WE WORKED WITH PRINCE and Robin Power - stories from Paisley Park insiders - (part 4)

Hi folks, this is a continuation of the Robin Power threads that for some reason froze when the viewership reached a certain level. The original threads are:

http://www.prince.org/msg/5/143228
http://www.prince.org/msg/5/151677
http://www.prince.org/msg/5/159623

To summarize, back in March, someone inquired about Robin Power and her band the Uptown Dames. I heard about the thread and since I happened to be the musical director for the Uptown Dames, I joined the org and started posting stories about my experiences. Somewhere in the process, an orger connected me with a long lost bandmate (Bassdame) who then started posting stories about her experiences with the Dames and Flyte Tyme. In part three, an orger named Jizzy challenged us to prove our identity and we did. Sometime during all that, UptownDame, our singer, suddenly started posting her stories after a long time of just lurking.

The stories we write about are varied and include stories about meeting Prince and other celebrities, music, gossip, etc. etc. Thank you for joining us and have fun...
[Edited 11/7/05 14:48pm]

So anyway, in part three, Heiress asked me what brand of instruments I prefer.

Prince uses a Hohner guitar? I have a Hohner harmonica, but I didn't know that Hohner even made guitars. Well, maybe that's just what he's used to, or maybe he likes the sound. I don't know. I know he liked the Emax sampler when I was there.

As for me, I own an old Alesis Quadrasynth as a master keyboard and some other sound modules like the Akai S-2000 sampler and a Roland JV880. Some of you techies are probably laughing at how old my stuff is, but hey it works for me and I hate buying new stuff and reading even more manuals. When I worked at a video production company, they supplied me with a Kurzweil K2000 which I loved. I would love to have a K2500 cuz you can adjust the processing in the mix internally. But with the new technology, I suppose I can just obtain some CD roms with the K2500 sounds. I don't really keep up with the latest - I just want to write music. I have a friend who gives me advice - he loves to read all those techie magazines.

For Christmas, my husband bought me a Fender strat electric guitar. That is so cool. I also bought myself a cheap SDGR bass just for fun at open mike nights. I'm not really serious about bass and guitar, so I don't spend a lot of money on those things. The bass is cheap, but it sounds decent enough to me.

My favorite piano is the Steinway, which my parents owned when I was growing up. It has a beautiful sound and feel. I think it is the reason I became a composer - I used to spend a lot of my free time just playing it - it was so beautiful. Yeah - those were the days when I would just create for fun - the days before film production deadlines and unit sales worries. I feel so jaded now and miss that feeling.

So there - I hope I didn't bore anybody.

I edited info about my sampler - s2000 not s550
[Edited 11/12/05 9:50am]

When are you going to start telling us about Meeting PRINCE? That was your next Chapter! WHEN????

The JV-880 is a beautiful instrument. It does a lot more than most people think. I don't think I'll ever get rid of mine even though I have newer gear also. Hey, I still use a Hohner D6 and I wouldn't part with that for the world.

artpal, keep telling your "musician" stories as well. some of us like to also hear those, especially those of us aspiring to have musical creativity

Zelaira said:

UptownDame is the one who was going to tell her story about meeting Prince. You'll have to wait a while - she doesn't post very often.

I already told my story about meeting Prince in the original thread - part 1 of this series.

txladykat said:

okay!!!

Muziqmkr said:

Hmm - maybe I should search deeper into the possibilities of the JV-880. I love the sounds.

Thanks Artpal. I read your thread. Quite Interesting... Kinda KNEW something like that...

artpal said:

You should talk about your meetings with Prince, too. You were there longer than I was.

I am working on my next chapters. Sorry, it takes me a while. Fortunately these days, I am a busy working person.

Cool! But it will be Fun.

part 4? tell us Prince's e-mail address or mobile phone number or something.

UptownDame said:

What about Bassdame's stories? We haven't heard from her for a while.

WE WANT BASSDAME! WE WANT BASSDAME!

artpal said:

Yeah we miss Joni! I love you girls, artpal!

carlcranshaw said:

I'll check it out. It's interesting when new people come out of nowhere and post depending on what we happen to be talking about. Like UptownDame.

Stay tuned for a trailer of my new film "Beauty - In the Eyes of the Beheld." Bassdame appears on it for a second although she actually has a huge part in the actual film...

artpal said:

Can't wait artpal. Sounds really interesting!!! Yay! Now I finnaly will get to see what Joni is like in action!

artpal said:

Hi Artpal,

As a fellow musician it's great to read that you guys got to play and hang out with Prince.

There is a free piano patch called 3 Layer 700 that is my favorite acoustic piano patch.

I'm not a Motif salesman but any piece of equipment that helps our music sound better I would recommend to anybody.

Here is a fun chord to play to scare the mailman.

Using a string patch play C G Eb on the left hand (it's a stretch)
and D Eb Gb A on the right hand.

Hey y'all. It's funny that I clicked on this thread today and y'all are talking about the Motif cuz I almost went ot the store today to chekc it out vs. the Korg Triton.

I heard the Motif has built in sampling, and maybe drum machine feature too? I have a Yamaha p250 which is 88 key weighted piano, and I have my old Ensoniqe synth sitting on top just as a controller to access someof the other sounds in the p250 (horns).

But I want something new that I can get some "fat" Prince/Time/Oberheim type sounds on, and ideally use to sequence and if it has sampling great cuz I want to use Linn Drumms samples as a beat.

Also ARTPAL, remember your comment about the keyboard player always making the charts and handing them out?


Well I just started rehearsal for a new gig, with mainly people I never palyed with (well this would only be my 4th time onstage anyway).... and I spent all this time charting out these 80's songs (by ear which isnew for me) and this drummer literally refused to even look at!!! he kept holding up his hand like "Stop" and wouldnt' look at it. Ithought that was weird. I mean he doesn't need to know the chords, but yu'd think he'd want to know where the different sections start and stop!

Anyway, we'll see how this rehearsal goes. I was going to try and do "Junlge Love" by the Time but I don't think I have the guts to do the vocals...plus I'd have to do all the keyboard parts at the same time.

BTW, my song I told you about made it to the Quest for MinneapolisSound on the Artists' Forum on here.

carlcranshaw said:

GaryMF said:

If your drummer is experienced, he probably has a feel for when sections start and stop. It's probably every 4 or 8 bars and each verse has 8 or 16 bars, each chorus 8, maybe a bridge for 4 or 8. Then there's the usual formulas: verse-chorus-verse-chorus - change - verse - chorus chorus or something similar. It's predictable.

I am able to jam to original pop etc. tunes by ear and can sense when a change is coming and even what chord might be coming next. Songwriters freak out when I do that to originals I've never heard before. I jammed with a songwriter at a cafe without rehearsal and was able to play with all her originals right there on the spot.
[Edited 11/12/05 21:20pm]

GaryMF said:

Would you believe I found an Ensoniq Mirage DSK at a yard sale for $15? I couldn't believe it. That used to be the bomb back in the day.



Get used to it!



Congrats! And yes, it does sound like a typical protege song.

artpal said:

I play church gigs and it's gotten to the point where our drummer doesn't even show up to rehearsals - he just catches during the gig. I've been doing the same thing lately...Plus, the pastor loves to break into song at the slightest provocation, so we're always catching on to what he's singing. Drummers (at least the one's I've played with) do it all the time.

JesseDezz said:[quote]

artpal said:

I'm having a slight case of insomnia so I listened to your music on myspace.com. I LOVE the basic chord progression for "Beautiful Baby." It sticks in my head right away. What is interesting is that you seem to be singing in the relative minor of that major riff without moving with the chord progression. Then you have a second rhythm guitar also hovering at the root of the relative minor. Interesting.

artpal said:[quote]

JesseDezz said:

Why thank u Wow, that's some analysis - I'm honored that you listened to my stuff! I wasn't even thinking in theoretical terms when I wrote/recorded "Beautiful Baby" - I just did it without 'thinking', so to speak. Isn't music a beautiful thing?

artpal said:

I still have my original Mirage DSK and I liked it so much I also brought the rack unit cause you never know. I still use both but $15? That's outrageously lucky lol. I like your gear!!!

Hey Blaque, $8K sure is a lot of money. I'm gonna have to check that out too. One thing I like about Korg keyboards is the joystick. Those pitch and mod wheels on the other boards just don't compare. But - I'll just look... And yes, I did buy that Ensoniq along with a drum machine for $5. This guy didn't know what he had. I gave both to Bassdame, though, as I felt like I was satisfied with my own gear.

Dezz, I'm glad you like my analysis. Not bad for a Prince girl, huh? I don't think theoretically either. It's usually an afterthought. Like I can spurt out a sentence and later if I want to I could analyze that I used a noun, verb, etc. But music is something I hear, not read.

Muziqmkr, yes the Mirage puchase was quite a deal. Did you know that if you go to syntaur.com you can purchase an operating system for it that makes it multi timbral? Check it out!