Prince Synth

Shai · Post by **Shai** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:06 am

Hi I'm Looking For the synths prince use in the purple rain album
thanks

prince fan 2 · Post by **prince fan 2** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:16 am

oberheim obx-a....ob8...and earlier versions

i think the time...ie the band..used the obx-a in the vid
purple rain.

seen a moog pollymoog....in vids

prophet v a little later...

great to hear from another fan..hope that helps.

veer chasm · Post by **veer chasm** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:36 pm

I think I read somewhere that he used to layer in Farfisa sounds along with his OB's to get that layered tone he's known for.

CTB · Post by **CTB** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:06 pm

And the OB-SX as well. Prince basically worked through the OB range from X to 8, with the SX showing up in videos/on stage by Wendy and Lisa as well.

Analogue Crazy · Post by **Analogue Crazy** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 6:50 pm

The OB-SX is in the '1999' music video. Wendy and Lisa are both playing it.

JUGEL · Post by **JUGEL** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:52 pm

were they "together" ??

sorry off topic.

Micke · Post by **Micke** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:59 pm

Prince fans!

If you haven't seen these Prince videos I highly recommend you to do so ...

In chronological order:

Prince (1979): Oberheim Four-voice (x2), Minimoog, Polymoog etc
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/se ... ideo_music
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/se ... over_music

Dirty Mind (1980): OB-X, Arp omni II and Polymoog
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/se ... town_music
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/se ... mind_music

Controversy (1981): OB-X and OB-SX (I think) (pay attention to the fat and 'buzzy' chords on the chorus of Controversy, very typical of the early Oberheim sound I'd say)
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/se ... ersy_music
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/se ... lity_music

1999 (1982): OB-Xa, OB-SX (x2), Arp Omni II etc.
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/se ... 1999_music
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/se ... ried_music
note that in the second video they can be seen with both mk I & mk II OB-SX's.

ENJOY!

Here's quote from Prince's keyboardist Matt "Doctor" Fink regarding the heavy synth texture on "1999":

"He would just put three or four tracks of Oberheim sounds together and use different ? voicings to make it thick and fat. The Oberheim was the main synthesizer he used in the studio back then. He used the Yamaha CP-80 electric grand too, but for synths, the Ober-heim was the main axe. In the earlier years, he always liked to have a real strong lead line tone incorporated into his songs; that was a trademark of his. If you listen to "Delirious," from 1999, there's a real high Oberheim patch with a lot of modulation in there. It?s real live-ly ? kind of a cross between an organ and a square wave."

JUGEL · Post by **JUGEL** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:09 pm

Micke.. what about Uptown? What is doing the piano sound ... right next to the OBX?

MrFrodo · Post by **MrFrodo** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:26 pm

I could've sworn over the last ten years that Prince and/or the Revolution made use of the DX7. afer all, it was 1984, and the DX7 was just as much en vogue, if not moreso than the OB-8.

Vast Halo · Post by **Vast Halo** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:27 pm

Analogue Crazy wrote:The OB-SX is in the '1999' music video. Wendy and Lisa are both playing it.

Actually, that's not Wendy, it's Jill Jones.

Micke · Post by **Micke** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:33 pm

JUGEL wrote:Micke.. what about Uptown? What is doing the piano sound ... right next to the OBX?

Not sure but it might be the Polymoog. The synth sitting on top of Fink's OB-X is an Arp Omni II.

Micke

MrFrodo · Post by **MrFrodo** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:42 pm

Vast Halo wrote:
Analogue Crazy wrote:The OB-SX is in the '1999' music video. Wendy and Lisa are both playing it.
Actually, that's not Wendy, it's Jill Jones.

Does she really play keys? I only thought she could sing.

Micke · Post by **Micke** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:54 pm

MrFrodo wrote:I could've sworn over the last ten years that Prince and/or the Revolution made use of the DX7. afer all, it was 1984, and the DX7 was just as much en vogue, if not moreso than the OB-8.

Yes you're right, Prince did indeed use the DX-7 back in the middle of the 1980's. "Purple Rain" was recorded from Aug 1983 to March 1984 so it's possible the DX-7 made it to some of those songs alongside the OB-Xa, OB-8 etc.
Haven't listened to that album for a long time so I can't tell for sure.

BTW, Prince was also using the Roland D-50 a lot during the late '80s

Micke

veer chasm · Post by **veer chasm** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:43 am

Micke wrote:
MrFrodo wrote:
BTW, Prince was also using the Roland D-50 a lot during the late '80s

Micke

Don't get me wrong, I owned and loved my D50, but when Prince did the Batman soundtrack you could smell the stock D50 presets a mile away. It's almost like he quit trying to program after that album and Diamonds & Pearls.

DGX305 · Post by **DGX305** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:15 pm

veer chasm wrote:
Micke wrote:
MrFrodo wrote:
BTW, Prince was also using the Roland D-50 a lot during the late '80s

Micke

Don't get me wrong, I owned and loved my D50, but when Prince did the Batman soundtrack you could smell the stock D50 presets a mile away. It's almost like he quit trying to program after that album and Diamonds & Pearls.

what makes you think that Prince program anything by himself?