Michael,

Typically, how long does it take you to learn a new song?

Also, if you have not played a song for a few years, how long does it take you to be able to play the song again (for example, if Prince called you up today and asked you to go on tour with him and play only Diamonds and Peals and Gold Experience material, could you do it first shot, after one days worth of rehearsals, a week)?

Michael,

If you were not a professional musician, what do you think you would be doing for a living today?

Micheal,

What would your dream band be. Whomever you wanted on vocals, guitar(s), bass, keys...(of course you would be on drums! At least I hope so.)




(Sorry if this has already been asked but your "Q & A session" has become three threads now, which means they are very successful and appreciated. I try to keep up but may have missed a few things along the way).

shaomi said:

sorry..
i got a call from a recording engineer name steve weiss, about a french record producer trying to book me 8 months in advance for a session. i asked who else was gonna be on the session. no bass player had been chosen. the record producer, jean rochard, came to bunker's, listened to me and sonny playing together, and booked sonny on the session, as well.. i don't exactly know where michel got the idea to play with me.. i've been in the company of genius, more often in my life than anyone should be.. i don't consider myself a jazz musician, and i was a little intimidated by the prospect of playing with michel. when i found out we weren't making a jazz record, i relaxed.
he probably heard me and thought the same thing i heard that miles davis said about me, while watching the nude tour broadcast on japanese tv.. "that drummer can play more than what he's playing.." which is true. i can do alot more than what is usually required of me. i just pride myself on being judicious, and not overdoing it.
it's just amazing to me, when a person can tell that, about me, without ever hearing me really stretch out..

michael b.

Sowhat said:

about 2 listens through, if it's pre-arranged and all i have to do is follow the map. but, alot of prince's material was arranged, in our presence. so, that's a different type of thing. he's changing the length of the verses, putting in breaks, combining two different bridge ideas, etc. so, that means you have alot more of an opportunity to mess up, or forget stuff..

we did several different live arrangements for different songs, during my tenure with prince. it would take some time to first decide which arrangement, then i would have to remember my electronic pad assignments if he wanted all that as well, and ultimately prince would end up changing everything, anyway.. he gets bored easily. so, really, the answer to your question is, it depends..

michael b.

Sowhat said:

i wouldn't know where to start, with this. it's like playing fantasy football, or something. i can't really go there.. most of those people would probably have to be exhumed!! now, that WOULD be a funky line-up!! believe me.. LOL

michael b.

and yeah.. there's at least 10 other tracks laying around, from the night that we cut "3121".. so, that power trio album you're describing, already exists, essentially.. the question is, will it ever surface? who knows?

ebonyrhythmbuddha said:

Thanx!!!
Jeez, Miles said that!!! How proud u must have been when u heard it!!! It's true that Michel Portal took u in places even Prince hadn't & the result was great!!! Any chance u guys work 2gether again in the future?

about 2 listens through, if it's pre-arranged and all i have to do is follow the map. but, alot of prince's material was arranged, in our presence. so, that's a different type of thing. he's changing the length of the verses, putting in breaks, combining two different bridge ideas, etc. so, that means you have alot more of an opportunity to mess up, or forget stuff..

we did several different live arrangements for different songs, during my tenure with prince. it would take some time to first decide which arrangement, then i would have to remember my electronic pad assignments if he wanted all that as well, and ultimately prince would end up changing everything, anyway.. he gets bored easily. so, really, the answer to your question is, it depends..


michael b.

I should have realized how difficult it would be to answer this question when Prince is involved. I have heard rehearsals from different points of the same tours and it is amazing sometimes how much his arraignments do change.

Maybe I should have broke the question out like how long does it take to learn/remember Prince songs and non-Prince songs ?

Michael,

When you do session work on albums (non-Prince), how much input do you normally have?

Does the artist tell you what they are looking for, do they already have something pre-arraigned, do you give them certain beats to choose from?

Michael, just to draw to your attention, could you answer my questions?





J

.
[Edited 6/22/06 22:49pm]

JPW said:

dude, i did already. check page two of this thread...

michael b.

shaomi said:

we recorded something recently for a new record with michel.. at the end of may, actually.

michael b.

shaomi said:

we recorded something recently for a new record with michel.. at the end of may, actually.

michael b.

mike (if u don't mind that name),

couple more questions:

1) i've asked you your favourite period - but what is your favourite Prince song?

2) how does someone who has amassed 100s of songs, plays 6+ instruments and sings gets into the industry? seems harder than ever to get noticed these days, especially if you're a one-man band. how did you break in and when would you say it was when you felt you had sort of "got there"? and what do you think of my chances these days?

all the best,

John


.
[Edited 6/22/06 2:24am]

Hey Mike. Don't know if you're still answering questions, but here goes:

1) The live concerts c.1994/95 featured a lot of samples (pre-recorded horn lines, backing vocals, loops etc.) that I presume were stored in the keyboards. As the drummer, did you have to play along to a metronome to make sure the samples would "fit" when they came in, or did you just know the tempos well enough not to worry about it?

2) Have you and John Blackwell ever hoooked up? That would be one mad session!!!

3) Do you still receive royalties for the songs credited to "the new power generation" (eg. The album) or does Prince own the rights to all those songs? (you don't have to answer that if you don't want to, just curious)

Thanks for participating in this thread!! Let us know if you're ever coming to Australia

Hi Michael. Once again thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions.

There's an npg operator that says something like "there're over 500 experiences 2 choose from, here's a sample". It was used during the gold experience tour and i think it's on the gold experience. Did you actually know over 500 songs?
[Edited 6/23/06 3:01am]