ImproKeys Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Dear forum members, I am searching for examples of soul / funk music where the bass is played with a synth. I really dig Rai Thistlethwayte but am also interested in "older" examples. Thanks for your suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 start here, then everything else they did 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Bernie Worell did a bunch of left hand Moog bass 4 Quote Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 D. Gauss obviously gets the gold medal, so I'll try for silver/bronze: Thriller and much of MJ's output. (Whether that qualifies as soul/funk is down to your definition). Boogie On Reggae Woman. Cheers, Mike. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteinwayB Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Jive Talking 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Isley Bros Neville Bros George Duke Brian Culbertson Barry White 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Wow, do I get to be the first person to mention Stevie Wonder? [Edit: nope, I see Yannis did mention a track already...] He played synth bass on a TON of his classic 70s album tracks. Boogie on Reggae Woman is probably the Legendary Mind-Blowing Example, but also Superstition, Love's in Need of Love Today, You and I, and on and on and on... 1 Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jejefunkyman Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Zapp&Roger: More Bounce To The Ounce, So Ruff, So Tuff and many other tracks 😉 Many Cameo tracks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Greg Phillinganes on Chaka Khan’s “A Night in Tunisia” & “Whatcha Gonna Do For Me” Herbie Hancock - “Chameleon” SOS Band - Take Your Time Do It Right Dazz Band - Let It Whip Al Jarreau - Boogie Down (Michael Omartian on synths) 4 Quote My Site Nord Electro 5D, Novation Launchkey 61, Logic Pro X, Mainstage 3, lots of plugins, fingers, pencil, paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miden Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Or any song you choose - just hit it man! 1 1 Quote There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence... Time is the final arbiter for all things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassdad Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 The Gap Band (“Early In The Morning”; You Dropped a Bomb on Me”, etc.) Quote Ludwig van Beethoven: “To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.” My Rig: Yamaha MOXF8 (used mostly for acoustic piano voices); Motion Sound KP-612SX & SL-512. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImproKeys Posted June 19, 2023 Author Share Posted June 19, 2023 Wow, thank you for these great songs and artists! I'll have a funky evening listening... 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jejefunkyman Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Starpoint: It’s All Yours Lakeside: Fantastic Voyage Dayton: The Sound Of Music D Train: Keep On Rocket: Groove Thing Sharon Redd: Never Give You Up The Jones Girls: Keep It Comin’ … Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AROIOS Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 11 hours ago, ImproKeys said: Dear forum members, I am searching for examples of soul / funk music where the bass is played with a synth. I really dig Rai Thistlethwayte but am also interested in "older" examples. Thanks for your suggestions. Besides the textbook examples from Soul/Funk masters like Bernie Worell and George Duke mentioned above, there are also tons of funky synth bass in 80's and 90's Pop. Here are some of the tunes on the top of my head, the list easily gets 10x longer once I start digging. 😄 Al Jarreau - Says Carl Carlton - She's A Bad Mamma Jamma Michael Jackson - P.Y.T. Midnight Star - Midas Touch Quincy Jones feat. Ray Charles, Chaka Khan - I'll Be Good To You Ollie And Jerry - There's No Stoppin' Us Break Machine - Street Dance Fire Fox - Street People The Jets - Crush On You Janet Jackson - The Pleasure Principle Alexander O'Neal - Never Knew Love Like This Junior - Stone Lover Bobby Brown - Every Little Step Whitney Houston - How Will I Know Scritti Politti - Perfect Way Phil Collins - Sussudio Kathy Troccoli - Everything Changes BeBe And CeCe Winans - Addictive Love Go West - King Of Wishful Thinking Mariah Carey - Someday Anastacia - Not That Kind 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogika Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 7 hours ago, SamuelBLupowitz said: Wow, do I get to be the first person to mention Stevie Wonder? [Edit: nope, I see Yannis did mention a track already...] He played synth bass on a TON of his classic 70s album tracks. Boogie on Reggae Woman is probably the Legendary Mind-Blowing Example, but also Superstition, with you all the way on Stevie. Isn’t Superstition a real electric bass, though? Quote "The Angels of Libra are in the European vanguard of the [retro soul] movement" (Bill Buckley, Soul and Jazz and Funk) The Drawbars | off jazz organ trio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AROIOS Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 39 minutes ago, analogika said: with you all the way on Stevie. Isn’t Superstition a real electric bass, though? It is indeed a synth bass, likely a Minimoog or ARP2600. It sounded like an actual e-bass in the record coz its highs were cut heavily in the mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxcvbnm098 Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 Jimmy Jam showing a bit of his bassline playing on the new-ish MiniMoog. He does an almost Clav/Hammond slapping and smear with his basslines... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linwood Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan011 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 15 hours ago, SamuelBLupowitz said: Wow, do I get to be the first person to mention Stevie Wonder? [Edit: nope, I see Yannis did mention a track already...] He played synth bass on a TON of his classic 70s album tracks. Boogie on Reggae Woman is probably the Legendary Mind-Blowing Example, but also Superstition, Love's in Need of Love Today, You and I, and on and on and on... There are a lot of them. But Golden Lady has a special place. It is a tribute to James Jamerson and it is just over the top. Genius. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Adding to the Stevie canon: Lately. Not very funk, but oh so very soul. Cheers, Mike. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan011 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Jan Hammer is known mostly for his lead work but this is some funky moog bass playing with crazy fills. He plays the bass for the head and than plays synth lead and leaves upright bassist to fill the role. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogika Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 2 1 2 Quote "The Angels of Libra are in the European vanguard of the [retro soul] movement" (Bill Buckley, Soul and Jazz and Funk) The Drawbars | off jazz organ trio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 16 hours ago, AROIOS said: It is indeed a synth bass, likely a Minimoog or ARP2600. It sounded like an actual e-bass in the record coz its highs were cut heavily in the mix. I think they were using the TONTO system for all the synths on Talking Book. You can find the isolated tracks for that song floating around online pretty freely -- it's wild to hear the isolated bass and realize it is, indeed, Stevie ripping on a synth. Also, props to @Stefan011 for calling out Golden Lady. That song is BEASTLY. 5 2 Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AROIOS Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 6 hours ago, SamuelBLupowitz said: I think they were using the TONTO system for all the synths on Talking Book. You can find the isolated tracks for that song floating around online pretty freely -- it's wild to hear the isolated bass and realize it is, indeed, Stevie ripping on a synth. Also, props to @Stefan011 for calling out Golden Lady. That song is BEASTLY. Never heard of the TONTO system until today. It looks majestic. Thanks for the info, @SamuelBLupowitz. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
U.Honey Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Genesis: Duke This album has some great sounding synth bass sounds used in a pedal point type arrangements. EDIT: oops, realized the topic was soul/funk context and Genesis isn’t really in that category. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksoper Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 On 6/19/2023 at 11:23 AM, cassdad said: The Gap Band (“Early In The Morning”; You Dropped a Bomb on Me”, etc.) Absolutely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 On 6/19/2023 at 5:01 PM, AROIOS said: Scritti Politti - Perfect Way The great David Frank. Here's a classic that I'm getting ready to work up. He had some great synth bass lines. Check this one out - great synth bass patch: 2 Quote The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Havu Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Might be borderlining on the genre, but I'll throw in Toto's "Waiting For Your Love." 1 Quote Hardware Yamaha MODX7, DX7, PSR-530, MX61/Korg Karma/Ensoniq ESQ-1 Behringer DeepMind12, Model D, Odyssey, 2600/Arturia Keylab MKII 61 Software Studio One/V Collection 9/Korg Collection 4/Cherry Audio/UVI SonicPass/EW Composer Cloud/Omnisphere, Stylus RMX, Trilian/IK Total Studio 3.5 MAX/Roland Cloud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Jungle Love - The Time 1 Quote This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AROIOS Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 1 hour ago, justin_havu said: Might be borderlining on the genre, but I'll throw in Toto's "Waiting For Your Love." That one always reminds me of Fatback's "I Founding Lovin". Both have that addictive (iim-) iiim-IVmaj hook I can never get enough of. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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