Hi there

Just wondering if anyone here knows where Prince got the clap sound that he used all over the place in the 80's. The one I'm talking about can be heard in "When Doves Cry", "Raspberry Beret", "Let's Pretend We're Married", "Pop Life" and many many others from Controversy through Lovesexy.

It doesn't sound like an ordinary clap, but almost like a hollow shaker box clap (for lack of a better description). I heard that he used Linn Drum a lot in the early days, so I downloaded some Linn Drum samples but it wasn't in there, just an ordinary clap sound.

I used to think that perhaps it was a sound that he somehow engineered himself since it seemed to be his signature for a long time, but then I discovered that at least a couple of other artists used the exact same sound in a couple of songs that came out in 1981.

Gary Numan has a track on his "Dance" album (1981) with this clap sound in it (on the track "Night Talk").

Adam and the Ants had a track on the "Prince Charming" album (1981) with this clap sound in it (on the track "Mowhok").

There may be others but those are the only two I've found.

If anyone can help me track down this sound I'd much appreciate it!
[Edited 7/31/07 7:13am]

He used a Linn drum and pitch shifted it down a whole octave

Misleading! I thought this topic was about Prince's STD's or STI's or whatever the youngsters are calling them these days!

It is indeed the pitch-shifte linn clap. Might have even some distortion thrown into it as well.

Yeah, I've been trying to figure that one out myself. It has kind of a "bok" or "kok-kok" sound to it. It sounds like a door knock or something. And yes, I've heard it in other songs too (ranging from New Wave to Dancehall Reggae). But Prince used it so much that he pretty much made it his own.

JimmyNothing said:

WTH?

Prince has a clap and snare hit together.

.....honestly...i thought he sampled a bike bell.....

KidaDynamite said:

happyhappy said:

Yeah that too! Especially on "Paisley Park"

I found the answer to my question. I was mistakenly listening to Linndrum samples when in fact he wasn't using Linndrum. He was using the original Linn LM-1 drum machine. Linndrum was a less expensive version that came out after the LM-1.

There's a good Linn LM-1 sample here with the clap sound I'm talking about if anyone wants to hear it.

http://www.tradebit.com/f...php/820405

Thanks for the help!
[Edited 8/2/07 9:26am]

NWF said:

Most likely that noise comes from having a huge gate effect on it.