An introduction

 

Hello and welcome to this unofficial Kraftwerk hardware and software related blog. 

The objective of this blog is to shed light on what supposedly have been the synthesizer units used by German band Kraftwerk for the production of their songs, trying to emphasize the differences between some of the patches that may have been implemented during live renditions of their songs, as opposed to the album versions of those same songs.

As we all know, Kraftwerk have very rarely given exact insights as to the type of equipment implemented in their productions. Only a small number of interviews given by engineers state clearly that a particular unit or VST was responsible for a particular element or sound present in Kraftwerk's catalogue.

Bear in mind that Kraftwerk's soundscapes have of course changed in adaptation to the era; for example the 80s have a distinct sound compared to the 90s, and the 90s have a distinct sound compared to the 2000s and so on. What we hear today is an evolution of the sound scape that started to appear during the shows presented in the early 2000s, and since then there has clearly been an evolution of the same sound but what Kraftwerk presents in their shows nowadays is and evolution of what they started to present to audiences all those years ago, when they first started performing with an acoustic experience (later visually in addition) in mind for the audience to witness.

I'd like to analyse live performances and albums in some cases focusing on particular live performances with no direct reference to the album version of some of the songs that they performed live simply because there are so many differences that it's just easier to talk about the live version of a particular song than to try to compare the differences to a studio version of the same song. For example, a song that might have sounded a particular way in the 80s doesn't necessarily sound the same way in the 90s or the 2000s. It's my objective to underline why I think that is by trying to describe the type of hardware which was used by Kraftwerk and how these hardware choices gave Kraftwerk songs that particular aura or mystique that defines them.