It´s all synth, the Linn and a guitar through a pitch shifter/harmonizer. The bass line is probably a moog (I guess George Clinton said that). The "zips" are toms of the Linn LM1 send through a flanger or phaser. The whistle also comes from a synth, I´d assume he used his Oberheims but you can get this kind of sound out of almost every synth. The "breath sound" before the snare is reversed reverb.
It´s all synth, the Linn and a guitar through a pitch shifter/harmonizer. The bass line is probably a moog (I guess George Clinton said that). The "zips" are toms of the Linn LM1 send through a flanger or phaser. The whistle also comes from a synth, I´d assume he used his Oberheims but you can get this kind of sound out of almost every synth. The "breath sound" before the snare is reversed reverb.
I thought I read somewhere (can't find where) that the high pitched chicken scratch guitar sound (eg here / "Hello") was actually played in a lower key and then the tape sped up?
It´s all synth, the Linn and a guitar through a pitch shifter/harmonizer. The bass line is probably a moog (I guess George Clinton said that). The "zips" are toms of the Linn LM1 send through a flanger or phaser. The whistle also comes from a synth, I´d assume he used his Oberheims but you can get this kind of sound out of almost every synth. The "breath sound" before the snare is reversed reverb.
I thought I read somewhere (can't find where) that the high pitched chicken scratch guitar sound (eg here / "Hello") was actually played in a lower key and then the tape sped up?
Yes, I've always assumed that he used the same technique on his guitar that he used for the Camille vocals (recording at different speeds). On a recent podcast, Susan said that he also used realtime pitch-shifting hardware (I forget the name of the unit). As others have said, there's lots of creative synth work going on. It's such an interesting track from a musical and technical perspective. In terms of studio wizardry and exploring modern hardware in interesting ways, I've always felt that it foreshadowed the experimental electronica that emerged from the UK in the 90s (Warp Records etc). Such a great track.
Anyone familiar with synths will know this, but you can achieve those kind of deep, percussive zap sounds using an analogue synth with a high filter resonance and a short envelop modulating the cut-off.
I thought I read somewhere (can't find where) that the high pitched chicken scratch guitar sound (eg here / "Hello") was actually played in a lower key and then the tape sped up?
Yes, I've always assumed that he used the same technique on his guitar that he used for the Camille vocals (recording at different speeds). On a recent podcast, Susan said that he also used realtime pitch-shifting hardware (I forget the name of the unit). As others have said, there's lots of creative synth work going on. It's such an interesting track from a musical and technical perspective. In terms of studio wizardry and exploring modern hardware in interesting ways, I've always felt that it foreshadowed the experimental electronica that emerged from the UK in the 90s (Warp Records etc). Such a great track.
I'm pretty off topic here, but I played the beginning of "Crystal Ball" for a graduate music class May 2016 and asked them what they had heard. A composition student thought it sounded like the French electronic composers associated with UParis and IRCAM. And experiemental scenes outside and inside academia certainly knew (know) what each other are doing - even if they sometimes don't like to acknowledge each other.
Anyway, all that to comment on P's versatility and mastery in all that exploration .... I'll get back to my red wine, now.
Oberheim Ob-xa or OB-8 Linn LM-1 Drum Machine Perhaps a moog for the bassline Boss Flange pedal Honer Telecaster Various guitar and vocal parts are recorded with tape slowed down or sped up.
It´s all synth, the Linn and a guitar through a pitch shifter/harmonizer. The bass line is probably a moog (I guess George Clinton said that). The "zips" are toms of the Linn LM1 send through a flanger or phaser. The whistle also comes from a synth, I´d assume he used his Oberheims but you can get this kind of sound out of almost every synth. The "breath sound" before the snare is reversed reverb.
I thought I read somewhere (can't find where) that the high pitched chicken scratch guitar sound (eg here / "Hello") was actually played in a lower key and then the tape sped up?
That´s possible, but I don´t think he used this technique for guitar since there were effect units doing the job (Eventide H910 and alike). He used octavers since 1999, live and in studio. Also the "metallic" sound of the guitar in EC sounds like artifacts coming from such a unit. That´s why he didn´t use it for vocals and adapted the old tape technique for that.
I thought I read somewhere (can't find where) that the high pitched chicken scratch guitar sound (eg here / "Hello") was actually played in a lower key and then the tape sped up?
That´s possible, but I don´t think he used this technique for guitar since there were effect units doing the job (Eventide H910 and alike). He used octavers since 1999, live and in studio. Also the "metallic" sound of the guitar in EC sounds like artifacts coming from such a unit. That´s why he didn´t use it for vocals and adapted the old tape technique for that.
The guitar is not an eventide or any other outboard effect. He merely recorded the guitar parts with the tape slowed down. The Boss octave pedal you are referring to wouldn't make that sound. The opening solo on When Doves Cry has the octave effect, for example.
I thought I read somewhere (can't find where) that the high pitched chicken scratch guitar sound (eg here / "Hello") was actually played in a lower key and then the tape sped up?
Yes, I've always assumed that he used the same technique on his guitar that he used for the Camille vocals (recording at different speeds). On a recent podcast, Susan said that he also used realtime pitch-shifting hardware (I forget the name of the unit). As others have said, there's lots of creative synth work going on. It's such an interesting track from a musical and technical perspective. In terms of studio wizardry and exploring modern hardware in interesting ways, I've always felt that it foreshadowed the experimental electronica that emerged from the UK in the 90s (Warp Records etc). Such a great track.
I'm pretty off topic here, but I played the beginning of "Crystal Ball" for a graduate music class May 2016 and asked them what they had heard. A composition student thought it sounded like the French electronic composers associated with UParis and IRCAM. And experiemental scenes outside and inside academia certainly knew (know) what each other are doing - even if they sometimes don't like to acknowledge each other.
Anyway, all that to comment on P's versatility and mastery in all that exploration .... I'll get back to my red wine, now.
Very cool. I'm sure we would all love to hear about your academic Prince explorations in detail.
Yes, I've always assumed that he used the same technique on his guitar that he used for the Camille vocals (recording at different speeds). On a recent podcast, Susan said that he also used realtime pitch-shifting hardware (I forget the name of the unit). As others have said, there's lots of creative synth work going on. It's such an interesting track from a musical and technical perspective. In terms of studio wizardry and exploring modern hardware in interesting ways, I've always felt that it foreshadowed the experimental electronica that emerged from the UK in the 90s (Warp Records etc). Such a great track.
I'm pretty off topic here, but I played the beginning of "Crystal Ball" for a graduate music class May 2016 and asked them what they had heard. A composition student thought it sounded like the French electronic composers associated with UParis and IRCAM. And experiemental scenes outside and inside academia certainly knew (know) what each other are doing - even if they sometimes don't like to acknowledge each other.
Anyway, all that to comment on P's versatility and mastery in all that exploration .... I'll get back to my red wine, now.
I practice in this area (working with Max/MSP, since you mention IRCAM). As my first musical love, it was Prince's work that gave me my initial taste of experimental music. It didn't take long to establish a musical education from my interest in Prince and associated artists. For example: Prince > Miles Davis > Karlheinz Stockhausen > Luciano Berio. Music always has this rhizomatic quality, but the broad references in Prince's work are particularly rich.
Why do none of the official EC versions of the synth vamp at the end that you can hear in rehearsal versions and on Sheila's version on Romance 1600 Live? That part is so funky!
That´s possible, but I don´t think he used this technique for guitar since there were effect units doing the job (Eventide H910 and alike). He used octavers since 1999, live and in studio. Also the "metallic" sound of the guitar in EC sounds like artifacts coming from such a unit. That´s why he didn´t use it for vocals and adapted the old tape technique for that.
The guitar is not an eventide or any other outboard effect. He merely recorded the guitar parts with the tape slowed down. The Boss octave pedal you are referring to wouldn't make that sound. The opening solo on When Doves Cry has the octave effect, for example.
I know, it wasn´t even polyphonic. It just showed he used HW units for this kind of stuff.
Do you have a source that he used slower tape with guitar? To me it´d seem like an useless effort.
The guitar is not an eventide or any other outboard effect. He merely recorded the guitar parts with the tape slowed down. The Boss octave pedal you are referring to wouldn't make that sound. The opening solo on When Doves Cry has the octave effect, for example.
I know, it wasn´t even polyphonic. It just showed he used HW units for this kind of stuff.
Do you have a source that he used slower tape with guitar? To me it´d seem like an useless effort.
Assuming that these units implement Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), this technique represents an estimation and re-synthesis of the signal and doesn't perfectly preserve all of the spectral content of the original. This changes the tone and timbre of the sound slightly (smearing etc), so there are definitely benefits to doing it the hard way. With something like guitar, where tone and percussive accuracy would be important to Prince, I can see why he'd opt for the tape method. Listening to stuff like “Hello”, the guitar doesn't sound digitally manipulated to me, but I might be wrong.
I know, it wasn´t even polyphonic. It just showed he used HW units for this kind of stuff.
Do you have a source that he used slower tape with guitar? To me it´d seem like an useless effort.
Assuming that these units implement Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), this technique represents an estimation and re-synthesis of the signal and doesn't perfectly preserve all of the spectral content of the original. This changes the tone and timbre of the sound slightly (smearing etc), so there are definitely benefits to doing it the hard way. With something like guitar, where tone and percussive accuracy would be important to Prince, I can see why he'd opt for the tape method. Listening to stuff like “Hello”, the guitar doesn't sound digitally manipulated to me, but I might be wrong.
You are not wrong. My source is my ears, and I guess my 30 years of recording experience. You can tell jusy by listening that his vibrato is sped up. I've also replicated the sound myself by recording guitar with the tape slowed down, and I've put various Prince songs in my DAW and listened to them slowed down so I abould hear the parts' original recording.
Actually. Susan Rogers talked about changing the tape speed to record parts in an interview recently, too.
Assuming that these units implement Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), this technique represents an estimation and re-synthesis of the signal and doesn't perfectly preserve all of the spectral content of the original. This changes the tone and timbre of the sound slightly (smearing etc), so there are definitely benefits to doing it the hard way. With something like guitar, where tone and percussive accuracy would be important to Prince, I can see why he'd opt for the tape method. Listening to stuff like “Hello”, the guitar doesn't sound digitally manipulated to me, but I might be wrong.
You are not wrong. My source is my ears, and I guess my 30 years of recording experience. You can tell jusy by listening that his vibrato is sped up. I've also replicated the sound myself by recording guitar with the tape slowed down, and I've put various Prince songs in my DAW and listened to them slowed down so I abould hear the parts' original recording.
Actually. Susan Rogers talked about changing the tape speed to record parts in an interview recently, too.
+1
I've put various Camille songs into Reaper as well and the most of them were recorded two semitones slower. There's a big difference when slowing down the tape vs using some kind of pitch shifter.
Assuming that these units implement Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), this technique represents an estimation and re-synthesis of the signal and doesn't perfectly preserve all of the spectral content of the original. This changes the tone and timbre of the sound slightly (smearing etc), so there are definitely benefits to doing it the hard way. With something like guitar, where tone and percussive accuracy would be important to Prince, I can see why he'd opt for the tape method. Listening to stuff like “Hello”, the guitar doesn't sound digitally manipulated to me, but I might be wrong.
You are not wrong. My source is my ears, and I guess my 30 years of recording experience. You can tell jusy by listening that his vibrato is sped up. I've also replicated the sound myself by recording guitar with the tape slowed down, and I've put various Prince songs in my DAW and listened to them slowed down so I abould hear the parts' original recording.
Actually. Susan Rogers talked about changing the tape speed to record parts in an interview recently, too.
Yes, but to be fair she has also named specific pitch-shifting hardware that he used on occasion (probably an Eventide), which is likely to be the reason for the confusion. It's just a matter of determining where he used each method. As I said, the guitars on EC and Hello just sound too clean to me to have been processed by real-time hardware. In my experience, latency is always an issue with FFT processing as well (even with today's processing power), which would be a problem considering how tight Prince's playing is. Here are a couple of video demos of the old harmonizers – cool effects, but not all that tight or pristine sounding:
You are not wrong. My source is my ears, and I guess my 30 years of recording experience. You can tell jusy by listening that his vibrato is sped up. I've also replicated the sound myself by recording guitar with the tape slowed down, and I've put various Prince songs in my DAW and listened to them slowed down so I abould hear the parts' original recording.
Actually. Susan Rogers talked about changing the tape speed to record parts in an interview recently, too.
Yes, but to be fair she has also named specific pitch-shifting hardware that he used on occasion (probably an Eventide), which is likely to be the reason for the confusion. It's just a matter of determining where he used each method. As I said, the guitars on EC and Hello just sound too clean to me to have been processed by real-time hardware. In my experience, latency is always an issue with FFT processing as well (even with today's processing power), which would be a problem considering how tight Prince's playing is. Here are a couple of video demos of the old harmonizers – cool effects, but not all that tight or pristine sounding:
I think he actually used the LinnDrum on this one, rather than the LM-1, but I could be wrong. They could've been used together. The tone of the claps and snare aren't the same between the two machines.
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