Reggae Organ

[marcuscw]

hi guys. i'm experimenting with some reggae vibezz now and i'm tryin to get the typical organ sound like the one they got in Collie Buddz' Come Around. If i listen closely it sounds as if they just play the same chord all the time against the beat, but on the other hand, it sound as if the go 'pa-tsa-pa, pa-tsa-pa'. could it also be the type of chord they play?

[cynic one]

definitely the chords they play......but what is the reggae chord? i always cheat by just using samples of guitar or organ skanks :x

[zvenx]

just listented to it on my computer speakers so there may be parts I am not hearing......
but firstly that clip has one chord as you know already, but that isn't necessarily typical reggae....although reggae like rock and roll is usually 1, IV, V or iterations of that.....does that chord remain throughout the whole song?

not 100% sure what the question is, whether is how you get a tone or what to play?

I will try to answer both....
99% of current at least jamaican reggae organs come from Korg's. either Triton, Trinity, 01W or M1 which some like myself still use.......

except for fills and sweetners etc.....it usually are two keyboard parts...
a bang and a shuffle......
bang is usually right hand a piano sound.... usually eight notes played on the and of each measure (one and two and three and four and)... in the piece you sent I hear the organ playing that part......which obviously is permissible...lol... guitar usually plays the 'cha', 'ching' or 'skank' in sync...
the other main keyboard part is the shuffly which is usually organ played so low in octave that you really hear the notes but the rhythm.....I personally play the chords but many reggae keyboardist I know just choose three notes next to each other and shuffle them for the whole song..whereas I change the chords as the song progresses......the rhythm of the shuffle is usually sixteenth notes played as a shuffle on the......ok my music theory is weak....maybe an mp3 would be better.... will do that shortly.
hope this helped more than hurt.
rsp

[Flymax]

Often referred to as the bubble..
In my experience a real b3 with Leslie sounds best.

[zvenx]

:-)
how could I not post that too. yes bubble cause well it sounds like a bubble.......... in the old days a b3 was used...... I doubt any jamaican reggae band still uses a b3.....if they are they must be few and in between...

edit: please note this was to convey the idea not to represent a keyboard masterpiece....lol.... that is it took me about a minute or so to do. :-)
hope it helps
rsp

[miqer]

Originally Posted by marcuscw

but on the other hand, it sound as if the go 'pa-tsa-pa, pa-tsa-pa'. could it also be the type of chord they play?

organ played with two hands... one going down (pa), other comming up, then that one down a bit higher (tsa).. that's the well known effect... and no quantizing please.

yeah, the best sound: hammond and say a 147 leslie... that will work... put the percussion on...

m.

[marcuscw]

thnx you guys rock! so they just play simple chords but against the beat or how you call it. the mp3 explains it well indeed :D it sounds so easy :p

but i dont really get that last one, the explainin of the pa-tsa-pa. what exactly do they play? the same chords with both hands one high and one low? ive been tryin but i just cant get it right.

[zvenx]

the mp3 doesn't do one thing however.... to me the key element of reggae is the groove.
it is a very simple melodic and harmonic music form but the groove is everything..... I didn't even try to groove in that one.......when you have a live drum and bass......the 'lock' is important.
rsp

[zvenx]

some reggae bands can 'afford' to have a keyboardist dedicated to the bubble.......and it is those situations I think he was trying to explain to you. where the left hand more or less does what I tried to describe before or some variant of it, and the right hand plays off of it in a much higher octave where you can actually clearly hear the note definitions.. is it is usually inversions of the chord.....
maybe an example again may help... give me a few :-)
rsp

ok with mp3.... yes it is quick and dirty and timing and groove is off, but is the idea I am trying to convey....I kept the bang in there for reference.
rsp

[marcuscw]

ahh i get it and i tried it and it worked :D when i do the bubble thing with my left hand playing the root note of the chord on the 16ths and the right hand plays the guitar part. i attached what i got now, a lil more practice and i'm bob marley-ing in no time

thnx !!

[marcuscw]

wow just checked your mp3 out you got another reggae rhythm thing goin on, the low organ playin twice each time. sounds really reggae! i';m gonna try that one out 2 !

[zvenx]

or maybe this was more like what he was describing...
rsp
something screwy is going on.
I tried to attach another example and it never came and now I have dumped it :(
but yes.
there are countless ways of doing the bang/shuffle. bang/bubble stuff.... those are just two or so examples....
don't forget
NOT to overplay.
and GROOVE
GROOVE
GROOVE
rsp

p.s. although reggae is no way my favourite form of music. I do jingles/ads/multimedia music for a living in jamaica so I would like to think I have some credibility/experience in making it sound reggae....
for the most part whenever I hear most foreign bands (not all, some have it nailed) playing reggae it is the drum and bass groove that is wrong more than anything else....
rsp

ok tried to quickly redo the missing file..drum loop courtesy of spectrasonics backbeat

[marcuscw]

haha cool :D and yes, your location says it all, I'd believe anything you tell me about reggae :p

[cynic one]

hook us up with some midi files of that performance

[Jazzpunk]

If you're getting into reggae organ grooves, you need to be up on this guy;

http://www.myspace.com/officialjackiemittoo

Check out the collections 'Champion of the Arena'. He is the man.

[zvenx]

yep the original....jackie was....everyone obviously has different tastes but my two favourite reggae keyboardist currently still playing from jamaica are
Frankie Bubbler Waul (not 100% of the spelling of his last name) and Carol Mclaughlin aka Bowie...
Both have a different times played for Ziggy Marley and Jimmy Cliff.
rsp

[zvenx]

Originally Posted by cynic

hook us up with some midi files of that performance

lol I dumped that.. that was only done for demonstration......... it had no groove etc.......I would never work again in reggae land with that :-)
give me a few days and I will try to do something properly and post it.
rsp

[Jazzpunk]

Originally Posted by zvenx

yep the original....jackie was....everyone obviously has different tastes but my two favourite reggae keyboardist currently still playing from jamaica are
Frankie Bubbler Waul (not 100% of the spelling of his last name) and Carol Mclaughlin aka Bowie...
Both have a different times played for Ziggy Marley and Jimmy Cliff.
rsp

Yep, so many inspiring players out there.

[cynic one]

Originally Posted by zvenx

lol I dumped that.. that was only done for demonstration......... it had no groove etc.......I would never work again in reggae land with that :-)
give me a few days and I will try to do something properly and post it.
rsp

cool......i can listen and pick out simple single notes, but i have problems with chords. looking at it will allow me to replay it and learn