Music Kraftwerk

1 music

1.1 style
1.2 technological innovations
1.3 seclusion

music
style

ralf hütter live @ kraftwerk performance (roskilde festival 2013)

kraftwerk have been recognized pioneers of electronic music subgenres such electropop, art pop, , synth-pop. in incarnation, band pursued avant-garde, experimental rock style inspired compositions of karlheinz stockhausen. hütter has listed beach boys major influence. group inspired funk music of james brown and, later, punk rock. connected german krautrock scene. in mid-1970s, transitioned electronic sound described robot pop . kraftwerk s lyrics dealt post-war european urban life , technology—traveling car on autobahn, traveling train, using home computers, , like. influenced modernist bauhaus aesthetic, seeing art inseparable everyday function. usually, lyrics minimal reveal both innocent celebration of, , knowing caution about, modern world, playing integral role in rhythmic structure of songs. many of kraftwerk s songs express paradoxical nature of modern urban life: strong sense of alienation existing side-by-side celebration of joys of modern technology.

all of kraftwerk s albums trans europe express onwards have been released in separate versions: 1 german vocals sale in germany, switzerland , austria , 1 english vocals rest of world, occasional variations in other languages when conceptually appropriate. live performance has played important part in kraftwerk s activities. also, despite live shows being based around formal songs , compositions, live improvisation plays noticeable role in performances. trait can traced group s roots in first experimental krautrock scene of late 1960s, but, significantly, has continued part of playing makes ever greater use of digital , computer-controlled sequencing in performances. of band s familiar compositions have been observed have developed live improvisations @ concerts or sound-checks.

technological innovations

throughout career, kraftwerk have pushed limits of music technology notable innovations, such self-made instruments , custom-built devices. group has perceived kling klang studio complex music instrument sound laboratory; florian schneider in particular developed fascination music technology, result technical aspects of sound generation , recording gradually became main fields of activity within band. alexei monroe called kraftwerk first successful artists incorporate representations of industrial sounds non-academic electronic music.

early 1970s vocoder, custom built kraftwerk

kraftwerk used custom-built vocoder on albums ralf und florian , autobahn; device constructed engineers p. leunig , k. obermayer of physikalisch-technische bundesanstalt braunschweig. hütter , schneider hold patent electronic drum kit sensor pads, filed in july 1975 , issued in june 1977. must hit metal sticks connected device complete circuit triggers analog synthetic percussion sounds. band first performed in public device in 1973, on television program aspekte (on all-german channel zweites deutsches fernsehen), played wolfgang flür. created drums machines autobahn , trans-europe express

on radio-activity tour in 1976 kraftwerk tested out experimental light-beam-activated drum cage allowing flür trigger electronic percussion through arm , hand movements. unfortunately, device did not work planned, , abandoned. same year ralf hütter , florian schneider commissioned bonn-based synthesizerstudio bonn, matten & wiechers design , build synthanorma sequenzer intervallomat, 4×8 / 2×16 / 1×32 step-sequencer system features commercial products couldn t provide @ time. music sequencer used band first time control electronic sources creating rhythmic sound of album trans-europe express.

seclusion

the band notoriously reclusive, providing rare , enigmatic interviews, using life-size mannequins , robots conduct official photo shoots, refusing accept mail , not allowing visitors @ kling klang studio, precise location of used keep secret. notable example of eccentric behavior reported johnny marr of smiths karl bartos, explained trying contact band collaboration told studio telephone did not have ringer, since during recording, band did not hear kind of noise pollution. instead, callers instructed phone studio precisely @ time, whereupon phone answered ralf hütter, despite never hearing phone ring. chris martin, lead singer of uk group coldplay, anecdotally recalled, in late 2007 article in q magazine kraftwerk, process of requesting permission use melody track computer love in 2005 release talk album x&y. recalled writing them letter , sending through lawyers of respective parties , several weeks later receiving envelope containing handwritten reply said yes .