How Many Stevie Wonders Does It Take To Make ‘Superstition’ So Funky?

Every wonder how Stevie Wonder made the Superstition Clavinet part so funky?

Here, Funkscribe, dissects Stevie Wonder’s multitrack master recording of Superstition. In Protools, he isolates each of the eight Clavinet tracks to get a better understanding of the infamously funky part.

He notes, “Stevie’s Clavinet playing can not be copied, and can barely be understood!”

While Funkscribe concludes that there are 8 tracks of Clavinet that make up the funky part, it sounds like several of the tracks are actually alternate takes of the main riff and a counter-riff.

Without knowing more about mix, it sounds like it would take two Stevie Wonders to make Superstition as funky as it is.

Which means that we’re off the hook if our renditions aren’t quite so funky, right?

Give it a listen and let me know what you think!

via bobbbyowsinski

11 thoughts on “How Many Stevie Wonders Does It Take To Make ‘Superstition’ So Funky?

  1. Hey, Wonder's no slouch. The man is immensely talented. But it's also blindingly obvious that there are more than two clav parts going on in that songs intro, and has been blindingly obvious since its release.

    And my parents DID force me to keep taking lessons… didn't do any good though. I can't even play something funky with one hand (insert masturbatory euphemism here)

  2. The "multi-track masters" for Superstition have been floating around the torrent sites for years. But yes, it is fabulous…like just about everything having to do with Stevie.

  3. To be honest, I hadn't even noticed I said that until somebody pointed it out… I really didn't intend anything by it… would you prefer "fraking" obvious…

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