This video's THE SHIT! Getting to see Mr. Sammy Merendino program the Linn was just... sick! he also produced my favorite CAMEO record, the classic, CANDY. shot out to the legend! Sammy Merendino!
Love this series. Incredible that the snare is a hand clap but knowing this, you can really visualise the kind of hallway required to turn a handclap into such an iconic sound. Really inspiring. Encourages taking some of today’s production back out of the box a bit.
This record absolutely shook things up back in '86. Great hearing the story behind the origins of those sounds. Clipped sample coming back to help make a hit!
Nice. I was re-visiting Cameo and noticed that Word Up had no snare, just that clap.. saw your video and was nice to have Sammy validate what I was hearing.
wow! So cool you got to talk to Sammy about the session! I remember that song and Human by Human League coming out at roughly the same time, after Janet Jackson's Control album. Definitely a change in tone from the early mid-80's sound. I also remember that was the year I got my first synth (Yamaha DX27), which I was very excited about.
I immediately subbed after watching the Tears For Fears video. I absolutely love your content, especially while I am experimenting with drum sounds from legendary drum machines like the DMX and the LinnDrum. Keep up the great work, sir! Looking forward to the next video! 👍🔥
Wow, what an incredible guest to interview! He was so humble about it but he and Larry made an IMMORTAL track, what a cool guy. Would be great to see a longer interview with him..... As an aside, I had heard somewhere that the clap sound on Word UP was the Clap Trap machine, but no! .... These videos you're doing are awesome BTW, thanks!
Fantastic video. The interview was great, I’ve always wanted to know where that massive clap came from. Had the chance to buy a 9000 cheap years and years back but passed as I never liked the way it looked. I was a fool 😢
I remember Cameo was on a radio interview on our local station KMEL. They were taking calls and I remember the great Bruce Hornsby called in and asked Larry about how they got the snare for Word Up. Larry said that was actually a sampled slap of Larry slapping Tomi on the leg.
I always love hearing about the thought and effort that went into crafting details that listeners would never even notice. If you asked me what that snare was, I'd have thought it was someone smacking the floor with a leather belt! Just a huuuuge sound. Would love to hear some famous 808 patterns, like Lady In Red or I Wanna Dance With Somebody!
yes! I remember there being a good interview in the magazine "One, Two, Testing" where they discussed gear... They also had Steve Ferrone playing drums, I think the same kind of approach there as on Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" with Ferrone on drums and also produced by Arif Mardin - really pristine sounds.
Thanks for doing this. Cameo is my favorite funk band and Larry Blackmon is my favorite drummer. He did say in an interview that he had a couple of guys clap in the studio staircase to get that sound. I bought a drum machine (Boss MKII) that had that clap sound.
Incredibly cool to hear all those wonderful details, first hand! The story about the bassdrum reminds me a lot of my very first experiences with sampling. Never thought that the Snare would be a clap with RMX16. And never thought of a SDS7 here. Wow!
Awesome vid, it was really nice to hear the story directly from Sammy Merendino! I wonder if you also talked about "Candy"? 😀I'm sure LA & Babyface were heavily influenced by Larry Blackmon's dry/in-your-face drum sounds and they, too, used the Linn 9000 for a long time. They even did "Games" for '87 Shalamar, which sounds like a Cameo track. 😎
Single Life was were Cameo reused this beat from. Very similar but most likely played live on Simmons and or other electrodrums. Candy also has the same beat, but slowed, it became like the Cameo Beat and it was hot and worked! Very cool video!
You can get this sound on a Yamaha RX5 too ive done it. And to create the flanged snare sound. You sequence two claps over eachother. And slightly different timings on the clap on a sequencer.
What about the the whipping sound that gets added to the snare drum and reverse sound before the snare in the beat breakdown on the 12 inch extended version of 'Word Up' ?
Merry crimbo. Best one yet. I always thought they did this on a Yamaha RX5. Cause ive done it on mine. Gated the kick to get that booming sound. And to get that phased snare sound. I recorded two claps on my QX5 sequencer micro seconds apart. And put them through a flanger effect.
@@CVsoundlabs The RX11 was the poor mans Linndrum back in the day. Punchy but limited. If I take it you have the Linn drums. LM1 MK 2 9000 DMX In your arsenal to play with. Some ideas for you for your behind the drums series. 1--Blue Monday--NEW ORDER (DMX) 2--Thriller--Michael Jackson (MK 2) 3--When Doves Cry--Prince (LM1) 4--Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley (9000)
Such an awesome episode! TBH - Not sure I would've been able to make this same pure production choice to avoid reverb entirely (other than the snare clap combo) back in the day; especially given all the amazing Lexicon gear likely at the ready to "verb" things up. ;) However, this choice really makes that snare sing, plus the synths stab and punch with silent clarity in between. It's like everything sits super clean in the mix unadorned for what it is. Picture perfect in-your-face Al dente pasta without the sauce, lol. Love the content - keep up the great work! Cheers! ✨
Thank you so much! The snare has a short gated Lexicon 224 on it. Everything else just has a "room" setting from the Lexicon. It's much more subtle than I would normally process the Linn but I was trying my best to match the original.
- hey btw, maybe you know or could do an episode on this topic: what exactly is going on with the beat in Soul II Soul's "Keep on Moving" and "Back To Life"? (Also Enigma's "Sadness" which I presume just sampled the Soul to Soul tracks) - I can hear that "Keep On Moving" samples Graham Central Station's "The Jam" but that's only in the middle of the song as a breakdown - the feel of the main beat is the drum break from The Jam - but the sounds?
@@rekindle “keep on moving” and “back to life” are both layered with the kick and snare from the 909. “Back to life” was also looped to create the drums for Primitive Radio Gods “Standing outside a broken phone booth”
I actually got to handle the “Control” LinnDrum at Flyte Time in Santa Monica courtesy of Jimmy Jam. The more interesting thing to me was how the timing on the breaks were done and why it was so difficult to duplicate.
@@dougansellif you watch some of their interviews, like the Red Bull academy one, they talk about their background coming up with Prince, I.e., constant rehearsals and practice, etc. In short … they would literally play drum machine parts and keyboard parts live on the record. “Pleasure Principle” is another good example of this. All of those complex changes … that’s not programming; that’s a musician playing a live part.
thanks for this vid ....some one lost a storage unit with my Linn/Forat 9000 in it could you do any Linn 9000 users , Expose song or any baby face/Deele song Linn 9000 lives.
This is why we have TH-cam. Quality content.
Thank you so much! Happy holidays.
Rapidly becoming one of my favourite music related channels.
Thank you for watching and happy holidays!
Also mine 😅 👏🏻
💯
This video's THE SHIT! Getting to see Mr. Sammy Merendino program the Linn was just... sick! he also produced my favorite CAMEO record, the classic, CANDY. shot out to the legend! Sammy Merendino!
awwwww! It's like candy.
OMG, we all wanted that Cameo snare sound back in the day!
One of the most iconic snares in history! Thanks for watching.
No real musician wanted anything to do with that clown show
@@bonzology322Then why are you here?
@@bonzology322 i see why your name is bozo. 😂
Love this series. Incredible that the snare is a hand clap but knowing this, you can really visualise the kind of hallway required to turn a handclap into such an iconic sound. Really inspiring. Encourages taking some of today’s production back out of the box a bit.
thank you for watching! Out of the box production is always a good thing in my book.
Phenomenal episode. Never knew the full story behind the Word Up clap… Also, seeing and hearing the Linn 9000 is just pure bliss. Thanks!
Thank you so much! New episode soon. Happy holidays.
Another great one. Excellent to have the interview included. Thank you!! 👏👏👏
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. Happy holidays!
I remember this tape being sold out at every Musicland in my town.
Depeche Mode stole that snare.
Cool video...keep them coming!
This record absolutely shook things up back in '86. Great hearing the story behind the origins of those sounds. Clipped sample coming back to help make a hit!
thank you for watching! new episode soon
Another great video of a classic song 🎶
thank you so much! new episode soon
Yet another stellar episode. Wow. The interview content was FASCINATING! Thanks so much for this one.
Cameo and Sade both changed everything and nobody noticed they'd done it.
Sade?
I was into beats back then. We noticed
Sade has some amazing linndrum programming.
Love me some Sade but you might want to change up and mention Prince.
@@CVsoundlabs Isn't most of Sade live drumming, except on Smooth Operator they used the Linn snare or bass I forget which.
I had a FORAT Modded 9000 fully loaded with every upgrade. Had my head in that thing every night and day for 10 years!
Nice. I was re-visiting Cameo and noticed that Word Up had no snare, just that clap.. saw your video and was nice to have Sammy validate what I was hearing.
wow! So cool you got to talk to Sammy about the session! I remember that song and Human by Human League coming out at roughly the same time, after Janet Jackson's Control album. Definitely a change in tone from the early mid-80's sound. I also remember that was the year I got my first synth (Yamaha DX27), which I was very excited about.
Yea it was so nice of him to come on.
Dude every episode is 🔥
I love how Ken your ear is on picking out these simple yet iconic patterns. Can’t wait to see what’s next!
Thank you so much! New episode should be out next week. Happy holidays.
Fantastic! Couldnt stop and watched every single video of your channel!
Thank you so much! Happy holidays.
I immediately subbed after watching the Tears For Fears video. I absolutely love your content, especially while I am experimenting with drum sounds from legendary drum machines like the DMX and the LinnDrum. Keep up the great work, sir! Looking forward to the next video! 👍🔥
thank you for the kind words! new episode soon!
Awesome breakdown and episode , more of this please!!!!
thank you so much! new episode soon!
Sammy’s a great drummer, he’s also played in Cyndi Lauper’s band for many years. Wonderful guy, too!
He’s the best!
Dope!!!
Very Cool, love the samples and the story behind them
This is sooo dope! 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Wow, what an incredible guest to interview! He was so humble about it but he and Larry made an IMMORTAL track, what a cool guy. Would be great to see a longer interview with him..... As an aside, I had heard somewhere that the clap sound on Word UP was the Clap Trap machine, but no! .... These videos you're doing are awesome BTW, thanks!
@@rekindle thank you so much! I definitely hope to have Sammy on for another episode. Happy holidays.
Dig this series!!! Those classic drum machines sound awesome! 👍🏻
Thank you for watching! Happy holidays!
Just awesome!!
Fantastic video. The interview was great, I’ve always wanted to know where that massive clap came from. Had the chance to buy a 9000 cheap years and years back but passed as I never liked the way it looked. I was a fool 😢
Found this by accident and I’m happy I did. I always wanted to know how that drum track was made. You have a new subscriber. Keep up the good work.
I remember Cameo was on a radio interview on our local station KMEL. They were taking calls and I remember the great Bruce Hornsby called in and asked Larry about how they got the snare for Word Up. Larry said that was actually a sampled slap of Larry slapping Tomi on the leg.
Concise and complete, made me subscribe with a bell.
I always love hearing about the thought and effort that went into crafting details that listeners would never even notice. If you asked me what that snare was, I'd have thought it was someone smacking the floor with a leather belt! Just a huuuuge sound. Would love to hear some famous 808 patterns, like Lady In Red or I Wanna Dance With Somebody!
Great as usual. Thank you and happy Holidays.
Thank you for watching. Happy Holidays!
that beat is still groove goodness!
Amazing sounds and recreation. Nice insight into this classic song. Thanks so much. Can’t wait for the next one:)
Thank you for watching! Happy holidays!
Loving your videos, keep em coming!
Thank you so much! Happy holidays!
Rad. Subbed. One of my favorite tunes _ever._
This was dope! Subscribed! 🙌🏾
appreciate it! new episode soon!
Great series. Thank you! I would love you to break down anything from Cupid and Psyche from Scritti Politti. Thanks!
Thank you so much. Good suggestion!
yes! I remember there being a good interview in the magazine "One, Two, Testing" where they discussed gear... They also had Steve Ferrone playing drums, I think the same kind of approach there as on Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" with Ferrone on drums and also produced by Arif Mardin - really pristine sounds.
INCREDIBLE!
thank you so much! new episode soon
Thx for the great content on this channel keep it up!
Thank you for watching! New episode soon.
Great videos! So much nostalgia 😎
Thank you for watching! New episode soon. Happy holidays.
Thanks for doing this. Cameo is my favorite funk band and Larry Blackmon is my favorite drummer. He did say in an interview that he had a couple of guys clap in the studio staircase to get that sound. I bought a drum machine (Boss MKII) that had that clap sound.
Amazing!
thank you for watching... new episode soon
Great video! I always wondered how they made that beat! The Clap sounds like it has snare underneath it though, or like it's tuned down.
Incredibly cool to hear all those wonderful details, first hand! The story about the bassdrum reminds me a lot of my very first experiences with sampling. Never thought that the Snare would be a clap with RMX16. And never thought of a SDS7 here. Wow!
thank you for watching! new episode soon
Please, more 9000!!
Awesome vid, it was really nice to hear the story directly from Sammy Merendino! I wonder if you also talked about "Candy"? 😀I'm sure LA & Babyface were heavily influenced by Larry Blackmon's dry/in-your-face drum sounds and they, too, used the Linn 9000 for a long time. They even did "Games" for '87 Shalamar, which sounds like a Cameo track. 😎
We spoke a little about “candy” but not in depth at all. I’m hoping to have him back on another episode in the future.
Musical geniuses.
OMG I always wanted one of these. We do not see them in the UK! Great video, thanks.
thank you for watching! The Linn 9000 is one of the most slept on drum machines. It hits harder than anything of the era.
I love your channel! Thanks for the work
Thank you so much for watching. Happy holidays!
Prince Housequake?
Also "IT" by Prince from the Sign O' The Times album. Had a very "cameo like" sound. Can you break that one down as well please?
@d.s.mitchell9566 the whole SOTT album is a Linn Masterpiece.
Definitely used to bump this in my car’s system in the mid-late 80’s!!!
Another great episode! Can I suggest “Don’t Be Cruel” from Bobby Brown? I’ve always wanted to know how they did that reverse handclap thing.
Ha… i actually replicated that track verbatim. I need to look back at that.
Thank you for watching! Great suggestion
Fun Fun also had this reverse clap thing on Happy Station.
Always wanted to know how that was done.
Great concept, channel and videos! How about Soul II Soul "Keep On Moving" and Lisa Stansfield "Been Around The World"?!
Always the best! Merry Christmas!!!
Merry Christmas! Thank you for watching!
Great vid!
thank you! new episode soon.
Second of your videos I’ve watched, ok dude I’m gonna sub up!
thank you for watching and thanks for the support! new episode soon
I loved this one.
I'd love to see you break down something like I Didn't Mean To Turn You On.
Single Life was were Cameo reused this beat from. Very similar but most likely played live on Simmons and or other electrodrums. Candy also has the same beat, but slowed, it became like the Cameo Beat and it was hot and worked! Very cool video!
Yes, love it ❤
You can get this sound on a Yamaha RX5 too ive done it. And to create the flanged snare sound. You sequence two claps over eachother. And slightly different timings on the clap on a sequencer.
Thank you for watching! New episode soon.
What about the the whipping sound that gets added to the snare drum and reverse sound before the snare in the beat breakdown on the 12 inch extended version of 'Word Up' ?
Awesome the interview was great I always wondered about the mindset of people recording
Thanks for watching! Happy holidays!
Merry crimbo. Best one yet. I always thought they did this on a Yamaha RX5. Cause ive done it on mine. Gated the kick to get that booming sound. And to get that phased snare sound. I recorded two claps on my QX5 sequencer micro seconds apart. And put them through a flanger effect.
RX5 is a nice piece. I like the RX11 as well. Thanks for watching!
@@CVsoundlabs
The RX11 was the poor mans Linndrum back in the day. Punchy but limited.
If I take it you have the Linn drums.
LM1
MK 2
9000
DMX
In your arsenal to play with. Some ideas for you for your behind the drums series.
1--Blue Monday--NEW ORDER (DMX)
2--Thriller--Michael Jackson (MK 2)
3--When Doves Cry--Prince (LM1)
4--Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley (9000)
Awesome content. Keep it coming 🙏🏿
Thank you so much! Happy holidays!
He’s over 9000!
Such an awesome episode! TBH - Not sure I would've been able to make this same pure production choice to avoid reverb entirely (other than the snare clap combo) back in the day; especially given all the amazing Lexicon gear likely at the ready to "verb" things up. ;) However, this choice really makes that snare sing, plus the synths stab and punch with silent clarity in between. It's like everything sits super clean in the mix unadorned for what it is. Picture perfect in-your-face Al dente pasta without the sauce, lol. Love the content - keep up the great work! Cheers! ✨
Thank you so much! The snare has a short gated Lexicon 224 on it. Everything else just has a "room" setting from the Lexicon. It's much more subtle than I would normally process the Linn but I was trying my best to match the original.
Great! The only thing missing is the flanged clap. Probably the meanest clap sound ever! Thx 4 this
Request: Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar, excellent Linn toms on that one. great offset pattern too
Can you do "Computer Love" by Roger & Zapp?
Ooh I am enjoying this series a lot! Would you be able to do Freakazoid (Midnight Starr?), Always Something there to Remind me (Naked Eyes)?
“Always something there to remind me” is definitely on the list. I will look into midnight start. Thank you for watching!
Curious to know if you guys discussed the flanging effect that shows up on some of the snare hits. I always liked that sound.
Bravo 👏🏾
It's the same Snare Sound for Depeche Mode - Strangelove... so cool 👌😊
Sounds like it to me. Love the emax btw!
VERY interesting!! 👍🔥
Thanks for watching! New episode soon.
🔝
For once, I hope this is all an elaborate ruse to release sample packs - I’ll take a kit per episode please ❤
Hahaha. Thanks for watching!
Your narration reminds me of K Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies.
And that's good. I mean...very good.
Hahaha thanks! I’ve been getting that a lot.
I always thought these drums were XR-10. The sound is excellent
Stock Aikten Waterman did a lot with the Linn 9000 and TR707, for those that don't know "Never Gonna Give you up" is one of hundreds
That was the only one I ever liked.
"IT" by Prince from the Sign O' The Times album. Had a very "cameo like" sound. Can you break that one down as well please?
I will look into it!
Excellent suggestion!
Their 13th album? Wow!
Crazy right. Thanks for watching!
I wonder if Sammy would release that sample into the wild?
Dopeeeeee!!!
Thanks for watching! New episode soon.
rad video meng 😎
Thanks for watching! Happy holidays!
- hey btw, maybe you know or could do an episode on this topic: what exactly is going on with the beat in Soul II Soul's "Keep on Moving" and "Back To Life"? (Also Enigma's "Sadness" which I presume just sampled the Soul to Soul tracks) - I can hear that "Keep On Moving" samples Graham Central Station's "The Jam" but that's only in the middle of the song as a breakdown - the feel of the main beat is the drum break from The Jam - but the sounds?
@@rekindle “keep on moving” and “back to life” are both layered with the kick and snare from the 909. “Back to life” was also looped to create the drums for Primitive Radio Gods “Standing outside a broken phone booth”
@@CVsoundlabs thanks!
Biz markie did a rap song in 1987 called picking boogers which had a similar drum beat.
@@Ashfaq1999 that's the Graham Central Station drum break from "The Jam" on the Biz track - the vocal saying "Manuel" is part of the drum sample.
🔥
Nice thanks dude is good thanks a lot
Wow actually using the original machine ! That’s music history
Wonderful stuff. I'd like you to do a breakdown of 'Promised Land'by a Joe Smooth😊😊
“Control” - Janet Jackson.
Gonna be getting into some Jam and Lewis Janet stuff very soon with the Linn 9000.
I actually got to handle the “Control” LinnDrum at Flyte Time in Santa Monica courtesy of Jimmy Jam. The more interesting thing to me was how the timing on the breaks were done and why it was so difficult to duplicate.
@ that’s sick. They are one of my biggest inspirations and some of the best drum programmers of all time.
@@dougansellif you watch some of their interviews, like the Red Bull academy one, they talk about their background coming up with Prince, I.e., constant rehearsals and practice, etc.
In short … they would literally play drum machine parts and keyboard parts live on the record.
“Pleasure Principle” is another good example of this. All of those complex changes … that’s not programming; that’s a musician playing a live part.
@@dougansell any idea how the bass sound on "Fake" was made? That's what I'd ask them
beautiful 🍷👌
Thanks for watching! Happy holidays!
Any Prince song specifically from the 80's
thanks for this vid ....some one lost a storage unit with my Linn/Forat 9000 in it
could you do any Linn 9000 users , Expose song or any baby face/Deele song Linn 9000 lives.
I remember IMMEDIATELY sampling that CLAP into my S900 and using it under EVERYTHING :+)
It’s one of the most massive snare/claps I’ve ever heard.
Omg that offbeat tambourine makes the difference!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Once again, approved by Shazam as Word Up by Cameo
haha. It keeps on happening!
❤🔥
Oh!
wicked
thanks for watching!
Depeche Mode sampled it for Strange Love.
Sure sounds like it to me.