kool and the gang production

[badperson]

Does anyone have any knowledge about the production techniques of some of the 70's dance sides? K and the G must have had their drums edited pretty extensively, it sounds machine-like, but it still grooves hard.

How do they do it?

thanks.

bp

[B.Ray]

Does anyone have any knowledge about the production techniques of some of the 70's dance sides? K and the G must have had their drums edited pretty extensively, it sounds machine-like, but it still grooves hard.

How do they do it?

If you're talking about the 1970's, then what you're hearing is good musicianship. I was recording on a regular basis in those days; the available technology was pretty basic. You had the ability to puch-in but that was about it.

Musicianship is what was required in those days.

[badperson]

But I remember reading somewhere they had a way of editing the drums on some of those dates. Not sure what it was though, I could be wrong.

[matocaster1202]

I would bet they did a lot of splices with a razor blade. It was just a lot more work back then. I did find this article, and they did splice tape to get songs put together. It also has some interesting notes on the drum sounds. http://www.digitalprosound.com/2001/...otes/kool2.htm
Hope this helps,

Mat

[B.Ray]

I would bet they did a lot of splices with a razor blade...

Mat,

With a razor blade, you can splice together sections of music or you can remove sections of music but I don't know of any way to edit individual drum hits with a razor blade and tape.

BTW, you have to be very accurate when you're splicing togther sections of music with a razor blade. If you make the cut in the wrong place, the whole song is ruined (e.g. cuts have to be made in spots on the tape where there is silence). You have to rock the tape reels across the heads to find the right spot to cut. If you're not careful, you might wind up with a loud pop in the spot where you made your cut.

We didn't have "Undo" buttons.

[fredsparky]

They also had a great drummer. Check out old Sly stuff too!!

[6969]

As if musicianship is not required these days in dance music.Thats a good one.I say this with all due respect to your appreciation of 70's musicianship.I love underground 70's disco.Its the precurser to todays house music and I'm a house head.Electronic musicians and DJ musicians are full of natural musicianship.Have a good day.

DJ

[fredsparky]

musicianship? Kool and the Gang "ain't no disco" Like Frank Zappa said around 1974, "the Jazz musicians today are going to get really good at playing disco, forget how to improvise, and own two cars and a house in the country." What's disco have to do with great 70's funk? You want to hear some great 70's stuff check out Kool, Sly, etc.. How about the LA Express for musicianship?

[silence_of_stone]

good tight drummers and a great engineer who knows how to use the chopping block.
Personally I think that the use of tape also contributed to that "tight" sound simply from the natural compression that tape afforded.
thats my $.02

[B.Ray]

As if musicianship is not required these days in dance music.Thats a good one.I say this with all due respect to your appreciation of 70's musicianship....Electronic musicians and DJ musicians are full of natural musicianship.Have a good day.

DJ

I see. It's the old, "DJ's are musicians too", argument. Well, maybe yes and maybe no. I believe, everyone deserves respect for their efforts and everyone deserves credit for a job well done. But I also believe a distinction should be drawn between a guy/gal who spends years learning to master an instrument and a guy/gal who knows how to edit in Pro Tools. The question is, what do you call those skills?
*
An Instrumentalist, a Turntablist and an Pro Tools Editor all require a certain amount of musical sensibilities. Only one of them requires musicianship. To be fair, the Turntablist DOES make a performance when he "plays" his turntables. But, are the skills required for that performance the same as those required of an instrumentalist? A Turntablist requires a sense of timing, rhythm and musical sensibilities. So, using the broadest definition of musicianship, maybe you can argue that Turntablists are musicians. But I don't see how Pro Tools editing or an ACID loop-making/editing can be classified as musicianship.
*
I can drag some beats into Dr REX, dump them into PTLE, cut & paste sections together and end up with a tight drum track. Or I can tap out a MIDI track and quantize it to death. That ain't good musicianship! That's just editing.
*
On the other hand, I can watch Ricky Lawson lay down some tight drum tracks with one take (no editing required). Now that's good musicianship! That's what I was talking about in my earlier post; the ability to play the part right the first time without the need for editing (well, there's not much editing possible with tape anyway - that was my other point).
*
Anyway, Peace! And much respect for what you do.