I dunno, cause I am kinda getting tired of this organic sound. So I popped in the shit from the 80's and I started to wonder, is prince better recording beats off a machine or using drummers?

Tired of the organic sound?

Prince is better off getting his tiny ass behind a drum kit himself. He's no Blackwell but his sloppy chops were funky ass hell. I've got no beef with the Linn Drums as long as he uses it the way God intended. If he needs a reference, he should go back and listen to Nasty Girl and 777-9311.

chickengrease said:

that was a Linn drum on 777 9311?

I was at Bunkers last night, and was quickly reminded of the talent of Michael Bland. The strikes he lays onto each skin in his drum set, hits me in the chest.

I prefer drummers. I do not like consistantly sounding drums...(for lack of a better description)

Wolf said:

u didn't kn--


oh laaawd...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

and you call me a young whippasnappa

it doesn't sound like a Linn drum on that song.

Prince's best drumming:

Lady Cab Driver
Irresistible Bitch
Madhouse - One
Sexual Suicide
Baby
Tamborine
Love or Money
Play in the Sunshine

Wolf said:

It is. I've got a cousin who replicated the beat lick for lick with the LM-1

Does Blackwell have the ability to lay beats down on a machine?

I would like to hear the man back behind the machines, and also recording live drums and doing some freak nasty shit with em.


I mean, like what does Everywhere sound like on the machine?
[This message was edited Tue Feb 18 15:59:01 PST 2003 by XLBubba]

chickengrease said:

'Lady Cab Driver' contains an acoustic SNARE drum only. The kick, hat, and claps are the LM-1.

'Play in the Sunshine' is a trigger kit augmented by the Linn.

and yes, 777-9311 is the LM-1.

-SWANGlovesthesethreads

SWANG said:

I was aware of Lady Cab...it's still some of his best funk.

But 'Play in the Sunshine'? You sure? The ending sure sounds like an authentic kit.

I think certain songs he feels sound better for live drummers and others for drum machines. For his current stuff, a machine wouldn't cut it. Personally, I'd rather see Sheila play live rather than stare at a LinnDrum all night.

chickengrease said:

shuddup, i know i'm old...

Prince has long used both live and programmed beats.he alo mixes live drums with drum machines(Lady Cab Driver,Play in the Sunshine,for example)I believe he also has done what I do sometimes and play the drum machine "live".By that I men,you don't program a beat ,but you play it during recording as a live instrument.

Beat machines on studiorecordings are cool, Live i love the see and hear a real drummer.

I like beat machines - like the ACCU-JACK for instance. Great response time on that one.

I Think He is One of the Baddest Programmers Ever&A Pretty Good to Good Drummer depending on the Song&project.however The Drummers He has Gotten with Bland&Blackwell have Added alot of Depth to His Stuff IMHO.

live drums!

what a difference all live instruments would have made on a song like "When Will We B Paid"...with that guitar really at the fore & kickin ass like on the HNR tour.

Michael B,Sheila E,Johnny B...have brought so much 2 P's music.

'real music by real musicians' is what we need in this day.




kick drum & edit ON THE ONE!
[This message was edited Tue Feb 18 23:24:31 PST 2003 by Joshy84au]

chickengrease said:

Yes! I love his Linn Drum programming, especially on Nasty Girl, which is one of the funkiest joints he has ever produced. Catchy, ultrafunky and playful, I wish he would do a complete album with nasty funkgrooves like these!

Joshy84u said "Michael B,Sheila E,Johnny B...have brought so much 2 P's music.

'real music by real musicians' is what we need in this day."



And yet, 90% of my all-time favourite Prince tunes are solo efforts!! Your comment implies that anything Prince did with a drum-machine was not "real music". Its amazing to me just how many non-musicians regard anything electronic as "cheating" in some way. Look, everything is just a tool for getting the sound you want. What is really sad and un-inventive, is when people take a tune, speed it up or just sample the main riff, and then add a rap!!! But people using an electronic instrument creatively, well, it's the same as playing an acoustic guitar creatively.

For a while in the early 90s, I was absolutely starved for a real drum sound. EVERYONE, it seemed was reliant on drum machines, and the music sounded inhuman, overproduced and hollow.

Still, I admit to being a Linn junkie, and when used with some intelligent balance with organic drums, the diversity of sound is awesome.

I love it all. Prince is the Beatmaster!

I'm a definite live drum man, but given the right circumstances electronic is good.

See "Sign 'O' The Times'.

Yet when it comes to something fairly straight-forward, it's always better to go for the live drummer anyway. I mean, there's no point using a drum machine for a straight 4/4 where nothing much happens. Might as well have the benefit of the better live drum sounds.

For example, anything like "Friend, Lover...etc." and so much of the 90s stuff.

I like electronic drums when they're used interestingly.

And live drums for everything else, especially the current stuff.

How could u ever paint the complex, subtle colours with a drum machine?

Little cheeky splashes anyone?