This is what it sounds like: Prince and our perception of music | PURPLE RAIN
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Published 2020-01-20
This is what it sounds like: Prince and our perception of music
Coolidge Corner Theatre (Brookline, MA): October 21, 2019
Berklee professor and frequent Prince collaborator Susan Rogers speaks about music, memory, and working with Prince. We encourage you to pair this conversation with PURPLE RAIN!
Presenter: Susan Rogers is a professor of music production and engineering at Berklee College of Music. She holds a doctorate in psychology from McGill University, where she studied music cognition and psychoacoustics under researchers Daniel Levitin and Stephen McAdams. Her research focuses on auditory memory, the perception of musical signals, and the influence of musical training on auditory development. For two decades prior to her science career, Rogers was one of the world's few women known for her work as a record producer, engineer, mixer, and audio electronics technician. Career highlights include years (1983–1988) as staff engineer for recording artist Prince and working with such diverse artists as Barenaked Ladies, David Byrne, Tricky, and Tevin Campbell.
Rogers is the director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory. In tandem with business partner and former student Matthew McArthur '10, Rogers launched Boston's first nonprofit recording studio, The Record Company, to offer low-cost recording facilities to area musicians and free music technology instruction to area teens.
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The Science on Screen grant initiative brings science to cinemas nationwide, through creative pairings of current, classic, cult, and documentary films with lively introductions by notable figures from the world of science, technology, and medicine: scienceonscreen.org/
An initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
All Comments (21)
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I’m 55 years old. I grew up listening to Prince first 6 albums on repeat. They became part of the fabric of my life. I adored Prince music when the folks around me were lukewarm. In 2004 I was 35 had enough money and autonomy to attend my first Prince Concert in Detroit at the Joe Lewis Arena. I finally had the means & opportunity to see my favorite artist LIVE. This was a concert of a lifetime! It lasted close to 3 hours. I would never ever be the same as I witnessed greatness performing at a genius level. It is 2024 now and I binge on all the live Prince concerts and information about Prince on YouTube. Instinctively at a young age of 11-12 I knew I was listening to a musician like no other and now in my fifties it’s life affirming to know that my intuition was right about Princes greatness. Love You Prince & still listening to your music. RIP Dear One….
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She articulates the years she had with Prince greater than any other person that was in his circle for me.
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Susan Rogers is a brilliant gift to Prince fans and the world!
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The world lost an ocean of talent the day Prince died💜💔
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I love listening to her tell her stories about Prince. Prince earned the respect of all musicians not only because he was an amazing talent but also because he was literally the Michaelangelo of music. As she stated while other musicians had professionals to help them, Prince took on the overwhelming idea of kids who had no idea and sculpted a masterpiece.
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Towards the end of this video how she explained what Prince was up against Michael Jackson with all of his professionals Quincy Jones and it was just prince with his Motley Crew and little windy 18 years old and they were right there competing with the best of the best just goes to show you how talented Prince was it's absolutely amazing God Rest his soul
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Doggonit Susan you almost made me cry when you started talking about how Michael had a state of the art team and Prince only had himself and a bunch of talented beginners and y'all could still hang! I've loved Prince since the beginning. He did it his way and so he remained true to himself his entire career 💜💜💜
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She deserves a bigger audience, and more speaking time :)
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This is great. I particularly enjoyed Susan talking about the Triple Crown achievment that Prince pulled off. I never thought of his strategy, but this makes sense!
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Bam-Mo! The triple crown. Susan is so wonderful to listen to because she sincerely loves and cares for Prince and his legacy. Liv4luv ☔
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Prof Susan Rogers,wow,I mean like wow,I’ve never looked at Prince’s 💕💖music and career like that,Purple Rain ☔️ truly was the underdog conquering All,which culminated in Prince being bigger than MJ In 84/85,an exstroadinary achievement by all those involved,including the Great man Prince💕👍👍👍👏👏...A extremely educational vid,and if you’re going into the engineering and producing part of the music biz,this is a lady you should study,and listen to..
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Glad Prince referenced Beethoven, I often recall how Prince had such respect for artists that came before his own time. 10:43
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That was so emotional Susan, you speak of him with such great love and and affection xx
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14 minutes was WAY to short!! Thank you for the upload!
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That's fascinating. I just did a tour of Paisley Park, and in watching videos on YT, I heard one of experience curators say that Prince wanted his music to be just like what she is describing above with the dots. He envisioned Paisley Park as a place where more great music will come out of it than the sum of all of his creations, his children, if that makes sense.
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I could listen to you Susan Rodgers talk about Prince 💜
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Quel dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de traduction française... Je comprends l'anglais, mais à 70%...et ce n'est pas suffisant pour tout comprendre. En France, prince a été sous estimé. J'aimerais tellement revenir en arrière et le revoir évoluer dans son art. Prince, tu nous manques .....je crois qu'il était tellement impressionnant de talents, que l'on va mettre longtemps à tout comprendre de lui. I love you baby brother.
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I was Sheila E’s drum tech on the PRT, Professional Rogers (Susan then) was always focused and always kind.
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What an honor to be able to hear and receive this
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she said it all Prince was a kid with Kids playing music and made BIG HIT and culture
