D>Elektro 1.2.2 - Sounds + Elements -4 - Studio | Sound

D>Elektro |1.2.2| |>Sounds + Elements

|> History/ies + Sounds

of modern electronic / experimental music in Germany |<

D>Elektro 1.2 - |> expanded concept <|

|1.2.2| Sounds + Elements

|> Experiments | Sounds + Concepts |

| Studio | Sound | Laboratory |

In this environment of independent living- and production-possibilities, one could - liberated from time- and commercial pressure, find the time for all those unusual experiments, which were necessary to transport all those ideas out of the musician's heads onto the magnetic tapes.
It was the time which was used for the research and manipulation of sounds and structures, that one couldn't have payed, had it been spent in a normal recording-studio.
The new possibilities and instruments called for time to explore them in depth. High time for sound-research.

"There is so much in music that can't be put down in notes, especially the sound.
And here the electronics are offering a whole new range of possibilities. That is why for me a mixing-board has always been a musical instrument. Listen to the thunder on 'Irrlicht'. On this I had used a built-out Hammond reverb-spring as an instrument of it's own - I've simply plugged it from the upper side."

Klaus Schulze

|> The Studio as a Soundlaboratory

The musicians acquainted themselves with the necessary details and facts - and hence weren't depending on sound-engineers and other experts. They moved closer to the technologies of sounds and to the possibilities of using the studio as a tool for electronically expressing themselves.

"Our instrument is really the Kling Klang studio - it existed from the beginning as a part of the group, like a 'mothership' from which everything originates."

Ralf Huetter [Kraftwerk]

An unusual and personal relation with the technology was of great importance - and quite often those never-heard-before sounds, arose from the creative connection of musical knowledge, engineering-art and a talent for improvisation in all these areas. [Once in a while, of course, sheer chance was helping out as well.]

"We spend a lot of time with inventing and constructing our own instruments and also on our visual appearance. It is not 'just' about the music, but about the connection of engineer's work, art and music."

Ralf Huetter [Kraftwerk]

In the course of this innovative work with their instruments and their studio equipment, Kraftwerk and other musicians developed their very own sound.
Old and new technologies were combined - the formerly acquired, and in parts academical knowledge, was put on day-to-day trial in unusual sound-experiments.
And simultaneous to the expanding of the notion of sound, the inevitable expanding of the notion of what an instrument is - or could be - took place.

"In the beginning there were no instruments that could repeat sounds. We were working with echo-loops and tape-machine, we copied sounds a dozen times to achieve repeated rhythms.
We were using everything to create new sounds and listening-experiences."
These were at first gadgets originally used for measure- and control-engineering, like oscillators, sine- and frequence-generators. Those were hooked up to each other, send through a delay and so forth..."

Edgar Froese [Tangerine Dream]

Kraftwerk were also building a lot of their own instruments. They were doing pioneer's work here as well. Already in 1976 Florian Schneider was able to trigger and direct his synthesizer via the holes in his transverse flute.

"In 1971 Kraftwerk was still without a drummer, so I bought a cheap drum machine wich had some preset dance rhythms. By changing the basic sounds with tape echo and filtering we made the rhythm tracks for our second album.
Our instrumental sounds came from home-made oscillators and an old Hammond Organ that gave us various tonal harmonies with its drawbars. We manipulated the tapes at different speeds for further effects.
We couldn't have achieved these sounds with a traditional drummer. Later on with our two electronic percussionists, we worked for months to develop that system, and it changed our lives.

Florian Schneider [Kraftwerk]

The results to be heard on the first Kraftwerk record, like the first track 'Ruckzuck', evoked, through the sound-design and manipulation, the impression of a music driven by machines.
A new phenomenon.

D>Elektro |1.2.2| |>Sounds + Elements<|

|> Studio | Sound | Laboratory <|