whats happening with paisley park these days?.....is it still being used as a recording studio for other artists ?...when was the last time he did a gig there ?....seems to have went all quiet in recent years....i hope he never gives up on it....its the closest thing to a graceland that we have ...

He played a concert there on October 24, 2009. And there had been some remodeling done.

He still spends the majority of his time there.

so he still does most of his recording there ?....i hope he is doing something with all those tapes that are supposed to be lying in the vault there...if he is soo interested in money that some people say he is....he wouldnt leave them to rot....they are worth a fortune to him.....and a lot more to us...

blackbob said:

so he still does most of his recording there ?....i hope he is doing something with all those tapes that are supposed to be lying in the vault there...if he is soo interested in money that some people say he is....he wouldnt leave them to rot....they are worth a fortune to him.....and a lot more to us...

Well, that is exactly what Hans Martin Buff said a couple of years ago...that the tapes were deteriorating. HM Buff was an engineer during the recording of the Emancipation album.

There are conflicting statements regarding the vault and the old tapes. Some say that they are rotting away, others say that they were digitalized and saved, others fear about destruction and censorship due to his new beliefs and the partly dirty lyrics on some old songs.

I doubt that they are deteriorating because he´s released or sampled some of the old material every now and then, or released snippets and clips from old video footage....but that´s just a guess, I´m not sure. I never talk about these things when I see people from his camp.

I have some 1/4 reel-to-reel tape from the 1980s, I keep it improperly stored and I don't notice any real "rotting" on that stuff. The sound quality might change somewhat over the years, but I doubt all of it is simply going to "rot". Perhaps a certain percentage of it is going to start exhibiting artefacts during playback, but not all of it is going to become unplayable after a certain amount of time. He's been using higher quality tape and kept it in a vault, in any case.

Of course, he should get it transferred to digital form in case he hasn't done that yet. I'm pretty sure engineers have advised him in that regard though.

I don't know what is going on in Paisley Park, but there is a cute video of a couple driving to Paisley Park I think in 2009.

With the release of Crystal Ball..and the sound quality heard on those I doubt that they are rotting at all..they sound prestine and clear with no deteriorating qualities..and this is just some years ago.

Hell Prince has Paisley..that is his home basically...I'd live there if my studio, stage and garage were there.

Is tape deterioration a general problem or just something that happens as a result of improper storage or using bad tapes? It seems odd that Prince would be having trouble with his tapes if the record labels are still able to work with the original masters of The Beatles, The Doors, and even Ritchie Valens. But I’ve also heard stories from IT guys about trying to access old tapes only to have the magnetic fall off crumble into dust when the motor starts turning.

KoolEaze said:

blackbob said:

so he still does most of his recording there ?....i hope he is doing something with all those tapes that are supposed to be lying in the vault there...if he is soo interested in money that some people say he is....he wouldnt leave them to rot....they are worth a fortune to him.....and a lot more to us...

Well, that is exactly what Hans Martin Buff said a couple of years ago...that the tapes were deteriorating. HM Buff was an engineer during the recording of the Emancipation album.

There are conflicting statements regarding the vault and the old tapes. Some say that they are rotting away, others say that they were digitalized and saved, others fear about destruction and censorship due to his new beliefs and the partly dirty lyrics on some old songs.

I doubt that they are deteriorating because he´s released or sampled some of the old material every now and then, or released snippets and clips from old video footage....but that´s just a guess, I´m not sure. I never talk about these things when I see people from his camp.

Interesting. I just read an article about how many acts that recorded digitally from the mid 90's on are now having to go back and rerecord old tracks because of formatting issues. Entire tracks are missing/not found do to upgrading and incompatible software.

Interesting. I just read an article about how many acts that recorded digitally from the mid 90's on are now having to go back and rerecord old tracks because of formatting issues. Entire tracks are missing/not found do to upgrading and incompatible software.

I read probably the same article. Some engineers were stunned to see that sometimes ENTIRE masters just simply vanished, and many others had digital "holes," where large portions of the recording were not there. Sadly, some of these recordings were from top acts.

stillwaiting said:

Interesting. I just read an article about how many acts that recorded digitally from the mid 90's on are now having to go back and rerecord old tracks because of formatting issues. Entire tracks are missing/not found do to upgrading and incompatible software.

I read probably the same article. Some engineers were stunned to see that sometimes ENTIRE masters just simply vanished, and many others had digital "holes," where large portions of the recording were not there. Sadly, some of these recordings were from top acts.

They were able to patch that stuff together, in the article, because of multiple sources.

If holes start wearing in the tapes in the vault, most of it would be entirely unrecoverable.

I am sure Prince takes care of his shit.

paisleypark4 said:

With the release of Crystal Ball..and the sound quality heard on those I doubt that they are rotting at all..they sound prestine and clear with no deteriorating qualities..and this is just some years ago.

.

Well. Time flies. They were mastered nearly 14 years ago. Thats a longer gap from then til now that the gap from the orginal production of most tracks the inclusion on CB.

SquirrelMeat said:

paisleypark4 said:

With the release of Crystal Ball..and the sound quality heard on those I doubt that they are rotting at all..they sound prestine and clear with no deteriorating qualities..and this is just some years ago.

.

Well. Time flies. They were mastered nearly 14 years ago. Thats a longer gap from then til now that the gap from the orginal production of most tracks the inclusion on CB.

Hang tight to your recordings of things from associated artists that he will likely never re-release.

Spinlight said:

SquirrelMeat said:

Well. Time flies. They were mastered nearly 14 years ago. Thats a longer gap from then til now that the gap from the orginal production of most tracks the inclusion on CB.

Hang tight to your recordings of things from associated artists that he will likely never re-release.

My "Good Question" album! Lord save the "Good Question album!

SquirrelMeat said:

Spinlight said:

Hang tight to your recordings of things from associated artists that he will likely never re-release.

My "Good Question" album! Lord save the "Good Question album!

CHILE HOLD ON TO IT TIGHT

Spinlight said:

stillwaiting said:

I read probably the same article. Some engineers were stunned to see that sometimes ENTIRE masters just simply vanished, and many others had digital "holes," where large portions of the recording were not there. Sadly, some of these recordings were from top acts.

They were able to patch that stuff together, in the article, because of multiple sources.

If holes start wearing in the tapes in the vault, most of it would be entirely unrecoverable.

I am sure Prince takes care of his shit.

We must have read similar but different articles. I specifically remember some reissues were patched together, but several songs intended as bonus tracks were simply not there. And as far as Prince taking care of his shit...your guess is as good as mine. I love the man, but I do not trust him. He bitched and bitched about bootleggers bootlegging him, and then gives tapes freely to everyone from bodyguards to the window cleaner. He is the greatest musician who has ever lived, better than the Beatles, U2, James Brown, Bob Dylan, and Mozart combined. He is also a total nutjob. A great, but lesser artist, David Bowie is worth over a Billion Dollars, due to shrewd business sense. Prince has unpaid bills, and there are tons of companies in Minnesota that will not even return a call to him for business. Someone with Prince's talent should be worth at least $500 million, but dumb decision after dumb decision continues to keep his finances on the edge...

Hell, if he had somewhat of an organized tour with decent ticket prices, he could at least make a ton of money this year, but so far the 20Ten tour has seen New Jersey shows not sell out, has had several sellouts at MSG, except for the last one, since he still had tickets priced a bit high, and did not give them time to sell out.

(had to edit, due to spelling shrewd wrong.) Shoed anyone?

I can see the responses to this...I am crazy since I said he was better than the Beatles, U2, and Mozart combined....

and I am crazier for calling him a nutjob.

Search your feelings Luke, you know it to be true....

you just don't want to use the force and admit it.

[Edited 2/12/11 21:44pm]

i like that youtube video. hopefully the gate will be open if i ever make it all the way there.

blackbob said:

whats happening with paisley park these days?.....is it still being used as a recording studio for other artists ?...when was the last time he did a gig there ?....seems to have went all quiet in recent years....i hope he never gives up on it....its the closest thing to a graceland that we have ...

Last May,C.J. was on a stakeout there, and found out, well, that they throw stuff away in a dumpster, and vans enter and leave the facility. Imagine that.

Here's the ridiculous video.

Just out of pure speculation, I think he probably has a few staffers there full time, then hires freelancers for specific projects. I can't imagine he has a full staff sitting around all day shooting dice and surfing the net while he's on tour or living in L.A.

I'm sure the place is paid off, so really, he just has to pay for maintenance, and those few employees until he decides to do something big there.

Chas said:

blackbob said:

whats happening with paisley park these days?.....is it still being used as a recording studio for other artists ?...when was the last time he did a gig there ?....seems to have went all quiet in recent years....i hope he never gives up on it....its the closest thing to a graceland that we have ...

Last May,C.J. was on a stakeout there, and found out, well, that they throw stuff away in a dumpster, and vans enter and leave the facility. Imagine that.

Here's the ridiculous video.

Just out of pure speculation, I think he probably has a few staffers there full time, then hires freelancers for specific projects. I can't imagine he has a full staff sitting around all day shooting dice and surfing the net while he's on tour or living in L.A.

I'm sure the place is paid off, so really, he just has to pay for maintenance, and those few employees until he decides to do something big there.

Prince is moving to NYC to be close to Misty?

irinact said:

Chas said:

Last May,C.J. was on a stakeout there, and found out, well, that they throw stuff away in a dumpster, and vans enter and leave the facility. Imagine that.

Here's the ridiculous video.

Just out of pure speculation, I think he probably has a few staffers there full time, then hires freelancers for specific projects. I can't imagine he has a full staff sitting around all day shooting dice and surfing the net while he's on tour or living in L.A.

I'm sure the place is paid off, so really, he just has to pay for maintenance, and those few employees until he decides to do something big there.

Prince is moving to NYC to be close to Misty?

That CJ video is an absolute joke - an absolute non-story, who the hell sanctioned that in her firm as news??

[Edited 2/13/11 10:47am]

Calleigh Dusquene and Horatio Caine told me in strict confidence that they suspect it's a meth lab and a front for smuggling black ballerinas into the country!

HonestMan13 said:

Calleigh Dusquene and Horatio Caine told me in strict confidence that they suspect it's a meth lab and a front for smuggling black ballerinas into the country!

OMG! U need to quit