Synthesis In Snarky Puppy

The artist I have chosen this week to research and analyse their use of synthesis in their music is Snarky Puppy. I believe Snarky Puppy to be one of the leading nu-jazz, jazz fusion, funk, electronic bands out today. They utilise the full spectrum of sound and I’d say nearly all of their music includes a myriad of acoustic and electronic equipment. Through my research I discovered some of the synthesisers used in the song I have analysed which is Lingus(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XJ_s5IsQc). In the song 4 synths are used a King Korg 61key Analog Synth, Korg Kronos 61 key workstation, Moog Little Phatty Stage II and a Roland Juno 60. For the sake of time I will only be covering the two synths Cory Henry play, they are the King Korg and Korg Kronos. To begin with Snarky Puppy uses synthesisers in a multitude of ways and throughout their music you can hear synthesis being used in bass parts keys parts and as features of their own like in this song. In Lingus the main feature solo is done by Corey Henry on the King Korg and Korg Kronos. The first thing I should mention is that Cory Henry is an extraordinary keys and piano player and that his understanding of notation, melody and harmony are extraordinary and then you add the versatility of the both the Korg synths and you in for a treat. Throughout the solo Cory is changing and morphing the sounds as he is playing his solo, to begin with he uses the Kronos with an electric piano sound and then switches to the King Korg for the next part and this is where the interesting stuff happens, as he plays the solo he is changing the filters in the oscillators, this transforms the sound he was originally playing a softer square wave type sound into a harsher square wave using a filter. I think Snarky Puppy use synthesis in a unique way it is used both as an ensemble player and lead player and shifts seamlessly between the two despite the size and sound of the rest of the band.