MJ's Billie Jean Bass - It’s 4 Instruments!

video upload by

See How to Synth Breakdowns by Anthony Marinelli Music for more.

"In this video I demonstrate how the bass sound on 'Billie Jean' from Michael Jackson’s Thriller album is actually 4 different instruments playing at the same time. I’ll show you how I programmed 3 different synthesizer instruments for the album (originally performed by Greg Phillinganes) and the 4th instrument (electric bass guitar originally performed by Luis Johnson) is demonstrated by Ernest Tibbs.

In this series Anthony breaks down some of the most icons synthesizer patches that he programmed for Michael Jackson’s Thriller

Anthony's musical touch as both composer and performer is connected with some of the most influential creative minds over the last 40 years. He’s composed and conducted original orchestral scores for over 80 feature films including Young Guns, Internal Affairs, The Man From Elysian Fields, 15 Minutes and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, been commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for his symphonic work "In the Family Way", written over one thousand TV commercials in a myriad of musical styles, co-founded Levels Audio Post (LA's premiere post production facility) and performed and arranged on big-box-office films and influential hit records such as Michael Jackson's Thriller.

His extensive work as a young arranger, orchestrator and performer for Quincy Jones, Jack Nitzsche, Lamont Dozier, Arthur Rubenstein and Giorgio Moroder was vital in launching his own career. His early years pioneering modular analog synthesizers along with his wide-ranging music scholarship positioned Anthony at the center of the music technology revolution. He attended the University of Southern California School of Music as a piano and composition major."