Listening to some of the older tracks... just amazing to hear the spaciousness of the tracks...

When Doves Cry
Sign O' The Times
Lady Cab Driver (so many things going on, synths, guitar... but you still feel the space in the song)

That's what Miles Davis liked so much about Prince.

PatricioRey said:

Ah... Miles was another master of space. makes sense.

PatricioRey said:

Prince said that about Joni Mitchell too.

coolcat said:

Absolutely true. Princes mastery of space in his music is one of the most appealing and overlooked aspects of his compositional skills.

I remember trying to explain what 'space' to a friend once. Im not sure they understood it. How would you describe it?

i love the 'Fm11' chord he plays on the synth during housequake. It creates so much space and says so much. The guy was just fucking incredible back then.

3121 said:

I think it's hard to explain... but I think there are a variety of ways which he uses to create space...

I think funk already has space going for it... moreso than say rock music...

An loose analogy between funk and rock I like to use... is like the relationship between Baroque and Classical music (ie: Bach and Mozart)

Baroque/Bach was more polyphonic (multiple independent lines working together), less chordal... whereas Classical/Mozart was more chordal... where there was usually one melody... with the other instruments emphasizing a chord behind it. Chords take up sonic room... If you listen to any of the Bach inventions, it's just really cool how much space there is...

I think having multiple lines can get to be too much sonic space also... that's how I personally feel about a lot of 70s funk, especially with the horns... it feels like they're trying to fill out that space with lots of different lines...

I think replacing horns with synths gives that leaner sound... Also, Prince's bass lines... I love his bass lines, but again, compared to say Larry Graham, he really thinned it down... gave the songs more breathing room... And even took out the bass when he felt it was unnecessary...

I think your housequake example is a good one. He could have really gone overboard with the synths, but he chose just that soft background synth... I think he does a similar thing with the synth strings on Dance Electric... I think he's using suspended chords... I think that's another way he creates space... it gives just that right emotional touch, not too loud... I mean that song to me, really exemplifies Prince... totally funky... but emotional at the same time... has that bittersweet feeling those synths give...

Let me add to that...

Irresistible Bitch
Erotic City
La La La He He Heee
Brand New Orleans
The Future
Oliver's House
Nothing Compares 2 U (Family arrangement)

Great uses of invisible notes.

coolcat said:

Some good and valid points. i agree wholeheartedly about his use of synths and leaning out the composition. Much of his funk comes from the spaces where he doesnt play.. the rests between the notes.

Also, the suspended chords you touched upon create great tension in his music which in turn creates space. A great example of this is the synth line in rebirth od the flesh - so subtle but it feels like another universe.

Great topic for a thread. I am keen to hear other peoples interpretation of space in Princes music. You must play, right?

3121 said:

Thanks. Yeah, I do play. Not very well, but trying to improve.

squirrelgrease said:

Great way of describing much of Princes compositional style.

10 points if you can name the show, anybody?

"just the snare"

cool

No comprende

datdude said:

sorry. maybe someone else can explain it better. just a simple way to put it: the music has a lot of breathing room... it doesn't sound all cramped.

I think a great example is 'alphabet street' drums/guitar/voice nice.....

3121 said:

Camden Palace 88?

Dance On.

PatricioRey said:

New years eve with miles davis at Paisley park.

its hard to explain space in his music. all i can say is that it gives the notes he does play/sing bigger impact. so many musicians just playplayplay with no breathing inbetween. it just becomes a mush of notes. they seem terrified of breaks in playing and silence.

i thought black sweat uses a lot of space. it has more silence in it than any other song ive heard recently (doesn't mean its a great song though).

he does 'call and response' technique a lot and uses a repeated motif, the 2nd being modified eg love bizarre melody.

3121 said: