Listening to 1999 Super Deluxe.....so many great examples of Linn drum tracks (including the official 1999 tracks).

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.

Got me wondering..... a lot of the songs are built off a basic Linn Lm 1 pattern, but they often have little fills or embellishments after 4 or 8 bars. Often to signal a verse to chorus, or part A of verse to Part b etc....

.

.

You can program in fills like that but they would stay the same each time (same pattern and same timing). But on may songs, the little snare fills come at semi-randoms, e.g. sometimes at the end of the 8th bar, sometimes at the of the 16th bar, and they are not always the same, the snare hits and timing vary.

.

.

So did he:

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1) program the main beat and then go back and over-dub extra snare hits using his fingers to add a "live" feel of fills?

.

.

2) hook up the Linn to drum pads and play the kit live like reall drums for the track?

.

.

3) Chain together different 8 and 16 bar patterns into a "song" on the Linn? The linn has song mode but that seems really complex to "program" all these random sounding snare fills.

I guess nr 3.

It all depends on memory capacity of the Linn, which I dont know as i didnt use an original Linn. But i guess that way very small in those times, so yeah, probably nr 3.

I recall an interview, I don't know if it was Susan Rogers or Peggy McReary
saying the fills were overdubbed by hand.

bonatoc said:

I recall an interview, I don't know if it was Susan Rogers or Peggy McReary
saying the fills were overdubbed by hand.

Probably this because they eventually just taught him how to punch himself in anyway and plenty songs at the home studio were engineered by himself. So he could go in and do overdubs of any of the tracks all alone.

bonatoc said:

I recall an interview, I don't know if it was Susan Rogers or Peggy McReary
saying the fills were overdubbed by hand.

I remember this too - someone saying that he played the Linn by hand like it was another 'live' instrument - I just can't find the interview.

I think it was Bobby Z. shortly before Prince died.

Robbajobba said:

bonatoc said:

I recall an interview, I don't know if it was Susan Rogers or Peggy McReary
saying the fills were overdubbed by hand.

I remember this too - someone saying that he played the Linn by hand like it was another 'live' instrument - I just can't find the interview.

That's what I figured.

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I have a LinnDrumm (LM2 not LM1) though I never tried to make a song. But I have used other drum machines before and making a song, you have to really really plan out the whole thing, and a lot of the songs sound too "random" with the fills so #1 makes sense.

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I've read that Jimmy Jam was like a 'master' at playing the drum machine live often changing patterns during the song, sometimes by accident. I think maybe Control is like that.

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I love drum machines btw if you haven't figured it out!

MOre of a related topic, but what did Bobby Z do during the 1999 and PR tours?

Play the patterns or songs on the LM 1 and add fills using pads hooked up to the Linn? I know he had 1 or 2 Simmons pads in his kit but it's really hard to see.

(I know he had the 4 Synndrums up in front but those were different)

GaryMF said:

Listening to 1999 Super Deluxe.....so many great examples of Linn drum tracks (including the official 1999 tracks).

.

.

Got me wondering..... a lot of the songs are built off a basic Linn Lm 1 pattern, but they often have little fills or embellishments after 4 or 8 bars. Often to signal a verse to chorus, or part A of verse to Part b etc....

.

.

You can program in fills like that but they would stay the same each time (same pattern and same timing). But on may songs, the little snare fills come at semi-randoms, e.g. sometimes at the end of the 8th bar, sometimes at the of the 16th bar, and they are not always the same, the snare hits and timing vary.

.

.

So did he:

.

1) program the main beat and then go back and over-dub extra snare hits using his fingers to add a "live" feel of fills?

.

.

2) hook up the Linn to drum pads and play the kit live like reall drums for the track?

.

.

3) Chain together different 8 and 16 bar patterns into a "song" on the Linn? The linn has song mode but that seems really complex to "program" all these random sounding snare fills.

https://reverb.com/de/news/prince-and-the-linn-lm-1?utm_source=MarketingCloud&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20191210+D%26S+DE&fbclid=IwAR2F1VLbxpNYBykqHadUMx3qSDS-oxrXaUv7xrACK6eNqyTnElb2_avCXgc

Wow. I thought I read all the Linn articles but that was amazing thanks!

divinity said:

GaryMF said:

Listening to 1999 Super Deluxe.....so many great examples of Linn drum tracks (including the official 1999 tracks).

.

.

Got me wondering..... a lot of the songs are built off a basic Linn Lm 1 pattern, but they often have little fills or embellishments after 4 or 8 bars. Often to signal a verse to chorus, or part A of verse to Part b etc....

.

.

You can program in fills like that but they would stay the same each time (same pattern and same timing). But on may songs, the little snare fills come at semi-randoms, e.g. sometimes at the end of the 8th bar, sometimes at the of the 16th bar, and they are not always the same, the snare hits and timing vary.

.

.

So did he:

.

1) program the main beat and then go back and over-dub extra snare hits using his fingers to add a "live" feel of fills?

.

.

2) hook up the Linn to drum pads and play the kit live like reall drums for the track?

.

.

3) Chain together different 8 and 16 bar patterns into a "song" on the Linn? The linn has song mode but that seems really complex to "program" all these random sounding snare fills.

https://reverb.com/de/news/prince-and-the-linn-lm-1?utm_source=MarketingCloud&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20191210+D%26S+DE&fbclid=IwAR2F1VLbxpNYBykqHadUMx3qSDS-oxrXaUv7xrACK6eNqyTnElb2_avCXgc

divinity said:

GaryMF said:

Listening to 1999 Super Deluxe.....so many great examples of Linn drum tracks (including the official 1999 tracks).

.

.

Got me wondering..... a lot of the songs are built off a basic Linn Lm 1 pattern, but they often have little fills or embellishments after 4 or 8 bars. Often to signal a verse to chorus, or part A of verse to Part b etc....

.

.

You can program in fills like that but they would stay the same each time (same pattern and same timing). But on may songs, the little snare fills come at semi-randoms, e.g. sometimes at the end of the 8th bar, sometimes at the of the 16th bar, and they are not always the same, the snare hits and timing vary.

.

.

So did he:

.

1) program the main beat and then go back and over-dub extra snare hits using his fingers to add a "live" feel of fills?

.

.

2) hook up the Linn to drum pads and play the kit live like reall drums for the track?

.

.

3) Chain together different 8 and 16 bar patterns into a "song" on the Linn? The linn has song mode but that seems really complex to "program" all these random sounding snare fills.

https://reverb.com/de/news/prince-and-the-linn-lm-1?utm_source=MarketingCloud&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20191210+D%26S+DE&fbclid=IwAR2F1VLbxpNYBykqHadUMx3qSDS-oxrXaUv7xrACK6eNqyTnElb2_avCXgc

That was a good read. Thank you.

Yup, that article is a keeper.

I guess he could have just tapped out the fills live with his fingers, and switched to a pattern that allowed space for that. No overdubs necessary. Or have different instrument variants / fills on a fader that was down to zero most of the time. Something along those lines right?

If you watch any demonstration of the LM-1 in use, you can see people doing both of these things. Tapping out the fills live with his fingers on top of the current pattern is the most sensible option tbh https://www.youtube.com/w...O572vANs2Y

[Edited 12/19/19 6:23am]

ian said:

I guess he could have just tapped out the fills live with his fingers, and switched to a pattern that allowed space for that. No overdubs necessary. Or have different instrument variants / fills on a fader that was down to zero most of the time. Something along those lines right?

If you watch any demonstration of the LM-1 in use, you can see people doing both of these things. Tapping out the fills live with his fingers on top of the current pattern is the most sensible option tbh https://www.youtube.com/w...O572vANs2Y

[Edited 12/19/19 6:23am]

That's what overdubbing is.
It may not be recorded on a separate track, but it is the process of playing over something already recorded.

ian said:

I guess he could have just tapped out the fills live with his fingers, and switched to a pattern that allowed space for that. No overdubs necessary. Or have different instrument variants / fills on a fader that was down to zero most of the time. Something along those lines right?

The fills I was talking about were the snare fills, so the snare would be on faded at a given volume, it can't be on a different slider.