Disco and funk

Disco and funk

1. Disco

   • 1970s-80s
   • instrumentation
     • vocals and group BVs
     • drums/bass/percussion/guitars
     • keyboard - electric piano and clavinet
     • synthesisers
     • horn sections (sax/trumpet/trombone and sometimes flute, french horn, tuba)
     • sometimes a string sections
     • generally large ensembles
   • influences
     • R&B
     • Gospel
     • Soul (particularly Philadelphia Soul)
     • funk
     • Latin
   • main artists
     • Earth, Wind & Fire
     • The Jackson 5
     • Donna Summer
     • Gloria Gaynor
     • Diana Ross
     • The Bee Gees
   • production
     • The range of complex techniques used in production paved the way for other technology based styles
     • large scale multitrack recordings used for big ensembles - using two or more tape machines synced together to give extra tracks
     • Donna Summer 'I Feel Love' used a rhythm track completely produced with drum machines and sequenced synthesisers (other than the kick drum which was live recorded)
     • big, rich sound
       • lots of reverb on vocals
       • deep bass
     • guitar sound is clean bright and thin
     • Keyboards - Fender Rhodes, electric pianos, clavinets, synthesisers
     • Wah wah and chorus used on guitar and keyboards
     • early use of analogue sequencers and drum machines
     • popularised the use of electronic hand claps
     • deeper kick drum sound created by triggering a low synth note to play in time with it
     • The idea of the remix originated in disco - the extended mix would add new parts to the instrumental e.g. percussion, keyboards, solo pats or would just rework the original arrangement by removing parts of the mix
       • DJs would beat match and mix the songs together so there was no gap when starting a new song
         • Beatmatching is the act of matching the tempos of two separate tracks so that the beats are hitting in a syncronized fashion. This then allows the two tracks to be played together in unison and create the illusion of playing only one track.

2. Funk

   • 1960s-80s
   • instrumentation
     • instruments similar to disco
     • vocals were harsher sounding than the smooth sound of disco (more R&B influenced)
     • often horn sections
     • smaller ensembles
   • influences
     • R&B
     • Soul
     • Jazz (bepop)
     • psychedelic rock
     • latin
   • main artists
     • James brown
       • described as the 'Godfather of soul' but he considered his music to be R&B, not soul, and was very influential in developing funk
         • what about his act influenced funk?
           • his raw, aggressive, stripped down sound
           • his flamboyance as a performer
           • the discipline with which he ran his band
     • Stevie Wonder
     • Funkadelic
     • Isaac Hayes
   • Production
     • similar to disco but more focus on the live recording of real musicians and fewer production tricks
   • Jazz-funk and funk-rock
     • 1970s
     • jazz funk: funk grooves with jazz top lines and harmony/ chord structures
       • jazz trumpeter Miles Davis experimented with the fusion
       • Herbie Hancock's 'Head Hunters'
     • funk-rock: bands such as Red Hot Chilli Peppers used lots of funk influences in their rock