RIP Michael Jackson and that signature bass sound

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Ok, big respect to Michael Jackson, the world of popular music has lost one of its most inspired, creative members, and someone who has changed music and popular culture forever. Obviously, I don't want this thread to get wrapped up in the certain 'controversies' that surrounded his life, and this DEFINITELY isn't a criticism, just something I noticed...

I was watching a tribute program last night, which was basically a collection of different videos. Anyway, it seemed that all of the stuff that was showed, spanning 1980 onwards, all had the exact same bass sound and style - a fat, synth-like, sometimes fretless tone, with loads of sick little fills. Seriously, listen to Thriller, Man In the Mirror, Black or White, Smooth Criminal and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough.

I'm not knocking it or anything, I think it sounds awesome (especially 'Don't Stop...'), just something I've not noticed before. I'm not an avid fan or anything, but I know that Quincy Jones did produce a lot of his stuff, maybe this is where the influence comes from...

 

[Florin]

Hey Craig,
Now that you said it, I think you are right, I really dig that sound.
RIP MJ

 

[dazzla]

Yep very sad news..Louis Johnson played on a fair chunk of MJ's 'Thriller' album which was most definitely produced by Quincy Jones. Also Toto guitarist Steve Lukather played guitar and bass on Beat it while Eddie Van Halen played the solo. Pretty cool stuff!

 

[Curtis]

Pink Floyd/Dave Gilmour bass player Guy Pratt also did some recordings for MJ and there are some hilarious stories in his book 'My Bass And Other Animals'. A must read for every bass player. Hilarious and interesting book. No Warwick content though..

 

[Gerry]

I liked Louis Johnson's nasal tone on "Lady In My Life", even the little pops he threw in. Also whoever played on "Who's Lovin You" and Jamerson's contributions like "Darling Dear". These sound great played through the front pick up of my SS2 as well.

 

[Curtis]

I was at a Louis Johnson workshop last year and it was great hearing him play some MJ stuff

 

[Lex]

There's a lot of synth bass on MJs bass tracks too. Minimoog stuff... Some have a combination of live and synth bass (Black or White for example)... then you have others like Scream and Remember the Time which is pure synth... and Get On The Floor which is pure Thunderthumbs...

Listen to any of his tracks — they are all way ahead of their time. I could listen to the production on Scream and forget that it was done in '95

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

I know, they are absolutely timeless. I was wondering if they were a combination of synth and live bass - they sound really synthy, but with this incredible funky feel - kind of harder to get that percussive groove with synth bass...

 

[Lex]

Yeah, there's something about the sound of both live bass and synth bass together... just sounds incredible.

You can achieve percussive sounding grooves on Synth, it's all about how you set your ADSR envelope. I've been playing a lot of Moog bass recently; it's so much fun to be able to get in there and really tweak the sounds... much more fun than trying to emulate that sound on bass (using pedals).

 

[McGee]

Yes, I can honestly say that my first "grooving" experience came from listening to my moms MJ records when I was knee high. I believe this is where I began to feel the power of the bass.

Inspiration in so many ways...
RIP

 

[beda]

most tracks have been recorded with synthesizer as far as i know.

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Yeah, I think that's so, but there's definitely a real bass in there as well; so many little characteristics of the instrument... Ghost notes for example- they're something that would be incredibly hard to recreate on a synth, and it just keeps the feel moving.