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Except they didn't write down a "specification." They simply asked Matten & Wiechers to come up with something that could automate their tape loops for Trans Eu

Except they didn't write down a "specification." They simply asked Matten & Wiechers to come up with something that could automate their tape loops for Trans Europe Express. Dirk Matten & Hans-Joachim Wiechers both designed and created the Synthorma to handle that task. This is well-documented. So no it was not the same a writing a technical specification any more than I'm writing a "specification" when I call my local pizza place and ask for a large pepperoni.

TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
KW specifically asked for (actually were persuaded to commission) two step sequencers - not "something to automate their tape loops." It was the same process Tangerine Dream went through with Projekt Elektronik, PPG, Steinberg, and other collaborators. The band had an idea or some product feedback, and the designers implemented it. KW's sequencers were unique in that they had rotary switches instead of pots for the sequence steps, which made them much easier to program.
- bogomipz 7y ago
  >"KW specifically asked for (actually were persuaded to commission) two step sequencers - not "something to automate their tape loops."" A tape loop is nothing more than a primitive form of sequencer. By definition they loop a sequence. They do the exact same thing. So not having to physically change the tapes and speeds on a tape machine by programming it into a sequencer is most definitely "automating" that process. The issue with analog tape machines is that they were not fun to deal with on the road or work with live. And no they were not "two step" sequencers. What would be the point in that? You could do that with that a single finger - on/off. The Synthorama was a 16 step analogue sequencer and they had two of them which game them a 32 bit sequence to work with[1] [1] http://kraftwerkfaq.hu/equipment.html http://kraftwerkfaq.hu/equipment.html
  - 908087 7y ago
    Might want to step off your high horse, because the person you're responding to was pretty clearly saying two step sequencers as in a quantity of two, not number of steps. What a strange thing to get uppity about anyway.
  - ratww 7y ago
    Sorry, but this post gets a lot of things very wrong. A sequencer is definitely not used for anything similar to "automating tape loops". For Kraftwerk they were used mainly in the studio to created drum sequences and melodies that were much more precise than those played by the band. The whole point of the sequencer was to replace Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flür, and maybe some bass lines or melodies played by Ralf with a robotic sound. Programming a sequence in an analog sequencer like a Synthanorma is way harder than changing a tape. Have you ever programmed one? Back then you didn't have presets or pitch quantization, so for melodies for example you'd have to tune each step by ear. Drum loops were easier but not as easy as changing a tape. Using them on the road was much harder than using tapes. In fact, even several years later, bands like Depeche Mode were still taking tapes to the road because sequencers were still clunky and difficult to program live. It was only after the advent of preset programming this started to change. Before Autobahn, Kraftwerk indeed experimented with tape loops, but for very different kinds of sounds, more of the Stockhausen variety. The things that led to this experiment with synthesizers and sequencers were the primitive rhythm machines of the time (they were already going in this direction with songs like Tanzmusik, but they wanted with custom drum sounds and custom drum rhythms, not the Samba and Cha-Cha-Cha of the Maestro) and their use of echo in "Ralf und Florian", where the echo was used to get a perfect repetition of something played (not a loop though, since it's not something that is "left alone" like a sequencer or a tape). And by "two step sequencers" the parent poster clearly means "two units". Also, it's called Synthanorma, not Synthorama.
jacquesm 7y ago
What are the chances that Matten & Wiechers would have designed the Synthorma without Kraftwerk commissioning it? Large pepperonis can be ordered from any pizzeria, this is hardly the same kind of engagement.
- bogomipz 7y ago
  >"What are the chances that Matten & Wiechers would have designed the Synthorma without Kraftwerk commissioning it?" Probably pretty high given that the Roland MC-8, another 16 step analog sequencer was also available in 1977 when Trans Europe Express was released. Both Yellow Magic Orchestra and Tangerine Dream used them. Both bands would have been very much on Kraftwerk's radar at that time. Tangerine Dream aside from being another influential German electronics band was also a customer of Matten & Wiecher.

TheOtherHobbes 7y ago

KW specifically asked for (actually were persuaded to commission) two step sequencers - not "something to automate their tape loops." It was the same process Tangerine Dream went through with Projekt Elektronik, PPG, Steinberg, and other collaborators. The band had an idea or some product feedback, and the designers implemented it. KW's sequencers were unique in that they had rotary switches instead of pots for the sequence steps, which made them much easier to program.

bogomipz 7y ago
>"KW specifically asked for (actually were persuaded to commission) two step sequencers - not "something to automate their tape loops."" A tape loop is nothing more than a primitive form of sequencer. By definition they loop a sequence. They do the exact same thing. So not having to physically change the tapes and speeds on a tape machine by programming it into a sequencer is most definitely "automating" that process. The issue with analog tape machines is that they were not fun to deal with on the road or work with live. And no they were not "two step" sequencers. What would be the point in that? You could do that with that a single finger - on/off. The Synthorama was a 16 step analogue sequencer and they had two of them which game them a 32 bit sequence to work with[1] [1] http://kraftwerkfaq.hu/equipment.html http://kraftwerkfaq.hu/equipment.html
- 908087 7y ago
  Might want to step off your high horse, because the person you're responding to was pretty clearly saying two step sequencers as in a quantity of two, not number of steps. What a strange thing to get uppity about anyway.
- ratww 7y ago
  Sorry, but this post gets a lot of things very wrong. A sequencer is definitely not used for anything similar to "automating tape loops". For Kraftwerk they were used mainly in the studio to created drum sequences and melodies that were much more precise than those played by the band. The whole point of the sequencer was to replace Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flür, and maybe some bass lines or melodies played by Ralf with a robotic sound. Programming a sequence in an analog sequencer like a Synthanorma is way harder than changing a tape. Have you ever programmed one? Back then you didn't have presets or pitch quantization, so for melodies for example you'd have to tune each step by ear. Drum loops were easier but not as easy as changing a tape. Using them on the road was much harder than using tapes. In fact, even several years later, bands like Depeche Mode were still taking tapes to the road because sequencers were still clunky and difficult to program live. It was only after the advent of preset programming this started to change. Before Autobahn, Kraftwerk indeed experimented with tape loops, but for very different kinds of sounds, more of the Stockhausen variety. The things that led to this experiment with synthesizers and sequencers were the primitive rhythm machines of the time (they were already going in this direction with songs like Tanzmusik, but they wanted with custom drum sounds and custom drum rhythms, not the Samba and Cha-Cha-Cha of the Maestro) and their use of echo in "Ralf und Florian", where the echo was used to get a perfect repetition of something played (not a loop though, since it's not something that is "left alone" like a sequencer or a tape). And by "two step sequencers" the parent poster clearly means "two units". Also, it's called Synthanorma, not Synthorama.

jacquesm 7y ago

What are the chances that Matten & Wiechers would have designed the Synthorma without Kraftwerk commissioning it? Large pepperonis can be ordered from any pizzeria, this is hardly the same kind of engagement.

bogomipz 7y ago
>"What are the chances that Matten & Wiechers would have designed the Synthorma without Kraftwerk commissioning it?" Probably pretty high given that the Roland MC-8, another 16 step analog sequencer was also available in 1977 when Trans Europe Express was released. Both Yellow Magic Orchestra and Tangerine Dream used them. Both bands would have been very much on Kraftwerk's radar at that time. Tangerine Dream aside from being another influential German electronics band was also a customer of Matten & Wiecher.