Ive heard it. It's the long version cut in two. Its cool to hear Prince's vocal separated especially the midsection speech.

There are open source software projects that have been trying to be able to replicate stems (separation between instruments, vocals, etc.) and I think it depends on the song at this point, but they have succeeded in approximating stems. Eventually lifting vocals will be the press of a button, so I'd wonder if these are real.

But with all the tributes, remastering, commercials, you have to figure things like stems and drum patches will start floating around for better or for worse.

lavendardrummachine said:

There are open source software projects that have been trying to be able to replicate stems (separation between instruments, vocals, etc.) and I think it depends on the song at this point, but they have succeeded in approximating stems. Eventually lifting vocals will be the press of a button, so I'd wonder if these are real.

But with all the tributes, remastering, commercials, you have to figure things like stems and drum patches will start floating around for better or for worse.

They're real, and contrary to what rdhull is stating, it's one uncut session, the extended version.

I was in a studio with an engineer who let me listen to his stash about a year ago and heard the whole thing. There are additional vocal takes and guitar solos from what I remember.

The stems exist and have been in the posession of elite multitrack collectors for a while now but aren't readily available for trade.

Stems for "WDC", "7", and others also are circulating but aren't available for trade whatsoever.

TrcikyChristopher said:

TrcikyChristopher said:

Hopefully they make the rounds cuz I'd like to hear them. Wish there was an instumental only version of Sometimes It Snows In April. That would be sublime...

sulls said:

Hopefully they make the rounds cuz I'd like to hear them. Wish there was an instumental only version of Sometimes It Snows In April. That would be sublime...

That song is a stem itself.

rdhull said:

Ive heard it. It's the long version cut in two. Its cool to hear Prince's vocal separated especially the midsection speech.

This would be gold to hear. I always loved that part.

I would love to hear the synth brass isolated, esp on the extended break part.

GaryMF said:

I would love to hear the synth brass isolated, esp on the extended break part.

ohh, and the cow bell actually. haha SRSLY

Yep, they are definitely circulating, and are real. Hearing the isolated vocals is sublime, you can hear all sorts of quiet adlibs and vocal inflections that aren't audible in the mixed version.

As for the OP questions - 24 tracks, some dry, some have small fx, but definitely not as mixed as the album version.

One really fun thing is that you can isolate the live parts recorded at First Avenue from the studio recorded parts. It's really interested to hear how the two were blended.

Militant said:

Yep, they are definitely circulating, and are real. Hearing the isolated vocals is sublime, you can hear all sorts of quiet adlibs and vocal inflections that aren't audible in the mixed version.

As for the OP questions - 24 tracks, some dry, some have small fx, but definitely not as mixed as the album version.

One really fun thing is that you can isolate the live parts recorded at First Avenue from the studio recorded parts. It's really interested to hear how the two were blended.

It is funny how dry and minimal some of the tracks sound (pre-heavy effects and layering), not unlike the minimally mixed songs decades later that fans complained about.

But... I didn't think any of the live recording was used in the album version of Let's Go Crazy. I thought that was limited to the last three tracks on the album.

Militant said:

There are some live drum tracks in there blended with the studio recorded tracks. I guess they may not be from First Ave, but they definitely aren't recorded in the studio as there's way too much bleed and ambience going on in them. I'll have another listen tomorrow.

That was the notorious warehouse recording setup, right? I think it's been mentioned in interviews that it was not very precise in isolation or overall sound quality. But that certainly works better for the mood this track was aimed at creating.

I think my head would fall off if I heard these.

Militant said:

Yep, they are definitely circulating, and are real. Hearing the isolated vocals is sublime, you can hear all sorts of quiet adlibs and vocal inflections that aren't audible in the mixed version.

As for the OP questions - 24 tracks, some dry, some have small fx, but definitely not as mixed as the album version.

One really fun thing is that you can isolate the live parts recorded at First Avenue from the studio recorded parts. It's really interested to hear how the two were blended.

Wow.

It'd be cool to actually hear these somehow, and not just read open discussion between insiders who have access to them.

mbdtyler said:

It'd be cool to actually hear these somehow, and not just read open discussion between insiders who have access to them.

I'd buy a bootleg set of stems. If any of the unofficial labels want to take it up

mbdtyler said:

It'd be cool to actually hear these somehow, and not just read open discussion between insiders who have access to them.

I'm hardly an insider. If "I've" heard them, it's likely tht they are readily available or will be soon. Also, it's not as if we can just post links to the shit. We talk about a lot of unrealeased not readily available stuff, as we should.

This is an amazing thing to have leaked out. I've only found a couple of synth tracks and a "dry mix" so far, as the only package I've found is incomplete, but it's very cool to hear. As someone said above, what a difference fx and processing makes!

rdhull said:

Ive heard it. It's the long version cut in two. Its cool to hear Prince's vocal separated especially the midsection speech.

Just a "acapella" and "instrumental" stem?

AaronReturn2005 said:

rdhull said:

Ive heard it. It's the long version cut in two. Its cool to hear Prince's vocal separated especially the midsection speech.

Just a "acapella" and "instrumental" stem?

There's supposed to be 24 tracks out there. The package I found contains only a synth track, a brief acapella, and a couple of mixes that appear to be made by someone with access to the 24 track. I'm looking around for the full package.

smokeverbs said:

There's supposed to be 24 tracks out there. The package I found contains only a synth track, a brief acapella, and a couple of mixes that appear to be made by someone with access to the 24 track. I'm looking around for the full package.

Aren't we all?!

I've found this: https://www.reddit.com/r/...new_stuff/

Going to PM the user this afternoon.

AaronReturn2005 said:

anildash said:

AaronReturn2005 said:

I've found this: https://www.reddit.com/r/...new_stuff/

Going to PM the user this afternoon.

Let us know what they say!

That post is dead by now, so I posted something among the lines of "I'm looking for Let's Go Crazy, accept trading" (U can still see it) and got a few people, even though I don't have anything of newly-surfaced stems so I didn't get them.

One trader also told me there were two versions out there: One with various sections missing and a proper 24-track copy. He also accepted purchasing of stems, yet they haven't pubically surfaced yet (For a fact, the Queen community were quick enough to grab the recent multitrack leaks of Fat Bottomed Girls and Under Pressure and freely share them, showing how different they are when they come to this sort of thing).

[Edited 2/14/20 16:17pm]

So at this point it's looking like although the stems have circulated amongst a very few, they are not in fact circulating amongst the average fans/traders.

Would this be a fair assessment?

[Edited 2/20/20 10:25am]