Any tips on how to nail the Moon Safari sound?

midfieldgeneral

midfieldgeneral

Aug 5, 2018
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Durham, North Carolina
#1
I'm currently using a JMJ mustang with labella flats into an Ampeg B100R. (I also have a HX stomp which I could use).

I feel like I'm not getting that sound. Particularly the "All I need" sound.

That whole album is a masterpiece. It is the reason I play bass, The reissue DVD with documentary makes me really wish I had seen the shows live. So many synths!

Any tips/guidance much appreciated.

Thanks
 
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#2
Most of that is a late 60's to early 70's Hofner violin bass (I never figured out the year when I would use it), and some is a 70's P Bass (which, along with my Starfire, is most of the sound of 10,000Hz Legend). But the Hofner with Pyramids into a DI is the main thing going on w/ Moon Safari.

Without hearing your tone, I don't know what to tell you, other than you're probably gonna want to have more highs than you think, and a s**t ton of compression.
 
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#4
I love that album too and bass on it. In fact l have original cd ever since it came out but didn't know it was you, JMJ.
Edit: l just went through booklet and it is some french guy as l supposed. You 've probably played the tour then?
 
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#5
Dragan said:
I love that album too and bass on it. In fact l have original cd ever since it came out but didn't know it was you, JMJ.
Edit: l just went through booklet and it is some french guy as l supposed. You 've probably played the tour then?
Click to expand...

yeah I'm not on that record. I did that tour and some of the album(s) that followed.
 
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#6
Nicolas Godin from AIR on the Gear Used in “Moon Safari”:

"A lot of speculations been made on the bass sounds on the album in general, and I’ve love to make my own personal wager—is it an old Höfner with flatwound strings?

The tracks with really heavy bass like "All I Need" were recorded live with my Fender Precision that I also bought in Pigalle in ‘89. It’s a ‘77, but I’ve never changed the strings so they don’t have any edge to them, and that—even more-so than me setting the tone knob to zero on the bass—drove Stéphane Briat totally nuts during the mix.

For the ‘60s sounds, it was a ‘60s Höfner violin bass with flatwound strings in black plastic. It belonged to Nicolas Dufournet who was the bassist for Oui Oui—an old band from Versailles, with Michel Gondry as the drummer.

This bass is the best one I’ve ever played. After I had to give it back to Nicolas Dufournet, I bought a ‘61 Höfner Club with the same pickups and same luthier work to try and get the same feel but without the violin shape because I didn’t want to be copying McCartney if I took it to concert. It wasn’t as good in the end, even if I did record some great tracks with it.

How did you record the bass part? Straight into the board or with a bass amp? Any memories on the brand, the model, or specific features?

Like I mentioned, the Precision bass went directly into the Fostex or the sampler. With the Höfner, I played that with a heavy pick while holding down the strings with my palm. Something a little out of the ordinary, I plugged it into the only amp I had at the time, which was a Peavey Classic 50 guitar amp—hence the typical medium sound.

I recorded everything with an AKG C414 mic that I bought in Pigalle a few years earlier on the advice of Étienne de Crecy (a friend from high school at Versailles who made the first mix for AIR’s first song, "Modular Mix," with Alex Gopher), while he was still just an assistant at Studio Plus XXX."
 
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#8
Hello all,

Last night I got to see Air play Moon Safari at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. It was an incredible show. Afterwards I asked one of the stage management guys to take a picture of Nicolas' pedalboard. He did, and here it is...

Nicolas played most of the night on a mustang - that might have been a jmj - it was hard to tell. He also played a brown bass that was a regular scale length for a couple of heavier songs. A sweet looking red mustang with competition stripes was also used once or twice.

I was shocked not to see an octave pedal on the board as I thought for one solo he was playing through one. Also no compression, but that might have been added at the desk.

Anyway, if you get the chance to see the show, do so. It was absolutely incredible.

IMG_6979.jpg
 
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#9
midfieldgeneral said:
Hello all,

Last night I got to see Air play Moon Safari at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. It was an incredible show. Afterwards I asked one of the stage management guys to take a picture of Nicolas' pedalboard. He did, and here it is...

Nicolas played most of the night on a mustang - that might have been a jmj - it was hard to tell. He also played a brown bass that was a regular scale length for a couple of heavier songs. A sweet looking red mustang with competition stripes was also used once or twice.

I was shocked not to see an octave pedal on the board as I thought for one solo he was playing through one. Also no compression, but that might have been added at the desk.

Anyway, if you get the chance to see the show, do so. It was absolutely incredible.

View attachment 7062160
Click to expand...

Nice man, thanks! I had privilege to see them here in Croatia this summer... what a gig!!!
 
#10
IMG_5413.jpeg


In Berlin earlier this year, Nicolas played a ‘70s Fender Mustang in Competition Burgundy, just like the one in the Vintera II series. I am pretty sure it is vintage, as he played it during shows before the series was released.

 
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