Hi all. I'm a long time Prince fan and lurker here on the org, but I've only recently joined. I thought it would be a nice idea to start a thread where members who are also musicians, producers, sound designers and so forth can discuss Prince's music from a more technical and aesthetic perspective (whether you're a pro or a hobbyist). How does Prince influence your own work? What studio techniques do you employ that are directly influenced by Prince's music. Are there any specific practices pioneered or perfected by Prince that particularly interest or inspire you? Do you have any insights into Prince's approach to sound design and composition? I wasn’t sure whether this topic would be better suited to the “artists” section, but since it’s directly related to Prince’s music, I decided to post it here.

I realise that this is a broad topic and I apologise if there are existing threads that cover similar ground. I recently searched for the term “Prince's Techniques” and came up with a thread regarding his sloppy on-screen kissing and another urging female members to discuss the art of fellatio!

As for me, I discovered Prince after watching the Sign O’ The Times film in the early 90s (aged 12 or 13). I was dimly aware of James Brown, but it was my first real exposure to funk. The sequence in which he jumps down numerous platforms following “Little Red Corvette” (in heels!) and launches into Housequake marks the precise moment I became a fan… “Hot Thing” and “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night” sealed the deal.

I quickly became a borderline obsessive and over the next 5 or 6 years consumed his entire back catalogue, side projects and any circulating out-takes or live recordings that I could find. Above all, the work that really excited and inspired me was his weird, funky “Camille” tracks, those that employ his ingenious method of pitch manipulation (as well as oddities like "Girl", which still sounds strange and subversive to me). Of course, Parliament-Funkadelic and others had experimented with slowing down, speeding up and reversing recordings before, but Prince took it to a new level of sophistication. It illustrated to me that sound could be plastic and malleable, something that can be manipulated in a limitless number of creative ways. I work with a lot of granular and FFT based techniques now and while the results may seem a long way from Prince’s music, this approach to stretching and reworking recorded sound is rooted in my early admiration of his work, at least in part.

Another technique that I find myself using all the time is directly inspired by “Kiss” (I realise that David Z probably deserves much of the credit for this one). Specifically, gating a bass or synth part to delayed percussive sounds often yields really interesting results, especially when you start modulating the delay’s feedback settings.

As a side note, it might also be interesting to consider how we envisage Prince’s influence being felt going forward. Without wishing to reignite an old debate or stoke any negativity, I’ve always felt that Prince’s sole creative misstep was to turn toward Hip-Hop and mainstream RnB in the 90s. Given his pioneering use of synthesis, drum machines and his experimentalism in the studio, I’ve always felt that he had much more in common with the experimental Electronic scene that emerged at that time. Indeed, hearing Aphex Twin’s “Window Licker” for the first time (the best “funk” track of the 90s?) had a similar effect on me as “Erotic City” did years before :

Are there any interesting artists who are appropriating Prince’s music in new and progressive ways? I was encouraged when I heard that Prince was embracing new artists such as MonoNeon and FKA Twigs (Arca has something of the Dirty Mind era Prince about him) – unfortunately, we’ll never know how they might have influenced his own work in the long run.

As I said, a broad topic, but I’d be interested to hear any thoughts or insights that focus on Prince’s music and studio craft, and how they inspire you or other artists that you know of.

I don't know, but shoutout to "Windowlicker". That track and video RULES, especially the "end roll" version.

smokeverbs said:

I don't know, but shoutout to "Windowlicker". That track and video RULES, especially the "end roll" version.

Yes, Chris Cunningham’s video is great. I love the synth bass part that kicks in at 2:38 in the video above... funky as hell. The “Japanese Demo version" grows on you as well, although it sounds more like it belongs on “Come to Daddy” to me - all that weird vocal pitch shifting.