tarkus Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 I'm not sure, but was it Bernie Worrell that played the solo on Burning Down The House? and... which synth was used? Even in the 80's there were memorable non-prog synth moments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 That was Bernie playing the Prophet 5 osc sync sound, through a Boss T-Wah pedal. A classic sound used very well in this song. That's a line that I quote in some other songs when taking solos. Regards, Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Fortner Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Aww yeah! That is one of the funkiest, stankiest licks ever to come out of an analog synth. I remember covering it in my college band and trying to get anything similar out of a DX-7. I got some FM nastiness that was reasonably evocative, but it didn't really come close. Quote Stephen Fortner Principal, Fortner Media Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarkus Posted February 17, 2005 Author Share Posted February 17, 2005 I always thought it was an FM synth... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 According to an interview Jerry Harrison gave in Keyboard mag, Wally Badarou played the part on the session with a rev2 Prophet 5 and a Roland T-Wah, as well as the funky comps. Bernie Worrell played the parts in the "Stop Making Sense" movie so everyone attributes the part to him. Harrison disliked rev3 Prophets, so the band used only rev2's at the time. The fluty synth parts were his. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Zeger Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 I always thought it was a Nord Lead... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Bill H, you are correct and I actually forgot about the album version of this song, which was Mr. Badarou. The one that I immediately remember is the live version from Stop Making Sense, which was a little more "off the chain" and funky. Regards, Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Hey Eric, I wouldn't have remembered it either, but I was boxing up some old Keyboard mags awhile ago and re-read the article. Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads keyboard player) was kind of coy in the interview, and was not specific when questioned about who played the wah solo, but instead responded that Wally Badarou "played a number of parts in that song." Draw your own conclusions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 Our new moderator, Steve Fortner, has prompted me to bump this thread. He starting waxing philosophically in another unrelated thread about the Poly Evolver KB's ability to nail the solo sync sound from Burning Down the House. Steve's quote from the other thread takes this down Evolver Lane: Speaking of well-built things, there'll be some sound samples of the PEK posted soon. If anyone wants to get that "Burning Down the House" sound I talk about in the review, and you have the keyboard or rack, try this: 1. Punch up "Executioner," which is bank 1, #28 on the PE-KB. Dave created this sound, by the way. 2. Reduce the release time of the amp until the envelope is pretty much sqaure, and back off to taste on the delay amounts. 3. I like a little more glide on the analog oscillators than the digital ones, and also to increase the analog oscs' levels relative to the digital too. This way, the pitch of the digital bite provides this cool anchor point for the analog fat to catch up to. 4. Get out yer copy of "Speaking in Tounges" and listen to the synth break right after Byrne sings "People on their way to work say baby what do you expect / All burst into flame" 5. Play this lick 6. Grin from ear to ear. This is a big deal to me because I've played in cover bands that do this tune, and nothng has ever touched the aggressiveness and grease of that short Bernie Worrell part. Until now. A composer friend of mine at one gig who's a huge TH fan accosted me on set break going "You got that sound! How?" My take is that the PEK Bank 1, #37 "Ring On Sync" sound is in the same ballpark with a little more of the cliched Hard Sync sound happenin'. Anyone else have favorite sounds and sources for recreating this classic sound? Regards, Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 I'm not sure, but was it Bernie Worrell that played the solo on Burning Down The House? and... which synth was used? Even in the 80's there were memorable non-prog synth moments. According to an interview Jerry Harrison gave in Keyboard mag, Wally Badarou played the part on the session with a rev2 Prophet 5 and a Roland T-Wah, as well as the funky comps. Bernie Worrell played the parts in the "Stop Making Sense" movie so everyone attributes the part to him. Nothing like a zombie thread on a hot summer day. Read this today in the WSJ. Hope it's not behind a pay wall, I'm a subscriber. My two takes from this article. Bill H. is correct (I already knew thast and posted it in another thread similiar to this one) I think its really cool that a paper like the WSJ does stories like this one. https://www.wsj.com/articles/david-byrne-and-talking-heads-on-burning-down-the-house-11594042472?mod=hp_featst_pos4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Wow 15 years. Must be a zombie record. Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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