# 80s music - what makes it sound 80s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950 "2011-04-27T21:17:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950/41 "2011-05-07T06:07:38Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > How do you get a guitar to have a “thin” sound? Take the bottom out, for one thing. If you want it to sound like it’s being played through a little radio speaker, you take the bottom and top out, leaving only the midrange. Also do away with sustain, so the sound falls off quickly, typical of small bodied and short neck instruments like ukulele or plucked violin. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950/42 "2011-05-07T10:48:03Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I tried to click on it and I couldn’t get the link to work. It’s a direct link to an MP3. You may have better luck right clicking and choosing save as. This is why I used [box.net](http://box.net) for this stuff. It will give you a page to go to, and that page will even include a Flash player that will play the file so I don’t have to worry about you having an MP3 plugin, or having problems like you did. Do also note that the site is running rather slow right now, so that may be the real problem. It could be timing out. I’d suggest Kim to host it somewhere else. Or, if they want, I can host it for them. (Just hit me with a PM). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950/43 "2011-05-07T11:01:48Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > How do you get a guitar to have a “thin” sound? Often a Strat with the pickup selector in position 2 or 4 - bridge + middle or middle + neck pickup. Leads to a thin “quacky” sound - also used for thee riff on Sweet Home Alabama - add a little chorus effect and you’re there. Oh and play through a clean solid state (not tube) amp. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950/44 "2011-05-08T12:50:05Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > I don’t know the name of them, but I do remember that there was a particular type of drums that looked like flat, rubberized mattes, and had a very muted percussion sound when they were struck. Phil Collins used them a whole lot. I remember them being enormously popular, especially in the latter half of the decade. I couldn’t stand the sound of them. You’re thinking of [roto toms](http://www.remo.com/portal/products/2/610/614/ds_rototom.html). You can hear them prominently in The Power Station’s [_Some Like It Hot_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgYqIvnPvqQ). And, yeah, I definitely associate them with '80s pop. I don’t know how much Phil Collins used them - I think his “flat” sound was more likely coming from the gated reverb mentioned above. Collins was still using that effect into the late 80s. I’m not usually one to recognize drummers _or_ producers, but the first time I heard Eric Clapton’s [_Bad Love_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFRpMt9rMu0) I knew that Phil Collins had produced it _and_ was playing drums on that track. ---
**Author:** ![Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kim_o_the_Concrete_Jungle)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950/45 "2011-05-09T01:42:58Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > How do you get a guitar to have a “thin” sound? You run it through one of those solid-state multi-effects units from the eighties. Like this one (although it’s a later model): [http://www.ehow.com/info\_8247523\_zoom-9030-effects.html](http://www.ehow.com/info_8247523_zoom-9030-effects.html) ---
**Author:** ![classyladyhp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5ac83/32.png) [@classyladyhp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/classyladyhp)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950/46 "2011-05-09T01:51:17Z")
I looooove 80’s music. I believe it’s the synthesizer…the highly electronic sound of the music. ---
**Author:** ![Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kim_o_the_Concrete_Jungle)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950/47 "2011-05-09T01:53:02Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Do also note that the site is running rather slow right now, so that may be the real problem. It could be timing out. I’d suggest Kim to host it somewhere else. Or, if they want, I can host it for them. (Just hit me with a PM). Yeah, it’s a direct linking site. So it should prompt you to save it, if you don’t have an mp3 player plugin for your browser. I checked the permissions and they’re set right. So I guess it’s just a matter of catching [Boxstr.net](http://Boxstr.net) while it’s not having downtime (which is, admittedly, not very often). I’m not sure the song’s worth this much effort though. I posted it because I used that 80s style midrangey bass, and an 80s style ARP synth. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950/48 "2011-05-09T02:25:48Z")
I have a cassette of Johnny Winter from that era. He’s a guy known for a pretty traditional style of music, blues, but the album (blanking on the name) has a sound that definitely makes me think EIGHTIES every time I hear it. One thing is a synthesized (I think) handclap percussion effect that was used liberally. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950/49 "2011-05-09T04:40:54Z")
Y’know, that dance wasn’t as safe as they said it was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-music-what-makes-it-sound-80s/579950.md?page=2)