Hello, I'm new here, so excuse me if this is a common post.

I'm trying to find out what kind of keyboards Prince used between "1999" and "Sign O the Times." Any gear-heads out there?

Also, I saw him on the Tamar tour last year and he had a crazy guitar pedal - similar to a Digitech Whammy pedal. Any idea what it is?

Thanks yall.

PS: Strange Relationship = most slept on Prince tune ever.

i kno during the emancipation era casio was a common keyboard used. 1999 im still trying to find out what type of keyboard that is in Rave.

I think you're thinking of the Rhodes stage keyboard. I don't know the exact model, though.

let me think about that pedal though i think it might have been synth wah mixed with a delay or if he has one custom made that does that alrdy. u never kno

he used a Yamaha Motif 8 during the ONA tour. it made me go out and get one.

Thanks for these suggestions.
Anyone know the actual keyboards he used on the recordings themselves?
I'm guessing they're some old analog monsters.

Sorry mate, you must be mistaken. Most don't actually do Prince music or anything remotely interesting about music around here. However, if you want to look at some great pictures and go on about how sexy he is, you've come to the right place!

bonedaddy said:

haha

here are some of the synths used from 1982-1986:
Yamaha DX7
Oberheim OB8
Arp
Mini Moog
Synclavier
Fairlight

he was using the clavia nord synth at brixton academy london, in 97 or 98 (i forget the year)

i have the rack version in my studio, and i'm pretty sure its prob the nord on pussy control, certainly sounds like it.

also caught kirks drumstick at that gig! hurrah.....

Thanks LibraSmile. Much appreciated!

ris said:

no problem mate!
glad to help.

He also used a lot of Roland stuff through the years.

I think he even had a JX8P back in the day... still have mine.

He may have used the D-50 and I'm sure he used the JD-800.

Giovanni777 said:

Prince never used Roland products on his studio recordings in the 80s.

LibraSmile said:

uhhh...OK... But the JD-800 came out in 1991, so I don't think he used it in the '80s. The D-50 came out in 1987, and I'm sure he used it between 1987-1989.

And I'm quite sure he had the older Roland stuff too.
[Edited 4/23/07 13:01pm]

...also, it's important 2 point out that it's not just which Synths he used, but also HOW he used them.

4 example,he would often layer his parts on the OB8...the real way... by overdubbing the duplicated parts.

Giovanni777 said:

wait, you mean keyboards can be played like real instruments and not just programmed?!

Milty said:

Ahhhh! I didn't know he used that one! I just bought one this weekend. I'm in LOVE with it!!!!!

I also heard that Stevie Wonder had one, so I figured if it's good enough for Stevie, it's good enough for me.

alicattt said:

Are you female? '98 by the way. I gotta know. I was on the tube train after the gig, standing by someone with a stick!

bonedaddy said:

hi, no i'm male, but i guess kirk must enjoy throwing his sticks, i also caught a symbol tambourinbe thrown by mayte on gold tour a wembley in 95. damn, maybe i should should shout for prince to throw a guitar next time

alicattt said:

oh well, worth an ask. was at W.arena too in '95! I aint that lucky.
Brixton was a fucking good night. Great memories.
p.s. if you got too many, I know a good home

UCantHavaDaMango said:

Make sure u get the tape that comes with the keyboard. Shows a few tricks on how 2 use it.

Graycap23 said:

I bought it from a friend of mine (who will be upgrading to the new one soon) and he gave an instructional DVD. Lord knows I'm gonna need it!

It took forever just to find the Grand Piano. It would be a shame to spend 2 grand on a keyboard that I can only use to play sitar and windchimes!
[Edited 4/23/07 15:07pm]

Giovanni777 said:

He used the D-50 a lot, especially during the grafitti bridge era. It's a thin 'metallic' sounding synth. I owned it once, but never really liked it; it has no 'character'.

ris said:

He also used the Sequential Circuits Pro-One a lot. Listen to the bassline of Let's Pretend We're Married. That's the Pro-One. It's a very fat sounding analog synth, good for bass and leads.

ris said:

Ow, and of course, I forgot, the Polymoog. But he used that in the early days, as a surrogate for horns and strings.

LibraSmile said:

[Edited 4/23/07 16:27pm]

Giovanni777 said:

Yep, for 1999, he layered the Oberheim 4-voice 4 times!!!

christopheries said:

EXACTLY!

christopheries said:

Oh wow. I forgot about the Sequential Circuits!