Thanks so much to everyone who pointed us towards Sammy Merendino, who programmed all of the drums on Cameo's "Word Up!" album (and "Single Life" and most of "Machismo" as well). We got in contact with him and he was kind enough to answer our question in detail. Here's what he had to say: "To clarify, there was NO gated reverb on any of those sounds, although your version is really close. Larry forbade any reverb when we were tracking. He wanted the samples bone dry and in your face. The snare drum was Larry clapping his hands in the 11th floor stairwell into an AMS, triggered from the sample we put on tape. The bass drum was a linn9000 stock kick paired with a distorted bass drum sample I made at media sound when I first received the 9000 sampling card. Hope this helps! Also the small white noise sounds were from a Simmons SDS7."
I've worked with Sammy on Broadway and he's a monster drummer irl...toured with Cyndi Lauper for a long time among too many credits to list. I just discovered your channel and am in love with everything about it!
I love how a spoonful of funk is the only thing that stops this beat from sounding like it wouldn't be out of place on an early Nine Inch Nails record This beat SLAPS!
That "snareclap" sound was sampled and used extensively in the late 80s / early 90s Amiga demoscene. The earliest home music production tracker music software and modules that were very popular in that era.
After filming we realized that the bass drum sound design can be tricky to hear, especially the individual EQ changes, so if you have trouble hearing the differences you could consider listening to the segment on mixing headphones or loudspeakers with a good bass response. Some of these sound design changes are pretty minute, but they add up as you can hear in the before/after segment :)
Listening to this through an iPhone speaker made it really clear interestingly. After the 30hz cut you could hear the thump of the kick, where you couldn’t before. Demonstrates the importance of low cuts for kick translation.
@@Magnus_Loovwhy allthough? The dt770 has sub bass and bass extension until the ground looking at the frequency response. Of course you should hear the changes. Even the response is quite uneven and the treble dip its all there. Most of the time goid or pricy headphones are more linear or bring you the sound better qualitywise. But there is nothing "wrong" With your dt770. But the guy under your comment talking about hearing 30hz cuts on a iphone speaker seems like imagination even if i have no i phone.
@@markus6409 "Although" as in "Yes I can hear it all, although the reason for it is that I DO have good headphones (as opposed to the crappy default ones).
I am dating myself but I remember this one from the beginning. We used to roller-skate when I was young and we had two indoor locations to do so....even in my small town. Anyway, yes. *Word Up .....and we would put our "hands in the air like we just don't care." These roller-skating "rinks" were were I would first meet girls and dance with skates on! lol I was born 1970 and maybe these past days of youth and this music I recall is why I'm here now .... I wish to replicate and yet re-imagine what I knew but now to learn so much more in the process of remaining young.... ? ! haha! Or not so but one thing I continue to experience and realize :.....nostalgia is a powerful feeling, yes?! Again, thank you CaptainPikant.... and I thank your interns and all for a very approachable way of instruction. So much a pleasure for me. /cheers to all
I remember reading on gearspace a while back that the clap sound was actually someone in the studio building clapping on the other side of a large hallway. That specific "custom" sample (or a soundalike) was later used in a large amount of drum machine
I actually worked with the recording engineer who recorded and mixed this album, Eric Calvi. He told me the same story but it was actually 3 members of Cameo in the stairwell of Quad Studios clapping their hands and he recorded it
Cameo info from the net;; we used a Linn LM-2 on single life, with a simmons ads-v for the white noise sounds. I also had an Akai S900 sampler, but the bulk of the sounds were generated on the Linndrum For Word up, I used a Linn 9000. The bass drum sample was the stock Kick drum sample combined with an overloaded sample I made at Media sound. Was the first sample I made using the new sampling card. It was all distorted, but I saved it thinking I would use it for something in the future. Was the perfect match for the snare drum sample, which was Larry’s handclap sampled in the hallway at the studio into an AMS. I also had a Simmons SDs-7 and SDSV as well. Machismo was a combination of Linn/Forat 9000 plus an Akai MPC. Had a Forat sampler. but Larry preferred the sound of 8 or 12 bit, so we used the Akai sampling instead. Was a little grittier.
Great video! One extra challenge though - there's this sound, kinda like something revving up and slowing down rapidly. Occurs around 2:25 in the song - like 1-2-3- "Errr" 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-"Errr Errr" Not sure if that makes sense but I'm sure you've noticed it. Would love to know how that was done!
Never heard it? That's amazing. Sad, actually..... : ( But, in a way, it's also quite wonderful-you probably have so much incredible music still left to discover. I have such vivid memories of this song being played in my favorite college bar. So much fun.....
@@CentaurusRelax314 If (s)he’s never heard it, then (s)he certainly does not know about the red codpiece! I would say it is in the top 50 most iconic songs of the 80s. If you had told me when this song was new that in 2023, I would have the entire history of recorded music at my fingertips. I would not have believed you.
@@CentaurusRelax314 Weird thing is, it's not like I don't know any songs from that time period. I know Oingo Boingo or CHIC among others plenty well. This particular song and I just never crossed paths it seems.
Amazing amazing amazing video. I love the way you break this beat down. It's so helpful to see each of the patterns by themselves as it gives new producers a lot of ideas to pull from. Cheers
Oof! Sounds fantastic! I remember many years ago there was forum talk that the original snare sound on the track came from a Yamaha RX-5 (original ROM set cartridge), though tweaked within the machine with its extensive parameter editing capabilities. I have an RX-5 and couldn't get the exact tone (but got pretty close) Another notable use of the RX-5 snare was "Beat Dis" by Bomb The Bass.
Ohhh thank you for these layering tips! I’ve been stuck working on a track where the rhythm is sourced from samples of other mechanical devices like tape decks and hard drives - but they always sounded so thin. Which I kind of knew they would and planned to lean-into, but it was just a bit stronger than I wanted even with strong shaping. Turns out I should just layer 2-4 of them synced! Thank you again!
@@CaptainPikant Thank you for the video, as I understand it Mr Red Codpiece was a decent drummer and mixed his Dave Simmons kit with the Yamaha RX-5 (released 1986), they were a 70's funk/R&B band and bands of that genre/ era typically had lots of musicians/ people of stage, I don't think sequencers were adopted until later possibly more so by the Europeans before the Americans?
@@theblacksquirrel.The band The system ( american) contradicts your theory since they mixed funk with extensive sequence work , so much so they were in demand as programmers by European acts like Robert Palmer or Phil collins.
@@cnfuzz Yeah, not really… They were a duo who met and started in the 80’s, which is very different to my point about bands that came up through the 70’s - think bands like Cool & the Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire, Parliament/ Funkadelic etc. I don’t know what they got paid back then, but when I started gigging in the 90’s, it wasn’t much and split 3 - 4 ways was better than split 8 - 10 ways, a midi sequencer didn’t drink your bar tab either! I had to look up the two artists you mentioned in relation to “The System” Robert Palmer covered one of their songs and Phil Collins used David Frank for one song, playing Synth and Synth bass parts (in the studio, but not live) as a keyboard player and arranger he did have quite a successful career.
Thank you for making this! I run Reaper on Linux and decided to check out Tal Drum. To my delight there is a reason for Linux. I plan on downloading a demo to try out. I normally prefer hardware drum sound sources. But a sample player plugin would give me a ton of options. I am thinking it might be fun for vocal samples to throw into a dance track.
I almost lost my mind when I first heard the song over the radio. My older brother got the album, and then I played this song to death, along with the rest of it. Really interesting to see you break it down like you did; now, hearing all those little elements, I'm not surprised that I, and a lot of other people fell in love with this tune. Even without the chords, melody and other elements it's just so catchy.
I really love the sound design section on this one! I feel like sound design on drum machines is an often overlooked topic, but it can really spice up your songs if you pay attention to it :D
I'm not a musician, just classical music education, but your videos never fail to amaze me. Very high quality! Maybe someday I'll get my master keyboard out and do something. Keep it up.
I actually stopped high- and low pass filtering everything by default. Yes, sometimes it muddies your mix. But sometimes those little peaks make the whole sound more immersive. It mostly depends on the kind of effects you run it through but IF it's an issue, for example when you distort it, you'll immediately recognize it. But that goes both ways: sometimes it sounds awesome. If you cut it out by default, you'll always miss those opportunities. Also it may just thin out your mix
I own a real LinnDrum, bone stock, and I'll be giving this a try using your tips! UPDATE: I made a short about it :) th-cam.com/video/mwZARXrnEPw/w-d-xo.html You can't tune the kick on the Linn and of course it won't be preprocessed like so many sample packs, so I imagine it might be a trick of the ear with heavy EQ, compression and the bassline running underneath. Whilst I do have vintage verb in my plugin collection, I also have GLOW and Pulse from wave alchemy, which are recreations of the RMX16 and PCM-60 so maybe there will be some secret sauce in there as well in those period correct effects. Likewise I have the amazing VSDS-X from Aly James for the Simmons portions. For the clap, I imagine it's literally noise. I've read posts from old producers who state that layering noise via a trigger out on the Linn or other machines was very common; might even be the simmons because it generated noise that you could filter that would've retained the snap at the start. Since the Linn also didn't have any automation, the tambourine is probably a digital delay or some kind which ping pongs into the other speaker.
That's true, the stock LinnDrum didn't have tuning for the kick drum, but you could modify it :) Let us know if you like the other reverbs better than the Nonlinear algorithm of the VintageVerb (I'd be very interested in a sound sample if you can upload one). We also thought that the Tambourine was simply run through a delay, but presented like that on the sequencer it's much easier to grasp :)
@@CaptainPikant Ask and ye shall receive! th-cam.com/video/mwZARXrnEPw/w-d-xo.html It's not perfect as there's more EQ and delicate filter tweaking needed on the Odyssey, but it's a reasonable approximation for something done so quickly.
You can swap your kick eprom into a tube able slot such as the conga. This will allow for the kick to be tuned. Also “word up” was not made on a linndrum. It was the Linn 9000
The Kawai R-50e has sounds that are so close to the ones on Word Up that I wonder if that's the machine they used rather than a LinnDrum, or perhaps its bigger brother the R-100 that could use the same EPROM for the electronic drum set. The R-50e has to be the most 80s sounding digital drum machine in existence - it even has a gate parameter for the sounds!
@@CaptainPikant Wow, I remember Word Up being from later in the 80s! As for the LinnDrum, I owned one for many years and the raw sounds are massive. I assume the idea was that it's possible to filter out the frequencies you don't need, but you can't boost ones that aren't there in the first place. It meant I had to buy a mixer with enough channels to process each sound individually, which was a bit of a novelty for someone like me that had only previously used quite thin sounding analogue drum machines.
Thank you for this - really awesome! Need to find a way to capture the essence of the vocal track - there's nothing quite like it when paired with the music... I learned so much from this video alone!! Cheers!
Wonderful! Yeah the source of that snare/clap, such an iconic sound, can't imagine there isn't a magazine article about it somewhere. Probably some old print magazine though.
Its probably from a linn but processed through a nonlinear reverb and heavy boost around 1khz. That's at least what they did to the "she drives me crazy" snare wich sounds the same. Love that signature sound.
Have you seen the link posted by @klinkske here in the comment section? In that video there's a detailed explanation of the "She Drives Me Crazy" snare sound :)
I could do this whole thing on Acid Pro with some Waves Plug In's much easier :P . However this is super authentic and fun sound design demo bro. As an opposite man I reckon Combining the Buses at end though your loop would still need additional channels for Master Kick n snare then to merge with the orignal, so to stay right and true. I find it strange to see compression and frequency cut offs on, singular sample sounds, which are being triggered by midi. But I suppose for just a drum track you nailed it! Totally has that 80's sound to it volume wise. Here is what I believe the snare actually is.. We Will Rock You - YW... Very common sample to play with back then as there are varying human offset in group tandem as well as a pretty snappy tight one or two. Add a 909/808 snare to that with a regular clap and a fast snappy wood glock
Only listening this video I just figured out the drum loop from "Word Up" reminds me "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals. I compared the two and I'm quite surprised "She Drives Me Crazy" does not have the sample from "Word Up". But they both sound very similar though.
I googled the She Drives Me Crazy production process, and found an interview with the original members where they recounted the story of going to Minneapolis to work with an engineer who worked with Prince (since their label wouldn't pay for them to work with Prince, so next best thing) and it described the creation of the snare sound: the quick version is that the engineer took the top off a snare drum, hit it with a wooden ruler, processed the sound a a bit then blended it with a snare from a drum machine.
I saw this played live in 1987...it was my first concert ever....😂. It was actually played as an encore, though it was THE worldwide hit by then. God knows how this song and it's BEAT changed everything in terms of the perception of black music over here in Europe. Prince kicked in the door, but this song actually conquered ANY Dancefloor, no matter what! After all these years i could pull up this thing from my 80/90s gear, just by ear. Lol. Great analysis, but of course i would do the thing in a more "traditional", non DAW setting using my DMX, some Kawai and Akai Sounds plus Basic Alesis Effects to get there...cuz that's what i have...lol. The additional claps and stuff, that sounds like rim sticks, that was interesting, i always wondered how they did that...
I have been looking for that snare/clap sound used in mid to late 80’s Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis tracks to no end if anyone knows the source that would be awesome!
Excellent presentation : when I was younger : I was obsessed with this beat would you consider Billy Ocean's - Loverboy drum breakdown? thank you for sharing Cheers 🥂
Love them both! They have different workflows, but it would be way too much to write in a comment. We're actually thinking about making a video comparing the four big pad matrix sequencers (Squarp Hapax, Synthstrom Deluge, Oxi One, Polyend Play).
@@CaptainPikant That would be most useful and generally awesome! I've been looking for a Hapax vs Oxi comparison but including the other two would be even better. I hope you do end up doing that video.. Anyhow thanks for the videos..
Oxy 1 is good for demonstrating sequences. Most of us had to do these in our heads and by trial and error. Not everyone is a musician. We are spoilt now with Daw's and modern versions of classic drum machines.
Yes I was going to post simmons claptrap as well - but the digital one though, with a clap sample and white noise ( I believe). I reads lots of forum threads since the video was posted, and the claptrap was one of the more credible suggestions.
Oh absolutely it's the digital claptrap, just found this video: th-cam.com/video/JMlbaStLeYc/w-d-xo.html After a minute and a half, there's that sound!
PLEASE do the lead bass/synth sound in Missy Elliot's Work It. I tried my best to replicate it on my OG OP-1 but it isn't quite there. It is very difficult to find a way to replicate it.
Thanks so much to everyone who pointed us towards Sammy Merendino, who programmed all of the drums on Cameo's "Word Up!" album (and "Single Life" and most of "Machismo" as well). We got in contact with him and he was kind enough to answer our question in detail. Here's what he had to say:
"To clarify, there was NO gated reverb on any of those sounds, although your version is really close. Larry forbade any reverb when we were tracking. He wanted the samples bone dry and in your face. The snare drum was Larry clapping his hands in the 11th floor stairwell into an AMS, triggered from the sample we put on tape. The bass drum was a linn9000 stock kick paired with a distorted bass drum sample I made at media sound when I first received the 9000 sampling card. Hope this helps! Also the small white noise sounds were from a Simmons SDS7."
😲
So awesome to learn of! Incredible!
I've worked with Sammy on Broadway and he's a monster drummer irl...toured with Cyndi Lauper for a long time among too many credits to list. I just discovered your channel and am in love with everything about it!
1:01 Right before the introduction of the hi-hat i was 100% primed to expect the guitar riff from She Drives Me Crazy to kick in.
Of course, the real icing on the cake was Larry Blackmon’s shiny red codpiece. It’s essential to the groove.
'Word up... Owww!'
Eyes right! Wait that's a codpiece turn away.
C'mon boy😂😂😂
Is a codpiece a kind of high-pass filter?
@@stephen70edwards band pass
I love how a spoonful of funk is the only thing that stops this beat from sounding like it wouldn't be out of place on an early Nine Inch Nails record
This beat SLAPS!
As a child, I simply enjoyed the song. As an adult, I absolutely appreciate the detail put into these classics.
What a time to be alive.
Things like that unique “snare” sound, which is immediately recognizable, make for memorable music!
That "snareclap" sound was sampled and used extensively in the late 80s / early 90s Amiga demoscene. The earliest home music production tracker music software and modules that were very popular in that era.
One of the best tracks of 1986, a year already filled to the brim with great tunes!
One of the best 80s tracks in the genre, yes. On par with "Pump Up The Volume", "Pump Up The Jam" and "Theme From S'Express".
@@wolfgangdevries127
Those are all different genres.
After filming we realized that the bass drum sound design can be tricky to hear, especially the individual EQ changes, so if you have trouble hearing the differences you could consider listening to the segment on mixing headphones or loudspeakers with a good bass response. Some of these sound design changes are pretty minute, but they add up as you can hear in the before/after segment :)
Yeah, I quickly realized I needed to immediately switch to high quality headphones and it did the trick!
No problem at all hearing all the differences, although I am using a Beyerdynamic DT 770-Pro headphone.
Listening to this through an iPhone speaker made it really clear interestingly. After the 30hz cut you could hear the thump of the kick, where you couldn’t before. Demonstrates the importance of low cuts for kick translation.
@@Magnus_Loovwhy allthough? The dt770 has sub bass and bass extension until the ground looking at the frequency response. Of course you should hear the changes. Even the response is quite uneven and the treble dip its all there. Most of the time goid or pricy headphones are more linear or bring you the sound better qualitywise. But there is nothing "wrong" With your dt770.
But the guy under your comment talking about hearing 30hz cuts on a iphone speaker seems like imagination even if i have no i phone.
@@markus6409 "Although" as in "Yes I can hear it all, although the reason for it is that I DO have good headphones (as opposed to the crappy default ones).
I am dating myself but I remember this one from the beginning.
We used to roller-skate when I was young and we had two indoor locations to do so....even in my small town. Anyway, yes. *Word Up .....and we would put our "hands in the air like we just don't care."
These roller-skating "rinks" were were I would first meet girls and dance with skates on! lol
I was born 1970 and maybe these past days of youth and this music I recall is why I'm here now .... I wish to replicate and yet re-imagine what I knew but now to learn so much more in the process of remaining young.... ? ! haha! Or not so but one thing I continue to experience and realize :.....nostalgia is a powerful feeling, yes?!
Again, thank you CaptainPikant.... and I thank your interns and all for a very approachable way of instruction. So much a pleasure for me.
/cheers to all
At the end when you started adding more to it i realized how much this sounds like Skinny Puppy.
It's very mid 80s industrial.
The vector gives an insight into just how much effort goes into the sound design for these videos. Thanks Cap'n and the lady with the beautiful hands!
Love the quirky production on this channel. Go Beat Bunny!
I dont know what is more impressive: Youre music or video edition skills :)
I remember reading on gearspace a while back that the clap sound was actually someone in the studio building clapping on the other side of a large hallway. That specific "custom" sample (or a soundalike) was later used in a large amount of drum machine
Interesting! If you find the link please post it :)
I actually worked with the recording engineer who recorded and mixed this album, Eric Calvi. He told me the same story but it was actually 3 members of Cameo in the stairwell of Quad Studios clapping their hands and he recorded it
Yes, what a great end of a workweek! Vielen Dank!
Your content is so entertaining and yet educational at the same time. I am still blown away by your production quality. Great one 👍
Great job covering all the what’s, how’s and why’s in such a short time! Keep’em coming!
Cameo info from the net;; we used a Linn LM-2 on single life, with a simmons ads-v for the white noise sounds.
I also had an Akai S900 sampler, but the bulk of the sounds were generated on the Linndrum
For Word up, I used a Linn 9000. The bass drum sample was the stock Kick drum sample combined with an overloaded sample I made at Media sound. Was the first sample I made using the new sampling card. It was all distorted, but I saved it thinking I would use it for something in the future. Was the perfect match for the snare drum sample, which was Larry’s handclap sampled in the hallway at the studio into an AMS. I also had a Simmons SDs-7 and SDSV as well.
Machismo was a combination of Linn/Forat 9000 plus an Akai MPC. Had a Forat sampler. but Larry preferred the sound of 8 or 12 bit, so we used the Akai sampling instead. Was a little grittier.
That was worth the cost of subscribing.
Wait a minute... 😄
Great video! One extra challenge though - there's this sound, kinda like something revving up and slowing down rapidly. Occurs around 2:25 in the song - like 1-2-3- "Errr" 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-"Errr Errr"
Not sure if that makes sense but I'm sure you've noticed it. Would love to know how that was done!
I've never heard this song in my life, but it's very entertaining to learn about it. The beat is also very catchy.
Go listen to "Candy" next. Same drum sounds, same album. Classic.
Never heard it? That's amazing. Sad, actually..... : (
But, in a way, it's also quite wonderful-you probably have so much incredible music still left to discover. I have such vivid memories of this song being played in my favorite college bar. So much fun.....
@@CentaurusRelax314 If (s)he’s never heard it, then (s)he certainly does not know about the red codpiece! I would say it is in the top 50 most iconic songs of the 80s. If you had told me when this song was new that in 2023, I would have the entire history of recorded music at my fingertips. I would not have believed you.
@@CentaurusRelax314 Weird thing is, it's not like I don't know any songs from that time period. I know Oingo Boingo or CHIC among others plenty well. This particular song and I just never crossed paths it seems.
@@IrnBruNYC
Just brilliant. I've tried to recreate this previously without success but now know how. Many thanks.
It's a good thing I can understand enough about this to translate it to my MPC. That OX sequencer you're using looks very intimidating
Nice thing about this is having the knowledge to apply this to any project you want to make.
Sick. Great practical use of HP filtering!
Thanks for this sweet breakdown! The trickiest part of this rad jam is getting the hair right.
OOOOOOOOOUCH!!!!!!!! THAT PANNING!!!!!!!🎉🎉🎉
Great video - dope! That clap is likely an EPROM of a Simmons SDS clap blown into the Linndrum, as Larry Blackmon was a huge champion of Simmons kits.
Amazing amazing amazing video. I love the way you break this beat down. It's so helpful to see each of the patterns by themselves as it gives new producers a lot of ideas to pull from. Cheers
Oof! Sounds fantastic! I remember many years ago there was forum talk that the original snare sound on the track came from a Yamaha RX-5 (original ROM set cartridge), though tweaked within the machine with its extensive parameter editing capabilities. I have an RX-5 and couldn't get the exact tone (but got pretty close) Another notable use of the RX-5 snare was "Beat Dis" by Bomb The Bass.
Real engineering skill and talent in this
Production value through the roof. Word Up!
Consistently great videos and lessons!
Thanks y'all!
Thats great content. Very interesting
Ohhh thank you for these layering tips! I’ve been stuck working on a track where the rhythm is sourced from samples of other mechanical devices like tape decks and hard drives - but they always sounded so thin. Which I kind of knew they would and planned to lean-into, but it was just a bit stronger than I wanted even with strong shaping. Turns out I should just layer 2-4 of them synced! Thank you again!
Awesome! Glad it was useful to you :)
Read in an interview it was a mix of linndrum samples and most importantly a Yamaha Rx5
Awesome, thanks! I just checked a few demos of it and that could very well be possible :)
@@CaptainPikant Thank you for the video, as I understand it Mr Red Codpiece was a decent drummer and mixed his Dave Simmons kit with the Yamaha RX-5 (released 1986), they were a 70's funk/R&B band and bands of that genre/ era typically had lots of musicians/ people of stage, I don't think sequencers were adopted until later possibly more so by the Europeans before the Americans?
@@theblacksquirrel.The band The system ( american) contradicts your theory since they mixed funk with extensive sequence work , so much so they were in demand as programmers by European acts like Robert Palmer or Phil collins.
@@cnfuzz Yeah, not really…
They were a duo who met and started in the 80’s, which is very different to my point about bands that came up through the 70’s - think bands like Cool & the Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire, Parliament/ Funkadelic etc. I don’t know what they got paid back then, but when I started gigging in the 90’s, it wasn’t much and split 3 - 4 ways was better than split 8 - 10 ways, a midi sequencer didn’t drink your bar tab either!
I had to look up the two artists you mentioned in relation to “The System” Robert Palmer covered one of their songs and Phil Collins used David Frank for one song, playing Synth and Synth bass parts (in the studio, but not live) as a keyboard player and arranger he did have quite a successful career.
Thank you for making this! I run Reaper on Linux and decided to check out Tal Drum. To my delight there is a reason for Linux. I plan on downloading a demo to try out. I normally prefer hardware drum sound sources. But a sample player plugin would give me a ton of options. I am thinking it might be fun for vocal samples to throw into a dance track.
This channel must be a good outlet to help provide you with some sanity. You are doing good work for your pops.
Aye! Perfect. Lovely. I have never forgotten the song
I almost lost my mind when I first heard the song over the radio. My older brother got the album, and then I played this song to death, along with the rest of it. Really interesting to see you break it down like you did; now, hearing all those little elements, I'm not surprised that I, and a lot of other people fell in love with this tune. Even without the chords, melody and other elements it's just so catchy.
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it :)
I really love the sound design section on this one! I feel like sound design on drum machines is an often overlooked topic, but it can really spice up your songs if you pay attention to it :D
Thanks Jae, we're really glad you liked it :)
I'm not a musician, just classical music education, but your videos never fail to amaze me. Very high quality! Maybe someday I'll get my master keyboard out and do something. Keep it up.
Thanks! The time is now, get that master keyboard out :)
Great!! Finally subscribed!
I have loved the song right since it came out.
best content creator hands down 💚
The sickest of your videos I've seen so far! I was banging my head so hard during the end jam🤘
I actually stopped high- and low pass filtering everything by default. Yes, sometimes it muddies your mix. But sometimes those little peaks make the whole sound more immersive. It mostly depends on the kind of effects you run it through but IF it's an issue, for example when you distort it, you'll immediately recognize it. But that goes both ways: sometimes it sounds awesome. If you cut it out by default, you'll always miss those opportunities. Also it may just thin out your mix
That's true, in the end always let your ears decide :)
gooood content! Thats what YT is for. Follow you from now on.
Excellent video, lots of really good information. Thanks.
word up. Indeed. GOLD. Cheers cap/intern.🎯
Thanks Michael, we're glad you like it :)
I own a real LinnDrum, bone stock, and I'll be giving this a try using your tips!
UPDATE: I made a short about it :) th-cam.com/video/mwZARXrnEPw/w-d-xo.html
You can't tune the kick on the Linn and of course it won't be preprocessed like so many sample packs, so I imagine it might be a trick of the ear with heavy EQ, compression and the bassline running underneath. Whilst I do have vintage verb in my plugin collection, I also have GLOW and Pulse from wave alchemy, which are recreations of the RMX16 and PCM-60 so maybe there will be some secret sauce in there as well in those period correct effects. Likewise I have the amazing VSDS-X from Aly James for the Simmons portions.
For the clap, I imagine it's literally noise. I've read posts from old producers who state that layering noise via a trigger out on the Linn or other machines was very common; might even be the simmons because it generated noise that you could filter that would've retained the snap at the start. Since the Linn also didn't have any automation, the tambourine is probably a digital delay or some kind which ping pongs into the other speaker.
That's true, the stock LinnDrum didn't have tuning for the kick drum, but you could modify it :) Let us know if you like the other reverbs better than the Nonlinear algorithm of the VintageVerb (I'd be very interested in a sound sample if you can upload one). We also thought that the Tambourine was simply run through a delay, but presented like that on the sequencer it's much easier to grasp :)
@@CaptainPikant Ask and ye shall receive! th-cam.com/video/mwZARXrnEPw/w-d-xo.html
It's not perfect as there's more EQ and delicate filter tweaking needed on the Odyssey, but it's a reasonable approximation for something done so quickly.
@@benanderson89 awesome! Props for putting this together so quickly!!
@@CaptainPikant thank you! ♥️
Your EQ settings for the clap/snare helped a lot xD
You can swap your kick eprom into a tube able slot such as the conga. This will allow for the kick to be tuned. Also “word up” was not made on a linndrum. It was the Linn 9000
Had me at 1:00 (I could already hear the whistles 😊)
your branding and skills on the beats is nuts man. are you a Cyborg?
i wish you had a donate button. you're insane
The Kawai R-50e has sounds that are so close to the ones on Word Up that I wonder if that's the machine they used rather than a LinnDrum, or perhaps its bigger brother the R-100 that could use the same EPROM for the electronic drum set. The R-50e has to be the most 80s sounding digital drum machine in existence - it even has a gate parameter for the sounds!
It seems the R-50e was released in 1988, two years after Word Up. Its sounds extremely 80s though, for sure :)
@@CaptainPikant Wow, I remember Word Up being from later in the 80s! As for the LinnDrum, I owned one for many years and the raw sounds are massive. I assume the idea was that it's possible to filter out the frequencies you don't need, but you can't boost ones that aren't there in the first place. It meant I had to buy a mixer with enough channels to process each sound individually, which was a bit of a novelty for someone like me that had only previously used quite thin sounding analogue drum machines.
According to Discogs Lists, the Yamaha RX-5 has been used on the following songs:
"Word Up! Cameo
Take a look at the pinned comment, the musician who programmed the beat told us how he did it :)
What a great channel is this, I really enjoyed this. Happy to come across your channel, This was f, ing dope!
Thank you for this - really awesome! Need to find a way to capture the essence of the vocal track - there's nothing quite like it when paired with the music... I learned so much from this video alone!! Cheers!
awesome video captain
this is so spot on! Amazing as always !
Excellent content, thank you
I never knew Cameo covered this Korn classic.
Actually Korn covered it from Little Mix.
Wonderful! Yeah the source of that snare/clap, such an iconic sound, can't imagine there isn't a magazine article about it somewhere. Probably some old print magazine though.
What a great video. Enjoyed that very much. Thank you!
Its probably from a linn but processed through a nonlinear reverb and heavy boost around 1khz. That's at least what they did to the "she drives me crazy" snare wich sounds the same. Love that signature sound.
Have you seen the link posted by @klinkske here in the comment section? In that video there's a detailed explanation of the "She Drives Me Crazy" snare sound :)
@@CaptainPikant wwhaaaat? no can't see it.
@@tommyfeinstoff here you go th-cam.com/video/ipGmd1S2hlY/w-d-xo.html :)
I could do this whole thing on Acid Pro with some Waves Plug In's much easier :P . However this is super authentic and fun sound design demo bro. As an opposite man I reckon
Combining the Buses at end though your loop would still need additional channels for Master Kick n snare then to merge with the orignal, so to stay right and true. I find it strange to see compression and frequency cut offs on, singular sample sounds, which are being triggered by midi. But I suppose for just a drum track you nailed it! Totally has that 80's sound to it volume wise. Here is what I believe the snare actually is.. We Will Rock You - YW... Very common sample to play with back then as there are varying human offset in group tandem as well as a pretty snappy tight one or two. Add a 909/808 snare to that with a regular clap and a fast snappy wood glock
Surgically precise.
Only listening this video I just figured out the drum loop from "Word Up" reminds me "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals. I compared the two and I'm quite surprised "She Drives Me Crazy" does not have the sample from "Word Up". But they both sound very similar though.
I googled the She Drives Me Crazy production process, and found an interview with the original members where they recounted the story of going to Minneapolis to work with an engineer who worked with Prince (since their label wouldn't pay for them to work with Prince, so next best thing) and it described the creation of the snare sound: the quick version is that the engineer took the top off a snare drum, hit it with a wooden ruler, processed the sound a a bit then blended it with a snare from a drum machine.
@@Jack_Rivet Creativity at its best!
You really really nailed that 80s sound with the drums!!! Did you use sidechaining in the final jam?
Thanks! We usually do to at least a small degree, but we just checked and on this end jam we actually didn't use any sidechaining :)
Perfectly nailed 💯
I remember this song well, but have not heard it on the radio in forever. It seems history forgot about it, but it's not a bad song at all.
Didn't even realize you could do that conditional thing on the Oxi. Cool.
by the content of your videos, you appear to have perfect pitch.
I saw this played live in 1987...it was my first concert ever....😂. It was actually played as an encore, though it was THE worldwide hit by then. God knows how this song and it's BEAT changed everything in terms of the perception of black music over here in Europe. Prince kicked in the door, but this song actually conquered ANY Dancefloor, no matter what! After all these years i could pull up this thing from my 80/90s gear, just by ear. Lol.
Great analysis, but of course i would do the thing in a more "traditional", non DAW setting using my DMX, some Kawai and Akai Sounds plus Basic Alesis Effects to get there...cuz that's what i have...lol. The additional claps and stuff, that sounds like rim sticks, that was interesting, i always wondered how they did that...
I ❤ it this is so musically 🎶 educational .
Enjoyed this very much ❤ what a drum groove
The clap sound in Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives me Crazy" has a lot in common with that clap here. Maybe the same original sample/Linn?
I have been looking for that snare/clap sound used in mid to late 80’s Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis tracks to no end if anyone knows the source that would be awesome!
Can you recommend a track where you can hear the snare/clap especially clearly?
In some sections of the original, the snare also gets doubled with itself for a weird comb filter effect that makes it stand out even more.
This makes me want to to see you tackle "I Want Your Hands On Me" by Sinéad O'Connor
You are a drum 🥁 genius 😅
Ik heb ooit een Linn drum gehad maar nooit veel gebruikt . De Simmons drums klonken interessanter naar mijn mening.
This is awesome, thank you
I had completely forgotten about Cameo until this video
Another perfect video, thanks!
Depeche Mode - Strange Love and also the Blind Remix of Strangelove by Rico Conning pays homage to Word Up.
no homage, they stole the snare drum, i dont think they ask for it
Excellent presentation : when I was younger : I was obsessed with this beat
would you consider Billy Ocean's - Loverboy drum breakdown?
thank you for sharing
Cheers 🥂
Oh man I had almost forgotten about this song, thanks for bringing up the memories :)
@@CaptainPikant hey now : this is why we come here 👍
I have an RX-5 kit with a similar clap sound
Nice. Instant like. ❤
Amazing! Thank you 🥲
Absolute FIRE
Very interesting to see the sound design stuff.. Cool video. On a side note how is the oxi compared to the hapax for sequencing?
Love them both! They have different workflows, but it would be way too much to write in a comment. We're actually thinking about making a video comparing the four big pad matrix sequencers (Squarp Hapax, Synthstrom Deluge, Oxi One, Polyend Play).
@@CaptainPikant Oh, please do. I would certainly watch that.
@@CaptainPikant That would be most useful and generally awesome! I've been looking for a Hapax vs Oxi comparison but including the other two would be even better. I hope you do end up doing that video.. Anyhow thanks for the videos..
Oxy 1 is good for demonstrating sequences. Most of us had to do these in our heads and by trial and error. Not everyone is a musician. We are spoilt now with Daw's and modern versions of classic drum machines.
The painted fingernails matching the video background is 💅🤌
Awesome, thank you so much!!!
You're very welcome :)
This is AMAZING! Thank you! 🐇🐇🐇
The snare might come from a Musicaid/Simmons Claptrap, the first, analog one..?
Thanks! That's a good hint, we'll follow up on this :)
Yes I was going to post simmons claptrap as well - but the digital one though, with a clap sample and white noise ( I believe). I reads lots of forum threads since the video was posted, and the claptrap was one of the more credible suggestions.
Oh absolutely it's the digital claptrap, just found this video:
th-cam.com/video/JMlbaStLeYc/w-d-xo.html
After a minute and a half, there's that sound!
@@tuc5987sounds pretty spot on :)
adding that bit of reverb to the end of the bass drum makes it sound like a basketball hitting a gym floor 🏀
😆That's what I always thought when hearing the break in Sting's "Englishman in New York"!
Fantastic!
I'd love to see you break down "Wow" by Beck
He has many great beats, but didn't know that one yet. Thanks for the recommendation! :)
PLEASE do the lead bass/synth sound in Missy Elliot's Work It. I tried my best to replicate it on my OG OP-1 but it isn't quite there. It is very difficult to find a way to replicate it.
Awesome