Please be gentle - I am new here

Whats up with the "synth set" - which I assume are the bits of the concerts where Prince teases us with what sound like samples from his records with his live vocal over the top.

I mean the guy can do whatever he likes - he's the dude on the stage who can play the instruments... and it's not like he doesn't play a bunch of real jams during the show...

But (!) I found these segments somewhat annoying - is he using a sampler gizmo of some sort to start/stop the playback or whatever. The whole "scratching" and all that - esp. on say Sign O The Times etc.

can someone explain these bits of the show for me?

Hello,

Dunno if I can explain these bits, but I loved 'em. The sound coming out for Sign o the times was amazing. Now, if only I could find out what kit he's using and if he'd give me a copy of the files!

I also loved them, I loved the entire show.

Best part of the show!

I typed a fantastically detailed message earlier, which seems to have disappeared into the internet! The gist was this...

Prince had a keyboard loaded up with samples from around a dozen (or more) songs. The samples consisted of looped phrases, generally a couple of bars long - each of which was assigned to a separate key at the bottom end of the synth. By holding down the appropriate key, Prince could play a sample ad infinitum, performing vocals over the top.

The chosen tracks tended to be groove-based songs (Sign O The Times, DMSR) with little chord progression. One exception was Alphabet Street, where the sample was just the drum loop from the song - with Prince playing the chords on the top half of the keyboard (a generic piano sound).

The "scratch effect" was simply Prince triggering the start of a sample over and over again. It's possible he had some sound effects (snare drum, record scratches) assigned to the black keys on the synth to make this sound more realistic, but I didn't have a good enough view to be certain...

Nonetheless, Prince interrupted a sample to play the "scratch", he had to wait until the song returned to the start of a musical phrase to re-trigger the loop.

This sort of thing is fairly easy to set up on a mid-range sampling keyboard. Prince may have been using a new version of his trademarked PurpleAxxxe synth from the 90s.

Hope I've explained this clearly enough. Hit me back if you need clarification!

3121 said:

by miles

mrdiscoop said:

I beleive he would control and trigger the sample via a foot switch. of course he would load and select the actual samples via the keyboard/sampler but whilst he performed he would cut and break them via his footswith (and he did it great.. some of the beats he created were excellent)

Such an excellent set. Before i saw it with my own eyes, i was apprehensive about this part of the show.

Totally agree with harbars. These sets where very annoyinging, like listening to "jive Bunny" does prince. Play the songs live with the full band as they where intended to be!

i could have taken two hours of the synth set without any lighting or staging

3121 said:

Thanks for the info... I was pretty sure he kept his left hand on the keyboard at all times (leading to some awkward swivelling to see play to the whole arena) but, like I say, I wasn't that close!

I really enjoyed the synth sets too!

I wasn't sure that I would when I first heard about them, but I completely changed my mind when I heard them in the arena.

I think these were the highlights of the main shows to be honest - the sound from those MF's was awesome, and to here the original beats synchopated was brilliant, and then to see Prince mixing em up a bit, singing over them, lopping etc... awesome. It was like a glimpse of him in the studio. And that sort of imrpovisation in front of 1 person, let alone a massive audience aint easy - the guy has too many talents. That is why he is so very popular live - have you ever seen any other artist do anything like that LIOVE? I don;t think so!

Peace
x

2 bad purple rain wasn't loaded in2 the synth set ..it would have saved a lot of agonyzing mins

3121 said:

The samples were definately triggered from the keys.

Each sample would be a loop, and whilst the key was pressed it would continue on ad infinitum. Also some of the loops started with a drumbeat so that buy tapping the key in quick succession it got the 'scratching' effect.

I thought it was something really good to see. He managed to give us a taster of 5 or 6 songs which we might not have had time to hear.

I think it was amazing that most of the audience could pick which track it was in a split second. I think that is why P loved doing it, he could instantly respond and communicate with the crowd, and change the song in a split second.

A great idea, and really made the encores special for me anyway!

It was really annoying early in the tour, when he just played samples and then walked off. The first time I saw him do this set, he didn't sing along at all. It got good by the end when he was singing along.

I think the foot pedal was a sustain, so he would trigger the sample by keys and then use the foot pedal to keep it playing.

I think there were percussion effects assigned to some of the keys which were played over the samples.

sean2003 said:

Agree. On the 11th, he played just the tiniest snippets (e.g. 4 seconds of SOTT) which left everyone disappointed, whereas when he played more, they were just amazing - Prince playing up to the audience, and everyone singing and dancing along.

Excellent, many thanks mrdiscoop and ev'ryone else who helped explain this.

I was at the show on the 6th Spet but on the floor so couldn't see this bit of the show.

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the synth bit - it was enjoyable, but I would much prefer the real band. Not slagging him - u know - there were plenty o real jams plus it give the band (esp. that bad ass drummer) a chance to get a break!

I guess I was just a tad dissapointed that some of my favourite tunes (e.g. DMSR, SOT) at my show were not done with the wicked sweet new arrangements (esp. brass) that to be honest in many cases I much prefer to the records. Serves me right for not going to more shows I guess

I would say thou - that doing this doesn't demonstrate any "extra" skill or talent on his part to my mind - they are his songs after all

The audience participation angle thou - yeah that was cool...

ionlywannafeeluup said:

Yeah, I also liked these synth sets... in fact, him on the keyboard and on the synth were my favourite parts of the show!

I loved the samples section of the show and the fact he would normally sneak something new in each show. Amazing!

It always made me smile though, after him saying it was all about real music and real musicians then he walks over and plays samples for 10mins while the band are hiding under the stage!