An essential part of writing an essay is to enter with a well-thought plan. Here, I will present my planned structure and give my ideas for what I shall be writing on. My intention is to answer the questions I have put forward in the plan, operating in chronological order as I feel this is the only sensible choice when writing an almost biographical piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who was Prince? – Born in 1958 in Minneapolis, Prince became a core part of ’80s and ’90s popular music, infusing a range of funk, rock, jazz, pop, and soul. He was a prolific artist who became one of the most successful artists of all time with over 100 million records sold, and cemented himself as a legend in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What defined him as a visual artist? – Purple was to become intrinsically linked with Prince, along with extravagant, grandiose stylings and aesthetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What other visually interesting guitars did Prince use? – Love Symbol guitars, Model C, G1 Purple Special. Hohner Madcat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who built the Cloud guitar? – Minneapolis luthier, Dave Rusan, who worked at the Knut-Koupee music shop that Prince frequented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What inspired the design? – A Jeff-Levin built Sardonyx bass which Prince bought for band member Andr\u00e9 Cymone in the late 1970’s. Details are cloudy surrounding the exact story but this bass was given to Rusan to work from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What aesthetic decisions were made? – From Dave Rusan, \u201cIt\u2019s got to be white, it has to have gold parts… it had to have spades on the fingerboard.\u201d Beauty and a resplendence in contrast to the rugged, bold guitars of that time. White and gold, a colour combination related to wealth and divinity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What features did the guitar have? – Maple construction, white nitrocellulose finish, gold hardware, EMG pickups, along with the unmistakable shape: spiral carvings and the curved horn on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did it suit Prince’s vision? – Portrayed elegance in its shape, and association to the divine and royalty in its colour scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What impact did Purple Rain<\/em> have on the guitar? – The film and accompanying album achieved critical and commercial success, and the guitar featured prominently. The guitar was central to the plot and became synonymous with the artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How did the Cloud gain prominence? – Alongside the film, Prince had several replicas made to take on tour, which only increased the guitar’s renown. For subsequent tours, the Clouds were painted different colours to suit the aesthetic of each era in the Prince catalogue; appearing in dark blue, yellow, peach, electric blue, and black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did the design change from the original? – <\/p>\n\n\n\n What happened after “Purple Rain”? – <\/p>\n\n\n\n How did touring affect the design? – The guitars were repainted in accordance with the visual identity of the tour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What became of Rusan? – Rusan went on to build three replica Cloud guitars for Prince’s Purple Rain tour, before then selling his builds to the general public. He is currently engaged in a legal battle with the Prince Estate over his sale of Cloud guitars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How impactful was the guitar in popular culture? – Any artist with a signature instrument has done well, and Prince managed that fairly early on in his career. This guitar is revered amongst Prince’s fanbase and has inspired countless renditions, whether they are cheap and cheerful copies from bargain websites or part of a limited edition run by Schecter, the Cloud is found across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What did it mean to Prince? – Other guitars used by Prince throughout his career represented him well, such as the Love Symbol guitar, but none more so than the Cloud. It was a staple of his work. Heard on many of his albums, seen on most of his tours, featured on album covers, this guitar is most closely linked to Prince.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe the plan I have created allows for worthwhile exploration on the topic of the Cloud guitar, and a chance to learn vital essay-writing skills whilst documenting a piece of music history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An essential part of writing an essay is to enter with a well-thought plan. Here, I will present my planned structure and give my ideas for what I shall be writing on. My intention is to answer the questions I have put forward in the plan, operating in chronological order as I feel this is … Continue reading “Essay Plan”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":318,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1541","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/10656512\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/10656512\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/10656512\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/10656512\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/318"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/10656512\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1541"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/10656512\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1576,"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/10656512\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1541\/revisions\/1576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/10656512\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Reimagined<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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