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What are the idioms and techniques behind funk & disco strings?

wing

wing

Senior Member
I'd like to play around with writing some string parts in the style of late 70s disco/funk (usually it's just violin). They have a very specific vibe and I'm wondering about the idioms, techniques, articulations, and perhaps scales or harmonic choices used.

On the surface, what I feel like I frequently hear in this style are a lot of sharp and fast "stabby" violin notes. Sometimes they do these kind of fast falling gliss notes. Sometimes also fast and brief runs, often I'd guess in dorian or mixolydian.

I was listening to this just recently and loving it (impossible not to bop your head to this one!) -



Violins will do occasional sustain/pad compliments, but the very "disco" sound are those fast repeated falling type notes, generally starting around 1m in (specifically the quarter notes on each beat at ~1:08).

And of course the classic Le Freak has all kinds of iconic string moments (love these white violins haha) -


Again lots of sharp "stabs" and quick runs. Something about how they do it and the scale choices is so "disco" to me so I'm wondering what the general formula was!

EDIT: To be clear my goal is mostly to figure out how to notate some of the more specific playing styles (such as falls and scoops etc). But was also curious about scale choices while I was at it.
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wing said:
Something about how they do it and the scale choices is so "disco" to me so I'm wondering what the general formula was!
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Well pretty much pentatonics up and down and nothing else. Runs often ending on the last 16th before the down beat. I suppose it might be difficult for a classical trained musician to realize how super simple it is. You have to be infected by the funky virus to really get it though IMO. its all in the groove that you must feel. Earth Wind and Fire are the masters of this style IMO.
 
Mainly they do the job of a pop brass section: short phrases, funky rhythms, off beat accents, runs, falls, pads, unisons, chords, stabs, trills, filling gaps around the vocals, melodies in intros, endings, countermelodies, cliche lines, supporting accents of the rhythm section.
 
I'm not an expert in this glorious style, but this video does a good job of introducing the basics. It also has some notated string parts!



A lot of the key techniques have been mentioned here already, but I think disco strings could also be used to great effect with call & response. I can't think of a particular song that does it, but yeah, definitely something to experiment with. The most important thing in my view would be to listen to a lot of disco/funk and "internalize" the style. It ain't rocket science, and sometimes the best lessons are learned subconsciously.
 
Markus Kohlprath said:
Well pretty much pentatonics up and down and nothing else. Runs often ending on the last 16th before the down beat. I suppose it might be difficult for a classical trained musician to realize how super simple it is. You have to be infected by the funky virus to really get it though IMO. its all in the groove that you must feel. Earth Wind and Fire are the masters of this style IMO.
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Yeah there are definitely articulations and playing styles specific to the genre beyond only scales. I know one of the Spitfire solo string libraries I own, I think Chamber, has these available articulations labelled as something like "disco falls" and "disco fx." I'll probably have to revisit them, but it's definitely kind of its own thing separate from traditional playing styles, so I was curious as I'd like to notate it in a score!
 
I just watched the JT Tiny Desk concert. To me, it might be the prototype of what funk/disco is in 2024. It won't lecture you about disco string arrangements; there is no string section. But it might help you write lines because, after all, they follow the same principle. Pop Brass, Strings and Backing Voc Adlbs were not so different in this area.

And I just wanted to share the concert because it's such a fantastic band ;)

 
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babylonwaves said:
I just watched the JT Tiny Desk concert. To me, it might be the prototype of what funk/disco is in 2024. It won't lecture you about disco string arrangements; there is no string section. But it might help you write lines because, after all, they follow the same principle. Pop Brass, Strings and Backing Voc Adlbs were not so different in this area.

And I just wanted to share the concert because it's such a fantastic band ;)

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Thanks for sharing! Yes my next question in general is to study and learn about the funk/disco brass arrangements of that era too. I think it will be fun to learn :)
 
ChiefZika said:
I'm not an expert in this glorious style, but this video does a good job of introducing the basics. It also has some notated string parts!



A lot of the key techniques have been mentioned here already, but I think disco strings could also be used to great effect with call & response. I can't think of a particular song that does it, but yeah, definitely something to experiment with. The most important thing in my view would be to listen to a lot of disco/funk and "internalize" the style. It ain't rocket science, and sometimes the best lessons are learned subconsciously.
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This is perfect, thanks for the find!
 
For me, It's the Doits, Falls and context that define a Disco strings part, and getting those Doits and Falls at the right tempo is the most vital part.
Chris Hein Solo Strings allows you to stretch it's D&F's between 50-200% in length, which makes them really flexible, and the Ensemble function is great for thickening the sound.
 
I usually write two types of disco strings, one type where I use lots of faster articulations like scoops, falls, trills, staccato, tremolo and runs

View attachment aahq1.mp3

and another type which is mostly swooping legato lines, maybe a fall here and there.

View attachment aahq2.mp3

My main problem is that I've looked everywhere for a decent disco strings library and there isn't one. I've got 8dio studio strings, session strings pro 2 (which has all of the needed articulations except runs, but is really noisy and the legato is not great), orchestral tools studio violins, and I've also tried using my other non studio strings libraries but I can't get the sound I want. Spitfire Chamber Strings is the only one I haven't got that might do the job but it has been quite expensive just to try if it's the correct one, as the cheapest version does not have the special articulations. I asked for a chamber strings library with disco articulations when pulse asked opinions which library they should make but also vivid strings skipped all the needed articulations.
 
AceAudioHQ said:
I usually write two types of disco strings, one type where I use lots of faster articulations like scoops, falls, trills, staccato, tremolo and runs

View attachment aahq1.mp3

and another type which is mostly swooping legato lines, maybe a fall here and there.

View attachment aahq2.mp3

My main problem is that I've looked everywhere for a decent disco strings library and there isn't one. I've got 8dio studio strings, session strings pro 2 (which has all of the needed articulations except runs, but is really noisy and the legato is not great), orchestral tools studio violins, and I've also tried using my other non studio strings libraries but I can't get the sound I want. Spitfire Chamber Strings is the only one I haven't got that might do the job but it has been quite expensive just to try if it's the correct one, as the cheapest version does not have the special articulations. I asked for a chamber strings library with disco articulations when pulse asked opinions which library they should make but also vivid strings skipped all the needed articulations.
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Thanks for sharing. Groovy examples! Yeah I feel you on the lack of proper libraries for it. I play cello but it's not really the vibe - very much a mostly violin thing which I do not play. I have some friends who do so maybe one day I'll round up some samples of notes in various keys when I have the time and budget!

But yes I do own SF Chamber strings and it's a fantastic library overall, next time it's on sale (which is like most of the time with SF these days lol), it'd be worth a look. After starting this thread I was looking around YouTube and found this person using Chamber Strings with layered articulations (not exclusive to the disco fall patches, but also staccato digs etc), and their examples sound pretty good, would be definitely passable in a mix which they exemplify toward the end -
 
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