Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
There are many ways to funk. In a live situation, players can hit a groove and sit in the pocket for days. As a shared experience, finding the groove and keeping it loose is something musicians strive for. Then there's Prince, whose taught, '80s funk was anything but loose.
Prince's Minneapolis sound owed much to the stripped-back rhythms of James Brown and co, but liberal lashings of programmed drums drove this new synth-funk sound into a more rigid direction. One that, no doubt, suited the funky oligarch down to the ground.
There's much that can be gleaned from this approach to production and in this video, Adam - one of our resident Prince acolytes (there are a few) - breaks down some of the key components required to produce funk just like the Purple One used to.
Head to musicradar.com for more news, reviews and tutorials.
There are many ways to funk. In a live situation, players can hit a groove and sit in the pocket for days. As a shared experience, finding the groove and keeping it loose is something musicians strive for. Then there's Prince, whose taught, '80s funk was anything but loose.
Prince's Minneapolis sound owed much to the stripped-back rhythms of James Brown and co, but liberal lashings of programmed drums drove this new synth-funk sound into a more rigid direction. One that, no doubt, suited the funky oligarch down to the ground.
There's much that can be gleaned from this approach to production and in this video, Adam - one of our resident Prince acolytes (there are a few) - breaks down some of the key components required to produce funk just like the Purple One used to.
Head to musicradar.com for more news, reviews and tutorials.
