1st Look At MJ's "Smooth Criminal" Bass

This is our first look at the bass sound on “Smooth Criminal” from Michael Jackson’s Bad album. In this video, former New England Digital (N.E.D.) product specialist Kevin Maloney explains how he sampled a muted piano on the Synclavier that was later used as the key ingredient in the actual bass sound for the final recording session. Michael was looking for something unusual from Kevin and the piano sample performed out of range on the keyboard perfectly fit the request. Kevin breaks down that piano sample and demonstrates how some other components were later added for support such as a sampled Minimoog bass sound. A mock up of Synclavier drum samples similar to those used on the final version of the song are included in this video as accompaniment. Kevin also shows off some sequencer and sampling tricks that are particularly unique to the Synclavier.
Anthony's musical touch as both composer and performer is connected with some of the most influential creative minds over the last 40 years. He’s composed and conducted original orchestral scores for over 80 feature films including Young Guns, Internal Affairs, The Man From Elysian Fields, 15 Minutes and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, been commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for his symphonic work "In the Family Way", written over one thousand TV commercials in a myriad of musical styles, co-founded Levels Audio Post (LA's premiere post production facility) and performed and arranged on big-box-office films and influential hit records such as Michael Jackson's Thriller.
His extensive work as a young arranger, orchestrator and performer for Quincy Jones, Jack Nitzsche, Lamont Dozier, Arthur Rubenstein and Giorgio Moroder was vital in launching his own career. His early years pioneering modular analog synthesizers along with his wide-ranging music scholarship positioned Anthony at the center of the music technology revolution. He attended the University of Southern California School of Music as a piano and composition major.
Instagram: anthonymarinell...
Website: www.anthonymarinelli.com
Tiktok: / anthonymarinellimusic_...
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
IMDb: www.imdb.me/anthonymarinelli

[@kixxalot]

It now makes sense to me why those MJ tracks were so awesome: there was a collaboration of great musicians, composers, producers and sound designers at a time of significant advances in music technology. Nowadays - especially in dance music - there is often just a single person behind a DAW trying to do it all by him/herself.

[@crnkmnky]

💯

[@filipgjud8922]

Downfall of music

[@Jaburu]

it was possible because back than they had ridiculous budgets. inflation corrected it would probably 8 figures nowadys

[@MaxFury_Official]

It's the same with Max Martin productions, but he get's all the credits. Weirdly enough. If the rumors are true, probably we can hear it from the man himself in the future on a certain youtube channel!

[@oholm09]

Im.self taught musician I can do it by my own

[@TheTwonne1]

The whole Bad album was a technical and artistic masterpiece 🔥🔥🔥

[@AppearDispairDisappear-xi1gt]

I was 4 years old when it was released and I would dance to it everyday. My school teacher was a pop singer, when she came to know that I loved MJ, she gave me the iconic Bad poster that I hung in my bedroom. This was my induction to music.

[@effyiew7318]

Back in the 80s, companies lived and died by their little hacks and secrets. A company could go belly up if another company caught on to one of their hacks and created a competing product and you can see how deeply ingrained that fear is in Kevin from those days. The Synclavier and New England Digital's glory days are long past, Smooth Criminal has come and gone, and even on a channel dedicated to showing how the sounds were made, Kevin is like, "The technique to create that sound is kind of a, uh, secret. I won't give it away". It's kind of an interesting peek into a bubble of what the archaic 80s digital culture was like when all this stuff was groundbreaking.

[@lundsweden]

Then he tells us how to recreate it! 😅

[@jimbotron70]

Well hush culture is alive even today, consider Cher's Believe autotuned voice, it was revealed how it was made only years later, and the growling sound used in Skrillex' dubstep.

[@oholm09]

I can bring it old sound and recreated

[@eti313]

It doesn't sound like much more than a piano sample and a Moog sample. Still, WhyTF is he so secretive?

[@neonblack211]

because it makes him special@@eti313

[@SynthfulDuck]

I didn't know the Synclavier was such a powerful sampling workstation. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with younger generations.

[@6581punk]

It was amazing technology and it was even used as recent as on the film Avatar for doing some sort of audio conversion. I came close to picking one up on ebay once but I'd have never found space for it and it's like buying an old Ferrari, you need to keep it working and pay someone to repair it should it go wrong. I am good with electronics but I find it stressful working on rare valuable stuff.

[@thesrabbit]

advanced AF for the time, no wonder the high price tag

[@rleriche5044]

​@@6581punk there's a fully boosted and serviced twin of Trevor Horn's unit on Reverb right now. About the price of a house.

[@MERLIMARTISTICPRODUTIONS]

as kevin himself said, this bass is not originally in the synclavier, it was put in the synclavier

[@pihermoso11]

In the movie Ferris Bueller's Dayoff, the keyboard Matthew Broderick used was an EMU Emulator 2 which was as expensive as a brand new car back in the day

[@djdrwatson]

3:25 The 'Smooth Criminal' bassline is remarkable in that it doesn't start on the first beat. Beat 1 of the bar is the gap. This is why it has got such a great groove - it's wrong but it's right. I found this out by looping it in Ableton. Try for yourself and you'll see what I mean.

[@rdubb77]

Yeah bass line starts on second eighth of beat 1, and beat 1 they left the kick out. Wrong, but right cuz it FUNKS

[@djdrwatson]

3:25 Yes! The 'One' of the bassline doesn't hit on the one of the bar. It actually happens right at the end of previous bar with beat 1 of the new bar being empty. Very clever! 😄

[@jimbotron70]

@@rdubb77 It's like the intro synth in New Order's Blue Monday, they missed the correct attack time due to a mistake, but they liked it and they left it in place like that.

[@rdubb77]

@@djdrwatson good point. The bass line is a two bar vamp/loop, and the last 16th of the pattern is the root that should be on the one of the first bar of the loop

[@rhuiden4086]

the lead guitarist from MJ's song Dirty Diana, said that when MJ was directing him to play the guitar he taught him what chords you dont play or miss out are sometimes just as important to the overall tune as what u play and in fact noticed when he missed chords and told him to keep it like that.

[@HOUSEWARMING]

These videos make me appreciate how advanced the Synclavier was at the time, incredible!

[@els1f]

Right!? I knew it was cool and some history about it, but not that it was THIS powerful!🤯

[@EricAndre615]

same

[@kixxalot]

Incredible indeed. It must have been truly mindblowing to work with a Synclavier for the first time when it came out.

[@kennethabildgaard5120]

@@kixxalot I can confirm it still is. Love it to death :-)

[@SarcasticTruth77]

Meh. The sampler has no filter, and the FM is 8-bit. Way cheaper gear already did both of things way better by the mid 80s. However, those physical controls are great. People were making more complicated sampling presets on their Emulators and Rolands, and kicking its FM ass with Yamaha DX everything, but all of those people were doing that on calculator screens, through a maze of menus. The Synclavier and Fairlight were actual workstations!

[@MrLilQuincy]

One of the best KZbin series right now, it's just amazing! Thank you Anthony 🙏

[@Lorenzo-fw3gx]

I think what made this, and 80's music so magical was all this new tech that musicians were playing with and incorporating into their music and it was everywhere. It was such a difference from the 60's and up to the late 70's.. I feel like this is why the 80's music is so loved (not saying the 70's 60's isn't) but it was new and different and creative.

[@jesuschristiscallingyou953]

I agree!

[@flavoursoflight8536]

Geniuses! People we never ever see. Thank you so much for making art history!

[@gustavosaliola]

At 5:00 the "gated snare" example reminded me to the used in the beginning of "The way you make me feel". This kind of videos are a time portal to great creativity moments.

[@musiqsoundsproductions]

The Way You Make Me Feel drums right there!

[@Amit_l92]

Truly fascinating! Smooth Criminal is an incredible song.

[@lsmoulton]

A Masterpiece ! 😯

[@fender1000100]

The synclavier is the king of 80s synths. More gold from Anthony.

[@oholm09]

I love 80s synthesizer

[@robinwindsrygg9568]

I’ve always wondered what gave that bass sound it’s distinct character, and now I know that it’s the sampled reverb in the piano that’s creating that ominous sustain. So cool!

[@thepanicroommastering2062]

Wow, its so wonderful that you get into the BAD Era. You literally blow me away with every new Video. ✨💫 Thank you

[@tonycowin]

MJ became Depech Mode by the end of this video. Brilliant display cheers lads.

[@lesfuller5984]

Absolutely fantastic series of videos, Anthony. ❤️ Your chats with Kevin are like a masterclass! Layering of sounds is key! 🙏👏

[@GloveBunniesVideos]

Amazing. I remember watching Trevor Horn breaking down Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax" and he used a grand piano sample, truncated, for the driving bass line throughout the song. So cool...

[@llemaire1]

Hi do you have an URL for this one ?

[@computationalerror69]

can you link it

[@GloveBunniesVideos]

@@llemaire1 Actually Steve Lipson does a great breakdown with Warren Huart in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/poKsnYSenaaIqZY&t

[@GloveBunniesVideos]

@@computationalerror69 Actually Steve Lipson does a great breakdown with Warren Huart in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/poKsnYSenaaIqZY&t

[@ChaseCahill]

Well...he didn't. Stephen Lipson did with the help of JJ Jekzalik but Trev was around having tea.

[@jokerfleckcast3196]

Its amazing how the Synclavier was used on so many great soundtracks too, Harold Faltermeyer used it on Beverly Hills Cop 2.

[@jokerfleckcast3196]

Epic sound! Its ingrained in my mind since youth! The entire Bad album is a masterpiece in synthesizer sounds mixed with standard instruments. Still sounds fresh to this day. Legendary.

[@tigersgedanken1246]

its insane how much advanced the synclavier was at that time. a full blown digital sampling workstation!

[@HaharuRecords]

Woah...Thriller itself is a master piece but I never thought you would go beyond that..This is always something I look forward to..🙏

[@FirstSonsMotif]

I would have bet the farm that the bass was a DX7 !!!!! WOW! 😳

[@dafunkycanuck]

This will be my first live one, looking forward to it.

[@ultramet]

I didn’t pay attention to the Synclavier until I saw Oscar Peterson use one in the early 80s. I must admit that this Synclavier Smooth Criminal bassline has always been 🔥. The melding of the two sounds (timbre included) and the syncopation is such a hook. This bassline accompanied Michael’s dancing so beautifully. I love this series and thanks for sharing all these secrets! Now we can’t UNHEAR it! 🔥

[@MERLIMARTISTICPRODUTIONS]

as kevin himself said, this bass is not originally in the synclavier, it was put in the synclavier

[@corymason1404]

John Barnes should be mentioned way more about the synclavier in this interview because he created the sounds for Smooth Criminal and the album Bad. There’s six basses on the song. And I know this because he played it for personally. John worked on Victory, Captain EO and Bad at the same time. It was a little than more than what’s being said here I assure you.

[@mitchtaylormusic]

Sounded almost industrial when detuning and resampling on the Synclavier, just awesome

[@flavoursoflight8536]

3:25 GOOSEBUMPS

[@Oioisavaloy]

This is going to be a good one 😁

[@lundsweden]

I was able to recreate this quite quickly on my Kawai K5000 synth. I found a fake-ish (by todays standards) piano sound (done with additive synthesis) and used a PCM sample that sounded similar to the Moog sample, and voila! Edit: I found a nice fire extinguisher sound in the PCM samples, now my recreation is complete!

[@peevee605]

These in-depth discussions is pure gold. Nerding into the Synclavier is even more awesome.

[@damo5791]

Yet another great video Anthony. Please keep them coming. You are doing a great service documenting and sharing this information. Thank you!

[@TuffKaya]

All these videos are absolutelly priceless. Thank you.

[@saintvasss]

Thank you for sharing these amazing videos Anthony! 🙏🏻

[@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers]

I love watching these! I’m not surprised so much work went into Michael’s music and sound. His records still sound great!

[@vaiman7777]

I could watch these for hours. You are very kind

[@mashedpotatoess-te8wt]

I love these kinds of vids, been browsing about MJ lately

[@AM_9924]

Love the sounds. Such a badass song. Never fails to get me moving!

[@MotifMixes]

This is super cool that you’re going beyond the Thriller album, would love more synth and sample stuff from all of Michael’s albums, as the production is never really talked about as much as Thriller, especially during the Invincible album, it can get very hard to trace what was used during that time. Hope we can get more Bad and Synclavier stuff! (How about those strings next?)

[@GlassTarantulah]

Thanks Anthony! These videos are the jewel of the nile.

[@nelkfullsend]

Thank you Anthony for sharing all of this

[@lamsior]

This is GOLD

[@ronnieshuffle8770]

I always thought, wrongly, that the Synclavier was just an early FM synthesizer that was expensive, but was overshadowed once the Yamaha DX7 came out. Wow, was I wrong (except for the expensive part)! Very powerful device!

[@MERLIMARTISTICPRODUTIONS]

as kevin himself said, this bass is not originally in the synclavier, it was put in the synclavier

[@dlocwalker9346]

I could've sworn that John Barnes told me that HE made/played/produced/arranged the Bass parts and it was 6 basses NOT 2-3 🤔🤷🏾‍♂️

[@rastanz]

Always loved the bassline on this tune, thanks for sharing this.

[@tech.noire.]

These guys are geniuses. It's so cool to be able to see this work out in real time. The wealth of knowledge at work here is spectacular!

[@kiko1935]

Minimoog and grand piano sample - and this whole time I thought it was a d50. Crazy!

[@JonayPS]

I thought it was an actual muted Steinway piano, turns out it's a Synclavier sample.

[@tracyyy99]

I'm amazed at the speed of the synclavier...and in the right hands must have been so awesome....Thank You.

[@thomaslthomas1506]

A lot of sampling software today could learn from the old synclaviers

[@oholm09]

They got new synclavier region

[@llemaire1]

Thanks a lot to both of you and the team behind for these great videos !!! I'm sure we could organise a Synclavier Seminar like it was organised by N.E.D. in the 80s 🙂

[@pepinillosazucarados6743]

when he talked about the partials it reminded me of the roland d50 ... the key to great sounding patches

[@Andronicus2007]

He-hee, awww, shooka-shooka!

[@aaronisucama4390]

Annie are you ok ? 😂 MJ THE GOAT !

[@DaveMcGarry]

2 legends talking about a legendary synth. KZbin doesn't get much better then this! 🎹🎹🎹

[@Gaven7r]

Incredible video! I've learnt a lot from these series of videos Mr Anthony, thank you very much.

[@TachyBunker]

Piano and fire extinguisher? It's kind of awesome! Please more :)

[@EricAndre615]

Loving all these amazing synth videos. I had no idea the power and feature set of a Synclavier.

[@drakula420_]

This tone had alot of guessing for some time. Awesome to truely know how it was created. Incredible video once again.

[@Left_it]

Incredible history! Great video man

[@nickriva]

Love this channel.... Thankyou Anthony!

[@frankscassi4960]

WOOOO the fact that George Duke's Minimoog was sampled for that sound makes it even more epic!

[@thegrimyeaper]

Goosebumps!

[@sandrasanders706]

I know, right??..

[@ColdheartCuzo]

You guys made timeless music

[@AlexBallMusic]

This is SUCH gold guys, my word!!

[@ChristianSamosny]

That’s fantastic. Thanks for that interesting look into making that sound.

[@mitchelstephen7536]

That was so much fun watching you guys use an old 8 bit sampler like that. Still a cool and musical instrument.

[@FoxerTails]

Wow! I had absolutely no idea the iconic bass sound was a sample of a piano string of all things and then layered with a Minimoog bass sample. To me, I always thought it was a PCM slap bass layered with an FM bass patch. I've always wanted to recreate that sound and now I finally know how.

[@jimbotron70]

Me too, I'd always thought about the FM slap bass.

[@joric647]

Thanks for your channel! ❤ Thanks for all those information…. They motivate & inspire me.

[@AmbiguousMotion]

What I like about those Synclavier sounds (including the drums) is the fact that they are really powerful, but at the same have very little subbass in them, practically zero mud. They are sitting in mid range and rein supreme. 80’s creators were blessed with great sounding instruments.

[@AndersRomin]

Amazing! Keep up the good work!

[@pizzzgxd]

I love seeing this type of content! Keep going! 🙏🏼 🔥

[@JuliusHowe]

Another amazing video - thank you!

[@JamesMyddelton]

So awesome

[@gameaudioshaman]

Fantastic.

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

What an awesome series. I'm so glad you're going beyond Thriller. I understand everything about what makes Thriller iconic, but ever since I heard it, I've liked Bad so much more. Can't wait to see/hear more from Bad and (hopefully) beyond.

[@raphaelleroy9391]

The most badass song of the century

[@Goettel]

New century now though.

[@raphaelleroy9391]

@@Goettel True Survivor - David Hasselhoff is the 2nd song of the century just after Smooth Criminal, from my point of view ^^

[@DavidMorley]

Fabulous to see the Synclavier being used..

[@jayuno3009]

Incredible

[@karanjeet-ne1qk]

both are great

[@vali81may]

im so lucky i found this account😊Im in love with the content .Thank you sir.😊

[@ColdheartCuzo]

We grew up on Mike and my 3 year old daughter absolutely love him and all the music you’ve created

[@keyboardandsounds5788]

Shamoun. Can’t wait! New subscriber here.

[@o.g.tommye7580]

I’m getting a musical high. watching you musical legends. The guys from the album credits. Thank you!

[@Twobarpsi]

I love these back stories of some of greatest tracks in history!

[@marcusjknight]

I thought a Yamaha TX816 may have been involved somewhere! I understand JRR played live Hi Hats? I thought a Linn 9000 may have been also possibly involved...... lets see.

[@mathiasdeschamps1637]

wonderful video !!!

[@80ssynthfan48]

Fascinating.

[@MarshalArnold]

This was excellent 👏 thank you very much!

[@mathiasdeschamps1637]

I can’t wait !!!

[@TheCensere]

This was awesome

[@laxtobuttgroyn1193]

2:40 Aaaaahhh...that's the thing. The combination of the analog MiniMoog and the early digital Synclavier. Harmonics (overtones) on the Moog were created on the spot note for note while that early piano sample just moved one set of harmonics--the original note's--up or down. Cool sounding combination.

[@Swat-ed5bt]

Love this channel ❤❤❤

[@Lantertronics]

This finally resolves a great mystery!

[@seangallagher271]

Love your vids anthony !

[@khamari...9175]

Is there gonna be a series of videos like the Thriller ones but concerning the Bad album? I've been wanting to know all the synths behind the sounds of each song.

[@annother3350]

if this video goes well I'm sure there will

[@Zeta9966]

That album does NOT get the due it deserves for the production. It's wild.

[@luzbiensuave]

@@defcreator187 Still Bad is a great album, specially production-wise. The sounds are just amazing (specially the snare and tom accents IMO)

[@Zeta9966]

@@defcreator187 it could be argued, but that doesn’t detract from the production in any way. And Bad was still a monumental album

[@GlassTarantulah]

@@defcreator187 i agree..i think it has a lot to do with the analogue synths they used on Thriller vs the digital fm synths on Bad

[@julko28]

Wow this channel is of the hook. For a moddest sound designer like me this is really massive. Just bring these videos on :) Specially Jackson ones

[@mathiasdeschamps1637]

I think the intro in "Another Part Of Me" is a Synclavier... a loooot of synclavier on Bad album ! A video for Another part of me would be great !

[@likemostthings]

this stuff is nuts! OMG! love it

[@MarkoDeLaVoota]

great show!

[@Megatone230]

Thanks guys... excellent!

[@pacboy24]

we must hear the "strings!" OMG YES!!!!!