PeteSilas said:

NorthC said:

PeteSilas said:

also, i have to state, that in my own life, many of the white people i've known are hypersensitive relative to how I am. they seem to get hurt by things I didn't intend or even know would hurt them, they get offended by things I didn't mean to offend by, in fact, it's a factor in why I try to stay away from them, it makes it really difficult to have any kind of relationship when you're walking on eggshells like that. is it entitlement? some kind of repression? I don't really know but I can't play freud for them, i just avoid as much as i can. I had a music teacher who i told point blank that the only reason i was taking his classes was so i could use the practice rooms, and when i got real busy with work and i came to see him a few weeks later he called me rude, inconsiderate, all kinds of shit. Just crazy. If i acted like that for everytime things didn't go how I think they should go they'd put me in a padded room.

I'm as white as it gets and if I was your music teacher and you said that to me, I'd be fine with it. But over here in Holland, we're used to people being blunt and outspoken. So it's also a cultural thing.

I'm white too, and from the US, but I was raised that you don't speak to your Teachers/authority figures that way - sorry Pete Can be a cultural thing, or it's probably more based upon how you are raised.

NorthC said:

PeteSilas said:

also, i have to state, that in my own life, many of the white people i've known are hypersensitive relative to how I am. they seem to get hurt by things I didn't intend or even know would hurt them, they get offended by things I didn't mean to offend by, in fact, it's a factor in why I try to stay away from them, it makes it really difficult to have any kind of relationship when you're walking on eggshells like that. is it entitlement? some kind of repression? I don't really know but I can't play freud for them, i just avoid as much as i can. I had a music teacher who i told point blank that the only reason i was taking his classes was so i could use the practice rooms, and when i got real busy with work and i came to see him a few weeks later he called me rude, inconsiderate, all kinds of shit. Just crazy. If i acted like that for everytime things didn't go how I think they should go they'd put me in a padded room.

I'm as white as it gets and if I was your music teacher and you said that to me, I'd be fine with it. But over here in Holland, we're used to people being blunt and outspoken. So it's also a cultural thing.

ya, i know that people from other places aren't like that, in fact, i think russians are rude and crude, lots of it is cultural.

violetcrush said:

NorthC said:

PeteSilas said: I'm as white as it gets and if I was your music teacher and you said that to me, I'd be fine with it. But over here in Holland, we're used to people being blunt and outspoken. So it's also a cultural thing.

I'm white too, and from the US, but I was raised that you don't speak to your Teachers/authority figures that way - sorry Pete Can be a cultural thing, or it's probably more based upon how you are raised.

i've never been a smartass with my teachers like the kids i see today, i was just being honest, and i wasn't a kid, i was 30, so i felt i had to explain why i was taking his class, i didn't want to be harassed by security and i wanted to practice, that was it. made sense to me, not only that, i felt that since i paid him in full, he had nothing to complain about. but.., one thing i've learned, and i've seen it with just about everyone, there is always something that people aren't happy about, just human nature, you could give them the sun and they'd want the stars too. I've had to become mercenary in my life because i can't get close to the complications of relationships that everyone else has to cope with. I'm just a broke musician, i can't worry about people's little feelings. I know they ain't worried about mine.

Prince Memory #9: Shall we Dance…?

I was setting up Studio A for my session with Prince and listening to some CDs I had brought in: Debussy’s “Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune” and Stravinsky’s “The Firebird”… When Prince arrived I shut them off and we began our session.

I had gotten tired of squinting to see the SSL computer monitor mounted in the front wall of the control room, so I had my eyes examined by my Dad, and he made me a pair of glasses to correct a slight nearsightedness, This session was the first time I had worn them to the studio. Prince couldn’t resist teasing me aobut them… “Are those real glasses?” (he should talk, never one to shy away from exploring a new look, he sometimes wore empty glasses frames to the studio..!).. At my sister’s recommendation I had also recently purchased a pair of Birkenstock shoes, (I just wanted my feet to be as happy as possible!) and Prince was always cracking jokes at me about those, too.. his friend Anna Garcia was visiting the studio and when she came into Studio A, Prince asked her if she liked my shoes, totally unaware of the ribbing I'd received, she said “Oh, yes, those are Birkenstocks, they are really nice..”, to which Prince replied “Oh, yeah, I have a pair of those.. but mine are RED..!!!”

Too funny…

We were working on a new track and had already laid down the Linn LM-1 Drum Machine, a Bass part from the EIII sampler library, and a few other things… he was working on the lyrics a bit, scribbling away in his notebook, and I noticed that he kept looking at me and trying to surpress a grin… man of a million mysteries.. he laid down a few vocal parts and a few harmonies..… Then he asked me about the CDs I had, I told him what they were, early 20th century music, and he asked if we could listen to them.. He particularly liked the main flute theme of the Debussy and the pizzicato / xylophone motif in the Stravinsky, so into the Publison (sampler) they went… I triggered the Stravinsky off the Kick (ala Batdance) and he played the Debussy manually from the D-50 which we had used as a MIDI controller for the Publison.

After we finished the mix he tossed his notebook onto the console in front of me, so I could finally see what he had been grinning about….ha..!!

PeteSilas said:

violetcrush said:

I'm white too, and from the US, but I was raised that you don't speak to your Teachers/authority figures that way - sorry Pete Can be a cultural thing, or it's probably more based upon how you are raised.

i've never been a smartass with my teachers like the kids i see today, i was just being honest, and i wasn't a kid, i was 30, so i felt i had to explain why i was taking his class, i didn't want to be harassed by security and i wanted to practice, that was it. made sense to me, not only that, i felt that since i paid him in full, he had nothing to complain about. but.., one thing i've learned, and i've seen it with just about everyone, there is always something that people aren't happy about, just human nature, you could give them the sun and they'd want the stars too. I've had to become mercenary in my life because i can't get close to the complications of relationships that everyone else has to cope with. I'm just a broke musician, i can't worry about people's little feelings. I know they ain't worried about mine.

Oh, I thought you were college age in that scenario. Not that terrible as a 30 yr old...

purplerabbithole said:

Chuck Zwicky

November 7, 2016 · New York, NY ·

Prince Memory #9: Shall we Dance…?

I was setting up Studio A for my session with Prince and listening to some CDs I had brought in: Debussy’s “Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune” and Stravinsky’s “The Firebird”… When Prince arrived I shut them off and we began our session.

I had gotten tired of squinting to see the SSL computer monitor mounted in the front wall of the control room, so I had my eyes examined by my Dad, and he made me a pair of glasses to correct a slight nearsightedness, This session was the first time I had worn them to the studio. Prince couldn’t resist teasing me aobut them… “Are those real glasses?” (he should talk, never one to shy away from exploring a new look, he sometimes wore empty glasses frames to the studio..!).. At my sister’s recommendation I had also recently purchased a pair of Birkenstock shoes, (I just wanted my feet to be as happy as possible!) and Prince was always cracking jokes at me about those, too.. his friend Anna Garcia was visiting the studio and when she came into Studio A, Prince asked her if she liked my shoes, totally unaware of the ribbing I'd received, she said “Oh, yes, those are Birkenstocks, they are really nice..”, to which Prince replied “Oh, yeah, I have a pair of those.. but mine are RED..!!!”

Too funny…

We were working on a new track and had already laid down the Linn LM-1 Drum Machine, a Bass part from the EIII sampler library, and a few other things… he was working on the lyrics a bit, scribbling away in his notebook, and I noticed that he kept looking at me and trying to surpress a grin… man of a million mysteries.. he laid down a few vocal parts and a few harmonies..… Then he asked me about the CDs I had, I told him what they were, early 20th century music, and he asked if we could listen to them.. He particularly liked the main flute theme of the Debussy and the pizzicato / xylophone motif in the Stravinsky, so into the Publison (sampler) they went… I triggered the Stravinsky off the Kick (ala Batdance) and he played the Debussy manually from the D-50 which we had used as a MIDI controller for the Publison.

After we finished the mix he tossed his notebook onto the console in front of me, so I could finally see what he had been grinning about….ha..!!

Very cute story. Reminds me of the backward scarf story too - he was teasing one of his dancers or someone in his camp for wearing the backward scarf, telling him he looked like Harriet Tubman. Then, the next time he saw Prince he was wearing the backward scarf w/ the Typhoon hairdo. The guy said, wait I thought you said that looks like Harriet? And Prince said, yeah, but I make it look good

*

Here's the full lyrics for "Shall We Dance"...amazing he wrote that in just a few minutes sitting with his notebook...

*

She was standing by the bar
One eye on the lookout 4 a star
The other eye was sleeping
Too much 2 drink
Should I try 2 rap?
I think so

i had no choice
I said, "Have u ever ridden in a Rolls Royce?"
"Of course" she said
"But mine has Gucci gold hubcaps."

chorus:
Oooh trip
You're Really neat
Maybe U and me
We can dance 2 the beat
Maybe U and me
We can feel eachothers heat
Tel me baby
Shall we dance?

She moves like Barishnakoff
So much style and grace
A sight 2 c
Got this cherry, got this body
By candlelight
By candlelight

She was all I ever wanted
U know thats right
I wish I might
Can I be the star you're
Looking 4?
Youre lookin 4

Chorus

I imagine Chanel No. 5
And baby oil
Baby oil
She was the kinda person that I
Would love 2 spoil
Love 2 spoil

Dont take my love 4 granted
Can u feel a chance?
Can u feel a chance?
Shall I quit now?
Or shall we dance?
Shall we dance?

“He always had a mic on a boom stand over the console for vocals. He’d grab that mic — with the console and the tape machine remote in front of him — and cut all the vocals from the engineer’s chair. Every vocal you’ve ever heard on every Prince record was cut sitting in a chair at the console. It was just part of his workflow. All that dynamic range and all that focus — How many vocalists run back and forth between the studio and control room to readjust something? It just drains the attention of the artist. He’d say: ‘I’m cutting vocals. You can leave.’ In a half hour, he’d call me back and he’d have cut the backing vocals and all the verses were done. He was just very efficient. When you have the vocal mic multied across many tracks, he could pop into any track at any point, at a vocal line here or there, he had it all mapped out in his head.”

—Chuck Zwicky, Paisley Park Engineer (1987 through 1989)

Engineer Joe Blaney on working with Prince. From an unpublished Tape Op interview.

"His method of recording was different from anything I’d been doing up to that time. One thing is he liked to start and finish a song, whether it took
a few hours or a couple of days! There were a few that we went back and worked on that were mixed later. The first thing I did, after that trial mix, was “Dead on It” for The Black Album. We were starting to record songs for the Lovesexy record. There were basically two ways of recording; one was in the control room of Studio A, which had this huge,
live recording room and stone drum booth. There’s nobody like Prince. He’s so talented and can play so many instruments. The vision for what he’s doing… there’s no one I’ve even heard of who’s quite like Prince. We got along fine. He’s actually mild-mannered and nicer than some people might think. Some of his public personas, to some degree, he puts on for people. He was demanding in the sense that he didn’t come from the traditions of recording that you would learn in New York or Los Angeles. His whole thing is homespun. We had this big room with a multi-channel SSL board and all this equipment around. But it was almost still being approached like a home studio. He would operate with a locator and punch in and out on things. If he accidentally erased something it didn’t bother him – he’d fix it or do it again or he’d change the arrangement to make it work. He was really clever. It was always an evolving work. He could operate everything to a degree. The only thing awkward about that was the transition to the SSL. The console in his house had been an API; I think that was more suited for him. The SSL 4000 consoles take a while to get used to make them sound good. It’s not like a traditional console, it’s almost like you have to re-synthesize the music using the compressors and gates. All the little tricks! It was interesting. He wanted a new engineer to get his sound more like other records he was hearing on the radio. At the same time he didn’t want to relinquish turning the knobs and mixing too. We had a relationship where sometimes he would sit there mixing and I would make suggestions. He’d ask my opinion and I’d be the technical expert for guidance."

He gave the song to Mark Brown apparently. i am going to copy that Harriet Tubman story into the thread I started about Prince's lighter side...I assume you don't mind..

violetcrush said:

purplerabbithole said:

Chuck Zwicky

Very cute story. Reminds me of the backward scarf story too - he was teasing one of his dancers or someone in his camp for wearing the backward scarf, telling him he looked like Harriet Tubman. Then, the next time he saw Prince he was wearing the backward scarf w/ the Typhoon hairdo. The guy said, wait I thought you said that looks like Harriet? And Prince said, yeah, but I make it look good

*

Here's the full lyrics for "Shall We Dance"...amazing he wrote that in just a few minutes sitting with his notebook...

*

She was standing by the bar
One eye on the lookout 4 a star
The other eye was sleeping
Too much 2 drink
Should I try 2 rap?
I think so

i had no choice
I said, "Have u ever ridden in a Rolls Royce?"
"Of course" she said
"But mine has Gucci gold hubcaps."

chorus:
Oooh trip
You're Really neat
Maybe U and me
We can dance 2 the beat
Maybe U and me
We can feel eachothers heat
Tel me baby
Shall we dance?

She moves like Barishnakoff
So much style and grace
A sight 2 c
Got this cherry, got this body
By candlelight
By candlelight

She was all I ever wanted
U know thats right
I wish I might
Can I be the star you're
Looking 4?
Youre lookin 4

Chorus

I imagine Chanel No. 5
And baby oil
Baby oil
She was the kinda person that I
Would love 2 spoil
Love 2 spoil

Dont take my love 4 granted
Can u feel a chance?
Can u feel a chance?
Shall I quit now?
Or shall we dance?
Shall we dance?

[Edited 5/24/18 17:09pm]

These "so when did you stop beating your wife" posts ...smh

purplerabbithole said:

He gave the song to Mark Brown apparently. i am going to copy that Harriet Tubman story into the thread I started about Prince's lighter side...I assume you don't mind..

violetcrush said:

Very cute story. Reminds me of the backward scarf story too - he was teasing one of his dancers or someone in his camp for wearing the backward scarf, telling him he looked like Harriet Tubman. Then, the next time he saw Prince he was wearing the backward scarf w/ the Typhoon hairdo. The guy said, wait I thought you said that looks like Harriet? And Prince said, yeah, but I make it look good

*

Here's the full lyrics for "Shall We Dance"...amazing he wrote that in just a few minutes sitting with his notebook...

*

She was standing by the bar
One eye on the lookout 4 a star
The other eye was sleeping
Too much 2 drink
Should I try 2 rap?
I think so

i had no choice
I said, "Have u ever ridden in a Rolls Royce?"
"Of course" she said
"But mine has Gucci gold hubcaps."

chorus:
Oooh trip
You're Really neat
Maybe U and me
We can dance 2 the beat
Maybe U and me
We can feel eachothers heat
Tel me baby
Shall we dance?

She moves like Barishnakoff
So much style and grace
A sight 2 c
Got this cherry, got this body
By candlelight
By candlelight

She was all I ever wanted
U know thats right
I wish I might
Can I be the star you're
Looking 4?
Youre lookin 4

Chorus

I imagine Chanel No. 5
And baby oil
Baby oil
She was the kinda person that I
Would love 2 spoil
Love 2 spoil

Dont take my love 4 granted
Can u feel a chance?
Can u feel a chance?
Shall I quit now?
Or shall we dance?
Shall we dance?

[Edited 5/24/18 17:09pm]

No, of course not! That story was in the book "Prince Chapter And Verse - A Life In Photographs" By Mobeen Azhar. I went back to look at the exact story. The guy was Hucky Austin who wore his bandana backward. Hucky said, "I thought I looked like Harriet? Prince laughed and said, "You do, but I wear it sexy".

I think it was one of the other guys either tony m or wally safford

violetcrush said:

purplerabbithole said:

He gave the song to Mark Brown apparently. i am going to copy that Harriet Tubman story into the thread I started about Prince's lighter side...I assume you don't mind..

[Edited 5/24/18 17:09pm]

No, of course not! That story was in the book "Prince Chapter And Verse - A Life In Photographs" By Mobeen Azhar. I went back to look at the exact story. The guy was Hucky Austin who wore his bandana backward. Hucky said, "I thought I looked like Harriet? Prince laughed and said, "You do, but I wear it sexy".

Listen, find me an artist that didn't have issues with sound or lighting. One 2 hour concert with bad sound can fuck up a singers voice for weeks. I worked for a major stage/sound company as a teenager and trust me, forget Prince, I've seen preachers lose their shit during a church service because his voice was crapping out. Sometimes the monitors don't have enough power and they die, the mics suck one night but are fantastic another, the board loses power or is on half power, cords die or just incompetence. Regardless of the issues, when you're paid to do a job like a pro, you should perform like a pro and atleast attempt to improve the issue as the event goes on. Lot's of sound engineers are dicks, they sit back behind the board and chill. Performers just don't shit on sound engineers for no reason, sometimes they're really embarrassed by the sound. However, certain performers can be on some medication and really not want to perform or are in no shape to perform and then commence to performing on the sound engineers to get out of doing shows or just because the medication has them tweaking. A performer like Prince certainly clashed with laziness and incompetence, which is probably why when Prince finds a Scotty Baldwin he keeps him around for 20 plus years.

Right about this being not easy.

And I would add it takes an exceptional staff of sound engineers, because getting a good live sound come from not only one main mix. You have to mix for the drummer, for the singer, for the bassist, for the front row crowd and for the hall.
It's way more difficult to be a good live sound engineer. The studio has other tricks, but it's still a way safer environment.
The stress for an artist to do some songs, you can't imagine. The shit is difficult for everyone: did you see Wendy and Mark move in NC2U? Everybody Let's Work!

Live: with God knows how many sound re-pissing from monitors to mikes, feedback loops, larsens, phase invertions (the bizarre aural moments we get here and there in Syracuse — also note: two mikes, and for the "Dearly beloved" speech, then he lays it on the floor), I mean, how they achieved to get a good sound of out "Baby I'm A Star" on stage, with all these mikes open, I'm baffled. It's noisey, but it's alive! The Syracuse sound, once you dig they were going for the sonic impressions you'd get from the 20th row, well, it's excellent.

I can understand Prince to some degree. To have witnessed SOTT live from the first row, in front of him, in other words from the close shots at stage level in the movie (the slide on the back followed by a split chasing Cat in "Housequake"), well, even the movie, while techically very close, can't be true to what it really was. The colors were simply magical, and the sound was incredible.
Even the best pair of headphones can't do shit compared to a man-sized woofer kick drum thumping your chest, moving your ribs, and you hope your heart doesn't skip too many beats for two hours.

Prince was torn apart: on one hand, his sound engineers were used to a way of working, they were part of the artistic process, they understood his musical tricks so much they knew what to push up in the mix, on the other, they were exhausted, and they could not take it anymore.

So I understand, even if it said by Wendy or Bobby in one of their bitter days, that after The Revolution, Prince did not have a band anymore, he hired session musicians (and session engineers). While we cannot ignore the NPG great achievements, it's true that Prince lost something by ceasing to work with people who were there from the start. After them, it showed signs of friendship, but to people that were used to see him primadonna from the start, and he thought this was emotionally safer, so he could pursue his grand sacred mission of being Prince, the ultimate pop star ever, blah blah...

I think he underestimated his own need of bonding. "Pizza, hot dogs, root beer" and all this "Data bank" fun, they were fruits of the Warehouse sweat, and not some oversized state-of-the-art complex, cold as en eighties designer's boner for italian minimalism.
"I'm my own man, just like Liberace!"
The line may come from Tricky, but it sure is Prince's handwriting,
just before opening the complex.
The paranoia, you can't help it.
You look everywhere around you and no one is fast as you.

"I feel fucking alone and I try my best and Lord knows I'm outta ideas,
and this guy fucks with everyone's ticket, some kids starved their McDonald's just to come see me
and he makes me look like a thief and sound like the Capri.
I feel a Blitzkrieg moment coming up, Lawd have mercy."

Why does each blessing come with a curse?
Send your pre-stamped answers to 7801 Audubon Road, Chanhassen,
Minnesota 55317, possibly before The Dawn.
Never mind, too late.

bonatoc said:

Right about this being not easy.

And I would add it takes an exceptional staff of sound engineers, because getting a good live sound come from not only one main mix. You have to mix for the drummer, for the singer, for the bassist, for the front row crowd and for the hall.
It's way more difficult to be a good live sound engineer. The studio has other tricks, but it's still a way safer environment.
The stress for an artist to do some songs, you can't imagine. The shit is difficult for everyone: did you see Wendy and Mark move in NC2U? Everybody Let's Work!

Live: with God knows how many sound re-pissing from monitors to mikes, feedback loops, larsens, phase invertions (the bizarre aural moments we get here and there in Syracuse — also note: two mikes, and for the "Dearly beloved" speech, then he lays it on the floor), I mean, how they achieved to get a good sound of out "Baby I'm A Star" on stage, with all these mikes open, I'm baffled. It's noisey, but it's alive! The Syracuse sound, once you dig they were going for the sonic impressions you'd get from the 20th row, well, it's excellent.

I can understand Prince to some degree. To have witnessed SOTT live from the first row, in front of him, in other words from the close shots at stage level in the movie (the slide on the back followed by a split chasing Cat in "Housequake"), well, even the movie, while techically very close, can't be true to what it really was. The colors were simply magical, and the sound was incredible.
Even the best pair of headphones can't do shit compared to a man-sized woofer kick drum thumping your chest, moving your ribs, and you hope your heart doesn't skip too many beats for two hours.

Prince was torn apart: on one hand, his sound engineers were used to a way of working, they were part of the artistic process, they understood his musical tricks so much they knew what to push up in the mix, on the other, they were exhausted, and they could not take it anymore.

So I understand, even if it said by Wendy or Bobby in one of their bitter days, that after The Revolution, Prince did not have a band anymore, he hired session musicians (and session engineers). While we cannot ignore the NPG great achievements, it's true that Prince lost something by ceasing to work with people who were there from the start. After them, it showed signs of friendship, but to people that were used to see him primadonna from the start, and he thought this was emotionally safer, so he could pursue his grand sacred mission of being Prince, the ultimate pop star ever, blah blah...

I think he underestimated his own need of bonding. "Pizza, hot dogs, root beer" and all this "Data bank" fun, they were fruits of the Warehouse sweat, and not some oversized state-of-the-art complex, cold as en eighties designer's boner for italian minimalism.
"I'm my own man, just like Liberace!"
The line may come from Tricky, but it sure is Prince's handwriting,
just before opening the complex.
The paranoia, you can't help it.
You look everywhere around you and no one is fast as you.

"I feel fucking alone and I try my best and Lord knows I'm outta ideas,
and this guy fucks with everyone's ticket, some kids starved their McDonald's just to come see me
and he makes me look like a thief and sound like the Capri.
I feel a Blitzkrieg moment coming up, Lawd have mercy."

Why does each blessing come with a curse?
Send your pre-stamped answers to 7801 Audubon Road, Chanhassen,
Minnesota 55317, possibly before The Dawn.
Never mind, too late.

Well said. Wow, SOTT from the front row....lucky you! I think he knew he had created an isolated environment in the 90's - a result of moving away from anyone who he had allowed to get closer to him. Songs like Solo, and the unreleased "Mind Blow", which Steve Parke said was an amazing song - a very melancholy feel about lonliness. I think he said one of the lyrics was "It's so quiet, I can hear my hair grow". No doubt he was a lonely man, but it seems he brought that upon himself. I think "In This Bed I Scream" is a very telling song...

[Edited 5/25/18 3:17am]

bonatoc said:

Even the best pair of headphones can't do shit compared to a man-sized woofer kick drum thumping your chest, moving your ribs, and you hope your heart doesn't skip too many beats for two hours.

.

I've always found "The Question Of U" somewhat disappointing on record after hearing it live, because those stabs really punched you.

The paranoia was full-on during the 1995 tour. Not just content with mixing the sound from the stage himself (!), he demanded the tour manager hired a local crew at each gig instead of workingwith a steady crew. This is insane and a recipe for accidents, so the tour manager ignored this and kept the crew. Of course, those people needed to travel and sleep, so there was a whole organisation to assure that happened without Prince knowing. And to prevent him recognising crew members, they used wigs and fake moustaches etc.

.

I also recall an open letter in a trade mag where tour crew members praised Prince for giving them proper hotel rooms instead of the shabby ones most other artists provide (to save money), but admonishing him for the endless soundchecks and rehearsals because that was time they needed to rest or to do other jobs, which they were now prevented from doing because Prince couldn't be disturbed.

The mixing from the stage itself surely has to refer to the monitors. If he was adjusting the outfront sound, even for Prince, that would be particularly crazy, seeing as there's no way that he could hear the sound outfront owing to...well, being on stage.

jjam said:

The mixing from the stage itself surely has to refer to the monitors. If he was adjusting the outfront sound, even for Prince, that would be particularly crazy, seeing as there's no way that he could hear the sound outfront owing to...well, being on stage.

.

http://diffuser.fm/prince-soundcheck/

.

Which links to this page from a rcent book: https://books.google.com/...mp;pg=PT98 .

I'm still feeling that it's the monitors. Impossible to assess the outfront mix from on stage. Not putting it Prince to do this either though.

BartVanHemelen said:

The paranoia was full-on during the 1995 tour. Not just content with mixing the sound from the stage himself (!), he demanded the tour manager hired a local crew at each gig instead of workingwith a steady crew. This is insane and a recipe for accidents, so the tour manager ignored this and kept the crew. Of course, those people needed to travel and sleep, so there was a whole organisation to assure that happened without Prince knowing. And to prevent him recognising crew members, they used wigs and fake moustaches etc.

.

I also recall an open letter in a trade mag where tour crew members praised Prince for giving them proper hotel rooms instead of the shabby ones most other artists provide (to save money), but admonishing him for the endless soundchecks and rehearsals because that was time they needed to rest or to do other jobs, which they were now prevented from doing because Prince couldn't be disturbed.

Wow, just crazy. Seems he was very concerned with mistakes during the shows. The stories from his crew in the 80's are basically that they just never slept. It was 24/7 - either recording in the studio, or prepping for the live shows. There were no breaks.

BartVanHemelen said:

I like when Prince did it ALL by himself, on the mini Glam Slam Club tour in 93/94, with the Endorphine Machine stage. He would disappear periodically in the back of the stage machine set up and turn and punch some knobs ALL by himself. Then come back sing ,play guitar,dance etc. It was a see through stage so U can actually see him "do it".

That man could do ANYTHING!

ChocolateBox3121 said:

I like when Prince did it ALL by himself, on the mini Glam Slam Club tour in 93/94, with the Endorphine Machine stage. He would disappear periodically in the back of the stage machine set up and turn and punch some knobs ALL by himself. Then come back sing ,play guitar,dance etc. It was a see through stage so U can actually see him "do it".

That man could do ANYTHING!

That was actually my least favorite period - not the music, that still sounded great. But, he seemed to lose his energy and passion during that time. He seemed angry and melancholy, which would make sense, as it's the period of the fight with WB and the name change.

purplerabbithole said:

“He always had a mic on a boom stand over the console for vocals. He’d grab that mic — with the console and the tape machine remote in front of him — and cut all the vocals from the engineer’s chair. Every vocal you’ve ever heard on every Prince record was cut sitting in a chair at the console. It was just part of his workflow. All that dynamic range and all that focus — How many vocalists run back and forth between the studio and control room to readjust something? It just drains the attention of the artist. He’d say: ‘I’m cutting vocals. You can leave.’ In a half hour, he’d call me back and he’d have cut the backing vocals and all the verses were done. He was just very efficient. When you have the vocal mic multied across many tracks, he could pop into any track at any point, at a vocal line here or there, he had it all mapped out in his head.”

—Chuck Zwicky, Paisley Park Engineer (1987 through 1989)

Engineer Joe Blaney on working with Prince. From an unpublished Tape Op interview.

"His method of recording was different from anything I’d been doing up to that time. One thing is he liked to start and finish a song, whether it took
a few hours or a couple of days! There were a few that we went back and worked on that were mixed later. The first thing I did, after that trial mix, was “Dead on It” for The Black Album. We were starting to record songs for the Lovesexy record. There were basically two ways of recording; one was in the control room of Studio A, which had this huge,
live recording room and stone drum booth. There’s nobody like Prince. He’s so talented and can play so many instruments. The vision for what he’s doing… there’s no one I’ve even heard of who’s quite like Prince. We got along fine. He’s actually mild-mannered and nicer than some people might think. Some of his public personas, to some degree, he puts on for people. He was demanding in the sense that he didn’t come from the traditions of recording that you would learn in New York or Los Angeles. His whole thing is homespun. We had this big room with a multi-channel SSL board and all this equipment around. But it was almost still being approached like a home studio. He would operate with a locator and punch in and out on things. If he accidentally erased something it didn’t bother him – he’d fix it or do it again or he’d change the arrangement to make it work. He was really clever. It was always an evolving work. He could operate everything to a degree. The only thing awkward about that was the transition to the SSL. The console in his house had been an API; I think that was more suited for him. The SSL 4000 consoles take a while to get used to make them sound good. It’s not like a traditional console, it’s almost like you have to re-synthesize the music using the compressors and gates. All the little tricks! It was interesting. He wanted a new engineer to get his sound more like other records he was hearing on the radio. At the same time he didn’t want to relinquish turning the knobs and mixing too. We had a relationship where sometimes he would sit there mixing and I would make suggestions. He’d ask my opinion and I’d be the technical expert for guidance."

very interesting info of how they recorded music.

jjam said:

I'm still feeling that it's the monitors. Impossible to assess the outfront mix from on stage. Not putting it Prince to do this either though.

In the BBC Omnibus infamous eight minutes, you can hear Lovesexy's "Sister" blasting from the venue speakers, while he's giving directions ("spotlight on the shoes..."). This happens also in the "Summertime" Nude Tour soundcheck in Japan, near the end, when he sits in the center of the stadium, near the console.

It's not that hard: you just record what gets through the soundboard and you play it back on the speakers : you get what the audience gets (even though once the room is filled, you have to tweak those damn frequencies again).

[Edited 5/25/18 14:19pm]

Vannormal said:

After the Purple Rain years, he must've suffered from a post-fame problem/issue.

Imagine, you're famous, you have it all, money too, and then you get somewhat isolated on the top. Lonely too. Loads of people lick your ass and everyone wants a piece (of you).

And, all is possible on the other hand. He could've done what he wanted.

Heard that often in interviews with his former managers and employees.

-

I think this possition onthe top being famous and having money might have an effect on everyone (of us too).

By the way, there is no manual how to get along with fame.

Correct. He said he's been to the top of the mountain and there's nothing up there and also I cant remember who said it but he was lonely after Purple Rain and just to add persepctive, MJ was painfully lonely and miserable DURING Thriller and Bad eras. Crazy but not hard to understand.

purplerabbithole said:

I don't agree. He stated that Frank Zappa was demanding but nice about it. Wish P could have takent that approach.

YEah, balance is key.

daviaa34 said:

Vannormal said:

After the Purple Rain years, he must've suffered from a post-fame problem/issue.

Imagine, you're famous, you have it all, money too, and then you get somewhat isolated on the top. Lonely too. Loads of people lick your ass and everyone wants a piece (of you).

And, all is possible on the other hand. He could've done what he wanted.

Heard that often in interviews with his former managers and employees.

-

I think this possition onthe top being famous and having money might have an effect on everyone (of us too).

By the way, there is no manual how to get along with fame.

Correct. He said he's been to the top of the mountain and there's nothing up there and also I cant remember who said it but he was lonely after Purple Rain and just to add persepctive, MJ was painfully lonely and miserable DURING Thriller and Bad eras. Crazy but not hard to understand.

Wondering if he regretted not giving The Revolution at least another year or two. Seems he did, or at least the way he handled it, based on his song to Wendy, Lisa and Susannah....

*

To these walls I talk
Telling them what I wasn't strong enough to say
To these walls I talk
Telling them how I cried the day you went away

[Chorus]
How did we ever lose communication?
How did we ever lose each other's sound?
Baby, if you wanna, we can fix the situation
Maybe we can stop the rain from coming down

[Verse 2]
In this bed I scream
Lonely nights I lay awake thinking of you
And if I'm cursed with a dream
A thousand times I feel whatever I've put you through....