Computer Music

 

Kraftwerk is German for power plant or power station, however, in the world of music it is a band who were and continue to be a major influence on a variety of musicians.

The signature Kraftwerk sound combines driving, repetitive rhythms with catchy melodies, mainly following a Western classical style of harmony, with a minimalistic and strictly electronic instrumentation.

The group’s simplified lyrics are at times sung through a vocoder or generated by computer-speech software. In the early to late 1970s and the early 1980s, Kraftwerk’s distinctive sound was revolutionary for its time, and it has had a lasting impact across many genres of modern popular music.

The input, expertise, and influence of producer/engineer Konrad “Conny” Plank was highly significant in the early years of Kraftwerk and Plank also worked with many of the other leading German electronic acts of the period, including members of Can, Neu!, Cluster and Harmonia. As a result of his work with Kraftwerk, Plank’s studio near Cologne became one of the most sought-after studios in the late 1970s. Plank co-produced the first four Kraftwerk albums.

The release of Autobahn in 1974 saw the band moving away from the sound of their earlier albums. They invested in newer technology such as a Minimoog, helping give them a newer, disciplined sound. Autobahn would also be the last album that Conny Plank would engineer. After the commercial success of Autobahn, the band invested money into updating their studio. This meant they no longer had to rely on outside producers. At this time the painter and graphic artist Emil Schult became a regular collaborator with the band, working alongside the band. Schult designed artwork in addition to later writing lyrics and accompanying the group on tour.

The now regarded classic line-up of Kraftwerk was formed in 1975 for the Autobahn tour. During this time, the band were presented as a quartet, with Hütter and Schneider joined by Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos, hired as electronic percussionists. This quartet would be the band’s public persona for its renowned output of the latter 1970s and early 1980s. Flür had already joined the band in 1973, in preparation for a television appearance to promote Kraftwerk’s third album.

To buy the music of Kraftwerk click HERE

To be honest Kraftwerk were just playing with the concept of “computer music” in today’s world of DIY recording there is a world of “real” computer music out there, this being music which has been produced purely from the sounds that come out of your PC.

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