
Sign O The Times & The Black Album
Sign O The Times is Prince's ninth album. It is one his most critically acclaimed records and produced three top ten singles. It features a mixture of styles, including R&B, funk, dance, rock and jazz.
The album includes songs intended for a number of different projects, including the fourth Revolution album, Dream Factory, and the solo Camille project. “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night” was recorded live on the Parade tour and features the full Revolution, while Wendy, Lisa, Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss and Sheila E all appear elsewhere. Many of the songs are a return to Prince’s solo style, based around the electric guitar, Linn LM-1 drum machine and various synthesizers.
Prince toured from May to June 1987 with a new, unnamed band. Prince also filmed a concert movie with this band.
The Black Album was mostly recorded towards the end of the Sign O The Times sessions, so is included in this era. It was released as Prince's sixteenth album in 1994.
Prince Live
Equipment
Rig Diagram
Prince In The Studio

Sign O The Times was recorded between March and December 1986 at Sunset Sound studios, Prince's Galpin Boulevard home studio and Le Zenith, Paris. For details of the instruments used by the Revolution on “It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night”, see the Parade page. The Black Album was recorded between October 1986 and March 1987 at Sunset Sound and Galpin Boulevard, using similar equipment to the Sign O The Times sessions. “When 2 R In Love” was recorded in October 1987 at Paisley Park. See the Lovesexy page for more information about this session.
Equipment
Vocals |
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Guitars |
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Amplifier |
Amps were recorded through Shure SM57 or Sennheiser MD421 microphones. Guitars were also recorded direct using a Countryman 85 DI.
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Effects | |
Basses | |
Synthesizers |
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Pianos and Keyboards |
The Steinway Model B was recorded with AKG C414 microphones. The Hammond B3 was recorded through a Leslie speaker with AKG C414 (horn) and Sennheiser MD 421/AKG D112 (drum) microphones.
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Drums and Percussion |
Drums recorded with the following microphones - Kick Drum: Electro-Voice RE-20, AKG D112 or Sennheiser MD 421; Snare: Shure SM57 top, AKG C451 bottom; Toms: Sennhesier MD 441 and MD 421; HiHat: AKG C451; Overheads: Neumann U47/U87 or AKG C414.
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Horns |
Horns were recorded with Neumann U47, U87 and AKG C414 microphones.
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References
- Tudahl, Duane. (2021) Prince and the Parade and Sign O The Times Era Studio Sessions 1985 and 1986.
- Brown, Jake. (2010) Prince 'in the Studio' 1975 - 1995.
- Prince Sound and Lighting On Stage. (1987) Soundcheck.
- Susan Rogers Lecture. (2016) Red Bull Music Academy.