Prince used great analog keyboards since the day one.

Soft and Wet ,I Wanna Be Your Lover,Dirty Mind ,1999,Little Red Corvette

and so many early songs have great sounding synths .

But after 1985 great synth sound vanished from his sound.

Only digital synths were used since that time.

Is it strange that Prince dont care about the quality of his synth sound?

Mplsound and 20Ten supposed return to his trademark sound all

made with digital rompler keyboards.

Its hard to believe that after playing Oberheim analog synths Prince is

satisfied with digital Motifs and other keyboardsof the month???

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We should have a contest of what is the most original thing can be blamed for, it's like people are really pulling their hair to find stuff to complain about

In the end it is about a good song and a good arrangement, and even in digital synths you can find sounds that are good enough to be usable. But, as a synth user myself, I agree that with analog synths it is easier to create good patches and that they are better sounding (warmer, more sizzling/character). I would always prefer to use a analog synth over a digital one. So as far as credible Minneapolis sounding synth patches I would advise Prince to stick to analog ones too.

thebanishedone said:

Prince used great analog keyboards since the day one.

Soft and Wet ,I Wanna Be Your Lover,Dirty Mind ,1999,Little Red Corvette

and so many early songs have great sounding synths .

But after 1985 great synth sound vanished from his sound.

Only digital synths were used since that time.

Is it strange that Prince dont care about the quality of his synth sound?

Mplsound and 20Ten supposed return to his trademark sound all

made with digital rompler keyboards.

Its hard to believe that after playing Oberheim analog synths Prince is

satisfied with digital Motifs and other keyboardsof the month???

It's a valid point. From what I've read, Prince was always a presets kind of guy, wasn't interested in creating new patches. The presets on an analog keyboard are always going to sound way more funky than those on a digital one. I agree that once Prince started to get into digital synths, things changed slightly for the worse. Lovesexy is still awesome, and a lot of Graffiti Bridge, but it's a slippery slope. And much as I love the Small Club concert, there's a bit too much of Prince just fooling around with nasty digital keyboard presets for my liking.

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There's a wider point that Prince never seemed to be that fussy about the sound of things, he just needed to get his ideas on to tape, and fast. I think that his engineers in the studio had a lot of input into his sound, and you can hear the transition through the years, from Peggy to Susan to Kirky J to Hans... By the time of the Gold Experience, in my opinion the sound of the records had become bland. With the The Rainbow Children, Prince & the engineer woke up. Sounds great. Then they went back to sleep.

It's kinda reminiscent of Stevie Wonder's situation. If you line up his 80's stuff like In Square Circle and Characters against his 70's peak of albums like Music of My Mind and Innervisions, the difference in audio quality is enormous. Leaving aside the standard of the songs, the synths on those 70's albums still sound huge, possibly the greatest example of synthesised music captured on record. When Cecil and Margouleff left, there was a drammatic change in Stevie's sound. The 80s stuff sounds cheap in comparison.

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[Edited 8/14/14 3:39am]

Why do people buy CDs if they can buy LPs?

Same question ... same answer ...

Ymaginatif said:

Why do people buy CDs if they can buy LPs?

Same question ... same answer ...

Yep. Vinyl, like analog synths, are a pain in the ass to deal with and in most cases not worth the hassle. They can be very unreliable and make lots of noises they're not supposed to make.

I prefer analog synths, but just like vinyl I cannot afford to deal with all the bullshit that comes with maintaining the optimal listening environment.

Digital audio has come a long way and the pros have finally outstripped the cons when it comes to listening to digital music. The same cannot quite be said for digital synths, though there are some that are getting so close that most of the analog snobs wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

I don't think this thread is less of a complaint; more of an observation. Prince's use of Oberheim and Prophet synthesisers was (pardon the pun) revolutionary. Synths, along with the Linn drum machines, played a huge part in defining his sound during his 80s peak. Like the example of Stevie Wonder, the change in synth sound between one decade and another is quite obvious. It's not about being nitpicky, its merely questioning whether Prince's movement away from analog synths had a postive or negative effect on his sound. One possible explanation for this change is that perhaps he found them too unwieldy and inconsistent in comparison to the more easily controllable and programmable digital instruments.

Pop acts follow trends. When analog was the new hot sound the industry all went analog. Once digital became popular they all went digital. The artists, Prince included, might have been told directly by their labels to make that switch. It's risky business for an act to deliver a record too different from what's common on radio at the time. Analog synths, as much as we can appreciate them looking back, for a time, left the impression with audiences that the record was dated.

Askani said:

Complaining about the quality of the type of synths a musician uses strikes me as petty nitpickicky bullshit by someone who has lost the ability to just enjoy (or not enjoy) music on its own terms, rather than viewing at some sort of academic exercise. People over-think and over-analyze this stuff way too much.

Complaining about the quality of the synths is very related to the sound of the records.

Analog synths bring a lot of character to the music.

thebanishedone said:

Askani said:

thebanishedone said:

Complaining about the quality of the synths is very related to the sound of the records.

Analog synths bring a lot of character to the music.

He needs to polish up a few of his other record-making skills before he worries about what brand of synth he's going to play on them.

You think having a certain kind of gear wouldnt spark some inspiration?

thebanishedone said:

I do like the old synths but if he had stuck to analog all along he would have been accused of not evolving and of always using the same tired synths. You'd see threads about why that's the whole reason he can't have a hit.

thebanishedone said:

Askani said:

thebanishedone said:

You think having a certain kind of gear wouldnt spark some inspiration?

Look at the songs he writes lately. They need some work well before synth selection becomes an issue.

If he used analog fender rhodes or some other electric piano Breakdown song would sound much better.

That is one example.

20Ten and Mpls sound would sound 10 times better with analog synths.

The Rainbow Children album features Fender Rhodes

and Hammond b3

and it sounds killer,im sure that album would not be that good without analog keys.

Great song is what matters the most

For example Princess Say Im Your Number One have

only digital

synths but its still a great song,but i must admit im more fond to analog sounds in music.

And i have analog and digital synths so i know how much cooler

feeling is when you play analog synths.It does lit up inspiration and imagination.