Unlike more modern "beatmakers" like Flying Lotus and Madlib, Prince was very fond of robotic preciseness of his programmed drums. He was also stuck to the same linn sounds throughout the 80s.

I'm wondering if any of you know some examples of Prince using some sort of "swing" patterns on his programmed beats. I'm guite sure Last Heart had a quite noticable swing to it, and maybe Darling Nikki, even though it's half live. But I want more examples, and I also want to know if some of the geeks in here know any programmed drum patterns with subtle swing to it.

I know that he was very good at creating the illusion of more dynamic drumming by being creative with effects, as well as timing different hits on positions, making it sound more live and improvised, as well as breathing more life to his arrangements by playing guitar, bass, piano etc... with playful adlibs in the background. Prince was smart when programming very minimalistic drum beats. This gave the rest of the instrumentation the ability to "loosen" up the robotic feel in between the hits.

Do you love the drum programming in the 80s, or is it annoyingly dated sounding? Does it sound good on some of the albums and songs, and but not in every project?

Personally I must admit it's perfect for an album like 1999, as he is using the drum machines as a tool for the cold sound on this album. However I sometimes feel like one of my favourite albums Around The World In A Day would have been better with live drums, as his drum programming was a bit hit or miss at times. I also consider SOTT a better live album than the studio version, even though the vinyl is sounding pretty damn good. Slow Love sounds extremly annoying for any music producer with some experience with sampling and drum programming. It's a much better song with a more organic and live sound to it. The title song however sounds great with its cold and robotic feel.

What's your opinion?

I think you're spot on. On a song like Chocolate, the Linn is perfect, but the way he plays a real set

on Parade is perfect as well. Lately, I hear a lot of music where the bass pedal (programmed) seems

to go on for too many beats. I prefer the simpler sounding drums that hit at just the right moment

over the Michael Bland sound. Don't get me wrong Bland/Blackwell are fun to watch, but I'd rather

Prince or Sheila be on drums.

Nice post and sorry I coudn't add to your swing question.

I very much enjoy his own drum playing, as well as Sheila E, it's very suitable for his sound. Also Bobby Z before he started spending too much time triggering other sounds. The Purple Rain tour was fun, but it wasn't because of the drumming. It served its purpose I guess. But Bobby Z on the Dirty Mind tour and Controversy tour was perfect. Sheila E really proves why she is IT on the Madhouse album.

It would definitly be interresting to hear an entire album with Morris Day or Questlove on drums though.

I kinda feel like I'm going way off topic right now. Thanks for the answer. I'm hoping for more answers on this topic. Prince is was a genuis on the Linn, but I know it's ok to discuss this without starting fights

Questlove is cool.


Imagine him joining the band!!!

Around the World in a Day was a mix of live drums / percussion and electric / linn

Parade was even more live drums

I love the simple patterned drumming of most of the music, don't like a lot of showey drumming except on songs like Tamborine, Darling Nikki, Dance On, Everywhere

The "robotic" sound of Prince's Linn programming is largely due to the Linn's quantizing feature that (by default) automatically corrects human error in timing by moving drum beats that are entered slightly off beat to the nearest 8th, 16th, or 32nd note (depending on which quantizing option is selected).

The Linn's also allow you to turn off the quantizing feature so that drum beats are recorded exactly as they are punched in. The rimshot roll on "Let's Go Crazy" was most likely programmed with the quantizing feature turned off.

Interestingly, the Linns also have a "shuffle" feature built in to give the programmed drum beats a more "human" feel. I'm wondering how many Linn-heavy songs Prince chose to use this feature on now.

PicassoFace said:

I really don't see the Linn beats as Robotic, they were pretty funky, tasty or wild

Extraloveable, the Beautiful Ones, Computer Blue, Let's Go Crazy, Lady Cab Driver and the list goes on

Replica said:

I very much enjoy his own drum playing, as well as Sheila E, it's very suitable for his sound. Also Bobby Z before he started spending too much time triggering other sounds. The Purple Rain tour was fun, but it wasn't because of the drumming. It served its purpose I guess. But Bobby Z on the Dirty Mind tour and Controversy tour was perfect. Sheila E really proves why she is IT on the Madhouse album.

It would definitly be interresting to hear an entire album with Morris Day or Questlove on drums though.

I kinda feel like I'm going way off topic right now. Thanks for the answer. I'm hoping for more answers on this topic. Prince is was a genuis on the Linn, but I know it's ok to discuss this without starting fights

Which one? It's all Prince on the first album.

paulludvig said:

It's mechanical emotion (lol)

OldFriends4Sale said:

Replica said:

I very much enjoy his own drum playing, as well as Sheila E, it's very suitable for his sound. Also Bobby Z before he started spending too much time triggering other sounds. The Purple Rain tour was fun, but it wasn't because of the drumming. It served its purpose I guess. But Bobby Z on the Dirty Mind tour and Controversy tour was perfect. Sheila E really proves why she is IT on the Madhouse album.

It would definitly be interresting to hear an entire album with Morris Day or Questlove on drums though.

I kinda feel like I'm going way off topic right now. Thanks for the answer. I'm hoping for more answers on this topic. Prince is was a genuis on the Linn, but I know it's ok to discuss this without starting fights

listening to the 8.1983 Benefit Show and the 6.7.1984 Birthday shows @ 1st Avenue, the both give 2 good shows of Bobby Z drumming (with a mix of organic drumming, electric & linn)

I know Prince NEEDED some degree timed programming and what not for the PR tour (but when you hear performances outside of the tour including the Award shows, you hear the looseness and let go performances)

Well of course you can hear Questlove on any Roots album, they did some live stuff too, but It would be cool to hear Morris

thebanishedone said:

Prince is better then average drummer but he is the Jimi Hendrix of linn drum.nobody ever touched Prince's ability with the Lm1.a stagnation in his music started with the absence of linn.and no funking way is Prince better without Linn.Prince is Lm1 +oberhaim synths +hohner guitar -that is the foundation of Prince's sound.everythibg else is a variation on the subject

I am totally feeling this comment!

Replica said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I really don't see the Linn beats as Robotic, they were pretty funky, tasty or wild

Extraloveable, the Beautiful Ones, Computer Blue, Let's Go Crazy, Lady Cab Driver and the list goes on

I think the main reason drum programming like lady cab driver doesn't sound robotic is his use of effects, placements of hits, minimalism, and what he did to fill the space in between. He is strict to grid with quantization, but chooses wisely for the effect of each hit. Actually his ability to breath life into these are part of his genius. He could often use some sort of gated reverb with short echoes to thicken the sound, as well as giving a feel of room. Also tuning the drum samples in unusual ways added to the dynamic feel. This is what separated him from other similar artists back then, he knew how to use the drums as an important part of his composition, rather than a modern metronome that just has to be there to make it kick through the speakers.

The drums on "Lady Cab Driver" are a combination of live drumming and the Linn. He did that on some other tracks too (there have been people on this site saying he did that on every track from the period, but that doesn't seem to be the case).

novabrkr said:

funkaholic1972 said:

thebanishedone said:

funkaholic1972 said:

I am totally feeling this comment!

thanx

You know it sounds like we are totally stuck in the eighties, but let's all be realistic for once and confess that it is true! You could even turn it into a mathematic formula, it would look something like this:

(Really Good) Prince = Linn + Oberheim + Hohner + Funky Bass + Ambition

In Jake Brown's book "Prince in the Studio", one of the interviewed engineers says that Prince recorded the Linn on 4 tape tracks, just a basic beat without fills (handclap-kick-snare-mono mix with boss pedal effects). These were the first tracks he started with for a song. Then he recorded the rest of the instruments and vocals. When the song was coming to a finish, Prince would record fill inns on the Linn, punching in on one of the Linn tracks. So he would erase part of the basic beat, recording fills over it. These fills were played by hitting the pads on the drum computer, so without quantitizing.

Before I read this, I always had wondered how Prince got the Linn fills all in the right place and working together with the other instruments....