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When did prince's vocal delivery change? Circa 1983? So to take our minds off the Pr remaster, I had a question to put to you all that I haven't seen discussed on the peg When did Prince's vocal singing style change exactly? It seems to me that he primarily (exclusively?) sang in a fairly weak falsetto (don't attack me) for his early albums up until Purple Rain. Am I right on this? When did he first record a song in the lower register? I always felt that there was a point where Prince went from being a great singer for his style of music to being an amazing singer generally circa 1983. Is there any info about this change? | |
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Yes there is a calibre of information available on this change. We have discussed this numerous times over the years and the general concensus is that the change occured on the 9th August 1983. I'm feeling a bit fammy™ | |
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Dilan said: Yes there is a calibre of information available on this change. We have discussed this numerous times over the years and the general concensus is that the change occured on the 9th August 1983. | |
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Most people mark the change at about Controversy, which was his first single sang almost entirely in lower register. | |
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The 1999 album was the first one were his lower register really came to the forefront. His chest voice can still be heard on For You, Prince, Dirty Mind, Controvery on certain songs, lines and backing vocals. I got two sides... and they're both friends. | |
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What was his first song that saw him actually stretch out though? Controversy is that sort of 'talking singing' which I don't really think counts. | |
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Controversy is the start of the Prince 'sound'. . | |
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If you have a problem with me, text me. If you don't have my number, you don't know me well enough to have a problem with me. | |
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So much for friendly discussion. Next time someone posts a quesiton on the board, you should shoot them down for being such a Prince noob that they even have a question. All TRUE prince fans don't have any questions becayse they know everything. Or it sounds like you don't actually know either, and are taking your bad mood out on the internet.
So anyway...
Dirty Mind in my opinion doesn't have any songs in his low register - Do It All Night has double tracked vocals where he is trying out singing a whole song lower but doesn't the confidence to let it stand alone.
Controversy ditto - only Ronnie Talk to Russia seems to be a song based in his lower register, but again it is double tracked with gospel singers. Annie Christian is all in the lower register, but it's sort of talking and not really singing as such.
So maybe it was on 1999 the album then.
Seems later than I would have thought for Prince to start singing in a more powerful voice after 5 albums.
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If you have a problem with me, text me. If you don't have my number, you don't know me well enough to have a problem with me. | |
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You can believe you were being friendly and back-track if you like but it was a snide comment.
This is a forum for Prince fans to dicuss Prince. If you don't have anything but negative comments then simply don't post and walk away. Do you point out on the street everytime someone does something you don't like? Probably not becuase you don't have your e-warrior shield to keep you safe.
Enjoy your pedestal.
[Edited 4/28/17 12:16pm] | |
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Don´t know if this is the kind of info you´re looking for but as far as I know Prince had vocal training/coaching/singing lessons right before Purple Rain came out. I think it helped him protect his vocal chords and improved his singing style, too. There´s also an early interview where he mentioned that singing in his lower register is difficult and even a bit painful for him but that was during a very early stage in his career.
" I´d rather be a stank ass hoe because I´m not stupid. Oh my goodness! I got more drugs! I´m always funny dude...I´m hilarious! Are we gonna smoke?" | |
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Thanks, yeah that's the kind of info I was after. It seems such an obvious change in way, but I've never really heard people mention it before.
It seemed almost like a concious decision by Prince, that he tried it out on a few tracks but buried it in the mix. It basically changed his whole sound.
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You´re welcome. We had a few threads about this topic and I think some orgers even found out the name of his vocal coach but it´s been a long time, maybe more than ten years, so I don´t really remember the details. " I´d rather be a stank ass hoe because I´m not stupid. Oh my goodness! I got more drugs! I´m always funny dude...I´m hilarious! Are we gonna smoke?" | |
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http://prince.org/msg/7/402373
See if the thread above can give you the info you want. It mentions a vocal coach named Seth Riggs and that he got his vocal training around 1981 but I think that´s way too early. Other threads suggested 1983. " I´d rather be a stank ass hoe because I´m not stupid. Oh my goodness! I got more drugs! I´m always funny dude...I´m hilarious! Are we gonna smoke?" | |
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We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves. | |
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Thanks KoolEaze - good to read those comments. . Genesia - I imagine one attractive aspect for Prince in singing in falsetto, is that it is hiding the sound of your natural voice more. I imagine being shy, this was probably an easier path to go down, and if you're lacking power behind your voice then people don't expect falsetto to have much power, so it's easier to carry it off. Plus you're right it cuts above the music more. | |
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If you listen to some of his early live performances, he actually talks in his head voice - which is really interesting. It's almost like he's singing his between-songs banter. We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves. | |
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. woah that sounds crazy. id like to hear some of that. Makes me think he's deffinitely using it as a sheild of some sort | |
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I don't hear any drastic change, just a slight change from each album. For me, his vocals were at their peak around Emancipation - where he still had the balls and power, and 15-20yrs worth of honed technical skill. I think there is a notable shift from Musicology onward, where he seemed to have lost some of the power he used to have (not to say he still couldn't belt it out in amazing fashion, just not with the same sustain as he used to have). Toejam @ Peach & Black Podcast: http://peachandblack.podbean.com
Toejam's band "Cheap Fakes": http://cheapfakes.com.au, http://www.facebook.com/cheapfakes Toejam the solo artist: http://www.youtube.com/scottbignell | |
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Prince has said himself that he didn't like singing in his lower register because it hurt him. I just don't think his lower register was developed yet and he just woodshedded while it did develop. He worked hard on it and when he felt it was ready, he used it on 1999. Before that, there are only a few times where he sang in his lower register, he felt it lacked power. Prince obviously improved his voice the same way he did just about everything, a mixture of talent, passion and hardwork. There were still certain registers where prince never had a lot of "power" but he developed some amazing screams and shrieks, i'd say some of the best on wax, rivalling any hardrocker or Little Richard himself. | |
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The vocal delivery changed somewhere between Controversy and 1999, so somewhere in 1981 or 1982. Prince's vocals on For You, Dirty Mind, and Controversy are primarily in the higher register of his voice. Starting with 1999, he uses the lower register of his voice much more frequently, thereby displaying much more of his full vocal range. [Edited 4/30/17 16:39pm] Live 4 Love ~ Love is God, God is love, Girls and boys love God above | |
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What about the "Tell me that luh me girl" part of Soft N Wet? "Climb in my fur." | |
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True, but that's the one baritone line in the entire song. The rest of the song he's singing soprano or falsetto. (And I love Soft N Wet, by the way). [Edited 5/2/17 4:13am] Live 4 Love ~ Love is God, God is love, Girls and boys love God above | |
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If you have a problem with me, text me. If you don't have my number, you don't know me well enough to have a problem with me. | |
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