Tower Of Power– their use of 16th notes vs the rest of funk and soul world

I returned to listening to Tower last night. Then I listened to soul singer Tyrone Davis (kinda like Motown) a little later. What struck me is the huge contrast in the way the 2 approaches to Soul they have.

First some background. All Soul and Funk has an underlying pulse based on 16th notes. This is generally much finer grained than most music. (This is also one the ingredients making it such fine dance music) . Most rock grooves are more casual with eighth or even quarter note feels. (In all fairness, all rock has 16th note stuff in them but usually it is limited to anticipating downbeats.) Funk and Soul make greater use of 16ths through syncopations, short rests, use of “off” notes on weak beats and as passing notes.


Now back to the body of the story. Unsophisticated use of 16ths can make the music sound “nervous”. This was what made what we used to call “fusion” so aggravating to listen to. Fusion was too busy, too many notes. It came off as overblown, egotistical, and busy. Good use of 16ths though, accents and rests used sparingly, and with melodic purpose makes for great Soul and Funk. Tyrone Davis is the example here. Everything serves the song but the use of 16ths makes the song so attractive and strong. The rhythym section doesn’t just support the vocal, it makes a statement with the main statement that is powerful, fun to hear and to play, and has a life of its own – but still serving the ultimate masters – the song, the melody, the vocal.


What makes Tower different is that the 16ths are again present but very upfront in the rhythm section. Rather that bury the presentation; the drums and bass joyfully bring them to the front. Their artistry is making the 16th notes subtle enough that they do not overwhelm the song. They do this through a lot of technical tricks like muting notes, implication of notes, and in the bass players case, use of a muted tone so that the pulses are more felt than heard. The effect is that the music doesn’t come off with fusion’s 16th note frenzy, but rather with a busy but smooth carpet of sound for their very full vocal and horn work.