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Stevie Wonder Moog Bass Question

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 12:45 am
by Moog-Meister
Hello everyone, (sorry if this post is in the wrong section) I am the proud new owner of a Little Phatty Stage II. It is my first analogue synth, and I have begun to dive into the world of synthesis (longtime guitar player) and I'm loving it! Lately, I have been listening to the great Stevie Wonder records of his prime years again and I have begun to analyze his amazing keyboard skills, and the great sounds he got with his synths. My question is; on the song "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" from his album "Talking Book", what kind of waveform, etc. is he using to get that great bass sound on his Model D? I have an idea that he's using a sawtooth, but I would like to know what I can do to get close to it on my phatty? If anyone has any suggestions I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Re: Stevie Wonder Moog Bass Question

Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 10:34 am
by Tsaddeous
Hi,

To me, it's a classic one oscillator in saw tooth, reso at O and turn the cut off pot to find the sweet spot.

Re: Stevie Wonder Moog Bass Question

Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 6:13 pm
by stiiiiiiive
Hey Tsaddeous, glad to see you here as well as on Audiofanzine :)
MoogMeister, will have a look and tell you asap.

Welcome to the forum, guys!

Re: Stevie Wonder Moog Bass Question

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 5:50 am
by Tsaddeous
Hi Stiiiiiive !

Glad to see you too (and i'm not really surprised to see you here) :lol:

I just bought a Sub Phatty, that's why i'm here now :wink:

Re: Stevie Wonder Moog Bass Question

Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 12:35 pm
by stiiiiiiive
Yep, read that there, congrats! I'm sure you'll get good fun out of it...

MoogMeister, I second the one osc sawtooth with no resonance idea. You will totally be able to get that sound out of your Phatty, albeit Little or Sub :)

Re: Stevie Wonder Moog Bass Question

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 6:10 am
by voyager0500
Ive successfully re-created that patch on the Voyager during my Stevie obsession days :) . Not sure of the exact OSC settings but to get that "buoum" attack, you need to play with the filter attack, decay and release.

Re: Stevie Wonder Moog Bass Question

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:06 pm
by Moog-Meister
Sorry to resurrect this thread. I want to say thank you to everyone that responded. I didn't know there were any responses until a few days ago, months after the fact. I didn't think anyone replied. :lol: I did get very close to the bass on the song I mentioned in the OP (I Believe When I Fall in Love) using two sawtooth waves at two different octaves, 4' and '16 I believe. I will have to play with the filter some more to get that "womp" sound Stevie gets. But thanks again for the replies, and if anyone has any more suggestions on how to nail the classic era Stevie Mini bass sound let me know. I'm listening to "Golden Lady" as I type this; talk about amazing bass tone and playing on that track. Thanks again!!

Re: Stevie Wonder Moog Bass Question

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 8:00 pm
by bichuelo
Looking at the credits, it seems the system used in Talking Book is the big modular called TONTO and not a Minimoog or the modular that Moog sold to Motown and Wonder took home afterwards: https://www.discogs.com/es/Stevie-Wonde ... ase/174477

Does anyone know what are the records where Stevie Wonder used the Minimoog Model D? Is there an official documentation?

Re: Stevie Wonder Moog Bass Question

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 9:19 pm
by Moog-Meister
bichuelo wrote:Looking at the credits, it seems the system used in Talking Book is the big modular called TONTO and not a Minimoog or the modular that Moog sold to Motown and Wonder took home afterwards: https://www.discogs.com/es/Stevie-Wonde ... ase/174477

Does anyone know what are the records where Stevie Wonder used the Minimoog Model D? Is there an official documentation?
You might be right about the bass being the TONTO, I've always just assumed it was a D. He had a pretty consistent bass sound through his classic records. I checked the LP credits of Talking Book it didn't mention anything regarding equipment, and the Innervisions credits only mention "Arp and Moog synthesizer played by Stevie Wonder." I am curious about this as well.