These guys were geniuses, working endlessly at every detail of the sound, the groove... and this is before Quincy Jones and MJ did their thing.

Eventually, synth heads & music history enthusiast will find this channel

Anthony Marinelli is one of the most sweetest humans on this planet.

It’s amazing how the bass sounded on point to my ears, but he kept adjusting because he has the distinct sound memorized. Professionals!

Totally impressive: In the old days you needed a huge Linn Drum, expensive Studio Time, a friend at Linn Factory and an Engineer to change the Clap sound in your linn. Now adays every smart phone user could produce this very similar and choose from 2 million clap sounds.....but it would sound like crap....I think this limitation years ago made this faboulous groove & timeless piece of Music.....thanks for sharing these deep insights...cheers 👍

I could definitely watch Anthony and Greg deconstruct the entire Thriller album all day! Some interesting stuff if you are a composer/songwriter/sound designer!

I love how Greg has more groove with one hand playing the bassline. its just sooo gooood!!!!

This was so great! The swing on the hi-hat definitely elevated the groove. Thank you, gentlemen, for another fine video!

Oh the delights of the Linn Drum! Because of the limited memory, samples with a long decay, like crashes, were severely curtailed, but that was part of the punchy sound. The studio where I worked moved on to a Sequencial Circuits Studio 440, which was better quality and would sample, but also used to overheat at the most critical moments! Musos today don't know how luck they are!

I always thought the hi-hats were live. I appreciate the fact you guys went deep with breaking it down 🙏🏿

Could watch these forever, thanks guys!

Anthony getting that special treatment here made the drums HIT. I mean basically you had a sound no one else would be able to get at the time because of the chips, so cool!

This is GOLD. Not enough is shown about the making of the greatest selling album in history.

6:08 I love it that you say it’s a merengue….my parents used to play a song when I was a kid that I thought was a cover of thriller….they corrected me and said it was the other way around. Since the Merengue one was from the 60s. Been trying to find that original song ever since but I can’t seem to find it.

This is so awesome, I knew it was a Linn drum but never realized it was a mix of different eprom's! i love this type of info, thank you for sharing what you did!

7:30 When he mentions that it's a Merengue rhythm, I actually remembered the Merengue of the 80s by ( Dioni Fernandez - Al Ritmo de la Noche ) that make sense.

Love how they brought us in like a fly on the wall listening to greatness

I wish I could have served coffee to all the crew at that moment just to be part of those magical moments.

We are always on the verge of breaking something when discovering a new sound.❤

“Thriller” changed my live forever...i wanna be a musician because of that. Thanks for this amazing story behind the song.

The rhythm came from ‘The Conga’ which is a classic parry disco tune in the UK in the 1970’s. I think Rod wrote ‘Thriller’ with this in mind and an objective of writing the ultimate party song.

Thriller dropped around the same time I entered kindergarten. It defines that time in my life and was the first LP I ever got.

Please use some ESD handling precautions with the LinnDrum and its ROMs as ESD can cause unwanted damage to these wonderful historic artefacts. The LinnDrum uses the unusual and now rare and expensive Am6070 Compansion DAC along with some Curtis CEM3320 voltage controlled filters & CEM3360 voltage controlled amplifier & 74LS627 VCO. The remainder of the parts are relatively bog standard. Because of its age, it may be necessary to replace some of its capacitors replaced to ensure accurate playback, power supply performance & safety. If Tantalum capacitors are present it may be a good idea to have them replaced as they could morph into dangerous fireballs! Also ensure that its original NiCAD batteries are removed or replaced to prevent unwanted battery leakage damage. I hope these notes useful!

I still own the sequencer out of the Linn drum. Bruce Forat of Forat Electronics updated it for me years ago. He also rebuilt a couple of Oberheim drum machines for me…..which I eventually sold. I still have an OB8….another dinosaur from that era. Everyone back then were sampling drum sounds and burning chips and producing better songs with them. Whenever I listen to songs from that era I can recognize the drum machines being used.

Thorley enjoyed 👏🏼👏🏼 That Linn drum sound is amazing, We appreciate you, gentlemen 👑🎤 🎶🎹

Rod Temperton was the composer of "Thriller"

I love the intro to this so much...the vocoder work instantly put me in a great mood.

Well, that was some rare content. Talk about niche. Thanks guys.

Ndugu told me several times over the years that he played drums on the song Thriller. He probably played with the drum machine, similar to how he played on Billie Jean. Its sad that he's not here to add to your vids on the production of Thriller.🙏

This... i don't have enough words for these video's.. seeing these guys go through the proces of making one of the most genius and iconic sounds makes me love and respect the end product even more.. this is just amazing content.

One of the finest keyboard solos I've ever heard was the one Greg Phillinganes did on Earl Klugh's Heartstrings album. Sounds as fresh today as it did in the 70's.

Underrated channel! This is awesome stuff guys!! Definitely learned a lot about the technical history of one of the greatest time periods in music! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Linndrum what a classic drum machine. I love the LM1 Snare, Prince loved to use it a lot too.

I always had a suspicion it was EPROMs in the Linn, it’s got that grit and slight crunch you get with those converters. What’s always so prevalent in great songwriting (and there isn’t much around anymore) is how each instrument/rhythm is working to support the other like a human body- the heart assists the brain the brain the heart etc, it’s the same in great music- that cowbell might be truncating something to help bring it out in the mix, or that pass is accenting the kick to give it a sharpness etc. from a singer/songwriter/producers perspective, it’s just amazing to see these videos. I’ve been waiting for something like this for so long. I’ve read 16 books on MJ and Thriller was my first record at 7 years old. I really hope you guys get to delve into Bad as well.

This was absolutely epic to watch!

this is art

This is freaking magical ❤

This is incredible. To see what it took to make one of the biggest hits in music history.

Such a great video. Means a lot that these stories are being told. Great stuff guys!

Amazing, from the equipment to all the artists involved. Thanks for sharing with the world.

This is a channel of my heart

if I heard correctly, The Studio Cost...Quincy got to make the Thriller album, from Michael's record company/Epic. was a little over $250, 000 dollars. Epic has made Billions since LATE 1982. and still making money. the same can be said for Michael's and Rod's estates. and Quincy, who's still with us. is still making big money/getting Royalties. that Thriller album back in 1983, and 84. had the young and old in the record stores. I was 15, and 16. and remember it all like yesterday. people were even buying Purple Rain, because of Thriller/going into the record stores. but Prince fans don't want to hear that TRUTH.

God bless you guys!!! Thank you so much!!!!

Superb video breakdown of a classic tracks drum section.

An excellent lesson in psychology and diversity of approach. I love videos like this!

Sooo funky🤙🏼

Awesome episode!

I grew up around some bands in the 70s and 80s. We used to get up every day and go over there to hang out and smoke weed and watch them jam or just hang out and party. Music was all I did till I was about 28. I started in bands about that time and we became musicians and had our own bands and groupies all through the late 80s and early 90s. I wouldn't give that up for anything we lived the best life a musician can live. Fame is a killer. We always wanted it but we we're glad it never came in the end. Look what fame did to Michael and so many other great artists over the years. It wasn't drugs or bad living it was fame that kill all of them from Hendrix to Prince.

Wow!!! Great channel, I just found this by accident!!! The average listener has no idea who and what Greg has played on. He is a monster musician!!!! The best of the best, goggle him and you’ll be blown away. I met him at NAMM I was a demo keyboardist and he was teaching some omnisphere classes super nice cat…

Fascinating.

Wow what a crazy channel! So 'dedicated' to a very specific subject. Great!!!

Amazing breakdown. Thumbs way up 👍

Crazy how back in the day you had to actually open up the drum machine or synth and physically swap the chips to get the sound that you were looking for. Imagine spending hours or days just trying out different chips...so time consuming!

Incredible, thanks a lot for those anecdotes

I like that sound very much.

This is great!

Wow...This Is Really Dope...One Love Fam...

What you guys are talking about is all Greek to me, and yet, I like it; thank you, guys!

Genius creates genius. These guys had to use their minds to create this work of art. Too much technology makes people lazy and kills the need for such genius!

Very interesting stuff

Thank you for sharing this

remember hearing prince say nothing locks up like a linn drum

Every day is a school day! Great video guys!

Great Channel! Great vídeos! Thank you!

I think the original probably had the straight HH's but personally I prefer them with a touch of swing, it grooves beautifully. 😎

@ 4:54 "I have the clap right here" lmaooo. Great vid 👍🏼

Great rundown! I bought an 808 about a year ago because I like its cowbell sound so much and all the "alternatives" just don't cut it. That being said, I am now fully aware of the clap and hihat greatness -> they sound very different with every hit, LOVE that. Especially when being triggered quite fast after each other. You cannot replicate that with samples and as I said, I dislike the harsh and resonant sound of the RD-machines bei Mehringer for instance. With the actual 808, you just go. Using this is sooo quick and rewarding.

Thats what I love about, ses how much in details how they worked in that album ..❤️

I've got a Linn II, ,not in a great shape, she work when she wants. But i can say one thing : the shuffle on this boxe is killing ! it is awesome !

I would really love if more videos about the technicality of the sound are released.

Great video!

Love these videos, keep it up! Can you guys please talk about how the vocal harmonies were recorded during these times? I believe i red somewhere that they triple tracked each harmony with Michael, but i could be wrong. And panning? I do know Bruce didn't use much compression on Michael's vocals and instead used volume automations Thanks!

Awesome ;)

Another education ..from the original source ...The actual people in room.

"you have the clap?!" 😂

WOW 😊

when the congas came in, I had to smile

I love music production. You really have to have a whatever it takes mentality to get the most out of a recording session.

Great channel. Subscribed.

yeah it definitely has a little swing !!!

Just passing Thur Mike would be proud ✍️

Greg Phillinganes: Thriller LinnDrum Chips Demo | Stories In The Room Podcast Episode #21

I'm pretty sure the beat would be straight, and the other instruments bring the groove

Master producers .u can tell how they talk about the swing

That Linn drum machine was about 3 grand back in 1985 which today would cost almost 7k.

I got to admit, everytime greg came in with the bass, my shoulders n head started to do the thing... Ya know. That, undead kinda shuffle thang 😂

Amazing how you can accomplish all this via plugins now.

I always thought Korg and Linn were used but both machines. Not a bloody hybrid. That's blown my mind.

lee ritenour used a LM-1 on his 1981 (RIT) album,,,,,had to be one of the earliest uses of it

Ndugu played drums on Baby Be Mine, Thriller, Billie Jean and PYT.

need more youtube shorts... subs are not where they should be, the content is fire

I have that same Linn Drum.

Nice collection of videos 👍🏻 I would like to mention it's not merengue the rhythm that has the syncopation between beats 3 and 4. Its Conga Comparsa rhythm from Cuba the one that pulls like that. Thanks again for the videos!

Greg indeed has the clap

Don’t forget Ben Forat’s contribution along with Roger Linn on Linn Drum programming, design, and creation of sounds.

Merengue indeed my friend. I am sure that MJ at some point had some sort of exposure to the wonderful TAMBORA from the Dominican Republic.

👍😍👍TOP👍😍👍

I never seen such big capacitor inside the equipment like that

Hi guys just a question with regards to the sounds you had on the Linndrum, Anthony mentioned an LM-1 snare, was it common for people to use some of the original LM-1 sounds in the newer Linndrum ? Also, how much was an additional sound if you guys remember? Very cool video really enjoyed watching this, these things were always such a mystery growing up and nobody ever had the answers!

Hi, are you adding eq to the snare? Cause I've bought the LM-1 snare chip for my Linn Drum but it does not sound like this! And also are you adding some kind of reverb on the clap? Cause I've also bought that one but it sounds with a lot less decay.. Thanks