The Distinctive ‘Whistle Synth’ Musical Phrase Behind Numerous Hip-Hop Songs

Music vlogger Synthet, who previously explained how the “Amen Break” drum solo changed music forever and the Orchestra Hit from classical music, broke down the often sampled “whistle-synth”, which originated with Junie Morrison of The Ohio Players during the solo of “Funky Worm”.

You’ve probably heard of whistle synth before. It’s a 90s hip-hop classic. But what’s the story? Like many times before, it began with a funk band

This musical phrase found its way into early G-funk and hip-hop songs, most notably by artists such as Kris Kross, Snoop Dogg, N.W.A., and Notorious B.I.G.

And 15 years later, it gets sampled by Dre and Yella for N.W.A …and the sample becomes popular and more artists folow like “Jump” by Kriss Kross or Snoop Dog.

Sythet also explains the structure of the phrase and how to use it in a song.

A huge part of it is the glide. The synth is monophonic. So it can only play one note at a time … And when it goes between notes, it glides rather than snap. And last step for the melodies, you want legato ones. So don’t they use connected legato notesNow all you need is a Flexatone swell and some wah-wah guitar and you have a G-Funk classic