Let’s Go Crazy multitrack breakdown

 (updated: 17/05/24)

Let’s Go Crazy multitrack analysis

Information on Princevault: https://princevault.com/index.php?title=Let%E2%80%99s_Go_Crazy

The following 24 tracks of audio described here are from the complete, unedited transfer of the “Let’s Go Crazy” multitrack, the full 7-minute version that appears as the ‘Special Dance Mix’. The version of the multitrack in common circulation on the internet has some sections of the tracks muted

·      1. Clap – from the Linn LM-1 drum machine. Possibly triggered manually by Bobby Z. hitting Simmons SDS-V pad during live take.

·      2. Kick – Linn LM-1. Part of the drum loop.

·      3. Snare – Linn LM-1. Looped throughout the song. Except the snare parts at the ending were triggered off another LM-1 with a condenser mic in Bobby’s snare.

·      4. Hi-hat – includes lots of bleed from live take.

·      5 & 6. Synth – various synth overdubs, which could be Prince or Matt or Lisa. Includes SDS-V tom-tom fills at end.

·      7. Percussion – in fact Linn LM-1 looped rimshots pitched down. Similar to the distinctive ‘knocking’ sound on “When Doves Cry”

·      8. Snare FX – most likely Simmons SDS-V synthetic drum sounds.

·      9. Overheads – live as played during rehearsal take, with lots of bleed.

·      10. Overheads – live. Slight bleed from Lisa’s synth and band performance

·      11. Bass – Brownmark’s bass, played on an Ampeg SVT and possibly run through a Boss DS-1 pedal for distinctive tone

·      12. Piano – Matt Fink’s Yamaha CP-70 solo, played live

·      13. organ – organ sound on Matt Fink’s Oberheim OB-Xa, as played during the live take. 

·      14. organ – additional overdubs of above part just before the ‘Let’s Go Crazy, people’ lyric

·      15. Electric Guitar 1 – Prince’s guitar overdub featuring the solo that made the record, done alone in the studio with Susan Rogers at the console once the band had left the studio. Done on his Hohner HG490 guitar, with Mesa/Boogie Mk. IIC+ amp heads and JBL speakers. Effects used include a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah pedal and Boss DS-1. One or two punch-ins are subtly audible.

·      16. Synth 3 (Percussive synth) – mostly a double of below part, possibly OB-SX.

·      17. Synth 4 – Lisa Coleman’s Oberheim OB-SX synth, played during the live take. Mostly the pipe organ preset, then changes during one of the sections

·      18. Synth 5 – Various overdub parts including the synth stabs, all string sounds from an Arp Omni-2.

·      19. Electric Guitar 2 – Prince’s guitar part played during the original live take, including an entirely different guitar solo.

·      20. Electric Guitar 3 – Wendy’s rhythm part, probably played on her purple Rickenbacker 330.

·      21. Lead vocal – the vocal as it appears on the record, replacing the original live vocals which are audible in bleed into the overhead tracks. The vocals in the ‘dearly beloved’ intro speech and the “take me away” scream have a subtle chorus effect printed to tape, probably from an Eventide Harmonizer. Includes a shaker overdub in one of the sections.

·      22 & 23. Background vocals – Sung by Prince and members of The Revolution to the original live vocals (noticeable in headphone bleed). Vocals were probably recorded separately then bounced down to stereo pair. Slight bit of studio talk is captured with Lisa quickly warms up for the vocal part with Prince before singing it, only present on the complete multitrack transfer.

·      24. Background vocal FX – includes some lower pitch vocals for demonic effect (possibly also done with a H910/H949 harmonizer), as well as a lead vocal double in the “darling everything’s gonna be alright” section etc. Extra bits include the synthetic kick drum at the end and the three high-octave synth notes (E, D# C#) played ahead of the guitar solo, probably OB-Xa

Further information:

Prince In The Studio 1975-1995 by Jake Brown (2010)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.guitarworld.com/amp/features/the-secrets-behind-princes-tone-on-lets-go-crazy

https://www.mixonline.com/recording/lets-go-crazy-prince

Multitrack Masters podcast breakdown of “Let’s Go Crazy”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34rBlxZnm60 (note that apart from a few obvious inaccuracies, definitely worth a listen. Also, it’s well-known to Prince experts and fans who played which parts – for example it was confirmed in other sources to be Matt who did the distinctive synth organ part, a sound which Prince introduced to him on the demo)

Comments

  1. Anonymous21 September 2025 at 07:56

    The Snare FX are Pearl SY-1 claps and tom booms

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Def Leppard Hysteria - making of

 (last updated: dd/mm/yy) Def Leppard’s Hysteria – making of February 1984 : After wrapping up their successful Pyromania tour in Bangkok, Def Leppard set up shop to Dublin for tax reasons, where they started writing and pre-production for what became Hysteria . Over the next six months, they each demoed multiple riffs and ideas onto 4-track cassette recorders from which they’d assemble proper songs – these included “Animal”, “Armageddon It”, “Don’t Shoot Shotgun”, “Excitable” among a few. Producer Mutt Lange, who worked on the band’s last two albums, also joined in for some of the writing, but later informed them he couldn’t produce it due to burnout from prior projects. 11 August – late October 1984 : The infamous recording sessions with producer Jim Steinman and engineer Neil Dorfsman at Wisseloord Studios (Hilversum, Netherlands). It has been well documented that Steinman’s standards were not as high as the band’s. Joe : “[Steinman] wouldn’t adapt and we wouldn’t comprom...
Read more

The Police Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic versions

 (last updated: mm/dd/yyyy) Early demo – recorded c. January 1977 at Mike Howlett’s attic studio in Acton, London using his TEAC 4-track recorder. This was before Portastudios were available. Sting is the sole performer on the demo. He plays acoustic guitar (the instrument he wrote it on), bass guitar and a small African drum for accompaniment. Beautiful in its rawest form, slightly Latin-inspired feel too. But was clearly too soft and sentimental for The Police at the time, also accounting for the explosion of punk in the UK. Officially released on Police Academy in 1997 by Mike Howlett. Sting performed an acoustic rendition like this demo on VH1 Storytellers in 1996. 1981 demo – recorded by Sting and keyboardist Jean Roussel in early January 1981 at Le Studio (Morin Heights, Canada), engineered by Nick Blagona. Arguably it is a professional demo this time, not a home demo. The drum machine pattern is identifiably the ‘Bossa Nova’ rhythm preset on a Roland CR78, accompanied b...
Read more