The way Dilla used the Moog

[mitchwully]

Hi,

a newbie here, I just got my Minimoog so I'm still in that "exploring new lands" stage where everything is unknown and terribly exciting

yeah, onto my question - does anybody know how J Dilla (aka "your favorite producer's favorite producer") used the Minimoog? Like what settings he might have used to get those simple yet amazing sounds?

For those of you who don't know who he was, I recommend checking the 3 part J Dilla Documentary by Stussy.. and then googling "J Dilla - Midnight Snack" for the free mixtape, or try to get a hold of "Jay Dee - Another Batch" or the critically acclaimed "Slum Village - Fantastic Vol 1 & 2"...

Thanks a lot guys..

Edit: kaz1 over at Gearslutz did give me some insight on how he programmed his basses, thought I'm much more interested in learning about his keys / leads.

From what I remember, Dilla used a lot of square and triangle wave oscillators for basses, a typical bass would start something like this:

OSC 1 - triangle at 32"
OSC 2 - square at 16"
OSC 3 - square at 16"

detune OSC 2 & 3 slightly

FILTER cutoff around 95%
emphasis (resonance) 0-10%
attack: 0%
decay: 60%
sustain: 35 - 40%
LOUDNESS attack: 0-10%
decay: 60%
sustain: 60% (percentages based on position of the dial
from left to right)

now remember this is not an actual patch, I'm just doing this from memory but it's a place to start that I think will get you close to something, may not be what you are looking for. There's not a whole lot of science that went into Dilla's uses of the Moog, it's more how he played and programmed it that made it sing, patches on the Moog are pretty easy to dial up and duplicate once you can identify the OSC shapes.

[Jrayk Roze]

Damn!

I didn't even know Dilla used Moog stuff. Then again, I've only listened to his last album "Donuts" over and over again, and that was supposedly all samples. Thanks for the info.

[anoteoftruth]

He also used a microkorg quite a bit. There's video of it in his studio. I had no idea he used Moog. But I know his microkorg was his friend.

[wiss]

Damn! I've only listened to his last album "Donuts" over and over again, and that was supposedly all samples. Thanks for the info.

That record is getting heavy play right now. It's not his best work, but that record is odd. He was working on the record knowing he was going to die soon, the record kind of creeps me out.

From what I have read, heard second hand, that he used a Moog Voyager until he moved to LA.(His recording studio was completely wiped out in a flood while still leaving in the D)

[anoteoftruth]

"Donuts" is absolutely in my opinion his best work. I still dont get tired of it. And to realize he made a lot of it while on his death bed in the hospital, record crates and a sp-303.. I mean.. it just makes those soulful motown tones much more haunting and resonating. Absolutely brilliant album.

[LWG]

Damn! I've only listened to his last album "Donuts" over and over again, and that was supposedly all samples. Thanks for the info.

That record is getting heavy play right now. It's not his best work, but that record is odd. He was working on the record knowing he was going to die soon, the record kind of creeps me out.

From what I have read, heard second hand, that he used a Moog Voyager until he moved to LA.(His recording studio was completely wiped out in a flood while still leaving in the D)

Hello,

I didn't realize he used a Vger either. Couldn't find any Q&A's that discussed what kit he used
Picture on this page that shows a few pieces:

J Dilla - http://www.stonesthrow.com/jdilla


Regards,


-L

[psr]

Yeah Dilla used a Voyager... peep this vid of his Detroit basement studio... although Frank n Dank is yappin up a storm you can get a good quick look at the gear and the voyager is there along with roland xv 5050, a microkorg and Emu PK6 (both of which I had for a few years. i sold both and my MPC to go software). I wish I could afford a voyager. Moog should make sub $800 dekstop synths like Oberhiem and Dave Smith... anyways peep this vid.

Also, Moog synths are mono so he probably used the microkorg or pk6 for his pads and keys. PK6 is surprisingly good with the organs, eps and such. My band (comparable to 'the roots') in 2004, my keyboard player raved about the emu orgs and eps.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OxH8riGZl8

[anoteoftruth]

Also, Moog synths are mono so he probably used the microkorg or pk6 for his pads and keys.

Again, most of his bleep he made solely from samples... but if you listen to all his tracks, he did use the microkorg a lot for Bass sounds.

[lcoleman]

Proof! Inside Dilla's studio with Jaydee himself, Common, Frank N Dank, and... a Voyager.
And you're spot on about the Microkorg too. Not sure about the synth below the Voyager. I suppose it could be a DX-7.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OxH8riGZl8

[Brian G]

It's not a DX7, the original DX's wewre brown, DX7 II was black.. the DX's do not have a rounded built up area around the pitch and mod wheel. good guess though, the DX7 is a great synth, if you dive into programing it you can come up wqith some great sounds. a few posts ago psr said Proteus PK6...

Wonder what number Dillia 's Signiture Edition Voyager is ?