope you're well Vaughn, how's the long covid?.............. Alan Wilder

Got goosebumps listening to these, absolutely amazing 👏

PERFECT, I say it again and again, these days their songs are missing those bold melodic riffs, which were the best, 80' s and first half of 90's were full of these, strong melodies are everything for me

WOW! I could listen to these sounds in isolation for hours! Awesome vid!

1981/1993 il periodo di massimo splendore dei Depeche Mode che però arriva anche al '97 con l'album "Ultra" secondo me! Ma li amo ugualmente anche oggi!!! Depechemodiano a vita!

Everytime i hear SOMEBODY I melt! Vaughn you got to play that whole song for us one day and post it. ❤

Wonderful, video Vaughn. I would really enjoy seeing you do a concert event playing your music, DM, and other songs you enjoy playing.

Thank you for the great ringtones library 😁

This is just great! I watched three times in a row. Tks for sharing it with us, Vaughn.

These riffs are like food to my soul

The Emu emax synthesizer the same synthesizer used during the Violator tour. Great video thank you

Great video! So much knowledge and inspiration to get from these when it comes to melody and harmony.

This is brilliant!! Thanks for sharing! This should be the setlist for the next DM tour.

Such a good video idea Vaughn - i’ve seen (and searched for) some type of top 50 like this on RU-vid, but you’re the first one to hit it just right! Love how you did this, especially teasing us with those sounds from 1993.. CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT REVIEW SERIES!!

amazing, exciting…thank you very much!

I've listened to these 1000's of times

Yes, I did enjoy this!

Great video. Very pleasant to get so close to the original sounds. Thank you for the 50 demonstrations (Pimpf so great). A lot of futur work for me on my piano with this video as tutorial. Thx Vaughn

The best notes on the planet!!!!

This made me very happy...thank you👌💓👌

Dear Vaughn, Every time I see a new video of yours I am happy like a little boy 😀 because I love to listen to you and I find your thoughts and analyses about Depeche Mode so interesting. Greetings from Germany, Manu

It really shows off the layers and complexity of each sound. A bass teacher I had was Rick May who also is a session player and worked briefly with Depeche during the Only When I Lose Myself period. He mentioned they sampled him playing and then did all kinds of work on the sound. Not sure which track but it might be like these just one part of a layered sound.

This reverse engineer job is incredible George!

Thanks for sharing these! They sound great!

Great selection my friend

Thank you for sharing your story

Great video!

really good video ... one of your best!

Excellent work x

Really nice, Sir. Thank you for this. -Andy Ry Denmark.

Many thanks to you for this upload! Very inspirating. I think the most memorable part in the song of Shake the disease is "Understand me" part. That's what I missed a little bit. I wish you a succesful life in the music you love.

Every video I've ever wanted in one! 😂 Well, you nearly lost me at #1 and #43 but definitely a fave vid from a self tuition perspective.... 👍🏼👍🏼

You deserve to be watched more

Awesome 😎

So enjoyable!, I can play these rifts as well, but we shockingly didn't here their #1 rift, enjoy the silence!, Was it forgotten?

This is great! But what happened to post Alan era??? Will we see a part II with 50 riffs from 1994-2017???

Thnx @Vaughn ❤️

Great video upload here! It was really cool to see and hear all these part demonstrations. You really nailed the tones, in my opinion. As a fan of Gary Numan, could you *_MAYBE_* do something like this for some of his songs? Last, are you a fan of bands like Asylum Party, Clan Of Xymox, A Flock Of Seagulls, The Fixx, Severed Heads? If so, could you make a video/videos on them sometime? I would love to hear your views and opinions on their music _(maybe even some keyboard demos like this on their music, as well.. please?)!_ P.S. Awesome studio setup! Looks like the cockpit of some cool starfighter, haha!

What to you mean, keyboard beginner? This is where I am at, at 52 🤪 Great vid 🖤🌹

Vaugh... please put this recording on YT in version 2 with better angle at keyboard - just like you did with Pimpf. Some (like me... ) could use your video for learning these riffs but with the current angle all these black keys are barely visible. Thanks for video - I'll be looping this few time per day for sure :D:D:D

About Pipeline: I clearly remember I tried to recreate the sound of the pingpong ball (for me it sounded like a pingpong ball) with my brand new Ensoniq EPS... My EPS isn't new anymore. Me neither.😉 I don't define myself as a "fan" but actualy I know by heart all those pieces you partialy played, I know the following notes and sound effects, the next verse, the lyrics, all... Maydbe I'm a DM fan, after all! 😁

Riff 46 is like a dreamy video game Castlevania sound and I love it.

Superb video Vaughn! Any chance you would make another video like this from the modern DM records?

Great, thanks! It is amazing watching how the sounds I have for decades deep inside my mind and heart are played. BTW, where can we get this sound bank. I know it was spreat after AW's auction. Thnx.

I love this video!

Great work. Could you possibly do a 2nd Depeche riff vid of their newer stuff? THANK YOU! ; )

Nice video! Love Depeche Mode. Now i get it! The resemblance between Puppets and Robots from Kraftwerk. 🎉 also a simular title😅

Vaughn where is The sun and the rainfall melody?! 😲 That's one of the best they have ever made! EDIT: where is Walking In My Shoes main melody? 😲

Cool!!!!

Evenin’ Vaughn As usual, you “nailed it again with your finger tips💯👌🏻 So interesting to hear these riffs without the voice content. Riff Nothing #31, does this not sound so similar to Save A Prayer by Duran Duran? On a different note, I’ve meaning to ask this special request & hoping a lot of your subscribers agree to my sentiment. Some time in the future, would it be possible to discuss the instrumentals that DM produced over the years? l feel they played such an important role & part to their albums & B side tracks to the 7” & 12” singles they released.

I know these are iconic so not many b-sides but you did include "I sometimes wish I was dead'. So, if you go there, you have to do Fools.

Dm forever! Magic to the ears

In your room sounds perfect !!!

What a work again, it's a pleasure to discover ur videos, I'm a devout from france and I play synth's. I'm looking for list of preset u used, do you have this somewhere?

Can we get the follow up please ? "50 non-iconic Depeche Mode riffs/absence of melodies 1997-2017" ? 😁 Only half joking, there's somes through the later years, particulary in 1997-1998, but let's be honest : The richest period of classic melodies is 81-93. After that their music has shifted to 'micro-melodies'. This is not a bad thing, it's just different. Some of the 'recent' songs I like a lot : Suffer well, (that guitar riff!) In sympathy (I treasure my LHN recording from that era where they played live this song only the two first nights then dropped it. An aspect of the band that would be interesting to talk about), Should be higher (a try to the classic 80's melodies?), Fail (who's surprisingly the best "Spirit" track, to me).

This might be an interesting watch for some, but as someone who has all the same banks and knows these songs extremely well, the abundance of mistakes made in this video make it a little hard to watch. Learning these parts accurately takes a lot of time and care, which is sorely missed in this video. I've compiled a list of all the mistakes I noted while watching, so you may create an updated version of this video with corrections, if you choose to. #20 - Alan's bell melody during the middle 8 of Shake The Disease has a different rhythm and one less note at the end than what's played here. You can find an example of it on my channel, when I performed the song recently(not a perfect performance, by the way, but I am confident in that part) #21 - In Alan's Black Celebration middle 8 melody, the first note is a D, not a C. The first time you play it, you only play the second half of the melody. The second time you play it, you miss the last note. #23 - The lead melody of A Question Of Time is played with a pitch bend on the first note, as opposed to the G-F-G shown here. The only time it's played as shown is during the second half of the outro in live performances, when Alan has to use his left hand for melody #22 and as such can't use the pitch bend wheel. #28 - The left hand bass hits in the Strangelove middle 8 are played twice in the 2nd and 4th bars of each repetition. Here they are only played once. The release value of the right hand melody is also way too high, I don't know what happened to your Emax bank. #37 - In Alan's Never Let Me Down Again piano part the left hand is entirely missed. #41 - I'm honestly not sure where this melody came from, that's not what's played with the bells. Listen to the 1990 soundboard recordings to hear it more clearly #43 - Martin has two guitar samples that he plays with his left hand on Policy Of Truth, and they alternate. One slides down from the 5th to the 3rd, the other from the 5th to the 1st of the scale. #44 - You missed half the samples in Alan's Mercy In You Piano chords. Use the octave up and down keys to reach the remaining samples, which are lower on the keyboard #48 - The In Your Room looped vocal sample melody played by Martin is missing about half the notes, there's a bunch skipped in the middle. It also starts on the B. #49 - In the Rush distorted synth melody, Martin plays with with 2 hands across multiple octaves, but here you played the entire melody in the left hand octave. #50 - This melody is quite tricky and you're very close, so I don't blame you for the mistakes. A little more listening and practice should get you there.

DM, masters of the melancholy earworm.

Nice!!🖤🌹 Could you do 1997-2017? Thx🙏

Nice choice, I think get the balance right and nothing to fear also deserve to be at that list. I have a question to you - how do get this iconic Policy of Truth sample? If you recreate it, is it slide from F to C? Or it’s other notes? Great video as usual

I was hoping for the bass riff in Stripped that Alan taught us all in 101 😂

NICE!

That was interesting. Please show us next time Higher Love, Enjoy the Silence and Personal Jesus.

Great. Are you using samples or patches? Anymore info would be great.

A different video compared to the others. But also a very nice surprise 🙂

These sounds, so lovely to hear cannot wait for your SOFAD review videos, will devotional be one of them? :)

Hi dear friend. Is there any chance to get the Rush samples? Thank you.

I love the fact in the title of this of 1981-1993 (disregarding everything after Alan Wilder left) Admittedly after Alan Wilder left so did Depeche die for me. Amazingly I didn't buy anything from the Violator era (I know I will be flogged and stoned in the streets by the die hard (Work Hard) fans).. It didn't appeal to me (the analogue side) Erasure were funnily doing the same at the same time. I don't know.. Maybe from the heavily sampled and digital days of The Berlin Trilogy and Music For The Masses.. I had got used to that. But when Songs Of Faith And Devotion came out .. Jings .... Now that was something else.. Brilliant...The sound of Depeche Mode without Wilder production post Wilder to me (my opinion) is pish

Clean also has its good riffs

Thanks and Moar! PS: Did you buy Alan's Emu with the patches still in it that he auctioned off?

Can you buy those samples? I am hoping to purchase an E-Max II soon and would love to get those samples!

where can I download them?

Can you make a tutorial for your keyboard sound ?

What is that keyboard you are playing please?.

Bravo Bravo Bravo Bravo

Oh my, it a fire