most important linn sound

I was thinking about Prince's signature percussion sounds.I was considering which I feel has been the most imoportant andrhythm propelling.I thought of the thick snare that are doubled with toms,the infamous "kuh" sound,the flat kick drum sound,th inventive high hats,especially,the 1999 album sounds,and ,of course,th hand clap.

The "kuh" is so original and the bomb,but the handclaps are the most important and ear-catching.He has used themto a level no other artist has.Some are super blatant and to the fore and some are hidden in the mix.Listen in your earphones.This man used to be rhythm and percussion king.Evn in ONA LIVE and the song,"1+1+1=3" he uses them (it may not actually be the Linn)like he did on 1999 and dirty mind where it's like a pimp slap from Moe Howard.

All in all, they (the sounds) are fantastic.I continue with my long love affair with Linn.

rockwilder said:

Is that you RD?

http://www.prince.org/msg...&tid=37162

Professional Masturbator, overworked and underpaid!
Proud member of Prince's cult for 20 years!

Supernova said:

paisleypark4 said:

LittlePill said:

Is that you RD?

http://www.prince.org/msg...&tid=37162

Supernova said:

paisleypark4 said:

Ahh, my baby, she's the centerpiece of my drum setup studio.



There's been so many threads about the Linn, I've posted some details.

You have to actually use one to understand how the beats are created.

Here are some discoveries:

The machine is relentless and simple to use at the same time. The timing saves you time and let's you concentrate on the next idea.

Using a sampler or software is NOT the same. Any song that's used Reason Redrum or Acid or whatever, does NOT capture the essense of that machine.

The gassy sound you hear on Sex Shooter and She's Always In My Hair is the hihat with the knob that controls the decay of the hihat turned all the way to open. Then it's processed with effects.

Little Red Corvette has a shaker augmenting the open hihat effect and there is a very low rim shot in there right before it.

The "Kuh" is the rimshot, you actually have to be very precise to get that tone at times. Too low and it sounds too Jesse Johnson, too hi and it sounds stock.

Prince used a really modified version of the regular LM-1. He showed it off in Keyboard I believe in a '99 issue. He has knobs and switches on the sides.

I asked one of the repair guys and side engineers that helped Roger Linn, his name is Bruce Forat and he said that you can even add MIDI capabilites to it.

He offered to add a second row of alternate sounds with whatever sound I sampled or wanted. He just adds a switch and bam.

I think the LM-2 is triggerable but I forget.

If you used the LM-1 at the Celebration and really created a beat, you would of learned or gotten a pretty good idea how Prince created some of his classics.

I think he actually programmed patterns into a song with choruses and breaks and so forth and fingered in basic fills. Little Corvette was probably done in that manner. So it acted like a foundation for songs.

I think the Linn had a flair and sound that MIDI instruments could not capture.

My favorite song with the Linn is the released Strange Relationship, The Camille version. I would LOVE to hear the rest of that song, the fade at the end the rimshot is ALL over the place! I love it!

On Rave Un2, I don't think the engineer, Hans Blams or something could not figure out how to handle or set the machine up. And Kirky J, well, he's a good drummer, and he can program. But it's always better when Prince does it.

You can hear his skills on that album in Winding Road, there's this real funky break and you can hear the Rim Shot on there if you listen carefully.

777-9311 is probably the best of them all, second is Ballad Of Dorothy...on 777, it's really trick to figure out how the roll was done. The Linn is really dry and probably just eq'd a tad. On Dorothy, the Linn is also really dry.

One last thing, when creating beats on the Linn sometimes you actually mess up, but since the timing is so great, it's a serendipitous experience, your error can be an awesome idea!

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

Ahh, my baby, she's the centerpiece of my drum setup studio.



There's been so many threads about the Linn, I've posted some details.

You have to actually use one to understand how the beats are created.

Here are some discoveries:

The machine is relentless and simple to use at the same time. The timing saves you time and let's you concentrate on the next idea.

Using a sampler or software is NOT the same. Any song that's used Reason Redrum or Acid or whatever, does NOT capture the essense of that machine.

The gassy sound you hear on Sex Shooter and She's Always In My Hair is the hihat with the knob that controls the decay of the hihat turned all the way to open. Then it's processed with effects.

Little Red Corvette has a shaker augmenting the open hihat effect and there is a very low rim shot in there right before it.

The "Kuh" is the rimshot, you actually have to be very precise to get that tone at times. Too low and it sounds too Jesse Johnson, too hi and it sounds stock.

Prince used a really modified version of the regular LM-1. He showed it off in Keyboard I believe in a '99 issue. He has knobs and switches on the sides.

I asked one of the repair guys and side engineers that helped Roger Linn, his name is Bruce Forat and he said that you can even add MIDI capabilites to it.

He offered to add a second row of alternate sounds with whatever sound I sampled or wanted. He just adds a switch and bam.

I think the LM-2 is triggerable but I forget.

If you used the LM-1 at the Celebration and really created a beat, you would of learned or gotten a pretty good idea how Prince created some of his classics.

I think he actually programmed patterns into a song with choruses and breaks and so forth and fingered in basic fills. Little Corvette was probably done in that manner. So it acted like a foundation for songs.

I think the Linn had a flair and sound that MIDI instruments could not capture.

My favorite song with the Linn is the released Strange Relationship, The Camille version. I would LOVE to hear the rest of that song, the fade at the end the rimshot is ALL over the place! I love it!

On Rave Un2, I don't think the engineer, Hans Blams or something could not figure out how to handle or set the machine up. And Kirky J, well, he's a good drummer, and he can program. But it's always better when Prince does it.

You can hear his skills on that album in Winding Road, there's this real funky break and you can hear the Rim Shot on there if you listen carefully.

777-9311 is probably the best of them all, second is Ballad Of Dorothy...on 777, it's really trick to figure out how the roll was done. The Linn is really dry and probably just eq'd a tad. On Dorothy, the Linn is also really dry.

One last thing, when creating beats on the Linn sometimes you actually mess up, but since the timing is so great, it's a serendipitous experience, your error can be an awesome idea!

paisleypark4 said:

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

Ahh, my baby, she's the centerpiece of my drum setup studio.



There's been so many threads about the Linn, I've posted some details.

You have to actually use one to understand how the beats are created.

Here are some discoveries:

* read above post *

awesum man!
My dumb self feel stoopid for thinkin i just cant do it...its just i dont have the faintest of same instrumntation. I just sample from the cd's and records of the snare. No wonder y i couldnt get that "tube" sound that he captured in "She's Always In My Hair" & "Love Bizarre".

Great information. Great sound!

Fantastic informative posts FlyingCloud, thank you

Great info, FCP!

Very interesting post.
I love the oberheim synths on sex shooter, controversy and lady cab driver (I was suprised to hear it on 1+1+1+=3)
I think the most important linn sounds are that strange rising and falling loop (on sex shooter, she's always in my hair and love bizarre), the drum rolls (on let's go crazy, 1999 and computer blue) and best of all that very complex sound (on when doves cry, noon rendevous, the beautiful ones and the girl crying in purple rain.)

I'm having a lot of fun with the Linn bank on Steinbergs b.box right now!

hectim: the guitarist more underrated than Prince!

Funk Guitar Essentials at http://www.angelfire.com/music5/hectim

Thank you for the great responses!!I have always been fascinated with his world of sounds and how he achieved them.Very informative!

this topic is great. did prince use the oberheim for erotic city? if so, what effect is use on the synth when him and sheila being to sing, "if we cannot make babies..."?

Tube sound? You must be talking about the "phaser" effect on the hi hat channel.

On the back of the Linns there were quarter inch outs for each drum track. So the snare would be out to the main board, to a track on the main mixer board with a basic reverb, plate etc., then the hihat channel would be out to another track at the mixer and that one would have a different effect. I'm sure they passed them through a lot of rack effects and stuff, but that would be the idea.

Listen to Good Love, that's the LM-1, the snare has a gated or reflective reverb. It's like the sound it extended to a point. Then the tamborine here and there are left somewhat dry. Then Prince added the clap, and gave it a huge big cathedral like reverb for effect! I always loved the sonics of that and Cool Love.

I realize that after Susan Rogers explanation of the over saturation of certain drum sounds on songs like IF I Was YOur Girlfriend that that really cool and expressive sound you hear at the beginning was a tom or something.

The sound I'm talking about also is a prominent bass like growling sound you hear in Hot Thing and Forever In My Life. The live movie gives it away, because a LM-1 tom can be heard in the live mix.

SO maybe he left it dry for that. But I think now that it was a really processed tom drum...I make discoveries here in there that make me go "oooh yeah...hm!"

Sorry to get all detailed but, it's really fun to discover things that had always fascinated me. They don't take away the mystery but rather I learn from them.[/quote]


daym i wish i had this thing!!! I was surprised 2 hear the effect on the pop life and 1+1+1 =3 on the aladdin dvd.

daym i wish i had that thing! I just gotta use the samples and put reverb and phasers on them and c what i can get.

I have only one song i named :Malt Likka" which is just a jam of Linn Drum samples over phasers & choruses.

Ima go 2 it now and make another and c..

u so coo man!

what gives the bass drum that big empty hallway effect, like the one on beautiful ones?

camille2002 said:

Just listening to the Unreleased version of Erotic City, I don't kknow what synth that is, but the LM-2 has a cool phaser thing happening towards the end on the hihat, like he started playing it live as they were recording, closed high hat with big decay.

It brings the energy of the song up and Funks like crazy! Seems like he would add that hihat at times to vary the beat and give it an organic feel.

I think he messed with the Aux's and opened the effects more here and there!

And on ocassion the clap was given a huge reverb and then brought back down, like on Love Bizarre. I've heard that idea from another artist before him, but I forget.

Oh I just remembered Starfish and Coffee, I figured out the snare effect! It's a kicker! But I'll leave it at that, certain things are best kept mysterious!




.:.
[This message was edited Thu Sep 18 11:50:01 PDT 2003 by FlyingCloudPassenger]

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

paisleypark4 said:

Supernova said:

Dont hold back all the info. Let us know all you know. Ive been trying to figure out those Parade effects, but I dont have a guess. You said that your were close to the Parade effects, what do you have so far?

This is by far my favourite thread in a long time.
What`s missing is one of them machines...
Well...I DO play the lottery.
FlyingCloudPassenger...you have my deepest respect.
Thank you

Cool!

Go ahead, ask away and let's figure out some of these sounds!

Listen carefully to It or If I Was Your Girlfriend...the kick, it has his high-low feel or sound to it.

Hint...there's actually two kick buttons on the LM-1, also the Snare is that way, like light one and a harder one.

The original version of Feel You Up had the quieter softer snare, which made it very mechanical and quirky.





.::.
[This message was edited Fri Sep 19 12:59:08 PDT 2003 by FlyingCloudPassenger]

[This message was edited Fri Sep 19 12:59:30 PDT 2003 by FlyingCloudPassenger]

In the orgNote sent to me Fri Sep 19 Camille2000 said:

Read up on the history of the Linn Drum Computer:
http://www.rogerlinndesig...useum.html


LM-1





LinnDrum (LM-2)

magnificentsynthesizer667 said:

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

LM-1

...and with this, the jizz has hit the proverbial wedding gown
:::Vinyl Beats Digital™:::

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

magnificentsynthesizer667 said:

Hey! A Linn Avatar! !

YOu beat me to it!

Is that yours? Are you an owner?

I own a LinnDrum. The "kuh
sound is the "stick". what sucks is of you mess with tuning of it also effects the tuning of the snare. i agree what someone posted earlier: Any sampling software out there has yet to capture the essence of the Linn. I remember at the first Celebration they had the Lm-1 on display. I started programming some stuff, & Takumi said to me: "u know how to use this anchor???" it was funny.


Most important Linn sound is the "stick" sound. I play in a artsy rock band and we often are compared to the Velvet Underground & other noisey avant-garde free jazz inspired bands. But whats funny is when my Keyboardist starts grooving with bassplayer with her Juno, & I play some funk with Boss Flanger effect-with my drummer using to trigger hitting Claps & sticks...people are puzzled. I love it-a hundred art kids not knowing I am selling the revolution sound. I'd die without my Linn


Nero

neronava said:

Supernova said:

Do yall thyink that Prince already got the best beats out of the Linn Drum that any1 can capture ever?

paisleypark4 said:

Do yall thyink that Prince already got the best beats out of the Linn Drum that any1 can capture ever?

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

I have a linn drum (LM-1) Myself, this is really the first time I'm happy to read a topic. Finnaly some interesting stuff. This machine is indeed THA BOMB. I'm actually so stupid that I carry it arround for every concert I do.
But the people love it and so do I the sound is Unbeatable. I bring an 808 as well and some other drummachines but this one is my ALL TIME favorite.

Thanx Guys for the NICE topic.

Stijn

STIJNKRISTINE said:

funkaholic1972 said:

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

camille2002 said:

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

camille2002 said:

paisleypark4 said:

camille2002 said:

I don't completely agree that the linn-1 is more "versatile" then the "Linn Drum" (lm-2). I've used both, and own the Lm2. You can really tweak the timing on the lm2, the Lm1 is not that much different.


Nero

neronava said:

Dragging around is indeed CRAZY,
I just played in Amsterdam last night but again, people love that sound. I need my machine to trigger an MS 20 and more important I have to use the Clock output to trigger the sequencer in my JPX3(roland) and the Arpeggio inside my Poly 61m wich doesnt' have another(midi)way to trigger it.

But still I'm thinking of a way to leave my precious LM1 at home, just need a good solution. I was thinking MPC 2000? Any of you guys have suggestions feel free to mail me.

PS I'd love an LM2 but hard to find in europe.

neronava said:

neronava said:

Oh, I'm still trying to figure out the Housequake drum sound, you know the one that starts off the sound. It's like a thump.

I think it may be actually a guitar...processed. I love that sound. It was played on a Simmons or something because I've listened closely and it has a sensativity or dynamics to it.


Also, there's another drum sound I haven't discovered yet, the Madhouse clap. Its a cool longer splashier multi-clap sound.

You hear it on recordings after 86 or 87. It's very prominent on Madhouse's 6 and on It, Gonna Be A Beautiful Night, DataBank, Good Love, it's really funky and sounds great with big reverb like on It and, I forget the song number, the Madhouse "Baby Doll House" song!

"Kuwwaaahhh!"



.:.
[This message was edited Sun Sep 21 12:36:45 PDT 2003 by FlyingCloudPassenger]

camille2002 said:

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

Supernova said: