• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Looking for THAT synth sound

R

rizzcombat

Jan 9, 2010
50
26
New York, New York
#1
Hey guys,

I'm trying to find what I can do to get the synth bass sound in the Beastie Boys song "Shake Your Rump" off the album Paul's Boutique. The synth part in the chorus is dirty, and I've always come up short re-creating it. I've done my research on the song, and it seems like everything else in the song is sampled, except for the bass line and the vocals. I'm gonna guess they used an old Moog or something along those lines.

I don't really care if I can create it with effects on my bass or if a synth route is the way to go. I just want your two cents.

For those of you who don't know the song, the synth line comes in around 0:55.
beastie boys - shake your rump - Anthology-DVD - YouTube

Thanks in advance
 
#4
I've looked into the VB99....and although it's got a ton of cool sounds, I can't justify spending $1000+ on something I'd sparsely use.

CHILDISHGAMBINO, I definitely agree it sounds like a octave/fuzz/filter combination. My only concern was the rate of the filter seems to vary as the line evolves (big, slow filter in the beginning...followed by quicker envelopes on the shorter notes). I guess manually working a wah or an attack sensitive envelope filter would be sufficient.

I was thinking about trying a Electro-Harmonix Bass Micro Synth, you think this may lead me in the right direction? Or is a combination of single pedals/a different synth going to get me there?
 
#6
I love Paul's Boutique - IMO the best Beastie Boys album by far and it doesn't hurt that it has a boatload of great samples.

Shake your Rump especially has a ton of samples including some Led Zeppelin, Afrika Bambaataa and Brothers Johnson.

That synth sound is taken from the Rose Royce song 6 O'Clock DJ (Let's Rock). from their classic Car Wash soundtrack. The bassline that gets played after the second time you hear the synth is from
watch
from that same Rose Royce album.

In any event, if you were looking for a single pedal to get that type of tone, the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] would be the one. I got pretty close just changing parameters on the "Pimp Daddy" preset. It has the built in LFO to wobble the sound if need be and you can add in the octaver. The only downsides are that it is expensive and complicated to use which is why I sold mine.

Another route would be octaver into a synthy fuzz (Chunk Brown Dog would be my choice) and then a sweepable envelope filter like the IE Xerograph Deluxe. Not as tweakable and lacks the ability to do an LFO but it works for me. Of course, those three pedals are as expensive as the Squeezer so it's still not a cheap way to go.

I'm still borrowing an octaver while I wait for my custom one to be built so if I can get a chance to record OC-2-->Brown Dog-->Xerograph I can show you what I mean.

EDIT: The Bass Micro Synth can't really match that tone very closely. It doesn't get as "gritty" sounding as the synth sample from Shake Your Rump though with some tweaking you could probably get in the ballpark. In that case I would absolutely recommend going to Analogman (or someone else who can do it) and have the expression mod done to give foot control of the stop frequency.
 
#11
Give this man a beer, he knows his hip hop.
:)

Jared Lash said:
I love Paul's Boutique - IMO the best Beastie Boys album by far and it doesn't hurt that it has a boatload of great samples.

Shake your Rump especially has a ton of samples including some Led Zeppelin, Afrika Bambaataa and Brothers Johnson.

That synth sound is taken from the Rose Royce song 6 O'Clock DJ (Let's Rock). from their classic Car Wash soundtrack. The bassline that gets played after the second time you hear the synth is from
watch
from that same Rose Royce album.

In any event, if you were looking for a single pedal to get that type of tone, the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] would be the one. I got pretty close just changing parameters on the "Pimp Daddy" preset. It has the built in LFO to wobble the sound if need be and you can add in the octaver. The only downsides are that it is expensive and complicated to use which is why I sold mine.

Another route would be octaver into a synthy fuzz (Chunk Brown Dog would be my choice) and then a sweepable envelope filter like the IE Xerograph Deluxe. Not as tweakable and lacks the ability to do an LFO but it works for me. Of course, those three pedals are as expensive as the Squeezer so it's still not a cheap way to go.

I'm still borrowing an octaver while I wait for my custom one to be built so if I can get a chance to record OC-2-->Brown Dog-->Xerograph I can show you what I mean.

EDIT: The Bass Micro Synth can't really match that tone very closely. It doesn't get as "gritty" sounding as the synth sample from Shake Your Rump though with some tweaking you could probably get in the ballpark. In that case I would absolutely recommend going to Analogman (or someone else who can do it) and have the expression mod done to give foot control of the stop frequency.
Click to expand...
 
#13
I had no idea that was sampled from Rose Royce, thanks Jared. You're definitely deserving of a beer....better yet, probably a 40 oz.

I've tried the Squeezer, SYB-5 and the Mark Super Synth before and all of them have given me a headache trying to find a practical sound out of them.

However the Xerograph Deluxe sounds like it would be a good combination with some fuzz and my OC-2 based on some samples I've heard. I'd probably add an expression pedal to it, just to have more control. I'm lacking in the filter department and I think think this would be a good excuse to pick one up. Any other filter thoughts? The filters 3leaf audio puts out a pretty gnarly, however I don't know if they're gonna sway my vote.
 
#14
rizzcombat said:
I had no idea that was sampled from Rose Royce, thanks Jared. You're definitely deserving of a beer....better yet, probably a 40 oz.

I've tried the Squeezer, SYB-5 and the Mark Super Synth before and all of them have given me a headache trying to find a practical sound out of them.

However the Xerograph Deluxe sounds like it would be a good combination with some fuzz and my OC-2 based on some samples I've heard. I'd probably add an expression pedal to it, just to have more control. I'm lacking in the filter department and I think think this would be a good excuse to pick one up. Any other filter thoughts? The filters 3leaf audio puts out a pretty gnarly, however I don't know if they're gonna sway my vote.
Click to expand...

I own a GR2 and really dig the sounds and love the fact that it has an Effects Loop. That said, I am getting ready to order a Xerograph Deluxe in the next week or so (to save $25 on her!!). You can never have too many Filters laying around.
 
#15
rizzcombat said:
I had no idea that was sampled from Rose Royce, thanks Jared. You're definitely deserving of a beer....better yet, probably a 40 oz.

I've tried the Squeezer, SYB-5 and the Mark Super Synth before and all of them have given me a headache trying to find a practical sound out of them.

However the Xerograph Deluxe sounds like it would be a good combination with some fuzz and my OC-2 based on some samples I've heard. I'd probably add an expression pedal to it, just to have more control. I'm lacking in the filter department and I think think this would be a good excuse to pick one up. Any other filter thoughts? The filters 3leaf audio puts out a pretty gnarly, however I don't know if they're gonna sway my vote.
Click to expand...

The Squeezer is the most complex synth pedal and has a frustrating learning curve. Unfortunately it's also the one pedal I'm certain could nail that tone. Mostly because I got very close to it when I was fooling around with my old one.

That said, I know a combo of OC-2, Brown Dog and Xerograph could get you close. I think the Groove Regulator is a fantastic envelope filter. But for this application you really need the manual sweep of the cutoff frequency with an expression pedal which the Xero can give you.

And just FYI, I found the second Rose Royce sample from Shake Your Rump. It's a track called Yo Yo. Fantastic recorded bass tone.
 
#16
CHILDISHGAMBINO said:
It sounds like you could get pretty close to that with some combination of octave> fuzz> filter/wah. Probably wah to get the those skronky sweeps in there.
Click to expand...

I just got an Octron 2, MXR BEF, Aguilar Filter Twin, re-bought the Prunes and Custard, and combined with existing FEA Dual Band Distortion and EA Supercolider I am getting synthy sounds like I've never heard out of a single box. The Octron alone is great then add an envelope filter...look out!!

I'm still messing with all the possible combinations. So far Octron 2 and Filter Twin are through the roof. I don't even need the disto with the octron's fuzz upper octave.
 
#17
Now thats a funky tune! I just used a Boss OC-2 > Wooly Mammoth both in the Groove Regulator effect's loop: here's how I set it.....

Boss OC-2: OCT-1 full, direct and OCT-2 off
Wooly Mammoth: EQ treble, fully pinched, set as gated and buzzy as possible.
GR-1: sens about 3:00,attack 9:00 , decay 1:45, range lo, feedback up,

can't get the downsweep part but have the upsweep DOWN!
maybe a 105Q for the downsweep?
 
#19
I hate to bring this one back, but I've got one more question for you guys. I'm currently running my oc-2 into my (new) Xerograph deluxe, however I'm still looking for a good versatile fuzz pedal to achieve that sound.

I was pretty set on the Brown Dog, however I don't want to jump to any decisions. The Oxide looks killer (especially when paired with my Xero), but I don't know if it's gonna get me close to that synthy sound I'm looking for. Any thoughts/suggestions?
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back