This may sound a little out there, but the more times I listen to his music, I notice more and more nuances and sounds that I did not pick up on years ago.

I guess when he was with us, I always loved the music, but in the back of my mind I probably thought there would be more new music as each year rolled on. When it was cut short, each song becomes more cherished.

The other day I just noticed the chimes in the background and at the end of "Take Me With U". Is there something about one of Prince's songs you have listened to 1,000 times you are just picking up on?

Seahorsie said:

This may sound a little out there, but the more times I listen to his music, I notice more and more nuances and sounds that I did not pick up on years ago.

I guess when he was with us, I always loved the music, but in the back of my mind I probably thought there would be more new music as each year rolled on. When it was cut short, each song becomes more cherished.

The other day I just noticed the chimes in the background and at the end of "Take Me With U". Is there something about one of Prince's songs you have listened to 1,000 times you are just picking up on?

I think Jughead is charming now.

And the headphone masterpiece We Can Fuck from GB is also good, espeacially with the headphones 'cause you can hear him screaming the last coda in the mix better (ala the origianl thats now released on the PR deluxe) and goes well with the Clintofied mix.

A few years ago I posted on here that Prince a vocal track buried (and backwards) on "Irresistible Bitch". From the post:

So we know a lot of the backwards stuff Prince has done on albums. But tonight, I was jamming to The B-Sides tonight, and had them cranked up in my headphones. As "Irresistible Bitch" came on, something didn't sound right. The whole intro, especially the 2nd section before the first verse seemed..different. I heard a voice, I know I did. Rewind, listen 20 more times volume up more each take. Then I just recorded the beginning of the track, and reversed it. Sure enough, Prince is singing/talking "I want you....I want you.....irresistible bitch.....irresistible bitch.....oh I want you".

Not sure if that's ever been brought up here before, but it's new to me.

Of course I also just noticed he said "A deeper voices answers....". I always thought he said, "A different voice answers..." Go figure.

Seems like it's looped throughout. I heard it throughout the song in "empty" sections and segments.

TrivialPursuit said:

FragileUndertow said:

Ah yeah, I noticed the backward vocals myself in the 80s as a teenager. And trying to spin the record in reverse : I probably posted something simular in that same thread you took that quote from lol:

I don't see ya on there. But it was so random that I found it back in 2009.

To the OP, don't forget the backward stuff at the beginning and end of "Baby I'm A Star".

While it's not something to pick up on headphones, I have always loved the first four songs on Parade. Prince went in with a sheet of paper - each song mapped out - and taped it to a microphone stand. He played the drums, without a click track, for all four tracks - "Little Girl Wendy's Parade", "New Position", "I Wonder U", "Under The Cherry Moon". Then he went back and tracked the bass, then guitar, then other parts. That's why all four songs blend together so seamlessly. They were recorded in one sitting back to back. It's always been one of the more fascinating techniques he used.

I think what a lot of folks forget is the audience in "Purple Rain". There is even one guy in the audience who yelps out an "OW!" (2:42) that Prince left in the final mix, and he could have easily removed it. The banging tambourines at the end, Fink's chimes overlaid with the strings added later. There is so much nuance in that song. It's always worth a listen on headphones.

TrivialPursuit said:

FragileUndertow said:

Ah yeah, I noticed the backward vocals myself in the 80s as a teenager. And trying to spin the record in reverse : I probably posted something simular in that same thread you took that quote from lol:

I don't see ya on there. But it was so random that I found it back in 2009.

To the OP, don't forget the backward stuff at the beginning and end of "Baby I'm A Star".

While it's not something to pick up on headphones, I have always loved the first four songs on Parade. Prince went in with a sheet of paper - each song mapped out - and taped it to a microphone stand. He played the drums, without a click track, for all four tracks - "Little Girl Wendy's Parade", "New Position", "I Wonder U", "Under The Cherry Moon". Then he went back and tracked the bass, then guitar, then other parts. That's why all four songs blend together so seamlessly. They were recorded in one sitting back to back. It's always been one of the more fascinating techniques he used.

I think what a lot of folks forget is the audience in "Purple Rain". There is even one guy in the audience who yelps out an "OW!" (2:42) that Prince left in the final mix, and he could have easily removed it. The banging tambourines at the end, Fink's chimes overlaid with the strings added later. There is so much nuance in that song. It's always worth a listen on headphones.

You mean the "whoa-hoo"? I suspect it's a band member, maybe Lisa. Then again, why would Lisa...
I think it sounds way too clear to come from the crowd. Because it's soft.
You would have to yell for a stage mike to pick it up that clearly. It's not yelled.
Imagine a stage mike picking up crowd noises that much,
it would give inaudible results when the crowd dances or sings along.
I've been puzzled by this "whoa-hoo" for decades now. One day we'll know.

I didn't notice it in the 'Remastered' Josha Welton version due to they brickwalling

Seahorsie said:

This may sound a little out there, but the more times I listen to his music, I notice more and more nuances and sounds that I did not pick up on years ago.

I guess when he was with us, I always loved the music, but in the back of my mind I probably thought there would be more new music as each year rolled on. When it was cut short, each song becomes more cherished.

The other day I just noticed the chimes in the background and at the end of "Take Me With U". Is there something about one of Prince's songs you have listened to 1,000 times you are just picking up on?

Seahorsie said:

bonatoc said:

TrivialPursuit said:

There is even one guy in the audience who yelps out an "OW!" (2:42) that Prince left in the final mix, and he could have easily removed it.

You mean the "whoa-hoo"? I suspect it's a band member, maybe Lisa. Then again, why would Lisa...
I think it sounds way too clear to come from the crowd. Because it's soft.
You would have to yell for a stage mike to pick it up that clearly. It's not yelled.
Imagine a stage mike picking up crowd noises that much,
it would give inaudible results when the crowd dances or sings along.
I've been puzzled by this "whoa-hoo" for decades now. One day we'll know.

It's definitely not Lisa or a band member. In the First Avenue video you can tell it's clearly someone in the audience. It's not mic'd, it's just something in the ambiance of the room. It's also loude ron the First Avenue video, but Prince pulled it back a bit on record in the mix. It's still a very cool moment to leave on the record. It was a little bit of good foresight on Prince's part.

There is actually a guy who put together a video of the First Ave performance and laid out what ended up on record, what parts were cut out... and he noted the OW yelp.

got my earphones on

At the beginning of "Baltimore", I recently noticed that he's humming the doubling of the guitar.
At first I thought it was a synth pad, but now I'm pretty sure it's him.

On the intro of ATWIAD, when the bass drum kicks in,
there's also this strange short noise following the snare/clap on the four, in the left speaker.
It sounds a bit like the strangled voice he makes at the beginning of WDC,
but maybe it's a short Vibraslap noise, or a washboard. Pretty odd.

TrivialPursuit said:

FragileUndertow said:

Ah yeah, I noticed the backward vocals myself in the 80s as a teenager. And trying to spin the record in reverse : I probably posted something simular in that same thread you took that quote from lol:

I don't see ya on there. But it was so random that I found it back in 2009.

To the OP, don't forget the backward stuff at the beginning and end of "Baby I'm A Star".

While it's not something to pick up on headphones, I have always loved the first four songs on Parade. Prince went in with a sheet of paper - each song mapped out - and taped it to a microphone stand. He played the drums, without a click track, for all four tracks - "Little Girl Wendy's Parade", "New Position", "I Wonder U", "Under The Cherry Moon". Then he went back and tracked the bass, then guitar, then other parts. That's why all four songs blend together so seamlessly. They were recorded in one sitting back to back. It's always been one of the more fascinating techniques he used.

I think what a lot of folks forget is the audience in "Purple Rain". There is even one guy in the audience who yelps out an "OW!" (2:42) that Prince left in the final mix, and he could have easily removed it. The banging tambourines at the end, Fink's chimes overlaid with the strings added later. There is so much nuance in that song. It's always worth a listen on headphones.

Yes, I have listened to the backwards stuff between DN and Baby I'm a Star many times. So far, I have this much figured out...

"Scared boy, sleep on your back......Good night!!" Or something like that. Give it a listen again, what do you think??

klick2me said:

All of P's music should be listened to on earphone's. I have always thought this. So many different sounds that are hard to hear on a bumping system. Man O War has 14 vocal tracks of his voice; give that a go around...

And please don't to forget to adjust your EQ.
Everyone needs an EQ. 20 bands is to be considered a minimum if you really care for music, do you?
Call me Achmed when it comes to this shit.

If you're over forty and your ears are in good condition,
you just need to boost eveything over 16kHz (don't make it shine too bright though),
From TGE on, the bass boosters are better left alone.
Only trust your loudness or bass enhancer
if it comes from a serious brand that actually cares for sound.

All Prince productions before Graffit Bridge needs an analog source.
So get FLACs from vinyls, or at least 320k,
you don't want those splashes or rides to bleed polluting digital micro-artefacts.

But the sound production on "Rave" is too obvious. It's compressed to death.
Yeah, OK, Prince was the only one to sustain the Loudness Wars and still be impressive.
"Man O' War" is sure great, but try "Adore" from the 2009 vinyl remaster with hig-end headphones.
You'll see actual angel drops fall down, believe me.

You'll get an aural orgasm after 6 minutes and some of stroking,
with this kind of stuff on a top end system and the proper minor corrections
to fit your aural space or your headphones response.
Just don't forget the infrabass. Your eardrums or walls have to rumble a bit,
the kick needs that little punch in the chest, I don't care about your neighbors,
they need to be schooled anyway. But the headphones are mandatory on this one too.
You can have fun counting the voices at the end, I don't care about numbers, I'm flying.

All of Prince's work carries tons of arrangements details.
The better moments being the ones who arrange silence more than music,
and not the other boring way around everyone does, you and me included.
Takes shelves of work, obviously.

[Edited 6/2/18 6:28am]