[Timothy Huffman]

Bernie was amazing! His out of this world synth sounds really piqued my curiousity as a kid. How did they do that?!? I couldn’t figure out what could possibly make those sounds!

I recently found out that he joined the Talking Heads in the ’80s and sure enough, he can be seen in the film Stop Making Sense. Amazing! Opposite ends of the musical spectrum, yet both strong, unique, musical personalities. And somehow he fits perfectly, from 70’s funk to 80’s new-wave. RIP Bernie! We miss you.

The synth bass sound from Flashlight sparked decades worth of bass & sub-bass phrases & lines that stuck with me and informed my musical choices. Powerful, deep & catchy. Infintely more interesting than your standard rock-bass continuous eigth-notes of the chord fundamental.

I’ve heard Bernie played Moogs. MiniMoogs, specifically. I’m sure he used other synths as well, but I don’t know which ones. I have a Behringer Model D + a Moog SubHarmonicon. I’d like to recreate some of his tones as accurately as possible using one or both of those.

Please lend your ear & skills to help me conquer the code. Much gratitude for any/all assistance in this endeavor!

• This topic was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by Sundra Brooks.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by Joe Hanley.

[Joe Hanley]

Classic. The Flashlight bass is fat and simple. Try this:

Oscillator 1: Saw

Oscillator 2: Saw, one octave higher. And turn up the Fine knob just a little bit to create some subtle movement.

Filter: 24 dB Low Pass. And ideally you want a Moog-style filter that you can Drive. Really crank the Drive. Turn up the Res a little.

LFO: Modulate the pitch to create vibrato, and route the Mod Wheel to the LFO Amount so that you can turn it off and on.

Credit to the below video for the steps. And it’s interesting to watch him recreate it on an actual Moog: