Ok, So I was just listening to the Future off Batman, and at around 2 min the funky guitar comes in which is obviously him playing, but then theres an arpeggio that sounds really broken and sounds like its played on keys, but its clearly the same sound. I don't know whether anyone else has pointed this out but yeah I was like how on earth did he do that haha it could be a sweep but it sounds too disjointed + I've never seen prince do a sweep (if you have let me know id love to see it).

Can anyone elese hear that? Hope its not just me but i thought it was really cool if he did indeed sample the sound of his own guitar, because I can't really recall another artist who has done that before or since.

[Edited 6/16/17 17:40pm]

[Edited 6/16/17 17:44pm]

I think (I could be wrong) it is a similar thing to what he did in Erotic City where he recorded his guitar with the song sped down and so when it is sped up the guitar is higher pitched and has this unnaturally modified "thin" sound to it. So my theory is that arpeggio is something that sounds a lot more natural played normally and when sped up it has a very non-guitar like sound to it.

ForceofNature said:

I think (I could be wrong) it is a similar thing to what he did in Erotic City where he recorded his guitar with the song sped down and so when it is sped up the guitar is higher pitched and has this unnaturally modified "thin" sound to it. So my theory is that arpeggio is something that sounds a lot more natural played normally and when sped up it has a very non-guitar like sound to it.

interesting, I always wondered how he did that in that song, that could be it. Its weird that for the rest of the future it seems like its normal guitar but it happens again at 3:18, and it definately doesnt sound natural for the instrument. Classic genius stuff haha

I've always wondered the same thing about that bit.

dacca said:

Ok, So I was just listening to the Future off Batman, and at around 2 min the funky guitar comes in which is obviously him playing, but then theres an arpeggio that sounds really broken and sounds like its played on keys, but its clearly the same sound. I don't know whether anyone else has pointed this out but yeah I was like how on earth did he do that haha it could be a sweep but it sounds too disjointed + I've never seen prince do a sweep (if you have let me know id love to see it).

Can anyone elese hear that? Hope its not just me but i thought it was really cool if he did indeed sample the sound of his own guitar, because I can't really recall another artist who has done that before or since.

[Edited 6/16/17 17:40pm]

[Edited 6/16/17 17:44pm]

Judging from the audio, the 2nd half of the 1st bar (and 2nd, for that matter) of the guitar riff is sampled and played through a keyboard and played in the 4th bar.

[Edited 6/16/17 20:46pm]

TrcikyChristopher said:

dacca said:

Ok, So I was just listening to the Future off Batman, and at around 2 min the funky guitar comes in which is obviously him playing, but then theres an arpeggio that sounds really broken and sounds like its played on keys, but its clearly the same sound. I don't know whether anyone else has pointed this out but yeah I was like how on earth did he do that haha it could be a sweep but it sounds too disjointed + I've never seen prince do a sweep (if you have let me know id love to see it).

Can anyone elese hear that? Hope its not just me but i thought it was really cool if he did indeed sample the sound of his own guitar, because I can't really recall another artist who has done that before or since.

[Edited 6/16/17 17:40pm]

[Edited 6/16/17 17:44pm]

Judging from the audio, the 2nd half of the 1st bar (and 2nd, for that matter) of the guitar riff is sampled and played through a keyboard and played in the 4th bar.

[Edited 6/16/17 20:46pm]

Nice.

Laydown said:

TrcikyChristopher said:

Judging from the audio, the 2nd half of the 1st bar (and 2nd, for that matter) of the guitar riff is sampled and played through a keyboard and played in the 4th bar.

[Edited 6/16/17 20:46pm]

Nice.

Princes use of guitars and keyboards in the 80s is amazing. lady cab driver,he has a solo and the solo switches from guitar solo to keyboard solo back to guitar solo,its seemless and executed with precision.

ForceofNature said:

luv2tha99s said:

ForceofNature said:

I think (I could be wrong) it is a similar thing to what he did in Erotic City where he recorded his guitar with the song sped down and so when it is sped up the guitar is higher pitched and has this unnaturally modified "thin" sound to it. So my theory is that arpeggio is something that sounds a lot more natural played normally and when sped up it has a very non-guitar like sound to it.

Seems like he did this for When Doves Cry as well.

Yes, the guitar intro and keyboard breakdown.

Amazing track! Everything about it is fascinating. The percolating percussion alone is so deliciously Prince.

TrcikyChristopher said:

dacca said:

Ok, So I was just listening to the Future off Batman, and at around 2 min the funky guitar comes in which is obviously him playing, but then theres an arpeggio that sounds really broken and sounds like its played on keys, but its clearly the same sound. I don't know whether anyone else has pointed this out but yeah I was like how on earth did he do that haha it could be a sweep but it sounds too disjointed + I've never seen prince do a sweep (if you have let me know id love to see it).

Can anyone elese hear that? Hope its not just me but i thought it was really cool if he did indeed sample the sound of his own guitar, because I can't really recall another artist who has done that before or since.

[Edited 6/16/17 17:40pm]

[Edited 6/16/17 17:44pm]

Judging from the audio, the 2nd half of the 1st bar (and 2nd, for that matter) of the guitar riff is sampled and played through a keyboard and played in the 4th bar.

[Edited 6/16/17 20:46pm]

I thought so! Thats so insane, Ive never heard other people doing that

There's a section in that book 'Prince In The Studio' by Jake Brown (dreadfully written but some interesting stuff buried in there) where an engineer during the Lovesexy period introduced Prince to sampling and MIDI capabilities, showing him how he could record a guitar line and then play in back on the keyboard in any way he could think of. Apparently a big light went on in Prince's head and he did that trick a lot from there on in.

.

The funky guitar 'arpeggio' on The Future is exactly that, his own guitar sampled and then fooled around with on the keyboard. I adore that track but not too fond of that sampling technique which can get a bit tacky.

.

fishwillbite said:

There's a section in that book 'Prince In The Studio' by Jake Brown (dreadfully written but some interesting stuff buried in there) where an engineer during the Lovesexy period introduced Prince to sampling and MIDI capabilities, showing him how he could record a guitar line and then play in back on the keyboard in any way he could think of. Apparently a big light went on in Prince's head and he did that trick a lot from there on in.

.

The funky guitar 'arpeggio' on The Future is exactly that, his own guitar sampled and then fooled around with on the keyboard. I adore that track but not too fond of that sampling technique which can get a bit tacky.

.

Agreed. I like The Future, I think Prince utilized the sound well there. However, in general it's a production trap that almost always sounds horrible - total amateur hour - playing a sample on keys in a way that does not mimic the real instrument properties, and instead reveals that it's a sample.

.

The most common offender you hear is a sax or trumpet sample.

.

In general the sampling techniques on the Batman album trod this line of tasteful sampling, and sometimes stepped over it a little - but in Prince's hands I find that the whole works in an eccentric way. The strength of all the other musical elements saves the few times the sampling is so in your face.

[Edited 6/19/17 7:58am]

thx185 said:

fishwillbite said:

There's a section in that book 'Prince In The Studio' by Jake Brown (dreadfully written but some interesting stuff buried in there) where an engineer during the Lovesexy period introduced Prince to sampling and MIDI capabilities, showing him how he could record a guitar line and then play in back on the keyboard in any way he could think of. Apparently a big light went on in Prince's head and he did that trick a lot from there on in.

.

The funky guitar 'arpeggio' on The Future is exactly that, his own guitar sampled and then fooled around with on the keyboard. I adore that track but not too fond of that sampling technique which can get a bit tacky.

.

Agreed. I like The Future, I think Prince utilized the sound well there. However, in general it's a production trap that almost always sounds horrible - total amateur hour - playing a sample on keys in a way that does not mimic the real instrument properties, and instead reveals that it's a sample.

.

The most common offender you hear is a sax or trumpet sample.

.

In general the sampling techniques on the Batman album trod this line of tasteful sampling, and sometimes stepped over it a little - but in Prince's hands I find that the whole works in an eccentric way. The strength of all the other musical elements saves the few times the sampling is so in your face.

[Edited 6/19/17 7:58am]

.

Agreed!

fishwillbite said:

There's a section in that book 'Prince In The Studio' by Jake Brown (dreadfully written but some interesting stuff buried in there) where an engineer during the Lovesexy period introduced Prince to sampling and MIDI capabilities, showing him how he could record a guitar line and then play in back on the keyboard in any way he could think of. Apparently a big light went on in Prince's head and he did that trick a lot from there on in.

.

The funky guitar 'arpeggio' on The Future is exactly that, his own guitar sampled and then fooled around with on the keyboard. I adore that track but not too fond of that sampling technique which can get a bit tacky.

.

thats so cool!