P-funk

History and character

P-funk is the funk of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective led by George Clinton: a musical (and mythological) universe that grew out of the Parliaments, a doo-wop group formed in Plainfield/Newark, New Jersey, in the 1950s, whose first hit was “(I Wanna) Testify” (1967). From 1970 Clinton led two bands with the same musicians: Funkadelic (psychedelic, guitar-driven funk-rock: “Maggot Brain,” 1971, with Eddie Hazel's ten-minute solo; “One Nation Under a Groove,” 1978) and Parliament (more orchestral funk, with horns and science-fiction concepts: “Mothership Connection,” 1975; “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)”; “Flash Light,” 1978, in which the electric bass is replaced by a Moog synth bass played by Bernie Worrell). Between 1967 and 1983 the collective scored thirteen R&B top tens; “Atomic Dog” (1982) is Clinton's big solo hit.

Key musicians: Bootsy Collins (bass, with the Mu-Tron envelope filter and the Bootsy's Rubber Band persona), Bernie Worrell (keyboards, Minimoog, arrangements), Eddie Hazel and Michael Hampton (lead guitar), Garry Shider (guitar and vocals), and the horn players Fred Wesley and Maceo Parker (formerly with James Brown, the “Horny Horns”). The collective rotates dozens of musicians and side projects (Bootsy's Rubber Band, Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet).

Aesthetic: a slower, heavier groove than James Brown's funk, synthesizers as bass and lead, group vocals, surreal humor, costumes and Afrofuturism (the Mothership). It is the main source of 1990s West Coast G-funk (Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg: “Atomic Dog” and the Parliament tracks are among the most sampled) and has influenced hip hop, Detroit techno, post-punk and funk rock.

Scales and keys

Dorian

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 — T S T T T S T. On E: E F# G A B C# D.
• Characteristic note: the major 6 (C#), which allows the IV7 (A7): the “bright” minor of the vamps.
• Chords: Em7 (i7), F#m7 (ii7), Gmaj7 (bIII), A7 (IV7), Bm7 (v7), C#ø7, Dmaj7 (bVII).
• Use: Parliament minor vamps, synth and horn lines over i7–IV7.
• Common mistakes: the b6 over the IV7 creates a harsh semitone clash with the third of the chord.

Mixolydian + blues (“dirty” dominant)

• Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 + passing b3. On E: E F# G G# A B C# D.
• Characteristic note: b7 and the b3/3 clash.
• Use: vamps on a ninth chord; Bootsy's bass riffs (with slides and hammer-ons from the b3 to the 3).

Minor pentatonic and blues

• On E: E G A B D (blues + Bb). Use: synth bass lines (Flash Light), guitar solos by Eddie Hazel and Michael Hampton (Maggot Brain), unison backing vocals.
• Real example: Funkadelic — Maggot Brain (psychedelic blues-rock solo in E minor).

Major pentatonic

• On A: A B C# E F#. Use: “stadium-style” vocal hooks and group backing vocals in the Parliament choruses.

Chromaticism and “outside” playing (Bernie Worrell)

Worrell, who had classical training (conservatory), uses chromatic lines, parallel chords and synthesizers that glide between notes (portamento), along with classical quotations. The chromatic scale is used as a color over the static vamp.

How to choose

Harmony

Harmonic function

As in funk: static vamps of one or two chords for many bars, but with more layers on top (synths, backing vocals, horns, guitars) and a freer use of dissonance. Funkadelic is more rock (power chords, ninth chords, 7#9, blues progressions); Parliament is more orchestral (extended chords, harmonized horns, sections with key changes).

Typical elements

• i7–IV7 vamp (Dorian) or on a ninth/thirteenth chord.
• Bridge with a change to the IV or the bVII.
• Chromatic parallel chords (Eb9–E9) in the horns and synths.
• Bass pedal under changing chords.
• Gospel progressions in the choral pieces (One Nation Under a Groove).

Density

Static harmony, high density of layers. The harmonic rhythm is extremely slow; changes come by whole sections.

Voicing

Synths with wide chords and monophonic leads with glide; rhythm guitars with ninth chords in sixteenth notes; horns in close harmony or in unison; backing vocals in unison/octaves with open harmonies.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

Feel

A slower and heavier groove than James Brown's funk, with an enormous one (Clinton and Bootsy carry on the “the One” philosophy) and a slight sixteenth-note swing (55–58%). Sections are long and repetitive; tension builds by accumulating layers.

Accents

Very strong one, backbeat on 2 and 4, syncopations of the synth bass and electric bass locking in with the kick; the horns and backing vocals hit on the one or the “&” of 4.

Microtiming

The bass tends to “sit” on the one; the guitars push slightly; the synths are played by hand (not sequenced), so they fluctuate.

Drums

Principle

P-funk drumming (Jerome “Bigfoot” Brailey, Tiki Fulwood, Frank “Kash” Waddy, Dennis Chambers live in the 1980s) supports a heavy, hypnotic groove, less “nervous” than James Brown's, with kick and bass as the foundation.

Kick

On the one always, then a few syncopations (pos. 1, 4, 7, 11 or 1, 8, 11) in unison with the bass; sometimes four-on-the-floor kick in the “disco-funk” sections.

Snare

Backbeat on 2 and 4, fat sound with a little reverb; ghost notes sparser than in “Brown” funk.

Hi-hat

Eighth or sixteenth notes, openings on the “&” of 4; ride in the choruses.

Percussion

Cowbell, tambourine, handclaps, congas; electronic percussion (Syndrum) and drum machines in the early 1980s (Atomic Dog and Clinton's solo records).

Dynamics

Constant; the crescendo comes from the stacking of backing vocals and synths.

Interaction

The bass (Bootsy or Worrell's Moog) is the protagonist: the drums support it without competing. The backing vocals answer the leader on the hits.

Sections

Verses on the vamp; choral chorus with cymbals; break with drum and bass solo; long outro with jam, solos and backing vocals.

Fills

Rare and short; more often a stop by the whole band on a hit.

Sounds

Medium snare with plate reverb, big, soft kick, medium cymbals; these kits have been heavily reused in hip hop samples.

Typical mistakes

Tempo too fast, a groove too full of ghost notes (this is not Tower of Power), drums that cover the bass.

Bass

Sound

Two souls: Bootsy Collins' electric bass (star-shaped Space Bass, Mu-Tron III envelope filter, fuzz, wah, octaver) and Bernie Worrell's Minimoog synth bass (Flash Light: several layered Minimoogs, with glide and filter sweeps). Enormous, rubbery sound with “talking” mids.

Notes

Long root on the one, then octaves, b7, 5, chromatic slides and glissandos; “melodic” lines that act as hooks. The synth bass uses glide between notes (portamento 50–150 ms).

Relationship with the kick

The one together, the rest of the bass fills the rests; the bass is the protagonist of the mix.

Rhythm

Syncopated sixteenth notes with long notes; the “sleep on the One” (staying on the one).

Examples

Parliament — Flash Light (Minimoog), Give Up the Funk (Bootsy); Bootsy's Rubber Band — Stretchin' Out; Funkadelic — One Nation Under a Groove.

Harmonic instruments

• Synths (Bernie Worrell): Minimoog for basses and leads, ARP String Ensemble/Solina for pads, Clavinet, Hammond, Rhodes, ARP Pro Soloist.
• Guitars: rhythm in sixteenth notes (Garry Shider, Catfish Collins), psychedelic lead with fuzz, wah and Univibe (Eddie Hazel, Michael Hampton).
• Horns (Horny Horns: Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Richard Griffith, Rick Gardner): stabs, unisons, jazzy phrases.
• Clavinet and organ: rhythmic riffs and pads.

Melody and vocals

Voice

George Clinton as preacher/narrator: spoken phrases, shouts, characters (Starchild, Dr. Funkenstein, Sir Nose). The melodies are repeated slogans.

Backing vocals

The group chorus is central: dozens of voices in unison or octaves, female backing vocals (Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet), falsetto voices, responses and chants.

Treated vocals

Vocals sped up or slowed down (varispeed), filters, psychedelic effects, talk box and vocoder in the early 1980s (Zapp and Roger Troutman, close to the P-funk world).

Effects

Tape delay, phaser, flanger, long reverbs on the “spacey” vocals.

Instruments

• Drums, percussion, Syndrum, drum machine (1980s)
• Electric bass with envelope filter, fuzz, wah; Minimoog bass
• Rhythm and lead guitars (fuzz, wah, Univibe)
• Minimoog, ARP, Solina/ARP String Ensemble, Clavinet, Hammond, Rhodes
• Horns: trumpet, sax, trombone
• Narrator voice, group vocals, female backing vocals

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Mini V — Flash Light-style synth bass: Three sawtooth/square oscillators at 32' and 16', 24 dB filter with low cutoff and medium envelope (decay 300–600 ms), glide 80–150 ms; record several passes and layer them.
• Mini V — “Spacey” lead: One sawtooth osc, medium-high resonance, long glide, vibrato with the modulation wheel.
• Solina V — String pad: ARP/Solina pad under the choral choruses; ensemble at maximum.
• Clavinet V — Clavinet: Rhythmic riffs with wah or envelope filter.
• B-3 V — Organ: Full drawbars and fast Leslie for the gospel-psychedelic moments.
• ARP 2600 V — Effects and sweeps: Filtered noise, resonance sweeps, “spaceship” effects for intros and transitions.

Song structure

Jam form

• Intro (groove, narrator voice or effects) 8–16.
• Main vamp with verse (16–32) and chant/choral hook (8–16), repeated.
• Break or bridge (8–16) with a change of harmonic area or just bass and drums.
• Return to the vamp with new layers (synths, horns).
• Long outro: jam, guitar or synth solos, backing vocals, fade. 5:00–10:00.

Single version

Intro 8 – Verse 16 – Hook 8 – Verse – Hook – Break 8 – Hook ×2 – Fade. 3:30–4:30.

Arrangement

Layer upon layer: bass and drums, then rhythm guitar, then clavinet, then synths, then backing vocals and horns. The break strips everything except bass and drums; the return brings everyone back.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Huge, protagonist bass (electric with filter or Moog), solid, slightly reverberant drums, layers of synths and wide backing vocals, narrator voice in the center. A “dense” but dynamic 1970s sound: −13/−10 LUFS for the classic style; for a G-funk or modern P-funk-inspired track −10/−8.

Kick

HP 35 Hz; 60–80 Hz +2 dB; 300 Hz −3 dB; 2 kHz +1 dB; compression 4:1 3 dB; center.

Snare

HP 100 Hz; 180–220 Hz +2 dB; 4 kHz +2 dB; compression 4 dB; plate 1.2–1.8 s pre-delay 20 ms, medium level.

Hi-hat and percussion

HP 300–400 Hz; pan 20–40%; cowbell and tambourine on opposite sides; light phaser on some percussion for the psychedelic effect.

Bass (electric or synth)

• EQ: HP 25–30 Hz; 50–90 Hz fundamental (+2/+3 dB); 250 Hz −2 dB; 600 Hz–1 kHz (+2 dB) for the voice of the envelope filter.
• Compression: opto 4–6 dB + limiter 1–2 dB for the filter peaks.
• Saturation: tube/fuzz in parallel (mix 20–40%).
• Mono below 120 Hz; some chorus/ensemble above 300 Hz (multiband) to widen the synth mids.

Guitars

Rhythm: HP 150 Hz, 3 kHz presence, compression 3–4 dB, pan 40–60%. Lead: HP 100 Hz, 1–2 kHz presence, dotted-eighth delay 20–25%, long plate/hall, volume automation.

Synths, clavinet, organ

Lead: HP 150 Hz, wide delay and reverb, filter automation; pads: HP 200 Hz, 100% wide; clavinet: HP 100 Hz, 2 kHz presence, panned opposite the guitar.

Horns

HP 120 Hz, 2 kHz +2 dB, bus 3 dB of compression, plate 1.3 s; fan-style pan.

Lead vocal (narration)

HP 90 Hz; 250 Hz −2 dB; 3 kHz +2 dB; 1176 4–6 dB; plate 1.2 s; quarter-note delay with 25–35% filtered feedback on the “spacey” phrases; varispeed and flanger as occasional effects.

Group backing vocals

HP 150 Hz, compression 6–8 dB, many wide tracks (80–100%), hall 2 s, soft EQ (−2 dB at 3 kHz).

FX

Phaser, flanger, tape delay with high feedback for the tails, long reverbs on the vocals and synths; pan automation for “spaceship” effects.

Buses and groups

Drum bus (2–3 dB), bass bus (if multiple layers: electric + synth, phase-aligned), backing vocal bus, synth bus.

Sidechain

No pumping; light ducking of the pads from the vocal.

Master

Chain: EQ (HP 25 Hz) – compressor 2:1 1–2 dB – tape – limiter. Target −12/−10 LUFS integrated (classic), −9/−8 (modern), true peak −1 dBTP.

Common mistakes

Synth bass and electric bass layered out of phase (check polarity and correlation below 150 Hz), synths covering the vocal, too many identical backing vocal layers, tempo too fast.

Mix reference tracks

Parliament — Flash Light; Parliament — Give Up the Funk; Funkadelic — One Nation Under a Groove; George Clinton — Atomic Dog; Dr. Dre — Let Me Ride (derived G-funk).

Reference listening

• The Parliaments — (I Wanna) Testify (1967)
• Funkadelic — Maggot Brain (1971)
• Parliament — P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up) (1975)
• Parliament — Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) (1976)
• Bootsy's Rubber Band — Stretchin' Out (In a Rubber Band) (1976)
• Parliament — Flash Light (1978)
• Funkadelic — One Nation Under a Groove (1978)
• Parliament — Aqua Boogie (1978)
• George Clinton — Atomic Dog (1982)