"People have assumed that because these records were successful that we took the same degree and care with the technique as we did with the art and that’s completely false. I mean, technically, sonically these records aren’t great. [...] Our records sounded alright, their form served the function, but what was great about it and what people were buying was not the sonic qualities. P

[...]

“Purple Rain” was a core song on the album Purple Rain, and of course “Sign O’ The Times” was one of the fundamental songs for that album. So when we would sequence a record sometimes we’d take our core songs and a few other tracks and we would sequence them together just to hear how the album was going to sound. If there was something missing, if there needed to be a song that would transition between two of the core or the more important songs, Prince would actually write something specifically to serve in the sequence. So in that sense there were the most important songs and then there were the album cuts–the things that were almost interludes on the record. So the songs were never intended to be singles or even have any important messag.[..] That’s what “Play In The Sunshine” was; it was just a bridge to get us out of “Sign O’ The Times” and into the rest of the record. “Slow Love” was another one of those…that was an old one from the vault."

Why does she use words like "we", "our" and "us" as much as she does? You almost get the feeling that she thinks she was an important partner in the creative process. Together with her selective memory and nonsensical statements, she comes across as a pretty unreliable source.

novabrkr said:

What she tells in that interview doesn't make much sense. It's possible that she just simply remembers things wrong.

I don't quite understand how "Slow Love" could be an "old one from the vault" either. Sure, he might have written the song earlier and there might have existed a demo of some sort, but the recording on SOTT has Atlanta Bliss and Eric leeds on horns and a Clare Fischer string arrangement on it. He had not worked with those people for very long at that point. The recording on SOTT suggests that either it got a lot of overdubs added to it or it was re-recorded altogether. The way she tells about these things seems often quite misleading to me, I have to say.

Bottom line: She was there. You weren't. Get over it.

paulludvig said:

"People have assumed that because these records were successful that we took the same degree and care with the technique as we did with the art and that’s completely false. I mean, technically, sonically these records aren’t great. [...] Our records sounded alright, their form served the function, but what was great about it and what people were buying was not the sonic qualities. P

[...]

“Purple Rain” was a core song on the album Purple Rain, and of course “Sign O’ The Times” was one of the fundamental songs for that album. So when we would sequence a record sometimes we’d take our core songs and a few other tracks and we would sequence them together just to hear how the album was going to sound. If there was something missing, if there needed to be a song that would transition between two of the core or the more important songs, Prince would actually write something specifically to serve in the sequence. So in that sense there were the most important songs and then there were the album cuts–the things that were almost interludes on the record. So the songs were never intended to be singles or even have any important messag.[..] That’s what “Play In The Sunshine” was; it was just a bridge to get us out of “Sign O’ The Times” and into the rest of the record. “Slow Love” was another one of those…that was an old one from the vault."

Why does she use words like "we", "our" and "us" as much as she does? You almost get the feeling that she thinks she was an important partner in the creative process. Together with her selective memory and nonsensical statements, she comes across as a pretty unreliable source.

How much time have you spent in a recording studio collaborating to create albums? Your statement shows your lack of knowledge about the subject you speak of.

There is more stuff from the bowels of the org on this such as:

http://prince.org/msg/7/188754?pr

http://prince.org/msg/7/359712

NuPwrSoul said:

NuPwrSoul said:

TheFreakerFantastic said:

paulludvig said:

"People have assumed that because these records were successful that we took the same degree and care with the technique as we did with the art and that’s completely false. I mean, technically, sonically these records aren’t great. [...] Our records sounded alright, their form served the function, but what was great about it and what people were buying was not the sonic qualities. P

[...]

“Purple Rain” was a core song on the album Purple Rain, and of course “Sign O’ The Times” was one of the fundamental songs for that album. So when we would sequence a record sometimes we’d take our core songs and a few other tracks and we would sequence them together just to hear how the album was going to sound. If there was something missing, if there needed to be a song that would transition between two of the core or the more important songs, Prince would actually write something specifically to serve in the sequence. So in that sense there were the most important songs and then there were the album cuts–the things that were almost interludes on the record. So the songs were never intended to be singles or even have any important messag.[..] That’s what “Play In The Sunshine” was; it was just a bridge to get us out of “Sign O’ The Times” and into the rest of the record. “Slow Love” was another one of those…that was an old one from the vault."

Why does she use words like "we", "our" and "us" as much as she does? You almost get the feeling that she thinks she was an important partner in the creative process. Together with her selective memory and nonsensical statements, she comes across as a pretty unreliable source.

Because she was just as much of the process as Prince and the band,

I mean Prince begged her to stay with him (Blue Tuesday)

Susan was a part of some of the most intimate and productive times in Prince's career

She was a part of helping to put the albums together, So we is correct

She is probably the only person to hear Wally or other songs. She was the person who had to destroy the song Wally 4 Prince

BobGeorge909 said:

Marrk said:

if she's telling the truth, for 'Slow Love' it's probably the latter. 'Beautiful Night' certainly was an entirely different beast to what really went down 'live' in Paris. That originally was pretty much an instrumental with a few chants and not much else.

I like this thread. Something interesting for a change.

Studio process stories of the past r usually intriguing to me as well.

I agree, I love the background stories of the music

I love her recount of the creation of Power Fantastic at Prince's newly created studio

novabrkr said:

What she tells in that interview doesn't make much sense. It's possible that she just simply remembers things wrong.

I don't quite understand how "Slow Love" could be an "old one from the vault" either. Sure, he might have written the song earlier and there might have existed a demo of some sort, but the recording on SOTT has Atlanta Bliss and Eric leeds on horns and a Clare Fischer string arrangement on it. He had not worked with those people for very long at that point. The recording on SOTT suggests that either it got a lot of overdubs added to it or it was re-recorded altogether. The way she tells about these things seems often quite misleading to me, I have to say.

Uhhhh New Position (finished in 1986 begun in 1981) Strange Relationships (finished in 1986 begun in 1982 and we get an ok look at the progression, knowing he started it in 1982, Hearing it being fleshed out with the band in Billy's Sunglasses, Wendy & Lisa pulling that song out for completion for the Dream Factory project, Prince changing it for SOTT

Clipping isn't an art.

In the analog realm you can have interesting tape compression though.

This thread reminds me of the scene from The Beatles Anthology when George Martin puts on the album Abbey Road and George Harrison asks what album it is. Sometimes the people who were at the center of everything aren't the best source of information.

OldFriends4Sale said:

electricberet said:

This thread reminds me of the scene from The Beatles Anthology when George Martin puts on the album Abbey Road and George Harrison asks what album it is. Sometimes the people who were at the center of everything aren't the best source of information.

Indeed... I think as Prince's confidence grew in the studio, he increasingly disaggregated the tasks that he delegated to engineers and the like, piecing them out so only he had a sense of the whole that he wanted.

TheEnglishGent said:

NuPwrSoul said:

So please stop obsessing, posting soundwave analyses, etc.

well I was the one posting sound waves and one of a few complaining about shitty quality. Now we seem to be getting lossless wave with far less clipping as standard. You're welcome. I shan't comment further because you clearly aren't aware of what you're talking about!

Good lord no need to be dck about it... I'm happy to learn about this stuff... it's not my forte (as you so snidely pointed out). Keep posting!

My point as I've stated already is that it seems at one time Prince's main objective was getting his artistic ideas recorded. Makes sense when he apparently had soooo many whirling around in his mind. It's like writers who walk around with notepads because at any moment an idea will strike and they don't care what medium it is they just need to record it. They're concerned with the ideas. And let other folks be concerned with the quality of paper it's printed on...

With his latest approach to getting music out it's clear that Prince's priority is just that--get it recorded and get it out. Reportedlty That Girl Thang was written & recorded in one day (two Sundays ago) and posted shortly thereafter. I'm sure it's not a technically perfect recording, but that doesn't seem to be Prince's priority at the moment.

BobGeorge909 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I agree, I love the background stories of the music

I love her recount of the creation of Power Fantastic at Prince's newly created studio

Somehow...after u hear a story...u can hear it in the song...like the piano, horns, and vocals all in different rooms....I swear I can hear it. I know I can't........but I just know I can too. I can feel the sweat in the recording van when I listen to Purple Rain....feel the cold in the wherehouse when I hear Let's Go Crazy. ...u know...

Yes! space is so important to some of Prince's best music. Knowing the circumstances of these recordings help make sense of the sounds and vice versa. Even before I knew of its spatial context, I always heard Power Fantastic as a very spacious song. A lot of breathing room.

PoorLonelyComputer said:

novabrkr said:

What she tells in that interview doesn't make much sense. It's possible that she just simply remembers things wrong.

I don't quite understand how "Slow Love" could be an "old one from the vault" either. Sure, he might have written the song earlier and there might have existed a demo of some sort, but the recording on SOTT has Atlanta Bliss and Eric leeds on horns and a Clare Fischer string arrangement on it. He had not worked with those people for very long at that point. The recording on SOTT suggests that either it got a lot of overdubs added to it or it was re-recorded altogether. The way she tells about these things seems often quite misleading to me, I have to say.

Bottom line: She was there. You weren't. Get over it.

Your comment is rude, unnecessary and misses the point.

I have not mentioned anything that you couldn't yourself check out from the liner notes of the album or tell by using your own ears.

I called her word choices in this case misleading because if you're going to say "old one from the vault" that suggests it really was an old recording Prince simply just put on the album.

[Edited 2/26/13 1:02am]

Does anyone know when this interview was done? In one particular part, the terminology so mirrors a recent discussion here on the Org that I wonder if Susan Rogers is a member. I searched the Web but could find no reference to the date of the interview. Many sites are posting it today. So can I assume it's brand new?

[Edited 2/25/13 23:11pm]

OldFriends4Sale said:

novabrkr said:

What she tells in that interview doesn't make much sense. It's possible that she just simply remembers things wrong.

I don't quite understand how "Slow Love" could be an "old one from the vault" either. Sure, he might have written the song earlier and there might have existed a demo of some sort, but the recording on SOTT has Atlanta Bliss and Eric leeds on horns and a Clare Fischer string arrangement on it. He had not worked with those people for very long at that point. The recording on SOTT suggests that either it got a lot of overdubs added to it or it was re-recorded altogether. The way she tells about these things seems often quite misleading to me, I have to say.

Uhhhh New Position (finished in 1986 begun in 1981) Strange Relationships (finished in 1986 begun in 1982 and we get an ok look at the progression, knowing he started it in 1982, Hearing it being fleshed out with the band in Billy's Sunglasses, Wendy & Lisa pulling that song out for completion for the Dream Factory project, Prince changing it for SOTT

Yes, I'm completely aware that some songs take a long time to develop.

I've pointed out myself that "Slow Love" must be a more recent recording of the song, regardless of the existence of any earlier versions. I didn't want her word choices to make some orgers think the song on SOTT was done years ago and just added to the album.

NuPwrSoul said:

TheEnglishGent said:

NuPwrSoul said: well I was the one posting sound waves and one of a few complaining about shitty quality. Now we seem to be getting lossless wave with far less clipping as standard. You're welcome. I shan't comment further because you clearly aren't aware of what you're talking about!

Good lord no need to be dck about it... I'm happy to learn about this stuff... it's not my forte (as you so snidely pointed out). Keep posting!

My point as I've stated already is that it seems at one time Prince's main objective was getting his artistic ideas recorded. Makes sense when he apparently had soooo many whirling around in his mind. It's like writers who walk around with notepads because at any moment an idea will strike and they don't care what medium it is they just need to record it. They're concerned with the ideas. And let other folks be concerned with the quality of paper it's printed on...

With his latest approach to getting music out it's clear that Prince's priority is just that--get it recorded and get it out. Reportedlty That Girl Thang was written & recorded in one day (two Sundays ago) and posted shortly thereafter. I'm sure it's not a technically perfect recording, but that doesn't seem to be Prince's priority at the moment.

What some orgers have been complaining about is the overall level of the files he's distributing.

They're too loud, so they're clipping. The recordings themselves most likely have sounded just okay when he's finished working with them in the studio, but the problem lies in the mastering stage of those songs (if calling what's been done to those songs "mastering" isn't an overstatement on its own right). In most cases problems like these could have been avoided very easily and it's not really something that would have taken more than a few seconds to correct by using different settings.

In other words, the recordings themselves most likely sounded a lot better in the studio, but they've been made worse during the last stage of the process. That isn't comparable to Prince's vocals ending up sounding distorted on "If I Was Your Girlfriend" due to s mistake during the tracking process. My guess is that Prince just wanted "Screwdriver" in particular to be "louder" than usual and it's just pushed to those levels without caring about the clipping. It doesn't sound terribly nice to me either, so I can understand the complaints.

djThunderfunk said:

paulludvig said:

Why does she use words like "we", "our" and "us" as much as she does? You almost get the feeling that she thinks she was an important partner in the creative process. Together with her selective memory and nonsensical statements, she comes across as a pretty unreliable source.

How much time have you spent in a recording studio collaborating to create albums? Your statement shows your lack of knowledge about the subject you speak of.

Well, ok. But I think she tries to create the impression that she was more important than she really was. I'm amazed that people here on the org don't realize that one has to be critical when assessing the accuracy of historical information. People don't have perfect memory, and they are not objective witnesses.

Anyway - I think this quote from the same interview is telling: Prince asked me what I thought [about If I was your Gilfriend]–and that’s not something that he normally did–

NuPwrSoul said:

So please stop obsessing, posting soundwave analyses, etc.

NuPwrSoul said:

Keep posting!

I'm confused

paulludvig said:

djThunderfunk said:

How much time have you spent in a recording studio collaborating to create albums? Your statement shows your lack of knowledge about the subject you speak of.

Well, ok. But I think she tries to create the impression that she was more important than she really was. I'm amazed that people here on the org don't realize that one has to be critical when assessing the accuracy of historical information. People don't have perfect memory, and they are not objective witnesses.

Anyway - I think this quote from the same interview is telling: Prince asked me what I thought [about If I was your Gilfriend]–and that’s not something that he normally did–

What I always find amusing here at the org is that when Prince says something it's bullshit but when an assosciate says something it's 100% always the gospel truth. Now I'm not neccessarily saying she's wrong about this but I do always find it amusing.

Its "interesting" that since the surge of mass market high end headphones has taken place, people are now all of a sudden pro sound engineers!

Its only recently have I heard ANYONE on here or anywhere else moaning about clipping, loss, eq blah blah blah. I'd wager the majority of peope dont know fuck all about what should and shouldnt sound nice. In the 80's and 90's you were happy if it was clear and loud now all of a sudden you're all bloody audiophiles.

Is anyone actually listening to Prince on a nice audio system or some proper headphones and has been doing so for more than 6 months ago when you bought some Beats headphones for your iphone?

Anyway stop being gay and just enjoy the music.

*awaits obvious comebacks from the use of the word gay*

[Edited 2/26/13 2:32am]

honer said:

Its "interesting" that since the surge of mass market high end headphones has taken place, people are now all of a sudden pro sound engineers!

Its only recently have I heard ANYONE on here or anywhere else moaning about clipping, loss, eq blah blah blah. I'd wager the majority of peope dont know fuck all about what should and shouldnt sound nice. In the 80's and 90's you were happy if it was clear and loud now all of a sudden you're all bloody audiophiles.

Is anyone actually listening to Prince on a nice audio system or some proper headphones and has been doing so for more than 6 months ago when you bought some Beats headphones for your iphone?

High end gear has been around far longer then Dr Dre. And at 43 I'm pretty sure that beats headphones aren't the look I'm going for!

But for what it's worth, I can hear the problems on my stock iPhone headphones .

electricberet said:

paulludvig said:

djThunderfunk said:

How much time have you spent in a recording studio collaborating to create albums? Your statement shows your lack of knowledge about the subject you speak of.

Well, ok. But I think she tries to create the impression that she was more important than she really was. I'm amazed that people here on the org don't realize that one has to be critical when assessing the accuracy of historical information. People don't have perfect memory, and they are not objective witnesses.

Anyway - I think this quote from the same interview is telling: Prince asked me what I thought [about If I was your Gilfriend]–and that’s not something that he normally did–

I don't think she has ever tried to make herself more important than she is.

And I don't think she has every said anything to put down Prince's music or Prince, nothing to make him look bad.

And I find that women can recall stuff from 20-30 years ago accurately and easily

What you had on, what was playing in the background, what was being worn, the color time of day, how the person was standing etc

BobGeorge909 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I agree, I love the background stories of the music

I love her recount of the creation of Power Fantastic at Prince's newly created studio

Somehow...after u hear a story...u can hear it in the song...like the piano, horns, and vocals all in different rooms....I swear I can hear it. I know I can't........but I just know I can too. I can feel the sweat in the recording van when I listen to Purple Rain....feel the cold in the wherehouse when I hear Let's Go Crazy. ...u know...

Yes, I know what you mean

That's why I have no problem listening to some older outtakes that the quality isn't so good, because it kinda puts me in a time frame, I can smell a basement studio or a 1970's studio,

You can smell the beer people are drinking at the impromptu 1stAvenue shows,

electricberet said:

This thread reminds me of the scene from The Beatles Anthology when George Martin puts on the album Abbey Road and George Harrison asks what album it is. Sometimes the people who were at the center of everything aren't the best source of information.

That would be Prince as well then...

But they are all better than all of us who weren't there