Funk
Roots · 1967 · 95 to 120 BPM · also known as Funk Music
James Brown tightened soul onto the first beat, Sly Stone made it psychedelic, Parliament sent it into orbit: funk is the science of groove as a collective organism. On this map it stands as a major rhythmic root, disco descends from it, house inherits it, and the synthetic P-Funk of Zapp leads directly into electro funk and boogie, tying nearly every branch of the family tree back to one source.
11 reference tracks
- Sly and The Family Stone: Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin (1969)
- The Meters: Cissy Strut (1969)
- James Brown: Get Up I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine (1970)
- Ohio Players: Love Rollercoaster (1975)
- Parliament: Flash Light (1977)
- Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove (1978)
- Silk Sonic: 777 (2021)
- Prince: Welcome 2 America (2021)
- Louis Cole: I'm Tight (2022)
- Jungle: Good Times / Problemz (2022)
- Queen: Cool Cat (2024)
At a glance
- Tempo: 95 to 120 BPM
- First appeared: 1967
- Machines: Fender Rhodes, Hohner Clavinet, Talkbox
- The sound: Basse slap et fingerstyle, Batterie sur le one, Clavinet et Rhodes, Cuivres en sections
- Labels: Casablanca, King, Westbound, Warner Records, Daptone, Big Crown
- Key artists: James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, Sly & The Family Stone, Zapp, The Meters
Producing Funk
Funk lives between 95 and 115 BPM, centred around 105. The secret is not the tempo but the subdivision: everything runs in sixteenths with a light 55 to 58 percent swing, never straight, never triplet, with the weight landing on the first beat, James Brown's famous one, while the rest of the bar is a conversation of syncopations returning to that anchor. Program a dry acoustic kit with the kick on one and on syncopated spots, never four even hits. The snare sits on two and four with ghost notes filling the gaps, and hats run in sixteenths with occasional openings and varied velocities. The bass is the heart of it, slap or fingerstyle, a short staccato phrase built from the root, the octave and the flat seventh. Add clavinet, Rhodes and a talkbox.
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 Funk?
James Brown tightened soul onto the first beat, Sly Stone made it psychedelic, Parliament sent it into orbit: funk is the science of groove as a collective organism. On this map it stands as a major rhythmic root, disco descends from it, house inherits it, and the synthetic P-Funk of Zapp leads…
What tempo is Funk played at?
Between 95 and 120 BPM.
Who are the key Funk artists?
James Brown, Parliament-Funkadelic, Sly & The Family Stone, Zapp, The Meters.
