Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Rant -- the poor state of Funk
A week or so ago I spent some time going through every artist listed under "funk" on Soundclick.com. I've done a similar thing on music.download.com and I started last night to venture into the world of music on myspace. In all of my explorations of the funk, I have yet to find an artist worthy of featuring here. There are a number of things wrong with funk music, and I'm afraid that the somewhat commercial artists (Antibalas Orchestra, Soul Donkeys, Daktaris, Sugarmen Three, Connie Price and the Keytones) don't escape unscathed, either. The commercial artists are closer to decent funk to be sure. The bands are at least staffed by well-meaning folks who understand what good funk ought to entail. However, in many cases it these efforts fall short. Here is my list of the Top 5 Not Funky Things in Modern Funk Music:
1.) Your rhythm is not funky. This is sin numero uno, mainly because it's most often abused. On the free funk side I hear many rock bands who think throwing in a guitar with a wah pedal and a pseudodisco beat make funk. It takes years of practice to master funk drumming, it's not something that happens overnight (I know mostly because I'm trying to do that myself). Most of the rhythms I hear are too straight-ahead to be funky. This is often the disease that affects the more commercial releases -- they have the pattern right, but the elusive "feel" is missing and instead we get a robotic approximation of funk. On the other hand, too much swing can also kill a funk rhythm. This is the sin committed by many of the "smooth jazz" funk wannabes, they play a swing rhythm and "ghost" the notes so much it sounds like someone badly tapdancing to the "samba" beat on a casio. Too rigid or too swingy of a feel will kill a funk rhythm, so please practice, practice, practice and listen to lots of funk so you can hear the difference. Thanks.
2.) Your bass is not funky. Now I love me some Larry Graham and P-Funk, but the whole slap-bass thing is waaaay out of control. I want to slap the bassist, usually, and while it's debatable whether the bad timing and horrible rhythm is his fault, he's a partner in the funk with the drummer. Perhaps there's some super-secret brotherhood of drummers and bass players which only promotes the swingiest, slappiest members to the highest ranks. That's great, but please don't call it funk. Also, while I like a bit of piano in my funk that isn't the sound I like to hear coming from the bass. Please listen to the Meters (and invite the drummer) and notice how totally-freakin-awesome that bass sound is. I'm not saying it's the only sound, but for funk I'd consider that square one, the launching point from which a million tones flourish. And while you're at it notice how the bass player is an integral part of the _rhythm_ section. Oh, and leave anything with more than four strings at home.
3.) Your drum sound is not funky. Don't even get me started on this one... If you're using more than two or three mics to get your drum sound then you're already lost. If your snare rings for longer than about a second then choke it, muffle it, maybe loosen the head, get an SPL Transient Designer, or do something. Anything. Just don't play funk on that darn kit 'cause it won't work. And get rid of anything over about two toms and a crash and ride cymbal. A good rule of thumb here is one trip to carry the kit from the car to wherever you plan to play. More than that and you should consider switching genres.
4.) General MIDI sounds are not funky. Not that most arrangements I hear are stellar to begin with, but nothing kills the feeling of funk like cheesy sounds. Now that's not to say there can't be a bit of cheese -- Joe Coleman's "Get It Off The Ground" has a borderline nasty (and not in a good way) electric piano sound that mysteriously blends superbly with the track. However, layering the whole track in gobs of strings and electric pianos and other gooey ickiness is the quickest way to be relegated to elevator music.
5.) Wah-wah guitar is not (always) funky. It's a staple of 70's soundtracks and disco, and even the Meters (notice I mention them alot? There is much to learn, grasshopper) use it to great effect on "Just Kissed My Baby". This does not, however, give license for every guitar player in the known universe to squonk away playing eighth notes while rocking the wah pedal and call it funk. For a great reference here, listen to "Sex Machine". Notice how that guitar uses no wah, yet it's one of the funkiest things in the song? It helps that the bass and drums are tight and playing stuff relevant to the track, but that guitar is clean as a whistle with no wah in sight. And if "Sex Machine" isn't funky then funk doesn't exist. For those trying to recover from wah attack, I suggest you try playing your funky guitar part on an acoustic guitar and see if it still grooves. You may want to play along to some decent bass and drum tracks (looping old breaks is your friend) as well to get a feel for how the whole drum/bass/guitar machine should work together.
I was originally going to make this a top 10 list, but it's hard not to rant at length about these issues. Among the other things I'd mention if I wanted to waste more of your time is that old can mean moldy and throwback can mean throw away. Or that you don't need a 13-piece band to make funk, or that just because you have a 13-piece band at your disposal doesn't mean you're funky. And on and on. I'll spare you the sanctimony (I've already used my alotted amount for today) and get back to sifting.
1.) Your rhythm is not funky. This is sin numero uno, mainly because it's most often abused. On the free funk side I hear many rock bands who think throwing in a guitar with a wah pedal and a pseudodisco beat make funk. It takes years of practice to master funk drumming, it's not something that happens overnight (I know mostly because I'm trying to do that myself). Most of the rhythms I hear are too straight-ahead to be funky. This is often the disease that affects the more commercial releases -- they have the pattern right, but the elusive "feel" is missing and instead we get a robotic approximation of funk. On the other hand, too much swing can also kill a funk rhythm. This is the sin committed by many of the "smooth jazz" funk wannabes, they play a swing rhythm and "ghost" the notes so much it sounds like someone badly tapdancing to the "samba" beat on a casio. Too rigid or too swingy of a feel will kill a funk rhythm, so please practice, practice, practice and listen to lots of funk so you can hear the difference. Thanks.
2.) Your bass is not funky. Now I love me some Larry Graham and P-Funk, but the whole slap-bass thing is waaaay out of control. I want to slap the bassist, usually, and while it's debatable whether the bad timing and horrible rhythm is his fault, he's a partner in the funk with the drummer. Perhaps there's some super-secret brotherhood of drummers and bass players which only promotes the swingiest, slappiest members to the highest ranks. That's great, but please don't call it funk. Also, while I like a bit of piano in my funk that isn't the sound I like to hear coming from the bass. Please listen to the Meters (and invite the drummer) and notice how totally-freakin-awesome that bass sound is. I'm not saying it's the only sound, but for funk I'd consider that square one, the launching point from which a million tones flourish. And while you're at it notice how the bass player is an integral part of the _rhythm_ section. Oh, and leave anything with more than four strings at home.
3.) Your drum sound is not funky. Don't even get me started on this one... If you're using more than two or three mics to get your drum sound then you're already lost. If your snare rings for longer than about a second then choke it, muffle it, maybe loosen the head, get an SPL Transient Designer, or do something. Anything. Just don't play funk on that darn kit 'cause it won't work. And get rid of anything over about two toms and a crash and ride cymbal. A good rule of thumb here is one trip to carry the kit from the car to wherever you plan to play. More than that and you should consider switching genres.
4.) General MIDI sounds are not funky. Not that most arrangements I hear are stellar to begin with, but nothing kills the feeling of funk like cheesy sounds. Now that's not to say there can't be a bit of cheese -- Joe Coleman's "Get It Off The Ground" has a borderline nasty (and not in a good way) electric piano sound that mysteriously blends superbly with the track. However, layering the whole track in gobs of strings and electric pianos and other gooey ickiness is the quickest way to be relegated to elevator music.
5.) Wah-wah guitar is not (always) funky. It's a staple of 70's soundtracks and disco, and even the Meters (notice I mention them alot? There is much to learn, grasshopper) use it to great effect on "Just Kissed My Baby". This does not, however, give license for every guitar player in the known universe to squonk away playing eighth notes while rocking the wah pedal and call it funk. For a great reference here, listen to "Sex Machine". Notice how that guitar uses no wah, yet it's one of the funkiest things in the song? It helps that the bass and drums are tight and playing stuff relevant to the track, but that guitar is clean as a whistle with no wah in sight. And if "Sex Machine" isn't funky then funk doesn't exist. For those trying to recover from wah attack, I suggest you try playing your funky guitar part on an acoustic guitar and see if it still grooves. You may want to play along to some decent bass and drum tracks (looping old breaks is your friend) as well to get a feel for how the whole drum/bass/guitar machine should work together.
I was originally going to make this a top 10 list, but it's hard not to rant at length about these issues. Among the other things I'd mention if I wanted to waste more of your time is that old can mean moldy and throwback can mean throw away. Or that you don't need a 13-piece band to make funk, or that just because you have a 13-piece band at your disposal doesn't mean you're funky. And on and on. I'll spare you the sanctimony (I've already used my alotted amount for today) and get back to sifting.
# posted by Andrew @ 12:20 PM 
