I worked for a music company years ago called Evans Music City in Houston. Stevie was doing a show there and came into the store. He jammed out for a bit and played this. Watching him play was definitely a gift.
The inventor of the Clavinet is the grandfather of a friend of mine. He's 90+ and still inventing stuff. I'm hoping to meet him soon which will be amazing given that he invented an instrument that shaped the sound of funk and soul music so much.
Dude you rocked it. Its the notes and the feel, not the dang sound. Later for the rest of those under me about to much distortion. The sound can be what ever you want it to be. The main thing is the notes and the funk feel. Great job!
Once I heard you sing the difference between a son clave & rumba clave, "He knows his stuff" came out of my mouth. Clearly explained and well demonstrated. Viva music education!
He also recorded 8 tracks of it over a 16 track multitrack tape, which all play together, so no matter how great you are you ain't gonna recreate it with two hands. Not even if you're Stevie Wonder.
@@richsackett3423 - if you mean different settings on the two different tracks, yes. Absolutely. I actually charted both out and figured how to more or less play both parts at once. I play with a Stevie Wonder tribute band ;-)
No wonder this song has such a great 'get up and dance' feel. I had no idea it was based on 2/3 clave, but when it's pointed out, you can hear it easily. Thanks for the video.
SUPER AWESOME!!! It makes me wanna try more funky sounds on my playing, I never heard anything about those ghost notes, damn that makes a huge difference
Stevie's clavinet playing on superstition was amazing. Billy Preston's outta space took the clavinet into the supernatural. What an amazing instrument.
This instrument has such a 70s funk vibe to it. Not perfect, but it was definitely educational to see an approximation of how this part was played. Great video.
@Doctor Mix Please Pleas Please do more keyboard tutorial videos like this! You're such a good keyboard player and there's so much we can learn from you. No one else on RUclips is really doing much keyboard tutorial content right now so it's defiantly something you could expand on. Thanks for the video! 👍👍🎹🎹❤❤
Lol i just play it like this... Keys: Riff in RH with ghost notes in LH. Sometimes ill double the bass guitar in my left hand and just hit 4 crotchets Guitar: the funky strums Bass: 4 to the floor Its literally impossible to get it to sound exactly like it does on the original recording anyway
Nice work. I did pause the video and watched a live recording of Stevie Wonder playing this track and then came back to finish watching so I had a point of reference. :)
Groovy Doc, i watched a short clip on you tube of how he managed to record that tune from his album Songs In The Key Of Life, he had assistance from 2 blokes who made this enormous sound machine, it was like a gigantic Moog System and it was invented by one of the guys that were helping him out..
Stevie heard the synthesizer album Zero Point by Tonto's Expanding Head Band, and wanted to work with the electronic musicians who made it, Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, and their custom behemoth synthesizer TONTO. "The Original New Timbral Orchestra" was the first, and still the largest, multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer in the world. All three are featured on Isley Brothers records as well. Read the Wikipedia articles and enjoy!
Maybe I'm wrong. I tend to listen to that song for sheer enjoyment rather than listening for the note-to-note analysis. But ... I've heard it said that that you can NEVER play it like it sounds on the recording because there are TWO Clav tracks on the recording.
I had to learn this for a band a few years ago, thought it was a bit hard but managed to get something that sounded reasonable, something similar to this though don't recall exactly... Then later saw a video demonstrating the TWO parts and thought "oh, that's why it was so hard..."
Wow, Dr. Mix, I see you have your Doctorate in Funk as well as EDM and a bunch of other styles. The instrument (Hohner Clavinet model D6) is fantastic too, I don't think its been well emulated yet. To my ears in addition to the Clavi sound there is a beautiful crunch and distortion coming from the pickups/preamps that give it such bite and growl. I have been looking for a Clavinet for years here in Australia, but they are VERY expensive here in Australia!
Thank You @Doctor Mix .... This would have to be the MOST not correctly played pop song on any keyboard instrument. First thing is that the LEFT hand is playing the motif, the RH is comping/ghost-noting as you point out. THEN we have "a whole other, secondary Clavinet part going on, as well" as you mention. The rest is all about "note durations", landing on "the pocket" and .... "variations". "Easy" but "very very difficult".
First thing I ever bought.forty five record at Kmart.it skipped.cOVERed it here at YT..using STEVIES BASS AND DRUMS TRACKS I found isolated !! I play all the clav parts ..fun!
In a spell of UK factory work a few years ago it did my aging heart good to see some young black girls dancing beside the conveyor when Superstition came on the radio.
Great !!! It almost like playing a funk guitar, you play the fundamental notes or riff but on the notes in-between you need to pluck muted strings .....with a lot of groove of course.
Thanks for sharing, I think you got it in the bag. There's abit to it cos it might seem simple but nope you gotta get the foundations right otherwise its off :)
It was originally a guitar part. Stevie wrote this tune for Jeff Beck, who played on a few of his records up to Talking Book. Their friendship ended when Stevie decided to do it on his own record. The right hand has to be stronger.
@@jiminycrint Yes, but Beck's release was delayed for some months and Stevie's management wanted a hit for Talking Book so they used it. It was huge for Stevie, his first big hit since Fingertips. Who knows whether it would have been for Beck. One wonders whether Stevie discussed it with him first. See Wikipedia entry for Superstition (song).
WOW! Very nice deconstructing, as always! But yes, I agree that´s a little to much distortion (as I hear it on the record). But that is just a detail ;)
Feel accounts for so much when you're trying to wrap your head around a player's style. For example, I learned years ago the trick to John Frusciante's guitar style can be learned by watching him strum a guitar. It's all alternating up and down, generally steady, rhythmic strumming and he makes the notes he wants by being able to play and mute strings with his left hand. That's where his funk comes from. He plays Scar Tissue live by strumming up and down, not plucking. It's all jamming on all the strings, almost banging on the guitar to express the rhythm.
great great great VID i think SW plays multiple dub-rec for the complete clav track. not shure but i guess it's not just "one" clavinet, but few layers of it...
I worked for a music company years ago called Evans Music City in Houston. Stevie was doing a show there and came into the store. He jammed out for a bit and played this. Watching him play was definitely a gift.
that sounds like a dream come true!
The inventor of the Clavinet is the grandfather of a friend of mine. He's 90+ and still inventing stuff. I'm hoping to meet him soon which will be amazing given that he invented an instrument that shaped the sound of funk and soul music so much.
Wow!! Video and pictures pleeeaze!!!
Hey everybody; how about, “great job Dr. Mix for approximating a multitrack performance live for our benefit!”
No kidding!
*Cover, Sound like Stevie Wonder live (done !) **ruclips.net/video/A__ePQHqZwo/видео.html*
Hear hear!
Dude you rocked it. Its the notes and the feel, not the dang sound. Later for the rest of those under me about to much distortion. The sound can be what ever you want it to be. The main thing is the notes and the funk feel. Great job!
Once I heard you sing the difference between a son clave & rumba clave, "He knows his stuff" came out of my mouth. Clearly explained and well demonstrated. Viva music education!
Finally; someone who plays it the right way!
*Cover, Sound like Stevie Wonder live (done !) **ruclips.net/video/A__ePQHqZwo/видео.html*
He also recorded 8 tracks of it over a 16 track multitrack tape, which all play together, so no matter how great you are you ain't gonna recreate it with two hands. Not even if you're Stevie Wonder.
Yes I have also heard the 16 track ..8 tracks of clav
It's actually only 2 clavinet parts, but several tracks of echo and such
@@RockstarHealer Different pickups.
@@richsackett3423 - if you mean different settings on the two different tracks, yes. Absolutely.
I actually charted both out and figured how to more or less play both parts at once. I play with a Stevie Wonder tribute band ;-)
... And... your point is ...?
No wonder this song has such a great 'get up and dance' feel. I had no idea it was based on 2/3 clave, but when it's pointed out, you can hear it easily.
Thanks for the video.
WAY TOO MUCH DISTORTION!!!
I know, I know, sorry sorry. I messed up with the pre gain. But I decided to still publish the video. :) Hope you can forgive me!!
Doctor Mix no worries :)
Yah!
No distortion
I personally think it kicks ass!
Mind blowing ! No wonder I could never get this right . Thanks . Beautiful insight to a classic track.
After watching many tutorials, this was the one that finally unlocked the feel for me. Great job!
No rings?! Unsubskriebed.
Hahahaha
Or his Africa necklace!
What an amazing way to show and teach people on how to groove!
No rings?
*ledgend of the wristband*
"Don't ever use your right hand because it's never going to feel right." I didn't read the comment in a dirty way, but the idea cracked me up.
Terrific job! I long for a cleaner, undistorted clav sound but this guy nailed it.
SUPER AWESOME!!! It makes me wanna try more funky sounds on my playing, I never heard anything about those ghost notes, damn that makes a huge difference
Danke, danke!!!! So cute! It helps me sooooo! Big greatings from Berlin/Germany
Excellent work. My favourite part is that little transition at the 2:30 mark that takes the bridge back in to the main riff.
*Cover, Sound like Stevie Wonder live (done !) **ruclips.net/video/A__ePQHqZwo/видео.html*
Stevie's clavinet playing on superstition was amazing. Billy Preston's outta space took the clavinet into the supernatural.
What an amazing instrument.
*Cover, Sound like Stevie Wonder live (done !) **ruclips.net/video/A__ePQHqZwo/видео.html*
Narada Michael Walden’s Play With Me, from Jeff Beck’s WIRED, is another stellar Clavinet track.
And now a Full Cover with drums etc like you did with Thriller please 👍🏻🎧
This instrument has such a 70s funk vibe to it. Not perfect, but it was definitely educational to see an approximation of how this part was played. Great video.
very cool...glad you posted this...and I found it 4 years later! LOL
Thank you for taking the time to go into such details for us all :)
You got it! That's pretty much it. Well done Dr. Mix.
Great as always, I didn't think of the underlying beat coming from Rumba to help give the full groove... Interesting! Keep up the good work :)
Something worth to mention is that the timing is in 24th (six-tuples) rather than 16th, and that adds to the grove. Like playing mini-triplets
True that. But it's also correct to call it 16ths swung.
Im so in love with this channel, thank you for the consistent work and great explanations. I will remember to disable my adblock before watching.
Thanks!!!
No no no thank you !
Claudietto hai spiegato benissimo GRAZIE
Gracias por hacerlo todo tan claro y didáctico.
Great video. You're right Stevie Wonder possesses an infinite amount of groove
so much so that he got a harpejji.
Nice! And ultra 'pedagigical' ! Love your vídeos!
@Doctor Mix Please Pleas Please do more keyboard tutorial videos like this! You're such a good keyboard player and there's so much we can learn from you. No one else on RUclips is really doing much keyboard tutorial content right now so it's defiantly something you could expand on. Thanks for the video! 👍👍🎹🎹❤❤
Delay, not a spring reverb ))
This is awesome, that you dissected those parts!
Somebody, that is actually trying to play it correctly))
Great job done here, Sir! Congrats and thnk u for sharing!
Amazing how one instrument can define a whole song.
or one instrument can define a whole decade.
Great stuff thx doctor !
Two words. THANK YOU!!! :)
your videos are gold!!!!
Mad love and respect! "A living piece of funckness" yessir my brother!
Love this guy.
Lol i just play it like this...
Keys: Riff in RH with ghost notes in LH. Sometimes ill double the bass guitar in my left hand and just hit 4 crotchets
Guitar: the funky strums
Bass: 4 to the floor
Its literally impossible to get it to sound exactly like it does on the original recording anyway
Nice work. I did pause the video and watched a live recording of Stevie Wonder playing this track and then came back to finish watching so I had a point of reference. :)
Wowowo HOLD ON what's with all that distortion!?
I know, sorry... ! My preamp betrayed me this time!.. Nothing I could do about it. It's life :( Shit happens. I still decided to post this.
@@Doctormix haha don't worry... Still amazing video 😉
Doctor Mix it didn’t sound bad, it just wasn’t the same tone in the recording. Which isn’t possible, anyway.
@@Doctormix next time redo it....you have an audience that fill your pockets too.
Stop being lazy and get her done right
awesome lesson here! thanks, your playing and teaching at the same time is wow.
Your the best bro. ❤🎉
Stereotype Lord of the Rings Comment, 😉 great Job 👍
クラビネットの音色がたまらなくスキです。いつも聴いていたい。
I’m a new subscriber and I am loving all of it. I grew up with the vintage synths and keys.
This is great!!!
Omg yes more clavinet videos please
Cool, Man!!!
I"ll never be able to do that lol, I started way too late but AWESOME video!!
No one knows the secret keys of this song, except Stevie and his 4 keyboard accompaniments.
We have the multitracks.
You explain this well 👍🎶🎶🎶🎶
Apart from being a super musician, Claudio makes an equally super teacher
Shit, I was doing just the right hand stuff...and I allways suspected that there were somethig wrong with it. Great video, as allways!
Groovy Doc, i watched a short clip on you tube of how he managed to record that tune from his album Songs In The Key Of Life, he had assistance from 2 blokes who made this enormous sound machine, it was like a gigantic Moog System and it was invented by one of the guys that were helping him out..
Stevie heard the synthesizer album Zero Point by Tonto's Expanding Head Band, and wanted to work with the electronic musicians who made it, Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, and their custom behemoth synthesizer TONTO. "The Original New Timbral Orchestra" was the first, and still the largest, multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer in the world. All three are featured on Isley Brothers records as well. Read the Wikipedia articles and enjoy!
Tonto. The machine resides in my hometown in the National Music Centre. One of the inventors came and demonstrated it’s capabilities a few years back.
Too cool for school
Great video. I appreciate you sharing what you know even admitting not being able to completely copy the original. Thanks Claudio.
you inspired me!! THX Dr.Mix! :)
Maybe I'm wrong. I tend to listen to that song for sheer enjoyment rather than listening for the note-to-note analysis. But ... I've heard it said that that you can NEVER play it like it sounds on the recording because there are TWO Clav tracks on the recording.
I had to learn this for a band a few years ago, thought it was a bit hard but managed to get something that sounded reasonable, something similar to this though don't recall exactly... Then later saw a video demonstrating the TWO parts and thought "oh, that's why it was so hard..."
ruclips.net/video/F_wyRRjrD-w/видео.html
THANKS for the posting. It's great to see what I wasn't hearing. :)
I believe the two Clavi tracks are also on Higher Ground
There are 8 parts.
What a nice homage to Stevie 👍👌😎
I love you Doctor Mix
I adore this song (and many others) and I love how you analyze them! Thanks for great video. With or withour rings, you're still THE LORD OF SYNTHS
Wow, Dr. Mix, I see you have your Doctorate in Funk as well as EDM and a bunch of other styles.
The instrument (Hohner Clavinet model D6) is fantastic too, I don't think its been well emulated yet.
To my ears in addition to the Clavi sound there is a beautiful crunch and distortion coming from the pickups/preamps that give it such bite and growl. I have been looking for a Clavinet for years here in Australia, but they are VERY expensive here in Australia!
You should do a proper cover of the first verse to the 2nd with the gain fixed. Really cool! The whole clave rhythm was great! Very inspiring.
Dude. You are awesome! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
0:45 That and he did multiple tracks in the recording.
Really good videos lately! Keep it up.
Some legends say he was wearing invisible rings..
Thank You @Doctor Mix .... This would have to be the MOST not correctly played pop song on any keyboard instrument. First thing is that the LEFT hand is playing the motif, the RH is comping/ghost-noting as you point out. THEN we have "a whole other, secondary Clavinet part going on, as well" as you mention. The rest is all about "note durations", landing on "the pocket" and .... "variations". "Easy" but "very very difficult".
First thing I ever bought.forty five record at Kmart.it skipped.cOVERed it here at YT..using STEVIES BASS AND DRUMS TRACKS I found isolated !! I play all the clav parts ..fun!
PLAY TRMAPLED UNDER FOOT WITH THE D6 SOLO ! Nice video 👍
Funk can't be played as "normal" music... Doctor Mix explained it well!! Another really good video!!
In a spell of UK factory work a few years ago it did my aging heart good to see some young black girls dancing beside the conveyor when Superstition came on the radio.
Nice job looks like a laminated flooring keyboard
big fan!
Thank you!
Thanks doctor! you’re great 👍🏻
Great !!! It almost like playing a funk guitar, you play the fundamental notes or riff but on the notes in-between you need to pluck muted strings .....with a lot of groove of course.
Very very very good
Thanks for sharing, I think you got it in the bag. There's abit to it cos it might
seem simple but nope you gotta get the foundations right otherwise its off :)
I recorded the original. Well done sir🎯
Super Claudio !!😉
Where are Yours f..... ntastic rings !!@?
You are great. Do more. Fantastic material.
Greetz !
Great video! Tanks for sharing 😉
It was originally a guitar part. Stevie wrote this tune for Jeff Beck, who played on a few of his records up to Talking Book. Their friendship ended when Stevie decided to do it on his own record. The right hand has to be stronger.
Later, Stevie wrote "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" for Jeff, which probably went a long way towards patching things up.
He waited for Beck to release his version first though.
SvenTviking - did he?
@@jiminycrint Yes, but Beck's release was delayed for some months and Stevie's management wanted a hit for Talking Book so they used it. It was huge for Stevie, his first big hit since Fingertips. Who knows whether it would have been for Beck. One wonders whether Stevie discussed it with him first. See Wikipedia entry for Superstition (song).
WOW! Very nice deconstructing, as always! But yes, I agree that´s a little to much distortion (as I hear it on the record). But that is just a detail ;)
course, this is digital, and if it was pingponged/overdubbed the tape would warm it up.
At 2:30 it's just perfect
Would be amazing if you displayed the music sheet when you play it. Anyway amazing content thank you for sharing!
Feel accounts for so much when you're trying to wrap your head around a player's style. For example, I learned years ago the trick to John Frusciante's guitar style can be learned by watching him strum a guitar. It's all alternating up and down, generally steady, rhythmic strumming and he makes the notes he wants by being able to play and mute strings with his left hand. That's where his funk comes from. He plays Scar Tissue live by strumming up and down, not plucking. It's all jamming on all the strings, almost banging on the guitar to express the rhythm.
Awesome
now that you've got your very own Clavinet - play it again, Sam, give us the audio, Claudio xD
Hi! Good video. : )
love Wonder! and this song is awesome! funky!
great great great VID
i think SW plays multiple dub-rec for the complete clav track. not shure but i guess it's not just "one" clavinet, but few layers of it...
Where did all the rings go :/ Great video x
DOUBLE LIKE!
Thank you. I never knew.
Ciao Claudio 😎funkyyy from Italy