There are very few truths in this world, and even fewer of those can be considered universal truths. In fact, the only one I’m 100% sure everyone can agree on is that we all love Bob Marley vs. Funkstar De Luxe. You may not like house music, you may not know who Funkstar De Luxe is, Christ – you may not even like Bob Marley. But we all loved the summer of ’99 because it gave birth to “Sun Is Shining”.

I’m not really into Marley myself, but two things struck me about the track – the bass line and the chord progression. Both are welded to each other over a 4/4 kick, and both were executed in an immaculate manner. So much so, that it’s difficult for me to separate them in my head.

However, facing that fact that I’ll more than likely need to sell my little collection of synthesizers soon, I thought I would sit down and dissect these elements while I still had the tools and enthusiasm to do so. Needless to say, it’s all 4/4, 130BPM
First up, that lovely cascading chord progression.

Sun Is Shining Piano Chord Progression

Starting from an inverted E Minor 1st Inversion, G Major, A Major 2nd Inversion, C Major First Inversion.  Quite an unusual progression, but really has a lot of feel, especially when strapped into a 4/4 rhythm.

I’ve created  a quick facsimile of the original done on my Waldorf Microwave XT.

Sun Is Shining Synth Chord Progression

Next up, the bassline

Sun Is Shining Piano Bassline

I find the bassline to be especially interesting.  On first listen you don’t think it would sit particularly well with the previous chord progression.  But it do.  It has a driving, almost dub feel that accents the tempo and rhythm very nicely.  It speaks of sunshine but with a lowly demeanour.
Again, I created  a quick facsimile of the original done on my Novation Super BassStation.

Sun Is Shining Synth Bassline

Now, using magic, we can combine the two into (indulge me here)…

Sun Is Shining Test Mix

Ta Da!