Giorgio Moroder & Donna Summer on King of Snake

[Jason Roth]

Originally Posted by BeautifulBurnout

"I Feel Love" by Donna Summer (1977).

The backing track was written by Giorgio Moroder and was, as far as I recall (and I am old enough! ) the very first pop song to use nothing other than a synthesiser as a backing track. Bearing in mind that this was at the very beginning of the disco era, it was quite something!

The only sound not made by the synthesizer is the bass drum.

[mmm skyscraper]

I saw the Blue Man Group playing 'I Feel Love' on some late night show once and at first I thought it was King of Snake.

[Camiel]

Originally Posted by Jason Roth

The only sound not made by the synthesizer is the bass drum.

Are you sure?

[Jason Roth]

Originally Posted by Camiel Toe

Are you sure?

I think so.

[Camiel]

I mean, a drumcomputer is out of the question, since programmable drumcomputers didn't exist in those days (I think). I have the remix on record, but haven't listened to it in years (due to the fact that I don't have a recordplayer at this moment). But I can imagine that the basskick is provided by a synth and the handclap by a claptrap. Maybe google can help me.

[Camiel]

Maybe this?

Link

That track, and more obviously 'I Feel Love', had a 4/4 kick drum, from a tape loop of a real drummer. The rhythm was much simpler than funk or disco, so white people (and even German/Italians with moustaches) could dance to it. Four-to-the-floor was born

Then again:

Link

In 1979, Giorgio [color=#00718d]said[/color] " It's nearly impossible to compose with a synthesizer. By its nature, improvisations are much easier, so I went into the studio and recorded "I Feel Love" as it was composed. All I used was an electronic bass line and an electronic drum. That's the big difference between normal and electronic recording.

[Jason Roth]

Oops. I thought I heard that the bass drum was real in a documentary I saw, but I guess not.

Damn documentaries are always messing me up.

[BeautifulBurnout]

Actualllllllyyyyyyy...

while a drum computer may not have existed per se, Krafwerk had already invented a "synthesised drum kit" by this stage, i think. (Cos I remember seeing it on Tomorrow's World and thinking "wow!")

[Camiel]

I just found out that the programmable Roland CR78 did exist in 1978. But I don't think that it has been used on 'I feel love'.

[lloyd]

"The way I demo'd back then wasn't much different to the way I work now. In 1974 the first cheap little drum machines came out, so I would use one of those, and I also had a real drum loop with several different tempos. I would put up a tape from a 24-track and I would have a mic for the vocal, as well as some sort of keyboard -- a Fender Rhodes, maybe. Having established the tempo of the song, I would just record the rhythm, along with a guide vocal, and then go from there."

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar9...s/giorgio.html