Marvyn Gaye
Otis Redding
The Temptations
Stevie Wonder
Aretha Franklin
The stylistic fingerprints of soul music is a short list of features that can be commonly found in soul music.
Instrumentation:
- Vocals and backing vocals (male and female)
- Electric Guitar
- Piano / Electric Piano
- Electric Organ / Keyboards
- Bass
- Percussion
- Drum Kit
- Horn Section (Trumpet, Saxophones, and Trombone)
- String Section
Performance and Arrangement:
- Large ensembles with a lot of the instrumentation being doubled up
- Emotional vocal delivery. This ranged from forceful and high energy to sad, reflective and passionate
- Driving rhythm with drums and percussion giving a steady backbeat on beats 2 and 4
- Rhythmic, riff-based bass lines
- Rhythmic chordal parts on piano and guitar
- Typically brisk tempo around 120 bpm or faster, dance music
- some slower tempo ballads
- Strong use of vocal and instrumental hooks
- Use of call and response
- Short songs with simple structures e.g verse/chorus form, sometimes with a bridge and instrumental sections
- Melodies often using a pentatonic scale with additional blues notes.
Technology and Production:
- Early adoption of multi-track tape machines, 4-track then 8-track
- Live recording of a complete band in a single room with acoustic screens to provide separation
- Use of DI guitars and basses
- Close mic recording of drums
- vocal overdubbing
- Use of echo chambers
- Plate reverb such as EMT 140
- Use of classic compressors such as Teletronix LA2A, this was mixed fairly gently
- High quality recordings with clear vocals
- Stereo mixes with extreme panning this is unconventional by today’s standards e.g all drums and bass on the left all vocals and other instruments on the right
- Use of electric instruments
Influences:
- R&B
- Gospel
- Jazz
- Rock
