Electro Funk
Electro · 1982 · 110 to 130 BPM · also known as Electro-Funk, Electrofunk
Electro funk is the Bronx and Detroit, 1982: Afrika Bambaataa's Planet Rock lays Kraftwerk over a TR-808 and invents the funk of machines. Vocoders, breakdancing and futuristic imagery: electro funk is the first entirely electronic African American music, a direct link between robotic Europe and Detroit. The 808 earns its everlasting credentials here. It fused Kraftwerk's cold European sequencing with the rhythmic drive of American funk and the emerging language of hip hop, and in doing so it laid the groundwork not only for Detroit techno but for decades of machine funk that followed on both sides of the Atlantic.
10 reference tracks
- Afrika Bambaataa: Planet Rock (1982)
- Man Parrish: Hip Hop Be Bop (1982)
- Jonzun Crew: Pack Jam (1982)
- Hashim: Al-Naafiysh The Soul (1983)
- Newcleus: Jam On It (1984)
- Franc Moody: Night Flight (2019)
- Chromeo: Personal Effects (2023)
- Chromeo: Call Me Up
- Zapp: Heartbreaker (Part I, Part II)
- Dynamix II: Bass Generator
At a glance
- Tempo: 110 to 130 BPM
- First appeared: around 1982
- Machines: Roland TR-808, Vocodeur, E-mu Emulator, Fairlight CMI
- The sound: Vocoder, Fairlight et Emulator (riches), Synthés funk monophoniques
- Labels: Tommy Boy, Streetwise, West End Records, Clone, Dominance Electricity
- Key artists: Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, Man Parrish, Hashim, Newcleus, Cybotron (charnière Detroit)
Producing Electro Funk
Aim for 110 to 130 BPM, Planet Rock's territory around 126, with a square, unswung feel: patterns came off a step sequencer, so quantize hard and keep any groove under 10 percent, since electro funk is robotic by choice. Build the kit from a TR-808: kick on beat one, on the and of beats two and three, avoiding four on the floor, an 808 snare doubled with a handclap on two and four, closed hats alternating velocity, cowbell in two bar patterns. The bass is a single sawtooth on a monophonic synth, filtered low near 400 Hz with a short, sustain free envelope, bouncing between root and octave, tucked between 80 and 300 Hz to leave the 808's low end alone. Finish with a vocoder chanting through a sawtooth carrier, an orchestra hit, and a monophonic melody with slow vibrato.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Electro Funk?
Electro funk is the Bronx and Detroit, 1982: Afrika Bambaataa's Planet Rock lays Kraftwerk over a TR-808 and invents the funk of machines. Vocoders, breakdancing and futuristic imagery: electro funk is the first entirely electronic African American music, a direct link between robotic Europe and…
What tempo is Electro Funk played at?
Between 110 and 130 BPM.
Who are the key Electro Funk artists?
Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, Man Parrish, Hashim, Newcleus, Cybotron (charnière Detroit).
In the same family
- Electro Hop
- Miami Bass
- Techno Bass
- Freestyle
- Latin Freestyle
- Detroit Electro
- Electro
- Synth-Funk
- Electroclash
- Skweee
Listen to Electro Funk in the atlas · Cette page en français
