I have no opinion on wether or not he improved, but maybe the drumming on glass cutter stands out because the rest of the track is so shit?

He plays Guitar and Piano all the time, so I wouldn't expect him to improve much on the drums

I didn't say he doesn't play, I said he mostly plays Piano & Guitar so I would expect those instruments to be the most improved. The Drum not as much. What shows/concerts etc do you see Prince playing drums even 20% of the time

Prince's drum playing/ and programming was extraordinary cool in the 80s:


Maybe: Neil Tennant was right about Prince, (it's a view shared by many, fans and non-fans, afaik).

Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant discusses If I Was Your Girlfriend in NME

^ source: http://prince.org/msg/5001/73493

Imo, Neil Tennant is a great pop musician, so many great songs, and "Very" is a fantastic album.

thedance said:

If I Was Your Girlfriend is a drum machine.

he realized he wasnt that good and Morris Day could still wax him on the skins

kidmelody2012 said:

I could not agree more the drum machine comment as well as horns. I really missed P using the weird errie key sounds against the quirky drum programs

thebanishedone said:

kidmelody2012 said:

he realized he wasnt that good and Morris Day could still wax him on the skins

So Kid you dont think Princes drumming on his first three albums is right on point in the pocket nice drumming

yes it is but i know 6th graders who can play anything from 1st 3 albums

thebanishedone said:

I dont doubt those kids can play but i doubt they cando it with impeccible timing like Prince.his early drumming was simple but very precise in the pocket and recognisable.

it was quantinized

kidmelody2012 said:

thebanishedone said:

I dont doubt those kids can play but i doubt they cando it with impeccible timing like Prince.his early drumming was simple but very precise in the pocket and recognisable.

it was quantinized

Really? in 1978 1980 time frame? i dont think Prince is Billy Cobham but his drumming is really good.

thebanishedone said:

kidmelody2012 said:

it was quantinized

Really? in 1978 1980 time frame? i dont think Prince is Billy Cobham but his drumming is really good.

i agree for someone so short

There's the story that when he recored lovesexy, he recored the drum track for the whole first side first, in one take, and that's what's on the released album. While drums aren't his best instrument, that's still pretty impressive. Impressive he could play all of that at once without edits, and impressive he already knew enough about how the songs would sound to make that work.

his ability to bang skin is one of his best

alandail said:

Kidmelody please get urself another avatar,


the one now is so disturbing, annoying.

The key reason Prince sounds good on most of the basic instruments is his ability to hear each instrumental part in song. He is a composer, and he "writes" each part to fit the song structure from a better overview than many artists that just performs one or two instruments, and he has been composing his own tunes since he was a kid. He is like a "football coach" that is also playing with the team, not just controlling them. The ability to "underplay" or "overplay", finding the right balance between less and more. Prince has alot of knowledge about both. His strength is his ability to make less sound interesting, but with the ability to keep up with the "more" type musicians, with technical brilliance and fast playing on instruments like the guitar.

However personally as I have been listening to albums like Dirty Mind for years now, my own skills on instruments, and my listening abilities has matured, I can more easily hear that Prince has a little bit rought and sloppy playing here and there. But it still sounds funky as hell with the that punk rock attitude mixed in with the rnb/funk. Many drummers could have played technically better, but his style suits the album well. However the question is if he is better now. I'd say probably tighter, but not neccesarily faster. However it's easier to nudge sounds afterwards in the studio nowadays, to give us the impression of robotic preciscion.

His greatest skill as a drummer was his writing/composing abilities, and combining a minimalistic drum pattern in an effective way with cool effects that manipulate the drums and its role as a composing tool in a songs. The drums alone is often enough in a Prince tune to explain to us which song he is playing. They're almost always built around the drums. So if Prince is not one of the greatest drummers, he atleast is one of the greatest composers of drums I've ever heard. Timbaland, Neptunes... so many has copied parts of his style, and made it their own creating music history.

It does not matter whether he improved or not while the setlists remain as they are.

I'd rather see a daring setlist without improved whatever than this same stuff.

IMO Prince' drum skills are good but it's hard to know how good as he hardly ever drums live and if then only for a few bars.

If he doesn't play the drums every day then he will not have been able to improve over the years.

The drum beats that underpin Prince's music are stock standard beats from rock, blues, funk etc.

John Blackwell was the drummer who added the most complex rhythms and fills to Prince's music.

thebanishedone said:

kidmelody2012 said:

it was quantinized

Really? in 1978 1980 time frame? i dont think Prince is Billy Cobham but his drumming is really good.

Quantizing? Back in the late 70's? That would have taken a LOT of cut & splice back then. Would have lost the effect that way. Am I right, thebanishedone?

Replica said:

The key reason Prince sounds good on most of the basic instruments is his ability to hear each instrumental part in song. He is a composer, and he "writes" each part to fit the song structure from a better overview than many artists that just performs one or two instruments, and he has been composing his own tunes since he was a kid. He is like a "football coach" that is also playing with the team, not just controlling them. The ability to "underplay" or "overplay", finding the right balance between less and more. Prince has alot of knowledge about both. His strength is his ability to make less sound interesting, but with the ability to keep up with the "more" type musicians, with technical brilliance and fast playing on instruments like the guitar.

However personally as I have been listening to albums like Dirty Mind for years now, my own skills on instruments, and my listening abilities has matured, I can more easily hear that Prince has a little bit rought and sloppy playing here and there. But it still sounds funky as hell with the that punk rock attitude mixed in with the rnb/funk. Many drummers could have played technically better, but his style suits the album well. However the question is if he is better now. I'd say probably tighter, but not neccesarily faster. However it's easier to nudge sounds afterwards in the studio nowadays, to give us the impression of robotic preciscion.

His greatest skill as a drummer was his writing/composing abilities, and combining a minimalistic drum pattern in an effective way with cool effects that manipulate the drums and its role as a composing tool in a songs. The drums alone is often enough in a Prince tune to explain to us which song he is playing. They're almost always built around the drums. So if Prince is not one of the greatest drummers, he atleast is one of the greatest composers of drums I've ever heard. Timbaland, Neptunes... so many has copied parts of his style, and made it their own creating music history.

Replica, I agree with your first 2 sentences. I wish that I had the talent or capability that Prince does. Maybe even half! There are songs that I have in my head where I can hear different kinds of instruments and wish that I can put it down on paper or even play on either piano or guitar. I do well to play something simple by ear. Otherwise I just read and play. I really didn't have much ear-training while attending some music classes in college.

Prince is equally good on every instrument....Stop hating!!!

rubymoon53 said: