How to make some sounds from Talk Talk ‘It’s My Life’ with DRC

ATTENTION: All Pre-Gain values for DRC in this video need to be lowered by 0.250.
This is because this tutorial was made with an older version of DRC which had a different tuning on the saturation stage. We have corrected the values in the Ableton session.

Music at: 18:41

Download the Ableton project from this video:
https://www.imaginando.pt/uploads/goodies/tutorials/talk-talk-its-my-life-project.zip

DRC – Polyphonic Synthesizer:
DRC on App Store – https://apps.apple.com/us/app/drc-polyphonic-synthesizer/id973055710
DRC on Google Play – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.imaginando.drc&hl=pt_PT
DRC for Desktop – https://www.imaginando.pt/products/drc/downloads
DRC Product Page – https://www.imaginando.pt/products/drc

K7D – Tape Delay
K7D on App Store – https://apps.apple.com/us/app/k7d-tape-delay/id1460245991
K7D for Desktop – https://www.imaginando.pt/products/k7d/downloads
K7D Product Page – https://www.imaginando.pt/products/k7d

DLYM – Delay Modulator:
DLYM on App Store – https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dlym-delay-modulator/id1381246923
DLYM for Desktop – https://www.imaginando.pt/products/dlym/downloads
DLYM Product Page – https://www.imaginando.pt/products/dlym

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Turning Vintage furniture into a cranked synthesizer – https://www.imaginando.pt/projects/digital-music-box

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The music video for Talk Talk’s 1984 single ‘It’s My Life’ takes a somewhat interesting approach when it comes to lip-syncing the vocals, even being regarded as ‘a total piss-take of lip-syncing’ by Scottish music mogul Alan McGee. An example of lead singer Mark Hollis’ disdain for the mainstream, and the music industry in general, it is rumoured to be the result of their record label at the time EMI, demanding the band’s first cut of a video (one which openly mocked terrible lip-syncing) be re-shot to be a little more serious, hence we get the official music video distinctly lacking any such attempt at lip sync.

What we are treated to though, is a charming little synth-pop hit of the 80’s, one which made a big impression not just on Lucas, but on many singer-songwriters. In 2003 it was covered by US Ska-rockers No Doubt and garnered a decent amount of chart success, reaching inside the top 20 singles in the UK and other international charts.

Just over a year since Mark Hollis passed away, the legacy of Talk Talk’s 10 years together as a band lives on, cited as inspiration to many artists including Radiohead, Elbow and Tears For Fears.

We’ve got a monster 8 sounds from ‘Its My Life’ in this week’s DRC Sound Design Tutorial – 20 minutes of nostalgic synth-pop bliss.

Life’s what you make it,
Team Imaginando