Computer Music

Prince and the Linn LM-1

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Some musicians are inextricab­ly linked with their favourite instrument – like Hendrix and his Stratocast­er or Jeff Mills and his 909 – but there was another, less talked-about but equally intense love affair that was responsibl­e for just as many hit records.

Prince was a true multiinstr­umentalist who could turn out virtuoso performanc­es on drums, guitar, piano and just about any other instrument, but when it came to drums, he was deeply loyal to the Linn LM-1, the very first sample-based drum machine, released in 1980.

The LinnDrum, released in 1982, was a far more successful machine in commercial terms (around 5000 LinnDrums were sold, compared to about 500 LM-1s), but the later unit features much less often on Prince records. One possible explanatio­n is that Prince loved to tune his drum hits, and the LM-1 allows every drum sound to be tuned, whereas the LinnDrum only allowed the user to tune the snare, toms and congas.

The sound of the LM-1 is all over The Purple One’s 80s hits, including U Got The Look, Let’s Go Crazy and Kiss. In fact, the distinctiv­e kick sounds on When Doves Cry and The Beautiful Ones are purported to be the product of running the LM-1 through Boss guitar stomp boxes. Similar sounds can be achieved using sample packs if you don’t want to fork out for an original LM-1.

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