Klaus Schulze
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Klaus Schulze (born August 4, 1947 in Berlin ) is a German composer , musician and producer . He is considered an important representative of electronic music and a pioneer of the Berlin school .
Career
Musical beginnings
Klaus Schulze was initially the drummer of the Berlin formation Psy Free with Alex Conti . He became known as the drummer with Tangerine Dream around Edgar Froese and worked on their first album Electronic Meditation . Klaus Schulze was inspired by the minimalists Terry Riley and Steve Reich as well as the American composer Morton Subotnick and by classical-romantic music (including Richard Wagner ). Together with Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke he founded the band Ash Ra Tempel , on whose debut album of the same name he was involved. Nevertheless, he left the band because it was hardly possible to perform live with the electronic equipment of the time. From now on he devoted himself to the composition of atmospheric sound carpets such as Timewind , Moondawn or Mirage - an electronic winter landscape with which he - together with Tangerine Dream - became one of the most influential pioneers of the Berlin school . This style is characterized - quite contradictingly - on the one hand by unusually long for today's standards (according to the habits of popular music), from the compositional point of view rather simply repetitive "hypnotic", and on the other hand by abrupt, noisy passages or passages that exceed the tonality . The latter in particular go far beyond popular music in terms of their artistic standards in the direction of art music and have earned Schulze recognition beyond the borders of the scene. The long-lasting market success of music would therefore be surprising if the normal listener were not compensated for by enthusiasm for technology, sound effects or a continuous beat. In the beginning, the musicians played in museums and at art events. In 1971 the electronics pioneer decided not to play in groups in the future and to go his own way. "I was annoyed by the discussions in the groups, which often lasted longer than the time we made music," said Schulze in an interview in 2004. Nevertheless, Schulze works with other musicians, such as the cellist Wolfgang Tiepold (Trancefer), or a string section ("X"). With Harald Grosskopf on drums, he created several albums, including Body Love Vol. 2 .
First steps as a soloist
In 1973 Schulze gave his first solo concert. In 1975 he received the French "Grand Prix International" for his LP Timewind . An extensive tour took him through Germany and Italy in the same year . In 1976 concerts with the international group “Go” in Paris and London followed . In 1977 he composed the score for the porn film Body Love by director Lasse Braun . The soundtrack LP of the same name reached 2nd place in the import charts of the US magazine Billboard .
Established musician and record producer
In 1978 Schulze founded the music label Innovative Communication and, in addition to the band Ideal , produced Robert Schroeder , DIN A Testbild , Lorry and Baffo Banfi, among others . In 1979 he set up a second studio and a video studio for Innovative Communication. Then followed a two-month tour through Europe with the singer Arthur Brown . In 1980 Klaus gave the opening concert of the ars electronica with the Linz Steel Symphony , which was largely negative in the press. Here he built his music on live from the Linz steel works of VOEST-ALPINE AG recorded factory noises. The LP Dig It , the first completely digitally produced album ever, was released in the same year. Dig It was rated by the trade magazine “stereoplay” in 1981 as the “best Klaus Schulze album ever” and as a reference recording for modern synthesizer productions as “LP of the month”. Schulze was the first owner of the then revolutionary "GDS / GDS-Synergy" computer system from "CRUMAR General Development System (GDS) and Digital Keyboard Inc.", with which different audio tracks could be recorded in parallel for the first time. "The time of analog wheelchair electronics is finally over," said the trade magazine.
In 1983 the record label Innovative Communication was sold and in the following year the record label INTEAM was founded, on which Manuel Göttsching's album E2-E4 appeared in a limited edition in 1984 . In the same year Schulze wrote the soundtrack for the film Angst .
Early use of computers
From 1986 onwards, Schulze increasingly focused on the use of MIDI and sampling . Also in 1986, Schulze created a remix for Frankie Goes to Hollywood : Watching the Wildlife "Observations in the Wild Life (The Last Days of Mankind Mix)". On the 12 "Schulze was named as a remixer of this project. Later it turned out that he might not be responsible for this mix after all. There is still no clarity about this.
In 1988 a co-production with the pop group Alphaville followed . In 1989 Schulze gave a concert in Dresden for 6,800 people, in 1991 a concert in front of Cologne Cathedral and a concert in London's Royal Festival Hall . He also produced his last vinyl LP that year .
Schulze gave solo concerts in Lille , Paris and Rome in 1994 (with standing ovations in Paris before he even played a note). In 1995 there were productions and recordings with the pop group SNAP! .
In 1996 Schulze gave a concert in Derby , England ; In 1999 he gave concerts at a jazz festival in Hamburg (together with Pete Namlook) and at a techno and ambient festival in Cologne .
In 2000 Klaus Schulze composed the music for the Millennium Celebration in Beijing .
In 2001 at the KlangArt -Festival in Osnabrück, the recording Live at KlangArt, parts 1 and 2, was made as part of a much-praised live concert .
In November 2003 Schulze gave a concert in Poland together with the light artist Gert Hof . Schulze received the rights to earlier albums back from the labels of the time in 2004 and has now re-released a total of 100 albums as deluxe editions on the German label SPV over a period of several years . Among other things, Dig It was re-released in an elaborate remastering guise, including a DVD with recordings of the Linz Steel Symphony from 1980 and an additional, previously unpublished piece by Klaus Schulze. As part of the deluxe edition, individual CDs from the boxes of the Contemporary Works series will also be released. In October 2005, the new studio album Moonlake was released, also on the SPV label, which was well received by music journalists.
Klaus Schulze as a contemporary witness
In 2006, Schulze was seen several times in film clips and as an interview partner in the six-part series "Kraut und Rüben" on WDR . On March 17, 2006, the WDR program showed a detailed interview with Schulze as well as excerpts from a rare concert as part of a detailed documentation about the emergence of the more well-known directions of electronic music in Germany, in which other synthesizer pioneers such as Edgar Froese and Michael Rother , Members of the Kraftwerk , La Düsseldorf , Neu! , Cluster , Popol Vuh , the rock musician Achim Reichel and others have their say. This series dealt with German rock and pop history in the 1970s.
Newer projects
Klaus Schulze contributed the piece Zenit for the album Sehnsucht by the Schiller project, which was released in early 2008 . An extract of over twelve minutes was found on the CD; the complete 35-minute version was released live on DVD and as a bonus track on the album Sehnsucht .
In November 2007, Schulze contacted the Australian artist Lisa Gerrard . The result was the double album Farscape , which was released in early July 2008. Due to the good cooperation, Schulze invited Gerrard to perform with him on July 18, 2008 as part of a progressive rock festival on the Loreley open-air stage ; it was Schulze's first concert after a break of five years. A recording of the concert was published as a double CD and DVD under the title Rheingold . During the mixing of the CD / DVD in Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios , Schulze met the British musician and producer Steven Wilson ( Porcupine Tree ); The informative conversation between the two, conducted in the form of a mutual interview, is included on the Rheingold DVD. In November 2008, Schulze and Gerrard gave concerts in Berlin and Warsaw , which were released in June 2009 on DVD and CD Dziekuje Bardzo .
Most of the pieces on the 50 CDs, which were published in the Ultimate Edition and are now out of print, were re-released from February 2009 as a series of triple CDs under the title La Vie Electronique (LVE). After the fifteen 3-CD boxes, the series was completed in May 2015 with a 5-CD box.
In March 2010 Klaus Schulze played in Japan for the first time. Of the two concerts initiated by the Tokyo Wax Museum, the 2CD + DVD box Big In Japan - Live in Tokyo 2010 was released in November .
Klaus Schulze's Big Moog
Klaus Schulze's Big Moog modular system is one of the legendary synthesizers of the 1970s. Klaus Schulze bought the approximately 100 kg system from Florian Fricke's hands on December 22, 1975 and was the main synthesizer during the second half of the 1970s until the album Dig It Schulze was released (see cover texts and photos from concerts). This Moog modular synthesizer III p with sequencer extension B has more than 100 knobs, switches and sockets for connecting cables on an area of 1.16 square meters. By the programmable Doepfer -Interface MCV 24, the system was largely midifiziert .
The system was still in full operation in early March 2005 for the album The Dark Side of the Moog X. On March 23, 2005 it was auctioned on eBay (item number 7307340598).
bibliography
- Michael Schwinn: Klaus Schulze. ... a musical tightrope walk. Book publisher Michael Schwinn, Neustadt 1986, ISBN 3-925077-04-9
- Klaus Schulze: The Works (constantly updated, chargeable collection of all KS activities. Available on the KS website)
- Klaus D. Müller: The amazing Schulze story . Available on the KS website
- Klaus D. Müller: The Amazing KS Story . English, available on the KS website
- KS-Circle (paid newsletter sent by post to subscribe to. Available on the KS website)
- Greg Allen: Klaus Schulze - Electronic Music Legend , Trafford Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-1425160500
Awards ceremonies
- "Grand Prix International" 1975 for Timewind
- Sound wave special price 2010
Discography
Solo albums
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Wahnfried albums
Schulze released the first four albums under the pseudonym Richard Wahnfried, the following only under Wahnfried.
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more publishments
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"Dark Side of the Moog" series (with Pete Namlook )
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Sampler
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CD sets
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Video albums
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Collaborate with other artists
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Remixes of pieces by other artists
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literature
- Alexander Simmeth: Krautrock transnational. The reinvention of pop music in Germany, 1968–1978 , Transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2016, ISBN 978-3-8376-3424-2 .
- Interview Michael Weisser with Thomas Hammerl (music journalist) a. a. on the music label Innovative Communication see: WhitePaperCollection Edit 06, Kindle-Edition 2016, ISBN 978-3-7396-8482-6 .
- kdm: Klaus Schulze - The Works (available from the official website)
- kdm: Whoever is called Schulze has to be able to do something (available from the official website)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klaus Schulze in the German charts
- ↑ The history of the music label "Innovative Communication" in: State Archive Bremen (Sign. StAB 7, 278)
- ↑ Michael Schwinn: Klaus Schulze. ... a musical tightrope walk . Buchverlag Michael Schwinn, Neustadt 1986, ISBN 3-925077-04-9 , page 193 (but with incorrect year information)
- ↑ Private email from Klaus d. Müller (Klaus Schulzes roadie, friend and publisher at the time) to Till Kopper , March 1999
- ↑ Klaus D. Müller: Klaus Schulze's Instruments , accessed on February 15, 2017
- ↑ a b www.till-kopper.de/ksmoog.html
- ↑ The Schallwelle Prize arose from the program Schwimmern : Schallwelle: Winner 2010 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , see. also the explanations for the 2008 Sound Wave Prize .
- ^ Richard Wahnfried at discogs.com, accessed August 29, 2015
Web links
- Literature by and about Klaus Schulze in the catalog of the German National Library
- Official website
- Klaus Schulze at laut.de
- Klaus Schulze at Discogs (English)
- Free edition of the KS-Circle
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Schulze, Klaus |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wahnfried, Richard (pseudonym) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German composer, musician, producer, pioneer of electronic music |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th August 1947 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin , Germany |