Synthesizers defined Prince .Lets talk about models of synths

Prince used on every album.

On the first 3 albums Oberheim 4 voice FVS1 and Oberheim 8

voice were main synths.

oN THE ALBUM 1999 Prince used Oberheim OB-Xa

Purple Rain was the first album to introduce digital synths in Princes music.

It was Yamaha dx7.

Seems like Yamaha dx7 was Princes main synth until 1990s.

Diamonds and Pearls album sounds like Korg m1.

Oberheim was again used on New Power Soul album.

Moog Voyager was used on 20ten and Mplsound and Artofficial Age.

Thats it as far as i know,other orgers please contribute

Are you sure the Dx7 was his main synth?

thebanishedone said:

Synthesizers defined Prince .Lets talk about models of synths

Prince used on every album.

On the first 3 albums Oberheim 4 voice FVS1 and Oberheim 8

voice were main synths.

oN THE ALBUM 1999 Prince used Oberheim OB-Xa

Purple Rain was the first album to introduce digital synths in Princes music.

It was Yamaha dx7.

Seems like Yamaha dx7 was Princes main synth until 1990s.

Diamonds and Pearls album sounds like Korg m1.

Oberheim was again used on New Power Soul album.

Moog Voyager was used on 20ten and Mplsound and Artofficial Age.

Thats it as far as i know,other orgers please contribute

I thought I could hear Moog on 20Ten, where did you get the information is was a Voyager that was used?

thebanishedone said:

Morris Hayes told me that Moog voyager was used on 20ten and Mplsound. Yes Prince used dx7 a lot in the 80s

Really? Cause I had speculated on that one myself. To me some of the bass lines sounded like what you could get out of modern Moogs or DSI stuff.

I thought I remembered that he loved the Roland D-50 and Roland JD-800.

Is it a Fairlight synth (CMI?) on Sign O The Times. At least the song, not sure about the rest of the album...

Giovanni777 said:

I thought I remembered that he loved the Roland D-50 and Roland JD-800.

I wanna say that I've read an interview with Jimmy Jam mentioning P and then Flyte Tyme using the Roland JP8.

How about "The Gold Experience" album? Which synths were used there?

I believe the rhythm line to 'When Doves Cry' is the only proper appearance of the DX7 on PR. It might also appear on 'Take Me With U'. The rest is primarily entirely stacked OBXA and OB8, with occasional appearances of Minimoog or perhaps other underdocumented instruments he may have used. 'The Glamorous Life' album is likely the first official purple studio release on which one hears any use of the DX7 (rel. June 4 1984).

.

The DX7 is highly represented in his 1984 and early 1985 studio work. 1985 post-PR Tour are varying amounts of OB8/OBXa, DX7, Fairlight CMI, Roland G/GR "duck" synth guitar, some Minimoog, some sequencing or MIDI use unlike during the previous generation in his sound. ~1986-1987 there is even more use of DX7, although not in the immediately recognizable "preset" way, with proprietary patches/programming.

.

There is significant use of the Fairlight CMI between mid-1985 up to as late as early 1988 on his studio work (but primarily late 1985 and throughout much of 1986). His ~1986 use of analog is rumored to have transitioned mainly to the Matrix 12.

.

He quickly adopted the D-50 in 1987, however, and it featured significantly in his music through about 1991/1992 (but especially in recordings from about late 1987 through early 1990), and appeared as late as 1993.

.

After that, he seems to have moved to the workstations of the day.

.

thebanishedone said:

Synthesizers defined Prince .Lets talk about models of synths

Prince used on every album.

On the first 3 albums Oberheim 4 voice FVS1 and Oberheim 8

voice were main synths.

oN THE ALBUM 1999 Prince used Oberheim OB-Xa

Purple Rain was the first album to introduce digital synths in Princes music.

It was Yamaha dx7.

Seems like Yamaha dx7 was Princes main synth until 1990s.

Diamonds and Pearls album sounds like Korg m1.

Oberheim was again used on New Power Soul album.

Moog Voyager was used on 20ten and Mplsound and Artofficial Age.

Thats it as far as i know,other orgers please contribute

[Edited 1/20/15 12:19pm]

Morris Hayes has done quite a few interviews regarding his equipment.

http://vimeo.com/29116350

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2009/04/04/morris-hayes-plays-the-dbeat

http://www.keyboardmag.com/artists/1236/onstage-with-morris-hayes-of-the-npg/28167

He gives a look at what he's using at the time - what Prince was using can't be too far removed.

imprimis said:

I believe the rhythm line to 'When Doves Cry' is the only proper appearance of the DX7 on PR. It might also appear on 'Take Me With U'. The rest is primarily entirely stacked OBXA and OB8, with occasional appearances of Minimoog or perhaps other underdocumented instruments he may have used. 'The Glamorous Life' album is likely the first official purple studio release on which one hears any use of the DX7 (rel. June 4 1984).

.

The DX7 is highly represented in his 1984 and early 1985 studio work. 1985 post-PR Tour are varying amounts of OB8/OBXa, DX7, Fairlight CMI, Roland G/GR "duck" synth guitar, some Minimoog, some sequencing or MIDI use unlike during the previous generation in his sound. ~1986-1987 there is even more use of DX7, although not in the immediately recognizable "preset" way, with proprietary patches/programming.

.

There is significant use of the Fairlight CMI between mid-1985 up to as late as early 1988 on his studio work (but primarily late 1985 and throughout much of 1986). His ~1986 use of analog is rumored to have transitioned mainly to the Matrix 12.

.

He quickly adopted the D-50 in 1987, however, and it featured significantly in his music through about 1991/1992 (but especially in recordings from about late 1987 through early 1990), and appeared as late as 1993.

.

After that, he seems to have moved to the workstations of the day.

.

thebanishedone said:

Synthesizers defined Prince .Lets talk about models of synths

Prince used on every album.

On the first 3 albums Oberheim 4 voice FVS1 and Oberheim 8

voice were main synths.

oN THE ALBUM 1999 Prince used Oberheim OB-Xa

Purple Rain was the first album to introduce digital synths in Princes music.

It was Yamaha dx7.

Seems like Yamaha dx7 was Princes main synth until 1990s.

Diamonds and Pearls album sounds like Korg m1.

Oberheim was again used on New Power Soul album.

Moog Voyager was used on 20ten and Mplsound and Artofficial Age.

Thats it as far as i know,other orgers please contribute

[Edited 1/20/15 12:19pm]

Cool stuff.

Can you give some examples where you think the Minimoog has been used on his 1980s albums?

I believe the synth bass lines on the mid-80s albums were quite often done with the DX7 ("Tamborine", "Girls & Boys" come to mind instantly).

With regard to Moog parts (of any type), of course Fink's solo on 'Head' and 'Baby, I'm a Star'. 'Uptown'. 'Wet Dream Cousin', 'I Don't Wanna Leave You', 'Mia Bocca', 'G-Spot', the 'slides' in 'The Glamorous Life', a little muffled 'solo' in the jam towards the end of the 'Mountains' 12" single, possibly 'Sugar Walls', maybe in the mix in the leadline for raw Vanity vocals demo 'Sex Shooter', and possibly 'in the mix' somewhere towards the end of the ultra-long 'We Can Funk' suitelike-'83/'89 version, certainly others I cannot name at the moment. He seems to have been especialy fond of incorporating its signature into his 1983 studio work, when it had already become (or was becoming) long in the tooth even for purposes of referencing or paying homage to an earlier 70s 'soul' sound.

.

.

novabrkr said:

imprimis said:

I believe the rhythm line to 'When Doves Cry' is the only proper appearance of the DX7 on PR. It might also appear on 'Take Me With U'. The rest is primarily entirely stacked OBXA and OB8, with occasional appearances of Minimoog or perhaps other underdocumented instruments he may have used. 'The Glamorous Life' album is likely the first official purple studio release on which one hears any use of the DX7 (rel. June 4 1984).

.

The DX7 is highly represented in his 1984 and early 1985 studio work. 1985 post-PR Tour are varying amounts of OB8/OBXa, DX7, Fairlight CMI, Roland G/GR "duck" synth guitar, some Minimoog, some sequencing or MIDI use unlike during the previous generation in his sound. ~1986-1987 there is even more use of DX7, although not in the immediately recognizable "preset" way, with proprietary patches/programming.

.

There is significant use of the Fairlight CMI between mid-1985 up to as late as early 1988 on his studio work (but primarily late 1985 and throughout much of 1986). His ~1986 use of analog is rumored to have transitioned mainly to the Matrix 12.

.

He quickly adopted the D-50 in 1987, however, and it featured significantly in his music through about 1991/1992 (but especially in recordings from about late 1987 through early 1990), and appeared as late as 1993.

.

After that, he seems to have moved to the workstations of the day.

.

[Edited 1/20/15 12:19pm]

Cool stuff.

Can you give some examples where you think the Minimoog has been used on his 1980s albums?

I believe the synth bass lines on the mid-80s albums were quite often done with the DX7 ("Tamborine", "Girls & Boys" come to mind instantly).

[Edited 1/20/15 13:31pm]

Thanks. I have to check out some of those examples tomorrow (it's bed time for me now). I've always thought the solo on "Head" was done possibly with an Oberheim or some other polyphonic synth in unison mode. There's also a guy that's done an Oberheim emulation plugin (OB-Xtreme) and he showcases its possibilities on his site by playing a solo with it that's pretty close to the sound on "Head".

I know Fink was using a Minimoog at the time though. It was on stage too.

novabrkr said:

thebanishedone said:

Morris Hayes told me that Moog voyager was used on 20ten and Mplsound. Yes Prince used dx7 a lot in the 80s

Really? Cause I had speculated on that one myself. To me some of the bass lines sounded like what you could get out of modern Moogs or DSI stuff.

Yes i asked him what synth was used for Sticky Like Glue and he told me it was Moog Voyager,pretty cool

Giovanni777 said:

I thought I remembered that he loved the Roland D-50 and Roland JD-800.

Roland JD-800? really? which songs?

imprimis said:

I believe the rhythm line to 'When Doves Cry' is the only proper appearance of the DX7 on PR. It might also appear on 'Take Me With U'. The rest is primarily entirely stacked OBXA and OB8, with occasional appearances of Minimoog or perhaps other underdocumented instruments he may have used. 'The Glamorous Life' album is likely the first official purple studio release on which one hears any use of the DX7 (rel. June 4 1984).

.

The DX7 is highly represented in his 1984 and early 1985 studio work. 1985 post-PR Tour are varying amounts of OB8/OBXa, DX7, Fairlight CMI, Roland G/GR "duck" synth guitar, some Minimoog, some sequencing or MIDI use unlike during the previous generation in his sound. ~1986-1987 there is even more use of DX7, although not in the immediately recognizable "preset" way, with proprietary patches/programming.

.

There is significant use of the Fairlight CMI between mid-1985 up to as late as early 1988 on his studio work (but primarily late 1985 and throughout much of 1986). His ~1986 use of analog is rumored to have transitioned mainly to the Matrix 12.

.

He quickly adopted the D-50 in 1987, however, and it featured significantly in his music through about 1991/1992 (but especially in recordings from about late 1987 through early 1990), and appeared as late as 1993.

.

After that, he seems to have moved to the workstations of the day.

.

thebanishedone said:

Synthesizers defined Prince .Lets talk about models of synths

Prince used on every album.

On the first 3 albums Oberheim 4 voice FVS1 and Oberheim 8

voice were main synths.

oN THE ALBUM 1999 Prince used Oberheim OB-Xa

Purple Rain was the first album to introduce digital synths in Princes music.

It was Yamaha dx7.

Seems like Yamaha dx7 was Princes main synth until 1990s.

Diamonds and Pearls album sounds like Korg m1.

Oberheim was again used on New Power Soul album.

Moog Voyager was used on 20ten and Mplsound and Artofficial Age.

Thats it as far as i know,other orgers please contribute

[Edited 1/20/15 12:19pm]

Nice ,beside Doves piano sound on The Beautiful Ones sounds like Yamaha Dx7.Matrix 12? really? which songs?

KeithyT said:

Is it a Fairlight synth (CMI?) on Sign O The Times. At least the song, not sure about the rest of the album...

i doubt its fairlight.i think its just linn 9000 and synth

thebanishedone said:

imprimis said:

I believe the rhythm line to 'When Doves Cry' is the only proper appearance of the DX7 on PR. It might also appear on 'Take Me With U'. The rest is primarily entirely stacked OBXA and OB8, with occasional appearances of Minimoog or perhaps other underdocumented instruments he may have used. 'The Glamorous Life' album is likely the first official purple studio release on which one hears any use of the DX7 (rel. June 4 1984).

.

The DX7 is highly represented in his 1984 and early 1985 studio work. 1985 post-PR Tour are varying amounts of OB8/OBXa, DX7, Fairlight CMI, Roland G/GR "duck" synth guitar, some Minimoog, some sequencing or MIDI use unlike during the previous generation in his sound. ~1986-1987 there is even more use of DX7, although not in the immediately recognizable "preset" way, with proprietary patches/programming.

.

There is significant use of the Fairlight CMI between mid-1985 up to as late as early 1988 on his studio work (but primarily late 1985 and throughout much of 1986). His ~1986 use of analog is rumored to have transitioned mainly to the Matrix 12.

.

He quickly adopted the D-50 in 1987, however, and it featured significantly in his music through about 1991/1992 (but especially in recordings from about late 1987 through early 1990), and appeared as late as 1993.

.

After that, he seems to have moved to the workstations of the day.

.

our

[Edited 1/20/15 12:19pm]

Nice ,beside Doves piano sound on The Beautiful Ones sounds like Yamaha Dx7.Matrix 12? really? which songs?

.

Regarding Matrix 12, I would not be able discern the texture of something that precisely, but maybe anything ~1986/very early 1987 studio work era that visibly incorporates analog, perhaps (just wild guesses) 'Movie Star', 'Make Your Mama Happy' (1986 outtakes, Crystal Ball, 1998); Summer 1986 'Soul Psychedelide' rehearals/basic tracking for the outtake [that in its circulating overdubbed 'completed' ~1988 outtake form bears virtually no resemblance to its origins other than being built on top of a looped segment of Bobby Z's pads presumably from that tracking session in '86/earlier incarnation of the track]; 'Boys Club', 'One Day, I'm Gonna Make U Mine', on Sheila E (1987); 'So Strong' (Riot in English, Dale, 1988); parts of 'Yo Mister' (Patti Labelle, 1989); maybe even in the 'Hot Thing' remix and 'U Got the Look'.

.

I believe Matrix 12 (or one of its related rackmount models) was part of Lisa's, and possibly Matt's, Hit and Run/Parade live gear as well, and presumably replaced one of the OB-XA or OB-8 from the previous tours. I don't believe its use would have been for any other purpose than adapting to more contemporary gear capable of 'authentically' matching the 'ageing' analog Oberheim sounds as needed particulary for touring/live rehearsal purposes (ageing at least in the limited context of a heavily MIDIfied DX7-obsessed 1985-1987 pop and r&b music scene, Eurodisco notwithstanding and years before its being re-embraced in the mainstream in techno; analog in 1986 was on life-support for non-'art rock' acts, outside of its use maybe for 'greatest hit' performances of the past several years and basslines, or Vince Clarke-ish gearheadism). Basically just a fancier, 'crunchier' sounding stand-in for the OB-8 or OB-XA put to mostly mundane use (not necessarly the Matrix 12 itself, but rather how he ended up using it recording/performing).

.

The 'string' and lead sections of 'Purple Rain' as performed on the Parade tour are likely Matrix 12 (or some combination OB-8 and Matrix 12/rackmount equivalent), as are any of the other 'vintage' Prince tracks performed that require Oberheim analog (from Lisa's side, at the very least).

.

I don't believe 'The Beautiful Ones' has any digital synthesis. If the information contained in the biographies is accurate, Prince did not touch the DX7 until February/March 1984. September 1983 would be something of an early adoption for anyone (the recording date for TBO).

.

During the Parade/Hit and Run tour, however, I believe that the DX7 piano *did* replace the genuine Yamaha electric (twin to the one used in Prince's mock-up piano) Fink used in the earlier tours (before being replaced by sampled piano from the Lovesexy tour onwards)

.

[Edited 1/20/15 23:57pm]

kape said:

Did he not use a Roland Jupiter 8 at some point as well?

.

Yes, that has been said before. I would include that in the 'underdocumented' category of vintage P instruments. It may have been used in the studio circa ~1982-1985, and is possibly is used somewhere on the 1999 and PR albums. And may have been kept in his gearbox as late as ~88/89/90.

.

KeithyT said:

Is it a Fairlight synth (CMI?) on Sign O The Times. At least the song, not sure about the rest of the album...

Fairlight is a sampler, not a synth. But those stock sounds are classic.

MrNorway said:

How about "The Gold Experience" album? Which synths were used there?

I love that album but synth sounds are really dated.maybe he used some of the trendy digital keyboards.the best moments on album are when he used hammond on a few songs

thebanishedone said:

MrNorway said:

How about "The Gold Experience" album? Which synths were used there?

I love that album but synth sounds are really dated.maybe he used some of the trendy digital keyboards.the best moments on album are when he used hammond on a few songs

It sounds dated? Well, maybe, but I don´t care about that. I care more about what I think sounds good when it comes to production, and the synth layers that are used on this album; especially songs like "I hate U", "The most beautiful girl" and "Gold", which in my opinion give them a typical "90´s pop/R&B production sound", is exactly my kind of production. So I am just curious about what kind of synths and sounds that were used on the tracks. So you´re probably right that it´s dated but IMO the 90´s production is much better and smoother to listen to than much/most of the production today. But hey, it´s all a matter of taste I guess

Y'all listed every synth/sampler made from the 1970's until 95. Maybe it would have been an easier question to list what was NOT used. Good ears everybody, got me missing my old Roland SH101.

I know you were joking, but it certainly wouldn't be easier to name the synths Prince hasn't used. There have been so many.

There are some classic units that were manufactured during the period when Prince was at his peak that he probably never used either on a record or live. For example, he's not known to have used a Roland Juno unit. Those were very popular in the 80s. Maybe it's because he could afford the more expensive stuff. But then again, he's never had an analog polysynth that had touch sensitivity on it (a Rhodes Chroma would have been pretty much up his alley, as it was favoured by the likes of Herbie Hancock who cared about how expressive the instrument was). I don't think we've ever heard of him using a Synclavier or a PPG synth either. He went straight to Yamaha DX7 when people started favouring digital.

In general, before he started using the DX7 he seems to have used mainly stuff by American companies. I believe most US based artists did that. The Yamahas, Korgs and Rolands were more popular among European artists.

MrNorway said:

thebanishedone said:

I love that album but synth sounds are really dated.maybe he used some of the trendy digital keyboards.the best moments on album are when he used hammond on a few songs

It sounds dated? Well, maybe, but I don´t care about that. I care more about what I think sounds good when it comes to production, and the synth layers that are used on this album; especially songs like "I hate U", "The most beautiful girl" and "Gold", which in my opinion give them a typical "90´s pop/R&B production sound", is exactly my kind of production. So I am just curious about what kind of synths and sounds that were used on the tracks. So you´re probably right that it´s dated but IMO the 90´s production is much better and smoother to listen to than much/most of the production today. But hey, it´s all a matter of taste I guess

I Hate U sounds amazing,in that song

you have hammond organ which is all analog.string sounds could be analog also .

I dont know what keyboard simulates fender rhodes or maybe its rhodes

with a lot of reverb.

thebanishedone said:

novabrkr said:

Really? Cause I had speculated on that one myself. To me some of the bass lines sounded like what you could get out of modern Moogs or DSI stuff.

Yes i asked him what synth was used for Sticky Like Glue and he told me it was Moog Voyager,pretty cool

You could see his Voyager in one of the small rooms at Paisley Park in that horrible AOA video party back in Octobet.

imprimis said:

I believe the rhythm line to 'When Doves Cry' is the only proper appearance of the DX7 on PR. It might also appear on 'Take Me With U'. The rest is primarily entirely stacked OBXA and OB8, with occasional appearances of Minimoog or perhaps other underdocumented instruments he may have used. 'The Glamorous Life' album is likely the first official purple studio release on which one hears any use of the DX7 (rel. June 4 1984).

.

The DX7 is highly represented in his 1984 and early 1985 studio work. 1985 post-PR Tour are varying amounts of OB8/OBXa, DX7, Fairlight CMI, Roland G/GR "duck" synth guitar, some Minimoog, some sequencing or MIDI use unlike during the previous generation in his sound. ~1986-1987 there is even more use of DX7, although not in the immediately recognizable "preset" way, with proprietary patches/programming.

.

There is significant use of the Fairlight CMI between mid-1985 up to as late as early 1988 on his studio work (but primarily late 1985 and throughout much of 1986). His ~1986 use of analog is rumored to have transitioned mainly to the Matrix 12.

.

He quickly adopted the D-50 in 1987, however, and it featured significantly in his music through about 1991/1992 (but especially in recordings from about late 1987 through early 1990), and appeared as late as 1993.

.

After that, he seems to have moved to the workstations of the day.

.

thebanishedone said:

Synthesizers defined Prince .Lets talk about models of synths

Prince used on every album.

On the first 3 albums Oberheim 4 voice FVS1 and Oberheim 8

voice were main synths.

oN THE ALBUM 1999 Prince used Oberheim OB-Xa

Purple Rain was the first album to introduce digital synths in Princes music.

It was Yamaha dx7.

Seems like Yamaha dx7 was Princes main synth until 1990s.

Diamonds and Pearls album sounds like Korg m1.

Oberheim was again used on New Power Soul album.

Moog Voyager was used on 20ten and Mplsound and Artofficial Age.

Thats it as far as i know,other orgers please contribute

[Edited 1/20/15 12:19pm]

You're right about the D-50 too, I got my D-20 in '88 and I can hear the drum sounds used on Batman, "Electric Chair" comes to mind, as well as some of the synth patches.