It’s so Funkalicious

Motif XS IS very “funkalicious”, so much so that I made a little jam called “Funkalicious Motif XS”. I originally put this together for the NAMM show to highlight the VCM pedal wah effect within a single section of a pattern that I could jam over, but then that little section kept growing and growing into a full on party jam thang.

Some key points in to listen for:

Solo sounds:

1. VCM Pedal wah effect on guitar. I edited this voice from a preset and applied the VCM Pedal Wah effect, which is a super killing effect in the XS. I used the FC7 foot pedal to control the wah effect. Really great sounding effect that is fun to play
2. Organ with rotary speaker and amp simulator. Burns.
3. Rock piano. I plan on doing a solo piano thing using the “Full Concert Grand”, but for this one I needed something with a bit more bite.
4. EP called “Crunchy Comp” which is exactly what it is: A highly compressed crunched up EP sound that totally barks when you hit it. I love this sound.
5. The Active TRB bass sound that has been used throughout the tune gets to solo. This is a Xpanded Articulation voice with key off samples and the AF1 and AF2 switches change the picking position: AF1 is the sound of a bassist playing back by the bridge (brighter, snappier sound); AF2 is closer to the neck of the bass (darker, rounder tone). I may very well do a solo voice demo of this sound as well.

Compositional Note: Except for the swing part in the middle and the very end, the drum tracks were made using one of the preset arpeggios, then using the Play FX to make them swing a bit. It is really, really simple to take one the on-board arps, record it and tweak it to make it sound the way you want.

The rhythm guitar is also an arp. To get it to sound the way I want, I started it on the off beat. (the “and of 1” as they say). There are copious amounts of guitar arps in the XS that sound great, and playing them anywhere but on beat one is one of my favorite ways to utilize them.

The entire jam is comprised of 11 tracks.

Why a funk disco tune? Well, to answer that I think it time for a SHAMELESS BAND PLUG: Up here in Bellingham, WA I play every Tuesday night that I can (when I’m not out there doing my job for Yamaha in Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Phoenix or Salt Lake City talking to current and potential MO-friends) with an improvisatory disco funk band called “Von Disco”. It is really, really fun: We actually have a nice following of drunken snowboarders who come down to party. Fun. If you come up here, we play at the Rouge Hero in Bellingham WA, Tuesday nights from 10ish to 1ish. No cover if you mention my name…

The hand claps at the end of the song are dedicated to all the snowboarding funk/disco enthusiasts everywhere (you know who you are).

Blake