the 1970s
the decade synthesizers became affordable AND drum machines became viable. kraftwerk built the german electronic template; parliament/funkadelic put the moog into FUNK; lee scratch perry's dub turned the mix into the composition; klaus schulze + tangerine dream built berlin school. no genre boundaries yet — everyone borrowed from everyone.
5 patterns
- 1975grandmother · dub jam78 bpm · King Tubby / Lee Scratch Perry territory
78bpm dub pocket with the moog grandmother on sub-bass duty. 909 kick on 1 + snare on 3, hat lift on the and-of-4. delay + plate on so the snare blooms into the next bar. swap moog→hookesub via the override panel to hear nick's actual analog grandmother on the bass.
- 1975modular · berlin school territory100 bpm · Klaus Schulze / Tangerine Dream
100bpm 8th-note hypnotic sequence through the modular pulse-pad program in C minor. Klaus Schulze / Tangerine Dream / late-70s Berlin school DNA. delay + plate on by default — the FX are half the genre.
- 1976dub · lee scratch territory76 bpm · Lee Scratch Perry
76bpm. sparse 909 (kick 1, snare 3) + sustained moog sub on 1 of each bar. delay carries the song — that's the whole lesson. delay + plate on by default. drive optional for that ratty bbd character.
- 1977parliament · flash light bass110 bpm · Parliament
moog-only bass pattern walking root-5-b7-root in Bb minor — bernie worrell's expressive monosynth phrasing. add drive to taste.
- 1979grandmother · 16th arp112 bpm · Giorgio Moroder / Donna Summer / mid-80s synth-pop
112bpm 16th-note arpeggio in A minor over a 909 four-on-the-floor. The arp walks A → C → E → G → A → E → G → C across the bar. tape on for cohesion. swap moog→hookeclav or hookelead via the override panel to hear the actual grandmother play it.
3 long-form lessons
- canonical lesson · berlin school / kosmischeKlaus Schulze · Berlin School Kosmische · 1975100 bpm · advanced
patient. 100bpm sequencer. NEVER speeds up, NEVER changes the pattern. just runs. on top: slow chord pad, slow filter modulation, sparse melodic interjections. the FORM is the trance — long-form repetition that builds without changing.
- canonical lesson · jamaican dubLee Scratch Perry · Black Ark Dub · 197676 bpm · advanced
sparse. slow. wide. the drum + bass is the foundation; every other element drops in and out of the mix like ghosts. delay carries the song — a single snare hit can ring out for 8 bars before disappearing.
- canonical lesson · p-funkParliament · Flash Light · 1977110 bpm · intermediate
every note swept by the envelope. percussive. the bass IS the lead.