https://clientsfromhell.net/14852-2/

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I was a recording engineer for 40 years and I’ve had some strange experiences in recording studios, but without a doubt the strangest was one with a certain singer and songwriter famed for his purple themed world.

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I was excited when I saw the booking to cut a single for him. So he walked in, handed me the tape, walked over to a corner of the room and proceeded to stare silently at me. For 3 hours. I tried talking to him, asked him what he wanted out of the record, what sort of sound he wanted, but he didn’t say anything, just stared.

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Didn’t say a word.

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For 3 solid hours.

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Unnerving.

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That's our Prince!!!!

I mean, if Prince walks into your studio, do you really need to ask what he wants from the song or what sound he wanted? It's not like he walked in with his first demo tape.

Plus, read the room, or the secret messages in his eye rays. Jeez.

That sounds like His Royal Badness!

lavendardrummachine said:

I mean, if Prince walks into your studio, do you really need to ask what he wants from the song or what sound he wanted? It's not like he walked in with his first demo tape.

Yes. If you're an engineer worth your salt, you absolutely should ask your client what they're expecting.

Plus, read the room, or the secret messages in his eye rays. Jeez.

Prince was being a dick. Having a purple pantalooned sex dwarf stare at you in silence while your working for three hours wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

[Edited 6/1/20 21:55pm]

These are my favorite kind of Prince stories..

bluegangsta said:

lavendardrummachine said:

I mean, if Prince walks into your studio, do you really need to ask what he wants from the song or what sound he wanted? It's not like he walked in with his first demo tape.

Yes. If you're an engineer worth your salt, you absolutely should ask your client what they're expecting.

Nah. You're his engineer not his producer. It clearly wasn't a recording session. Try that exercise with other legends and you can see how absurd it is. That wouldn't fly in the real world....which is why it didn't.

BartVanHemelen said:

https://clientsfromhell.net/14852-2/

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I was a recording engineer for 40 years and I’ve had some strange experiences in recording studios, but without a doubt the strangest was one with a certain singer and songwriter famed for his purple themed world.

.
I was excited when I saw the booking to cut a single for him. So he walked in, handed me the tape, walked over to a corner of the room and proceeded to stare silently at me. For 3 hours. I tried talking to him, asked him what he wanted out of the record, what sort of sound he wanted, but he didn’t say anything, just stared.

.
Didn’t say a word.

.
For 3 solid hours.

.
Unnerving.

.

3 hours without saying a word!

lavendardrummachine said:

bluegangsta said:

Yes. If you're an engineer worth your salt, you absolutely should ask your client what they're expecting.

Nah. You're his engineer not his producer. It clearly wasn't a recording session. Try that exercise with other legends and you can see how absurd it is. That wouldn't fly in the real world....which is why it didn't.

I didn't sy anything about production. There are a million way you can mix a song and it's conventionally up to the artist as to what they want the end result to be.

It does fly in the real world, because that's usually how it is.

bluegangsta said:

I didn't sy anything about production. There are a million way you can mix a song and it's conventionally up to the artist as to what they want the end result to be.

It does fly in the real world, because that's usually how it is.

Actually, no. No reason to even assume there was mixing going on either. It was a 3 hour job. If Prince walks in and you listen to the song and can't figure out what sound he wanted. you should quit. It's on the damn record. Don't insult the man. A mix can do something, but it can't change "what he wanted out of the record". You're not there to have some WDC moment. Prince didn't sign up with some random Joe Engineer to collaborate on his sound then ice him out. Yeah Prince was a dick but the engineer doesn't sound like he's worked with legendary artists before or since.

[Edited 6/2/20 10:18am]

BartVanHemelen said:

https://clientsfromhell.net/14852-2/

.

I was a recording engineer for 40 years and I’ve had some strange experiences in recording studios, but without a doubt the strangest was one with a certain singer and songwriter famed for his purple themed world.

.
I was excited when I saw the booking to cut a single for him. So he walked in, handed me the tape, walked over to a corner of the room and proceeded to stare silently at me. For 3 hours. I tried talking to him, asked him what he wanted out of the record, what sort of sound he wanted, but he didn’t say anything, just stared.

.
Didn’t say a word.

.
For 3 solid hours.

.
Unnerving.

.

There are plenty of possible explanations for that experience.

But the one that stands out to me is a wasted opportunity. Some people just test you to see what you're going to do. Whether that approach is right or wrong doesn't really matter. This was this recording engineers chance to show what he could do and he just sat there staring at Prince. (If he knew Prince was staring at him then it must have been mutual.)

If a guy (Prince) isn't going to say anything, then throw some things out there and see if something sticks. At least Prince could leave the room knowing you would took a chance and offer your ideas. This might have been a long working relationship had he even accidently put something together that Prince found intriguing.

Case in point, I've been at school and at work and several times some teacher or boss has said to me to get something done and I didn't have a clue what they wanted exactly, and that wasn't the point. They wanted me to try. They wanted to see what I came up with. THEN they explained.

Imagine how different that story might have been had this engineer not approached the situation as the"client from hell" but instead "the time I left Prince speechless". Even if what he did sucked he might have gotten a smile for his hustle or some criticism that might have helped him or some encouragement to keep working at his craft.

[Edited 6/2/20 16:44pm]

I can believe it.

bluegangsta said:

lavendardrummachine said:

I mean, if Prince walks into your studio, do you really need to ask what he wants from the song or what sound he wanted? It's not like he walked in with his first demo tape.

Yes. If you're an engineer worth your salt, you absolutely should ask your client what they're expecting.

Plus, read the room, or the secret messages in his eye rays. Jeez.

Prince was being a dick. Having a purple pantalooned sex dwarf stare at you in silence while your working for three hours wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

I dunno. Think I might like it.

poppys said:

bluegangsta said:

Prince was being a dick. Having a purple pantalooned sex dwarf stare at you in silence while your working for three hours wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

I dunno. Think I might like it.

purplethunder3121 said:

Yup. Sounds accurate

I would think im prince! u knew it was me coming u did your homework and talked to other engineers who worked with me before hand.u are not prepared and im not gonna help u do it...

purplethunder3121 said:

bluegangsta said:

Prince was being a dick. Having a purple pantalooned sex dwarf stare at you in silence while your working for three hours wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

poppys said:

I dunno. Think I might like it.

uh huh, uh huh uh huh

Not gonna lie, I would probably be like "you want to erase it all right?" Then slow motion move to the button.

Prince is great musically, but he could be a dick sometimes!

This is why we have so much hatred on this planet between people.

It is easy just to be pleasant and courteous.

The engineer should have left to go to the bathroom and just left Prince sat there all day on his own staring at the wall - that would teach him!

George Michael once told the story of when he was in the same recording facility as Madonna. Apparently Madonna was very rude and nasty to a studio runner - however George was quick to intervene, he told her off and got her to apologise.

George was always a nice kind person. You'd never get him staring at someone for three hours!

darkroman said:

Prince is great musically, but he could be a dick sometimes!

This is why we have so much hatred on this planet between people.

It is easy just to be pleasant and courteous.

The engineer should have left to go to the bathroom and just left Prince sat there all day on his own staring at the wall - that would teach him!

George Michael once told the story of when he was in the same recording facility as Madonna. Apparently Madonna was very rude and nasty to a studio runner - however George was quick to intervene, he told her off and got her to apologise.

George was always a nice kind person. You'd never get him staring at someone for three hours!

poppys said:

bluegangsta said:

Prince was being a dick. Having a purple pantalooned sex dwarf stare at you in silence while your working for three hours wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

Oh my lord.

ufoclub said:

bluegangsta said: