A few weeks back, I copped an original ARP Pro Soloist. After messing around with the presets, I heard an instantly recognizable sound (along with many others). That sound was the Pulsar preset patch, which has been used on plenty of songs, but one that particularly known among the hip-hop crowd – The Blackbyrds classic “Rock Creek Park“. Along with a some of my other instruments, I decided to do a quick remake of “Rock Creek Park“.
I started off with the opening guitar line. I’ll admit, I’m not pro-guitarist but I know enough to get the job done. I ran my guitar through an EchoPlex and dual mic’d the cabinet. Muting the strings slightly with my palm, I plucked the strings and got the opening line pretty close. The original version has extra “ghost” notes with more string muting and is a little funkier (sorry!). Next, I moved on to the bassline which wasn’t that complicated. A few notes with a little slide and I was ready to move on.I rolled out my Rhodes and ran it through a Strymon Zelzah. The original might also have some wah on it, but hard to tell. Last of the live instruments was the Pro Soloist, where I play the classic line with a little bit of portamento. Finally, I chopped some drums together to try to get close to the original pattern and sound.
Check it out!