Does Slap equal Funk?

[Alex J]

Which is the point.
Funk is a feel.
A percentage of Funk basslines are done on keyboard.But it's still Funk.
Slap bass contributes,but it does not define it.
One last vid.

Agreed! And in that Tom Browne video, the high syncopated line that sounds like a guitar is actually Marcus Miller playing up the dusty end of the neck with lots of effects. Synth bass underneath. Doesn't matter how you get there, as long as it grooves in the end

 

[Altitude]

I've always enjoyed slap bass in a rock setting. This Living Colour track, "Funny Vibe", is one of my favorite examples. It's clearly a funky approach to rock, but Skillings and Calhoun really lock in and bury the slap inside of a very driving rock feel. What they do underneath the Vernon Reid solo, in particular, (@ 2:17) is a thing I come back to again and again as a model for how I want one my rhythm sections to sound in a live setting.

 

[woody357]

Funk has space, it lets the music breath. I slap but not much now a day, I think it is over done. Slap IMHO is a useful technic and is great when used sparingly, but it doesn't make you funky

 

[foolforthecity]

If the music starts and the groove is so thick you start to involuntarily spasm and twitch within the first two bars... buddy, that's THE FUNK.

If after four bars you find yourself suddenly unbuttoning the top two buttons on your shirt, that's some flat-out 70s FUNK!

If after eight bars you find yourself slappin', it's cuz THE FUNK knocked your drummer off the stage and now you're goin' at it Larry Graham-style!