Electronic music is made up of synthesis and digital sounds practically unheard of and not made popular before Kraftwerk took the stand. Starting in the 1970's, Kraftwerk had developed a signature sound which combined western classical and repetitive rhythms with catchy melodies. Before their international breakthrough album Autobahn, Kraftwerk released three albums between the years of 1970 through 1973. Albums Kraftwerk and Kraftwerk 2 were mainly experimental music using a diversity of instruments such as guitars, bass, drums, flute, and violin. Both albums were instrumental and from 1972-73 Kraftwerk did live performances for the most part in Germany using an electronic device called drum machine.
The release of Autobahn in 1974 gave Kraftwerk commercial success leading them to a pursue a more sophisticated sound. With the prosperity that brought the group off Autobahn, they invested on new synthesizers like the Minimoog. Right after the 1975 Autobahn tour, Kraftwerk started to work on their next album, Radio-Activity which pushed them to focus on a central them of radio communication. With the release of these two albums, Kraftwerk had moved on from an experimental concept to electronic pop music. After their Radio-Activity tour the group began recording their newest album to be released in 1977; Trans-Europe Express. The theme behind this album consisted of European's railway system. Much success came out of Trans-Europe Express giving them a disco award in New York. From 1978 to 1981 Kraftwerk released two albums, The Man-Machine and Computer World.
In my opinion Kraftwerk's music popularized the use of synthetic instruments and paved the way for Electronic music to rise into what it is today. Their rhythmic ideas and structures carved the influences of modern day pop music. Their albums show a progression of evolution that is heard from the synthesizers used 30 years ago.
The work of Kraftwerk leaves me with the impression of musical and technological evolution. If you listen to Autobahn then Computer World, their pretty much two completely different ideas, sounds, implementations, and characteristics. Kraftwerk evolved along side musical technology as both popularized electronic dance music.
Peer Comment
To Adam Ruiz:
Your blog entry on the moog synthesizer and on the electronic music innovators Kraftwerk, intrigued me as a synthesizer enthusiast and electronic producer. The moog did shape the way Karftwerk made their interesting unique sounds as well as helped pave the way for future synthesizer technological advancements. This great musical instrument is what modern day electronic dance music derived from. Your implementation of Kraftwerk was described legibly and I learned a few key facts that I had not come across in my research. Overall both entries had plenty of interesting details and made the reading of this blog exciting. Great Job!
Peer Comment
To Adam Ruiz:
Your blog entry on the moog synthesizer and on the electronic music innovators Kraftwerk, intrigued me as a synthesizer enthusiast and electronic producer. The moog did shape the way Karftwerk made their interesting unique sounds as well as helped pave the way for future synthesizer technological advancements. This great musical instrument is what modern day electronic dance music derived from. Your implementation of Kraftwerk was described legibly and I learned a few key facts that I had not come across in my research. Overall both entries had plenty of interesting details and made the reading of this blog exciting. Great Job!
Dear Gustavo,
ReplyDeleteAnother great entry in your blog on the subject of Electronic music and how far it has come in the industry. This blog gave great insight on the Electronic musicians and composers of today and what impact they have had on the genre and the pop culture scene. Also your opinion on Kraftwerk's influence in electronic music was also great as well. I am amazed as well of how the Electronic music scene has had such a great impact on the music of today and how it has merged with other forms of music such as Hip-Hop. Once again great job on the entry.
Adam