Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk is an electronic band that came from Germany. They helped pave the way for a new electronic way of music creation, with their self-described "robot pop." They were influential in creating hypnotic and rhythmic music performed solely electronically (Ankeny). Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider created Kraftwerk in the early 1970's. Both were classically educated musicians who had just come out oof the same improvisation class. Florian experimented with echo-units and amps on his flutes and violins, whereas Ralf did the same with his electronic keyboard. With their music vision in mind, they created their own studio,  which was called Kling Klang Studio. It was in this studio that they developed the audiovisual concept and music for Kraftwerk's albums (Matten).

In 1974, Kraftwerk matured in sound with the release of Autobahn. With the increasing success of the band, they were able to afford newer technology and studio upgrades. They could afford even more after the release of Radio-Activity, and Kling Klang Studio became a full working recording studio. It was here that Kraftwerk stopped its avant-garde experimentations and moved forward into the electronic pop genre (Bussy). 

Kraftwerk went on to write Trans-Europe Express in 1977. This album helped inspire hip-hop and DJ's in America. They then wrote The Man Machine in 1978, which was characterized by automated electronic music and sequenced rhythm tracks. Then between 1978-1981, Kraftwerk created the album Computer World. This album reached a new level that few have reached since. This album was completely a product of Kling Klang Studio, and illustrated the art of complexity and visionary music for today and tomorrow. Now, Kraftwerk was touring the world for the first time (Matten).

Kraftwerk is well known for their album concepts. Their albums were, in order, about highways, radioactivity, trains, science fiction and robots, and the futuristic computer world (Matten). Their production qualities were also unique. Autobahn was made largely with a Moog synthesizer (AllMusic.) Electronic voices and speech synthesis were used in Radio-Activity. Sequencers and vocoder voices were used in Trans-Europe Express. Automated electronic music and sequenced rhythm tracks created The Man Machine. Multichannel analog-sequencing that was synchronized to a multichannel tape-recorder was used in the recording process of Computer World. (Matten). 

Many musicians have been influenced by Kraftwerk. To name a few, they are Joy Division, New Order, Franz Ferdinand, and Duran Duran. Some musicians even used samples of their music, such as Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, Coldplay, U2, and Soft Cell. Some musicians did covers of their work, such as Jay-Z (Kraftwerk). 

As a listener, I thoroughly enjoy Kraftwerk. These men are so talented and helped broaden the spectrum of electronic music. I also am a huge fan of concept albums, which is basically what they continuously were putting out. As a professional, it is so interesting to learn of all the ways they would modify sounds to create the sounds they desired, and did everything almost completely electronically. They ended up using so much equipment to achieve their unique music. They are truly an inspiration to the audio world.