Author Topic: How does Stevie Wonder get those bass sounds? (Read 155 times)

portmanteau · « **on:** February 23, 2006, 11:47:44 AM »

Saw you all talking bass lines being played on a bass vs. keyboard awhile back...anyone know how Stevie Wonder gets his bass lines to sound so fluid? Is the portamento boosted all the way up? In particular, what kind of synth is he using on All I Do? I believe it's a Yamaha CS80, but I'm not completely sure...Any help is GREATLY appreciated!

flaxattack · « **Reply #1 on:** February 23, 2006, 02:33:14 PM »

beans,,,,,,,,,, lots a beans,,,,,,,,

richbass939 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 23, 2006, 08:20:45 PM »

Richard, welcome to the club.
I don't know anything about his bass sounds but I have always been a fan of the bass lines he dreams up. They are about as creative as anything I've heard from a non-bassist.
Rich

lbanks · « **Reply #3 on:** February 23, 2006, 09:08:17 PM »

I think he was using a Fairlight System.

88persuader · « **Reply #4 on:** February 23, 2006, 09:44:35 PM »

I have a Yamaha CS80 and although I think it's a great all around synth I'm NOT blown away by the bass sounds it makes. Maybe with the right programer working their magic it could make good bass sounds but the factory bass sounds sound like a synth trying to be a bass. In my opinion it excels doing piano, strings and just about every other sound, but not bass.

portmanteau · « **Reply #5 on:** February 24, 2006, 08:51:54 AM »

Thanks for the receptive welcome! I plan on being here awhile!

88 you own one?!?! WOW!!! So is he probably just using that ribbon controller, ALOT???

bigredbass · « **Reply #6 on:** February 24, 2006, 01:43:54 PM »

I would shudder to go through his warehouse. Steve's been hooked up with Yamaha forever, and who knows what else he's got stashed: Synclaviers, Fairlights, there's no telling. But the best synth bass I ever heard was MiniMoog.

J o e y

88persuader · « **Reply #7 on:** February 26, 2006, 11:56:05 PM »

CORRECTION ... I didn't mean to give mis-information but I don't have a CS-80 ... I have a Yamaha S80. It didn't occur to me until portmanteau mentioned the ribbon controller. The S80 doesn't have one and i believe it's a much newer generation synth. The CS-80 was from the 1980's right? Geesh ... guess i had a little brain cramp there! :-) So my comments about the CS-80 were really about the Yamaha S80 ... a totally different keyboard. ... Sorry! ;-)

portmanteau · « **Reply #8 on:** February 27, 2006, 01:09:59 PM »

No prob, 88...i actually was looking into an S80 for awhile! And I think I've solved my Stevie questions--the dude was just bad!!! I tried playing some of his stuff on a Minimoog Softsynth, and I have concluded that he's just really good at getting the sound he wants/expressing himself...as for how he does it, it sounds as if he's doing flams at times...practice, practice, practice!

gare · « **Reply #9 on:** March 06, 2006, 02:36:54 PM »

I believe on some of his earliest stuff he used an ARP 2600 and some Kurzweil synths