He got lazy.

smoothcriminal12 said:

Paired with a funky bass guitar slap, Prince's drum programming was the ultimate. I miss Prince's strange funky drum sounds and the funky bass guitar slap loops. Right now though, I'd settle for anything by Prince.

I don't know much about this.

In the songs you mention do you mean there's no live drummer it's only a machine?

Or does he make the song with a live drummer and then re-programme it into the song?

His drum programming seems to be the same to me, it's his use of reverb, flange, and echoes that's become minimal now. I think that throws a lot of people off.

NeonCraxx said:

oh and certainly he is going for live drums a lot more at this point in his career. I think in the 80's he was very concerned with restricting himself to a particlar "Prince" the pop star sound (the stereotypical drum sounds of Purple Rain and then SOTT and so on. Look at how he released "Can't Stop this Feeling I got" with a much more generic Prince percussion sound that was reminiscent of "Let's Go Crazy". That was an obvious choice to echo the film and album Purple Rain with the film and album Graffiti Bridge. Trying to tap into that same vibe. Personally, I prefer the older bootleg version of "Can't Stop" which does not have that Prince programmed drum sound.

These days, he doesn't care to limit himself as much.

ufoclub said:

jayARDAHB said:

jayARDAHB said:

ufoclub said:

oh and certainly he is going for live drums a lot more at this point in his career. I think in the 80's he was very concerned with restricting himself to a particlar "Prince" the pop star sound (the stereotypical drum sounds of Purple Rain and then SOTT and so on. Look at how he released "Can't Stop this Feeling I got" with a much more generic Prince percussion sound that was reminiscent of "Let's Go Crazy". That was an obvious choice to echo the film and album Purple Rain with the film and album Graffiti Bridge. Trying to tap into that same vibe. Personally, I prefer the older bootleg version of "Can't Stop" which does not have that Prince programmed drum sound.

These days, he doesn't care to limit himself as much.

Limit himself? Dude, the drums on Purple Rain should never be described as stereotypical - I'm guessing you are aiming to say they are conventional or something. His programming is freaky on some of those songs. When Doves Cry is a masterpiece in terms of its drums. There's a lot live drumming on that record too... He wasn't limiting himself back then - he certainly is now though. There are so many incredible pieces of drum technology out there that I wish he would put his hands on. It'd interesting to hear hi. Leave his little comfort zone and dabble with different sounds from a more varied background - not just the Middle East.

Yes, the beats are stereotypical for Prince. If Dave Chappelle had a funny Prince skit on his show in the 2000's he would use a stereotypical 1980's Prince beat... oh shit, he did!

Prince doesn't use a real Linn drum machine anymore. He uses Linn samples that go through ProTools and that's why it seem like the beats aren't as hot as they used to be. I'm sure he still has a Linn laying around somewhere and he needs to dig it out to make some jammin' beats again. He also needs to bring back that razorsharp, New Wave synths from back in the day too.

joyinrepetition said:

Prince doesn't use a real Linn drum machine anymore. He uses Linn samples that go through ProTools and that's why it seem like the beats aren't as hot as they used to be. I'm sure he still has a Linn laying around somewhere and he needs to dig it out to make some jammin' beats again. He also needs to bring back that razorsharp, New Wave synths from back in the day too.

Amen to that!!!

joyinrepetition said:

NeonCraxx said:

joyinrepetition said:

Prince doesn't use a real Linn drum machine anymore. He uses Linn samples that go through ProTools and that's why it seem like the beats aren't as hot as they used to be. I'm sure he still has a Linn laying around somewhere and he needs to dig it out to make some jammin' beats again. He also needs to bring back that razorsharp, New Wave synths from back in the day too.

He doesn't need to, you just want him to. And what I want is an album period.

I agree, he really doesn't need to.

On a side note: NeonCraxx, I'm curious about what Lisa Coleman posted about your youtube video.

There is also a man behind his best drum beats.

Kiss : David Z.

94-95 era: Statik

I wonder what Statik is doing these days...

His drum patterns were his creative hallmark. His best tracks were bolted on and driven by incredibly creative drum patterns. It is a gift that is most certainly gone. I mean like gone gone. I have to scratch my head in disbelief when anyone counters that his gift for the beat isn't gone. He doesn't even try anymore.

mwu said:

V10LETBLUES said:

thebanishedone said:

1999 album is the first album in popular music to relay completely on Linn l1

Is that a fact or just something you assume? I don't know, but it seems like it mightn't be so - There may be earlier records, but I'm thinking of stuff like Human League's Dare, which is from 1981.

As I say, I dunno, but cool if true.

Also, I think ufoclub is on the money here - All those effects, triggers, flange, reverb etc back then is what made the difference between Prince's drum programming then and now - he did make the Linn sound completely unlike other people using the same equipment.

NouveauDance said:

thebanishedone said:

1999 album is the first album in popular music to relay completely on Linn l1

Is that a fact or just something you assume? I don't know, but it seems like it mightn't be so - There may be earlier records, but I'm thinking of stuff like Human League's Dare, which is from 1981.

As I say, I dunno, but cool if true.

Also, I think ufoclub is on the money here - All those effects, triggers, flange, reverb etc back then is what made the difference between Prince's drum programming then and now - he did make the Linn sound completely unlike other people using the same equipment.

Right, I think on songs like "Future Baby Mama"nd some of the "MPLS" album he is using the same type of drum programming, but he is not using the same kind of effects. Actually, on "Future Baby Mama" I think he's using the effects too that he used to in the 80's. Adding an echo complicates a drum pattern because you're of course adding little hits and accents that aren't even really there in the programming. A flange adds a shifting tone and variety to the sounds. Reverb adds personality and drama and increases the apparent size of a noise. The beat of Mountains is not all programmed, some of that rhythm is in the effects.

I used to duplicate some of my favorite beats with 8 bit sequenced samples on my Amiga computer back in the late 80's an early 90's, so I feel like I really understand the underlying drum patterns he was programming. what was much harder and sometimes impossible to duplicate was his creative use of effects.

It has nothing to do with the technology, technique or approach, that is not what we are talking about or duplicating them. That's the least of it. It was the creativity to create them in the first place, the way they work with a track, the originality. That's what's lost. It was a gift. His best tracks were built around really great drum patterns. However they were made is irrelevant. Many artists were using the same tools and techniques and could not pull off great sounding drum patterns out of them as he once did so effortlessly. The same with Prince now.

And it was not just the drum patterns themselves, it was how they interacted with the rest of the tracks, like a choreography almost.

It doesn't sound like he was using a Linn on The Future, but the creativity and innate ability to create awesome percussion patterns was still there, same with Pheromone, so it has nada, nothing to do with equipment or the tools or the reverb or whatever. MPLSound proves this. It's what goes on between an artists ears.

V10LETBLUES said:

It has nothing to do with the technology, technique or approach, that is not what we are talking about or duplicating them. That's the least of it. It was the creativity to create them in the first place, the way they work with a track, the originality. That's what's lost. It was a gift. His best tracks were built around really great drum patterns. However they were made is irrelevant. Many artists were using the same tools and techniques and could not pull off great sounding drum patterns out of them as he once did so effortlessly. The same with Prince now.

And it was not just the drum patterns themselves, it was how they interacted with the rest of the tracks, like a choreography almost.

It doesn't sound like he was using a Linn on The Future, but the creativity and innate ability to create awesome percussion patterns was still there, same with Pheromone, so it has nada, nothing to do with equipment or the tools or the reverb or whatever. MPLSound proves this. It's what goes on between an artists ears.

I'd say, songs like "Future Baby Mama" and "Never Be Another Like Me" completely weave the drum track in the same way as something like "Jerk Out" or "Moviestar" or "Delirious".

And I find a beat like in "Beginning Endlessly" to be freshly entertaining and just as good, just as I did for the one in the song "Musicology". And I feel like if ALL his songs were laid out in front of me all at the same time and I had never heard any of them, I would still be picking only 2-3 songs per album from the beginning to this day as completely successful to my ears, and reaching a genius pop status.

I was disappointed by the drum programming on "It" back in the day. I thought the programming on "America" made me want to sleep. Same with "Baby I'm a Star". I've always thought that since back when those songs were first released, so it's not like I'm making up shit to post here. They were lame beats and rhythms compared to others he was doing and has done since.

i thought a gem of a different rhythm and beat was "High".

And I guess a lot has to do with preference. If I listen to America, it's the super long version and I am bobbing my head to the very end, I am keenly aware of every tap and click and it makes me move and sets me in a trance. I use it when I go to the gym or on a long run and never puts me to sleep. There is no denying we all have different tastes, but I still say it has zilch to do with gear.

In a bio I once read, I think it was his recording engineer Peggy Mac, that said that back in the day, Prince could pick up anything and start tapping on it and pull fantastic sounds out of it. I believe it.

Why hasn't anybody mentioned Silicon or Paradigm? that shit is on fire