Independence day

 

TANGERINE DREAM (Edgar Froese • Jerome Froese)

For the times they are a-changin’ – and no more so than for legendary German electronic ensemble Tangerine Dream. JONATHAN MILLER charts their newfound independent, though no less innovative, musical pathway…

“When Walt Whitman wrote ‘I Sing The Body Electric’ he could never have imagined the contemporary reality of that phrase – electronics will be opening even broader horizons in the future and Tangerine Dream will have been the first pioneers.”

Tangerine Dream: these words conjure up images of a bygone psychedelic era. Yet these legendary electronic trailblazers have eagerly harnessed the latest technological developments in their ongoing quest to remain on the cutting edge of music for nigh on three decades, always prolific in recorded output and concert appearances. Ask a music connoisseur whom they consider to be the world’s premier electronic music group; chances are their reply will be Tangerine Dream, and probably always will be – vindicative, perhaps, of that eerily prophetic introductory vintage quotation, courtesy of American Contemporary Keyboard Magazine.

Casting aside any preconceived notions of bias, when looking back at the history of the synthesizer and asked to name the most important band, former Tangerine Dreamer Paul Haslinger, with the benefit of several years’ hindsight, posited: “Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. They are just too different and too original to put one above the other. Together they have influenced everything that’s around today as synth-driven musical styles.”

Although a whole classroom worth of musicians have passed through the group’s ranks since its formation back in September 1967, Tangerine Dream’s unique approach to instrumental music has always been a reflection of the philosophies of its visionary founder and mentor, 55-year-old keyboard player and guitarist, Edgar Froese. As a sculptor he spent time studying under renowned Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali, whose unorthodox techniques Edgar later applied to music, resulting in a sound owing little to any other in the world.

For many, Edgar remains the living embodiment of the group he fronts to this day alongside his son, Jerome. Few artists survive the capricious music business long enough to be joined on record and stage by their offspring. Tangerine Dream’s longevity in an age of increasingly disposable music surely speaks volumes, and can perhaps be attributed, in part, to the relationship between the many changes in the group’s line-up and the composition process itself, as well as the natural evolution of the music technology involved.

Here Edgar is on record as saying, “If you listen to all of Tangerine Dream’s albums chronologically, you practically have a history of synthesizers, sequencers and samplers. In truth, our music is a diary of the history of musical instruments in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.” And there’s more than a modicum of truth in this sweeping declaration.

Love is a battlefield

A truly time-served musician, Edgar’s practical ‘combat’ experience in the musical minefields of hi-tech recording is arguably second to none, a shining example to us all. For Tangerine Dream have been heavily involved in sound research for many years, regularly working alongside equipment manufacturers to play a pivotal role in the development of music hardware and software. Often this proved to be something of a love-hate relationship, so nowadays Edgar and Jerome prefer to remain tight-lipped in this regard, Edgar having learned his lesson well – the hard way. “We stopped talking too much about it,” he concurs, “because lots of things have been invented by some bizarre thoughts we ourselves had about sounds and music. Ironically, people began to manufacture hardware and software exactly as we had spoken about it, and released stuff into different market places under their own logo without even mentioning our name.”

With a staggering 95 album releases to date, and rising, Tangerine Dream unsurprisingly enjoys world-wide sales extending comfortably into seven-figure territory, including official live recordings and soundtracks. When American realist director William Friedkin asked them to score the music soundtrack for Sorcerer, his 1976 follow-up to The Exorcist, the group found themselves in the unlikely position of Hollywood darlings and a lucrative second career ensued, funding vast amounts of unique custom-built equipment, which was put to mind-blowing use on record and on-stage – not bad going considering ‘electronic music’ has never courted mass appeal.

Paradoxically, Edgar deplores the term, however: “We have never called ourselves an electronic band or said we are producing electronic music, which is something completely different.”

New dreams for old

Electronic or otherwise, Tangerine Dream’s copious output and groundbreaking methodology dictated the group became studio savvy from an early stage in the game; in 1976 they ploughed their not inconsiderable earnings into a cavernous Berlin studio complex, sited in a former ballroom and cinema built in 1910 – an admittedly unusual move for the time. These impressive facilities were later lost when Christopher Franke left the group in 1987, after 17 years service.

Prior to moving to their present location, Edgar says, “The aim was that each member of the band had his own recording place to work independently and prepare things, because if there was just one big studio and one member was working or trying to do his sound research, then the others would just be hanging around and waiting. That would not be economically wise, so we decided that we should have some smaller, independent places where we went to do our work, and then move together in a bigger place to finish everything. Now that is long gone.”

Of course, times change, and musically and geographically so have Tangerine Dream, now partly based at the Froese family vacation home in the idyllic surroundings of a small Austrian village on the outskirts of Vienna. Having safely crossed the border into a new millennium, today father and son envisage a very different Tangerine Dream indeed, both philosophically and technically. Freed from the unhealthy contractual rigours of the mainstream music industry, having founded their own TDI Music label in 1998, they will ultimately become the sole proprietors of the Tangerine Dream legacy – past, present and future. “For us, it was definitely a very important step to take,” states Edgar, “because we know so much about the business, and know we can handle it ourselves now. By initially moving into Britain and dealing with a small company there, we were able to take the first step towards our situation of today – setting up our own company, world-wide. It’s the right time to do this now; we’ve done it, we’re very happy – and we’re free!”

Free they may be, but, as Edgar is well aware, independence often has its attendant downside: “The entire Tangerine Dream recorded catalogue consists of nearly 100 records. Obviously we can’t deal with all of it at once. So far we’ve released about 25 records in the last year-and-a-half, which represents a huge amount of work for the both of us on different levels, working perhaps the hardest we ever have. As far as the musical side of things is concerned, we’re a two-man crew! We do everything ourselves. There’s no ghost-writers involved, no hired musicians working in the background.”

Studio city

This in itself has dictated a new approach to recording, together with the construction of a new, custom-designed studio complex in former East Berlin to deal with the self-imposed increased TDI workload. “The working facility we had quite near to the city centre in Berlin was in a not-so-friendly neighbourhood,” explains Jerome. “We had to totally soundproof its rooms, so there were no windows. We were sitting in a kind of black hole, really. For several years we said, ‘Well, it’s okay because we also have a working facility in Austria.’ But we’re not always in Austria, because our business headquarters are in Berlin. So for years we’ve been searching for a new city studio location where we can set up our instruments in natural daylight, and not disturb any neighbours!”

Edgar nods in agreement – and not without historical grounding. “Our experiences throughout all the years have taught us that one is often inspired by one’s surroundings,” he posits. “In the end, I was having such a hard time working in a kind of isolated box in Berlin, as Jerome described. And commercial studios often aren’t any better. We’ve worked on many specific projects where we’ve had to move in and work on an already prepared platform. But I never felt very comfortable in that kind of environment, even in LA, where I’ve worked in most of the studios – great places, by the way, but, because of the nature of what a professional studio is all about, they always seem to be missing a kind of coloured landscape feeling. I don’t want to be trapped in a black box anymore.”

Home is where the art is

And who can blame the guy? Light, bright, ergonomic and airy are expressions that immediately spring to mind when venturing into Edgar and Jerome’s new individual workspaces. As the accompanying photographs clearly testify, we’re not dealing with your everyday, run-of-the-mill studio here! The recording workspaces themselves are housed on separate floors within a radical four-floor building which in itself would not look out of place nestling in the Hollywood hills; its tasteful decor, featuring artefacts from around the globe, is undoubtedly a reflection of Edgar’s artistic roots and passion for travel. (In case you’re wondering, the Froese’s respective private living quarters occupy the remaining floors.) In reality, this desirable real estate is located in a plush German residential neighbourhood. That the once divisive Berlin Wall was only a stone’s throw away adds further still to its ambience.

“This place is ideal,” declares Edgar. “An architect originally designed and built it for himself and his company. He’s a computer freak and had already installed ISDN connections before we came and looked at the place. We gave him a few ideas about what could be done here and there during the final stages of finishing the building.”

Like all new studios, this was not without its fair share of teething troubles. As is his nature, Jerome’s recollections of what must have been a frustrating experience are light-hearted in hindsight: “I had some minor problems because the power supply to my studio space up in the roof here was not very reliable at first, so we called an electrician and he put in a new fuse – a red one; all the others are white. I said, ‘Why is this one red? Is it to do with the strength?’ He said, ‘Yes. Normally those fuses are used at bigger facilities, like Siemens, to power their machines!’ So now everything’s okay.”

Edgar, too, is happy with the result: “My new studio space has been set up in a completely modular fashion; I can take it apart and move it to another part of the building within a day, if I want. Both Jerome’s and my working spaces are networked together, so we can transfer data between floors. Sometimes we can work together without necessarily seeing each other. That’s quite interesting.”

The golden age of wireless

Indeed it is. For it transpires that networking and particularly ISDN are set to play an even greater role in the Tangerine Dream modus operandi of the not too distant future, as Edgar reveals: “Here in the studio we’re already developing a couple of new approaches for future concert performances. For instance, there are advantages to be had in using the Internet for recalling data – not just LiveCast, but using the Net interactively on-stage between different band members, which is a completely new technique…”

“Keeping our sounds at home, but using them somewhere else on-stage, in other words,” interjects Jerome.

“Correct,” Edgar acquiesces, before continuing: “The real hi-tech parts of the show will remain in the studio, whilst we perform on-stage. We’ve tested this already and know it works. Now we have to make the technology more user-friendly. I’m sure it’s the key to future performance techniques. Even if audiences are still stuck in that kind of old-fashioned mindset of a guitarist posing sexily at the front of the stage, we’re looking for something different.

“The good thing about our new place is that we now have so much freedom to do all kinds of crazy things. Some days we just work on different Internet projects, starting with the Homepage, ending with various music communication services that are possible today – what is good and bad about MP3 for us, or whatever.”

Never one for resting on his laurels, Edgar is already reflecting upon the ideal ‘studio’ of tomorrow: “Now we are always thinking about what we call the ‘third step’. The first step was the entire analogue level of equipment, which lasted exactly from 1971 until about ’82 or ’83. Then we started working on a digital level – step two. And now we’re starting to leave this digital level in favour of a more virtual level, but virtual in a good sense – the third step. It’s more or less a completely wireless situation with a totally different control mechanism. In fact, it’s so different that one could even say, ‘Is there anything in it that has something to do with music?’ And the answer is no, because there is nothing that reminds you of a traditional music studio anymore. That’s the level we’re working towards right now, but we’ve got a kind of hybrid situation at the moment.”

Virtual reality

This ‘hybrid situation’ presumably extends to Edgar’s recent studio hardware of choice – a Mackie 32:8:2 traditional in-line design console, for example, as opposed to a digital alternative like the same company’s relatively new and low-cost Digital 8•Bus. “I don’t need all of that hardware for any of our future music,” he quips. “Eventually, I won’t even need a keyboard anymore! The Mackie console, and even the modular rack-mounted stuff, only exists for one simple reason: we still have a lot of back-catalogue work to complete. With sessions involving older recordings we bring in the vintage tapes, hook up the necessary machinery, play the tapes only once onto another medium, then throw them away. We just need the Mackie for monitoring old multitrack tape formats, starting with quarter-inch eight-track – later we used 16-track, then 24-track machines. We run all the different tracks through the mixing console over to individual audio tracks on a computer.”

For Tangerine Dream, circa-2000, computers are clearly where the action lies, with a healthy mix of current Apple Macintosh and IBM-compatible PC hardware performing a variety of roles – from the musical front-line of sequencing, sampling, recording and mastering to the impressive sleeve artwork, courtesy of Edgar, that adorns their TDI Music releases. “We run all software programs separately, so there are no problems – as far as MIDI control goes,” claims Edgar. “We wouldn’t, for example, run a sequencer program and NemeSys’ GigaSampler on the same computer. I wouldn’t recommend anyone doing that. Maybe some people might say, ‘But, hey, I can’t afford two computers – just to have things separated.’ But it’s much more reliable that way.”

MIDI control may well be problem-free, but in the cutting edge world of Tangerine Dream this is not enough. “We are only using MIDI because some of the interfaces to the outside world are still MIDI,” Edgar maintains. “Even if one has a so-called ‘MIDI 2’ interface, it doesn’t make every dataflow faster, after the interface. It’s like starting a race in a Formula One car at 300 miles per hour, suddenly reaching a fence, and having to change over to riding a horse! It doesn’t make any sense. So now we are working with a couple of people to get rid of that interface – to have absolutely no time delay from the very fast attack of a given signal to the final storage of the sound. And that would get rid of the entire problem of latency when working with audio files which we will always be stuck with as long as we use MIDI. There are much faster data connections already available, but, because the music industry has missed all and everything within the last 10 years, if one wants to beat these limitations then one has to do things oneself. The industry is so far behind, it’s unbelievable. What those guys have been doing since ’89, I just don’t know!”

Don’t look back in anger

Like it or lump it, the Tangerine Dream name will probably forever remain synonymous with synthesizers. Playing devil’s advocate for a moment, I ask if there is anything new that excites in this department, to which Jerome responds, “Well, I’m using the Roland JP-8000, mainly for creating sequences, because I like working with its arpeggiator. But I don’t really use its sounds, because we have tons of better sounds stored elsewhere. And that’s it.”

To say that Jerome doesn’t sound very enthusiastic about what he is hearing would appear to be an understatement. His feelings toward both the virtual analogue synthesizer phenomenon and the more recent proliferation of so-called ‘soft’ synths, like Native Instruments’ Pro Five, are similarly ambivalent: “We never use that stuff. If we wanted to use analogue sounds then we’d get our MiniMoog or Jupiter-8 out of storage. That’s real analogue. Why should we use virtual synths? I don’t want to use a mouse to put a virtual cable into a virtual jack socket! Why should I buy an analogue, or, more precisely, an analogue-featured synthesizer with only six voices from a German company for thousands of Deutschmarks, only then to have to pay even more money to have it upgraded to 16 voices, or whatever? Why?”

Edgar, the ‘philosopher’, takes over: “To give a simple analogy: imagine a young pilot, who is only used to flying a modern Airbus airliner with a little joystick, talking to an older, more experienced pilot, who says to the younger pilot, ‘Can you not remember that feeling of sitting in a real, prop-driven machine, battling against stormy weather, using both of your hands, with the rain lashing against your windshield?’ And the younger pilot replies, ‘Wait a minute; I simply turn on my automatic pilot and fly above that bloody weather, so I don’t feel it anymore. Why should I run through bad weather with a prop when I don’t have to?’”

‘Flying lesson’ over, Edgar proceeds: “For whatever reason, these instruments always seem to be championed by people who don’t want to go forward. If I have the possibility of making my bloody life as a composer easier and faster, as far as the storage of the composition process is concerned, then I’ll definitely use new technology. But there is no reason for me to spend good money on lots of so-called ‘analogue’ equipment, just to turn knobs like I did 20 years ago!”

The Martian chronicles

Of course, an impressive studio inventory does not a successful recording make: there’s using technology, and there’s knowing when to use technology. Needless to say, given the impressive TDI Music output of late – both quality and quantity-wise, Tangerine Dream unquestionably falls into the latter category, as is evident on their latest studio album. “Mars Polaris is, I guess, the highest possible standard we could achieve at the time we recorded it – as far as sounds and recording techniques are concerned,” concludes Edgar. “Unfortunately, it’s associated with that damn flying vehicle that disappeared over Mars! There was even a Tangerine Dream performance planned to take place in Los Angeles on 10 December 1999 to coincide with the Mars Polar Lander touching down, so we obviously had to forget about that! But what’s left is, in our view, quite an interesting musical statement, a kind of step in the direction we hope to head for further on, a little glimpse into what we, as a band, want to do in the future – maybe less guitar and acoustic stuff, a bit more of what we see as the futuristic side of sounds.

“I know we’ve hinted at similar changes in the past, but we’ve realised that even most of our fans would not understand what we are doing if we gave them 100 percent of what is really achievable right now. If we applied all the technology we have today – which is much more powerful than can be heard on Mars Polaris – on a record straight away, then most people simply wouldn’t understand what we are doing. They’d probably say, ‘Is this the future of music?’ And we’d say, ‘Yes. And not only that, it can go much further.’ And we could loose contact with our listeners. So we have to cut these changes down into little digestable portions.”

The story of Tangerine Dream could easily fill a large book and would undoubtedly make for fascinating reading. Suffice to say, their contribution to modern music production has been immense, as evidenced by numerous Grammy award nominations and a host of other accolades. No doubt they will continue to be among the first to try out exciting new technologies and endeavour to remain on the cutting edge of music for many years to come.

© Jonathan Miller (June 2000)

www.tdi-music-mall.de

www.tangerinedream.de

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TANGERINE DREAM BERLIN STUDIO INVENTORY (MAY 2000)

EDGAR FROESE’S WORKSPACE:

COMPUTER HARDWARE (MUSIC): Apple Macintosh G3 (400MHz, 128Mb RAM) • Iomega ZIP 100 • MotU 2048 MkII HD recording • Plextor Plexwriter 8/20 CDR/W • 40Gb HD unit (Seagate Barracuda) x2 • 18Gb HD unit x2

COMPUTER HARDWARE (SAMPLING): Echo Gina eight-channel audio interface • Pentium II PC (500MHz, 128Mb) x2 • 25Gb HD unit x2

COMPUTER HARDWARE (INTERNET): Acer ISDN modems • Apple Macintosh G3 (400MHz, 192Mb RAM) • Iomega ZIP 100

COMPUTER SOFTWARE (MUSIC): Steinberg Cubase VST/24 (with all available plug-ins)

COMPUTER SOFTWARE (SAMPLING): NemeSys GigaSampler v1.6 x2 – “We’re using NemeSys’ GigaSampler as our main sample library tool. The latest update especially is the best device for building a large library of samples that is swiftly accessible and easily overseeable. It also has the advantage of providing us with nearly unlimited storage space from whatever HD units we add.”

COMPUTER SOFTWARE (AUDIO TREATMENT): BIAS Peak 2.1 (digital editing and processing) • SFX Machine (multi-effects software plug-in)

COMPUTER MONITORS: EIZO F77 21-inch x2 • IIyama VM Pro 450 19-inch x3 • LCD Krystal View KV 15-inch TFT display x2

MIDI INTERFACE: Opcode Studio 5 LX

SAMPLER MODULES : Akai S2000 ‘jumper sampler’ x3 – “These are used to import sounds which, for one reason or another, have not yet been stored into the GigaSampler. They are a reliable part of our equipment, but rather old-fashioned because of their 32Mb storage limitation.”

SYNTHESIZER MODULES: Ensoniq SQR+ • Korg M1r • Kurzweil K2000R • Roland JV-1080 (with four expansion boards) • Roland JV-2080 (with six expansion boards)

KEYBOARDS: Korg T1 (master keyboard) • Korg Z1 • Roland JP-8000

OUTBOARD: Eventide H3000-S Harmonizer • Roland SDX-330 • TC Electronic M2000 • TDX (3D surround system)

HARDWARE MIXERS: Mackie 32:8:2 • Mackie CR1604

RECORDING: Alesis ADAT Type II (20-bit)

MONITORS: B&W CDM 7 Special Edition (‘System A’) • Monitor Audio UK (‘System B’)

HEADPHONES: Sennheiser HD580 Precision

JEROME FROESE’S WORKSPACE:

COMPUTER HARDWARE (MUSIC): Apple Macintosh G3 (300MHz, 128Mb RAM) • Iomega JAZ drive – “Not recommended!” • MotU 2048 MkII HD recording • Plextor Plexwriter 8/20 CDR/W • 40Gb HD unit • 4.3Gb HD unit

COMPUTER HARDWARE (SAMPLING): Echo Gina eight-channel audio interface • Pentium II PC (450MHz, 256Mb) x2 • Pentium III PC (600MHz, 256Mb) • TEAC R58S CD writer • 40Gb HD unit x2

COMPUTER HARDWARE (INTERNET): Iomega ZIP 100 • Panasonic LF-D101 DVD RAM drive • Pentium III PC (600MHz, 256Mb) • Plextor Plexwriter 12/4/32 CDR/W • Zyxel ISDN modems • 20Mb HD unit x3

COMPUTER SOFTWARE (MUSIC): Steinberg Cubase VST/24 (with all available plug-ins)

COMPUTER SOFTWARE (SAMPLING): NemeSys GigaSampler v1.6 x2

COMPUTER SOFTWARE (AUDIO TREATMENT): BIAS Peak 2.1 (digital editing and processing) • SFX Machine (multi-effects software plug-in) • Adaptec Toast (CD recording software)

COMPUTER MONITORS: EIZO F77 21-inch • LCD Krystal View KV 15-inch TFT display • LCD Ilyama Pro Lite 36A 15-inch TFT display • Sony Multiscan G-500 21-inch • Sony Multiscan 17SF 17-inch

MIDI INTERFACE: Opcode Studio 5

SAMPLER MODULES: Akai S2000 ‘jumper sampler’ x2 • Roland VP-9000 – “Just added – not on photo!”

SYNTHESIZER MODULES: Alesis D4 Drum Expander • E-mu Morpheus • E-mu Orbit v2 • E-mu Planet Phatt • E-mu Proteus 2000 (expanded) • Ensoniq SQR+ • Korg M1r • Korg Wavestation A/D • Kurzweil K2000R • Roland D-550 • Roland JD-990 • Roland JV-880 • Roland JV-1080 (including four expansion boards) • Roland U-220 • Yamaha TG77 • Yamaha TX802 • Waldorf Microwave

KEYBOARDS: Roland D-70 (master keyboard) • Roland JP-8000

OUTBOARD: ADA Microcab II speaker simulator • Digitech GSP2101 Studio Tube (Ltd. Edition) • Ensoniq DP/4 • Lexicon PCM60 • TC Electronic D-Two Rhythm Delay

MASTERING: Anatek SR-7 • Behringer Denoiser Model 2000 • Behringer Edison • Behringer Ultrafex II • DQC System – “TD’s own mastering invention.”

HARDWARE MIXERS: Mackie CR1604 • Mackie LM3204 • Roland M-240R

RECORDING: Alesis ADAT Type II (20-bit) • Sony PCM2600 DAT with SBM • Tascam MD801 MiniDisc recorder • Yamaha CDR-1000 CD recorder (with Apogee UV22)

MONITORS: Tannoy System 600A Active

HEADPHONES: Sennheiser HD560 Ovation II

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TANGERINE DREAM • TDI MUSIC DISCOGRAPHY

Canyon Dreams O.S.T. (1987)

Rockoon (1992)

220 Volt Live (1993)

Turn Of The Tides (1994)

Tyranny Of Beauty (1995)

Dream Mixes One (1995)

Oasis O.S.T. (1997)

Tournado Live (1997)

Quinoa (1997)

Ambient Monkeys (1997)

Time Square • Dream Mixes 2 (1998)

Transsiberia O.S.T. (1998)

Dream Encores compilation (1982-1997)

Atlantic Bridges compilation (1988-1997)

Atlantic Walls compilation (1988-1997)

The Hollywood Years Vol. 1 O.S.T. compilation (1991-1997)

The Hollywood Years Vol. 2 O.S.T. compilation (1991-1997)

Valentine Wheels • The Shepherds Bush Empire Concert London 1997 (1999)

What A Blast • Architecture In Motion O.S.T. (1999)

Sohoman • Live In Sydney 1982 (1982/1999)

Mars Polaris (1999)

The Great Wall Of China O.S.T. (2000)

Soundmill Navigator • Live At The Philharmonics 1976 (1976/2000)

Tang-go compilation (2000)

Antique Dreams compilation (1970-1988)

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