Q-Tip

In this video, Tip says:

"It's the epicenter to my music"

Used on "Life is Better", as stated in Q-Tip's January 2008 Remix interview, it. Transcripts can be found at the Future Producers forums (linked) and this Prince.org forum.

Sometimes the sound manipulation happened right at the source, as it did for the distorted-sounding Fender Rhodes that lends “Life's Circus” its principal character. “We took off the top of the Rhodes,” Q-Tip says, “and I taped some wax paper over the tines and then miked that to get that pop in the sound. I think it worked much better at making that happen than any effects pedal or plug-in could have.”

(...) Fender Rhodes Bass, Rhodes suitcase Mark I

Given Q-Tip's 73-key Mark II, it is likely that his Mark I is also a 73-key.

Used for The Renaissance, as stated in his January 2008 Remix interview. Transcripts can be found at the Future Producers forums (linked) and this Prince.org forum.

Q-Tip goes even further with aural textures than he did on Open, trying numerous methods to get to the sound he hears in his head. “The MPC3000 has been his main workhorse,” [recording engineer Blair] Wells says, “but there was a period where he went back to the [E-mu] SP-1200 for obvious tonal reasons. He's tried the MPC4000 and the 1000, and some of the Roland boxes like the Fantom [X-series workstation] with the drum pads, to rework his samples.”

Used for The Renaissance, as stated in his January 2008 Remix interview. Transcripts can be found at the Future Producers forums (linked) and this Prince.org forum.

Q-Tip goes even further with aural textures than he did on Open, trying numerous methods to get to the sound he hears in his head. “The MPC3000 has been his main workhorse,” [recording engineer Blair] Wells says, “but there was a period where he went back to the [E-mu] SP-1200 for obvious tonal reasons. He's tried the MPC4000 and the 1000, and some of the Roland boxes like the Fantom [X-series workstation] with the drum pads, to rework his samples.”

Featured in two promotional photos for The Renaissance (the second can be found here).

The "main workhorse" for The Renaissance, as stated in his January 2008 Remix interview. Transcripts can be found at the Future Producers forums (linked) and this Prince.org forum.

“I'd usually come up with a sketch on the [Akai] MPC3000,” he explains. “Then I'd shoot that to the guys, and they'd take it and play with it, and I'd take what they'd do sometimes and chop it up, so it was always going through processing. It would morph and change to become whatever it was meant to become. In that way, jazz was a little bit of an inspiration, especially with the way Miles [Davis] was so organic in what he did with his band. He'd go for certain colors and certain vibes, like a painting. Making music is like that, with the palettes, the colors, the tones and the hues.”

(...) Q-Tip goes even further with aural textures than he did on Open, trying numerous methods to get to the sound he hears in his head. “The MPC3000 has been his main workhorse,” [recording engineer Blair] Wells says, “but there was a period where he went back to the [E-mu] SP-1200 for obvious tonal reasons. He's tried the MPC4000 and the 1000, and some of the Roland boxes like the Fantom [X-series workstation] with the drum pads, to rework his samples.”

Part of Q-Tip's 2008 inventory, as listed in his January 2008 Remix interview. Transcripts can be found at the Future Producers forums (linked) and this Prince.org forum.

Fender Rhodes Bass, Rhodes suitcase Mark I

Part of Q-Tip's 2008 inventory, as listed in his January 2008 Remix interview. Transcripts can be found at the Future Producers forums (linked) and this Prince.org forum.

ARP Odyssey, Solina String Ensemble

Part of Q-Tip's 2008 inventory, as listed in his January 2008 Remix interview. Transcripts can be found at the Future Producers forums (linked) and this Prince.org forum.

Roland Fantom X-series workstation, Juno-106