Depends on your definition of funk, which is what this quite exquisite thread is all about, and I have to take my hat off to the Jazzzmeister.
For me, "the funk" is that deeply disturbing and sexy honest sound that is defined when there is a succesful blend of the following:
1/ A Funky Drummer, really bitchin', whacking those snares and cymbals and drilling out the bass kicks in an almost perverted stop-start "on the one", whilst allowing ample silent pauses for the ...
2/ An Evil bassist, not only curving and slurring notes but alternating the timbre of each pluck in a way that only a true soul cat can.
There's no way you'll ever hear a computer take a bassline the way Lequient Jobe used to.
And the think that bassists the world over have to remember, above all, is that they are an important part of the rhythm section, just as important as the bass drum itself, because people can just feel the funk better that way, when there's a deep authoritative synergy between a drummer and a bassist you can throw all manner of shit down, especially if you have ....
3/ A Twisted Guitarist, specifically trained to pull off those obscure scales, that kink in the melody that can come from a comfortable set of tight riffs suddenly lurched toward a jazz-esque keychange, especially during a nice arpeggiation sequence, leave you gasping for the breath of life itself, just as the solo begins from our next ingredient ...
4/ The sax player. OK I'll settle for a bassoon if it's played with flair, and I guess if you have a tight enough yet subtle enough wind section it'll all blend the way you want, but assuming all the above is in place, a dirty-minded pipe blower will take the rhythm and melody away from the regimented funk-time frame, and into the casual sleazy fragments of subdued frustration that outlines all true funk, in an abstract way that on rare occasion can work in absolute chemistry and harmony and emphasis with ...
5/ The Vocalist, your story maker, your heart breaker, your butt shaker, because if he or she cannot convince you to drop everything you are doing and shake your arse right there and then, you'll have nothing with which to truly empathise.
All the rest is about ducking compression and microphone technique.
Funk is not confident, it is not masterful and swaggering, it is the nervous hand stroking the hair of a beautiful girl, with no guarantee of anything more, rather than the fucked-up fake ambivolence of Snoop Dogg and the like, with their "bitches and ho's", it's far more old-fashioned and respectful, and it will be around long after people tire of hearing evermore whiny rap songs about "duh shtreetsh".
Anyone can programme a fucking drum machine.
But the true 'funk' is a
human thing, all the way live...
![Wink ;) ;)](/ubb/wink.gif)
pk