thebanishedone said:

In the early and up to the mid 80's Prince was using maybe the best synths in the market.All the Oberhaim series were fantastic.But starting with 1983 digital synth started arriving and most of the artists including Prince ditched their analong synth replacing them with yamaha dx7,rolands and other.In the early 90s Prince started using drum loops that were thing of a day and now those sounds are cringe worthy.With the mass consumption of new instruments the outcome was a change in how the instruments were build.New instruments tended to be more profit based and made from cheaper parts.Old analog synths were manufactured with lot of details and heart.maybe that is why Princes early 80s output stand the test of time and had inspired so many artists.Starting with 1985 great warm synth sounds vanished from Princes catalog and he never achived the same warmth.I know my rant was long but to simplify the subject do you think a lot of post 1985 music would have been better if he resisted adapting to technology current at the time?

I don't think I would call 1999 a warm synth album. I think synths sound synthy all the time, more or less, and it is the use of live drums that brings warmth. Look at "Hot Thing" - you could call this a warm synth sound, I suppose, but the percussion takes it right out of that feeling. Also, I feel like he utilized warmer sounds in the early to mid 00s quite a bit both live and on record. Of course, his final album had a lot of warm sounds.

There's a part of me that thinks yes, very much so, but there's also a part of me that thinks his stuff might have started to sound very samey if he had been using the same synths excusively for 10-15 years. I also wouldn't draw the line at 1985 for any kind of sign of decline but that's another conversation.

plenty of warm synths on Lovesexy LP

I want to say it was his approach changed too. The drum machines had presets, but he found a unique sound instead. He could have done that with the loops but he didn't.

Then again, he was also making music using synth horns and stuff. Some of it was trying to emulate the instruments, and some of it was just bending futuristic sounds.

Technology wise, I think what changed was the MIDI, Atari and ADAT, and that was industry wide....but ultimately it was just his taste.

It wasn't just his music, but his aesthetic and the lyrics, and a different kind of experimentation that wasn't as edgy. If you look at Black Sweat, that has that kinda video game electro sound instead an Arp or whatever, but it's coming from the same place creatively. I think the lack of a labor intensive process that was more accessible to working fast without intent meant more frivolous output. Making a song could be free. Do you stop and call the tech to come in and hit it off and work with him on songs, or do you just send the thing to the basement and get a new Yamaha with a disc drive so you can just finish it.

LoveGalore said:

thebanishedone said:

In the early and up to the mid 80's Prince was using maybe the best synths in the market.All the Oberhaim series were fantastic.But starting with 1983 digital synth started arriving and most of the artists including Prince ditched their analong synth replacing them with yamaha dx7,rolands and other.In the early 90s Prince started using drum loops that were thing of a day and now those sounds are cringe worthy.With the mass consumption of new instruments the outcome was a change in how the instruments were build.New instruments tended to be more profit based and made from cheaper parts.Old analog synths were manufactured with lot of details and heart.maybe that is why Princes early 80s output stand the test of time and had inspired so many artists.Starting with 1985 great warm synth sounds vanished from Princes catalog and he never achived the same warmth.I know my rant was long but to simplify the subject do you think a lot of post 1985 music would have been better if he resisted adapting to technology current at the time?

I don't think I would call 1999 a warm synth album. I think synths sound synthy all the time, more or less, and it is the use of live drums that brings warmth. Look at "Hot Thing" - you could call this a warm synth sound, I suppose, but the percussion takes it right out of that feeling. Also, I feel like he utilized warmer sounds in the early to mid 00s quite a bit both live and on record. Of course, his final album had a lot of warm sounds.

When you play Little Red Corvette intro and those creamy synth kicks in

that is not warm for you?

Or those big horn synth riffs of 1999 or DMSR?To me 1999 is the

epitome od fat warm

creamy analog synth sound that cut in the mix like a beast

,all the way through the 1999 album.

Im not sure about Hot Thing synth lick.it sounds cold. i thing the synth is maybe roland d50.

jaawwnn said:

There's a part of me that thinks yes, very much so, but there's also a part of me that thinks his stuff might have started to sound very samey if he had been using the same synths excusively for 10-15 years. I also wouldn't draw the line at 1985 for any kind of sign of decline but that's another conversation.

IN 1985 he totally changed his keyboard gear ,a drastic change in sound

.Gone were the warm fuzzy synths with detuned oscilators and harsh

and bright sounds of digital yamaha and db50 made a switch

RJOrion said:

plenty of warm synths on Lovesexy LP

To an extent i would agree if we talk about Glam Slam but actually

most i hear on that album are harsh and cold sounds of roland d50

thebanishedone said:

RJOrion said:

plenty of warm synths on Lovesexy LP

To an extent i would agree if we talk about Glam Slam but actually

most i hear on that album are harsh and cold sounds of roland d50

definitely talking about Glam Slam... especially throughout the amazing 2nd half of that song

looking at it in a broader perspective.. in the 50s they made some wonderful sounding albums. In the 60s overdrive and distortion started being used in a musical way and 4 track recording was introduced, as well as stereo records. It resulted in albums that just sound bad, Jimi Hendrix records as an example. So much brilliance under such a messed up recording. In the 70s most of the issues were overcome and records started to sound better, as the recording professionals got used to it. Then digital technology started in the late 70s and destroyed the sound of much of the 80s. (Stevie Wonder's albums of the early 80s were not just atrocities because of the songwriting) In the 90s CDs started sound better (in the mastering) and the instruments started sounding better too.

.

Some people love the harsh digital sounds.. I love albums like 1999 in spite of the sound, not because of it. ymmv.

thebanishedone said:

jaawwnn said:

There's a part of me that thinks yes, very much so, but there's also a part of me that thinks his stuff might have started to sound very samey if he had been using the same synths excusively for 10-15 years. I also wouldn't draw the line at 1985 for any kind of sign of decline but that's another conversation.

IN 1985 he totally changed his keyboard gear ,a drastic change in sound

.Gone were the warm fuzzy synths with detuned oscilators and harsh

and bright sounds of digital yamaha and db50 made a switch

Perhaps, but it still sounds good to me so I see no decline in his creative output.