Editing Kraftwerk (section)

== Music and artistry ==
=== Style ===
Kraftwerk have been recognized as pioneers of [[electronic music]]<ref name="McCormick" /><ref name="Independentconference">{{cite web |last1=Lusher |first1=Adam |title=The Kraftwerk conference: Why a bunch of academics consider the German electropoppers worthy of their own symposium |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-kraftwerk-conference-why-a-bunch-of-academics-consider-the-german-electropoppers-worthy-of-their-9993879.html |website=[[The Independent]] |access-date=11 September 2016 |date=21 January 2015 |archive-date=9 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009201330/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-kraftwerk-conference-why-a-bunch-of-academics-consider-the-german-electropoppers-worthy-of-their-9993879.html |url-status=live }}</ref> as well as subgenres such as [[electropop]],<ref>{{cite book |author=John Shepherd |title=Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: VolumeII: Performance and Production |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJvzEzjahkQC&pg=PA268 |date=8 July 2003 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-6322-7 |page=268}}</ref><ref name="McCormick" /><ref name="Independentconference" /> [[art pop]],<ref name="moma">{{cite web |last1=Michaels |first1=Sean |title=Kraftwerk announce residency at New York's Moma |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/feb/16/kraftwerk-residency-new-york-moma |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=16 February 2012 | access-date=12 February 2018}}</ref><ref name="Ucr">{{cite web |last1=Giles |first1=Jeff |title=Beatles to Receive Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award |url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/beatles-grammy-lifetime-award/ |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |date=13 December 2013 |access-date=28 October 2016 |archive-date=28 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028152858/http://ultimateclassicrock.com/beatles-grammy-lifetime-award/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ny">{{cite news |last1=Ratliff |first1=Ben |title=Made in Detroit, Different Music Models |url=http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/arts/music/movement-music-festival-trip-metal-detroit.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=28 October 2016 |date=31 May 2016 |archive-date=11 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611121504/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/arts/music/movement-music-festival-trip-metal-detroit.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[house music]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.80s80s.de/kraftwerk-hall-of-fame|title=House Roots|date=2021|access-date=5 February 2022|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203130536/https://www.80s80s.de/kraftwerk-hall-of-fame|url-status=live}}</ref> [[synth-pop]]<ref name="bv">{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=Kraftwerk brought their 3D tour to United Palace Theatre (pics, set list), do it again tonight |url=http://www.brooklynvegan.com/kraftwerk-broug/ |website=[[Brooklyn Vegan]] |date=2 April 2014 |access-date=24 October 2016 |archive-date=25 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025051008/http://www.brooklynvegan.com/kraftwerk-broug/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ind">{{cite web |last1=Stubbs |first1=David |title=Ladies und Gentlemen, the future has arrived |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/ladies-und-gentlemen-the-future-has-arrived-8468340.html |website=[[The Independent]] |access-date=24 October 2016 |date=27 January 2013 |archive-date=25 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025044713/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/ladies-und-gentlemen-the-future-has-arrived-8468340.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="tc">{{cite web |last1=Raihala |first1=Ross |title=Review: Kraftwerk rocks Northrop Auditorium, German-style |url=http://www.twincities.com/2015/10/06/review-kraftwerk-rocks-northrop-auditorium-german-style/ |website=Twin Cities |access-date=24 October 2016 |date=6 October 2015}}</ref> and [[electronic rock]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whatculture.com/music/10-most-influential-electronic-rock-artists?page=5|title=10 Most Influential Electronic Rock Artists|first=Tim|last=Coffman|date=10 February 2022|website=WhatCulture.com|access-date=9 October 2022|archive-date=9 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009045005/https://whatculture.com/music/10-most-influential-electronic-rock-artists?page=5|url-status=live}}</ref> In its early incarnation, the band pursued an [[Avant-garde music|avant-garde]],<ref name="Independentconference"/><ref name="Consequence">{{cite web |last1=Coplan |first1=Chris |title=Video Surfaces of Kraftwerk's Television Debut in 1970 |url=https://consequence.net/2014/03/video-surfaces-of-kraftwerks-television-debut-in-1970/ |website=[[Consequence of Sound]] |access-date=31 March 2016 |date=26 March 2014 |archive-date=22 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122160925/https://consequence.net/2014/03/video-surfaces-of-kraftwerks-television-debut-in-1970/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="thestranger">{{cite web |last1=Segal |first1=Dave |title=What Does Kraftwerk Mean to You? |url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/what-does-kraftwerk-mean-to-you/Content?oid=19946422 |website=The Stranger |access-date=11 September 2016 |archive-date=23 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923005009/http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/what-does-kraftwerk-mean-to-you/Content?oid=19946422 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[experimental rock]] style inspired by the compositions of [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]. Hütter has also listed [[the Beach Boys]] as a major influence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thing.de/delektro/interviews/eng/kraftwerk/kw11-76.html |title=D>Elektro – MATERIAL – Kraftwerk – Interview 11/76 – P. Alessandrini |website=Thing.de |access-date=14 December 2012 |archive-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402171728/http://www.thing.de/delektro/interviews/eng/kraftwerk/kw11-76.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The group was also inspired by the [[funk music]] of [[James Brown]] and, later, [[punk rock]].<ref name="Rogers" /> They were initially connected to the German [[krautrock]] scene.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Steven D. | last1=Martinson |first2=Renate A. | last2=Schulz |title=Deutsch Als Fremdsprache |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OfeeqFk7QVYC&pg=PA225 |year=2008 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-03911-627-0 |page=225}}</ref><ref name="McCormick" /> In the mid-[[1970s in music|1970s]], they transitioned to an electronic sound which they described as "robot pop".<ref name="allmusic">{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0000104714|tab=biography|label=Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny|first=Jason|last=Ankeny|access-date=11 September 2012}}</ref> Kraftwerk's lyrics dealt with [[Aftermath of World War II|post-war]] European urban life and technology—traveling by car on the ''[[Autobahn]]'', traveling by train, using home computers, and the like. They were influenced by the [[Modernist art|modernist]] [[Bauhaus]] aesthetic, seeing art as inseparable from everyday function.<ref name="ind" /> Usually, the lyrics are very [[Minimalist music|minimal]] but reveal both an innocent celebration of, and a knowing caution about, the modern world, as well as playing an integral role in the rhythmic structure of the songs. Many of Kraftwerk's songs express the paradoxical nature of modern urban life: a strong sense of alienation existing side by side with a celebration of the joys of modern technology.<ref>{{cite book |author=Barr, Tim |title=Kraftwerk: from Dusseldorf to the Future With Love |publisher=Ebury Press |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-09-186490-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/may/18/donna-summer-i-feel-love |title=DNA I |website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=2012 |access-date=21 September 2022 |archive-date=5 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505162412/http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/may/18/donna-summer-i-feel-love |url-status=live }}</ref>

Starting with the release of ''[[Autobahn (album)|Autobahn]]'', Kraftwerk began to release a series of [[concept albums]] (''[[Radio-Activity]]'', ''[[Trans-Europe Express (album)|Trans-Europe Express]]'', ''[[The Man-Machine]]'', ''[[Computer World]]'', ''[[Tour de France Soundtracks]]'').<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NSamDwAAQBAJ&q=kraftwerk+%22concept+albums%22&pg=PT147 |title=Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany |last=Schütte |first=Uwe |date=27 February 2020 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=9780241320556 |access-date=29 April 2020 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408075905/https://books.google.com/books?id=NSamDwAAQBAJ&q=kraftwerk+%22concept+albums%22&pg=PT147 |url-status=live }}</ref> All of Kraftwerk's albums from ''Trans Europe Express'' onwards, except ''Tour de France Soundtracks'', have been released in separate versions: one with German vocals for sale in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and one with English vocals for the rest of the world, with occasional variations in other languages when conceptually appropriate. Live performance has always played an important part in Kraftwerk's activities. Also, despite its live shows generally being based around formal songs and compositions, live [[improvisation]] often plays a noticeable role in its performances. This trait can be traced back to the group's roots in the first [[Experimental music|experimental]] Krautrock scene of the late [[1960s in music|1960s]], but, significantly, it has continued to be a part of its playing even as it makes ever greater use of digital and computer-controlled sequencing in its performances. Some of the band's familiar compositions have been observed to have developed from live improvisations at its concerts or sound-checks.<ref>{{citation |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/preview+behind+kraftwerk+machines/11360476/story.html |title=The man behind Kraftwerk's machines |author=Sperounes, Sandra |work=Edmon Journal |date=14 September 2015 |access-date=28 October 2016 |archive-date=11 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211161100/http://www.edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/preview+behind+kraftwerk+machines/11360476/story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Technological innovations ===
Throughout their career, Kraftwerk have pushed the limits of [[music technology]] with some notable innovations, such as home-made instruments and custom-built devices. The group has always perceived their Kling Klang Studio as a complex music instrument, as well as a sound laboratory; Florian Schneider in particular developed a fascination with music technology, with the result that the technical aspects of sound generation and recording gradually became his main fields of activity within the band.<ref name="Bussy" />{{page needed|date=April 2019}}  Alexei Monroe called Kraftwerk the "first successful artists to incorporate representations of [[Industrial music|industrial]] sounds into non-academic electronic music".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Monroe |first=Alexei |title=Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK |publisher=Cambridge: The MIT Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/interrogationmac0000monr/page/212 212] |year=2005 |isbn=0-262-63315-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/interrogationmac0000monr/page/212 }}</ref>
[[File:Kraftwerk Vocoder custom made in early1970s.JPG|thumb|Early 1970s vocoder, custom-built for Kraftwerk]]

Kraftwerk used a custom-built [[vocoder]] on their albums ''[[Ralf und Florian]]'' and ''Autobahn''; the device was constructed by engineers P. Leunig and K. Obermayer of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kraftwerk Vocoder (Barth / Leunig) sold: $12,500 |url=http://www.sequencer.de/blog/?p=843 |website=Sequencer.de |access-date=14 December 2012 |date=25 June 2006 |archive-date=29 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329051751/http://www.sequencer.de/blog/?p=843 |url-status=live }}</ref> Hütter and Schneider received a patent for an [[electronic drum kit]] with sensor pads, filed in July 1975 and issued in June 1977.<ref name="aktivitaet-fanzine1" /> It must be hit with metal sticks, which are connected to the device to complete a circuit that triggers analog synthetic percussion sounds.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-zX6QkdQ30 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/D-zX6QkdQ30| archive-date=30 October 2021|title='Tomorrow's world' (1976 TV performance) |publisher=YouTube |date=23 January 2008 |access-date=14 December 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The band first performed in public with this device in 1973, on the television program ''Aspekte'' (on the all-German channel [[ZDF|Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen]]), where it was played by Wolfgang Flür.<ref>Flür, Wolfgang (2001). "Kraftwerk": I Was A Robot. Sanctuary Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-86074-417-4}}.</ref> They created drum machines for ''Autobahn'' and ''Trans-Europe Express''.<ref>Reynolds, Simon. "Generation Ecstasy". Routledge. 2013.</ref>

On the ''Radio-Activity'' tour in 1976 Kraftwerk tested out an experimental light-beam-activated drum cage allowing Flür to trigger electronic percussion through arm and hand movements. Unfortunately, the device did not work as planned, and it was quickly abandoned.<ref name="aktivitaet-fanzine1">{{cite web |url=http://www.aktivitaet-fanzine.com/10_kk0.html |title=Aktivitaet Online – Archive – General articles – Kling Klang: The Electronic Garden |website=Aktivitaet-fanzine.com |access-date=14 December 2012 |archive-date=12 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312160256/http://www.aktivitaet-fanzine.com/10_kk0.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The same year Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider commissioned [[Bonn]]-based "Synthesizerstudio Bonn, Matten & Wiechers" to design and build the Synthanorma Sequenzer with Intervallomat, a 4×8 / 2×16 / 1×32 step-sequencer system with some features that commercial products couldn't provide at that time.<ref name="aktivitaet-fanzine1" /> The [[music sequencer]] was used by the band for the first time to control the electronic sources creating the rhythmic sound of the album ''Trans-Europe Express''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elektropolis.de/synthanorma.pdf|website=Elektropolis.de|title=Synthanorma Sequenzer – description by D. Matten|access-date=14 December 2012|archive-date=6 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806212737/http://www.elektropolis.de/synthanorma.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Since 2002, Kraftwerk's live performances have been conducted with the use of virtual technology (i.e. software replicating and replacing original analogue or digital equipment). According to [[Fritz Hilpert]], "the mobility of music technology and the reliability of the notebooks and software have greatly simplified the realization of complex touring setups: we generate all sounds on the laptops in real time and manipulate them with controller maps. It takes almost no time to get our compact stage system set up for performance. [...] This way, we can bring our Kling-Klang Studio with us on stage. The physical light weight of our equipment also translates into an enormous ease of use when working with software synthesizers and sound processors. Every tool imaginable is within immediate reach or just a few mouse clicks away on the Internet."<ref>Interview: ''The Future Is Virtual – Music Tech Talk With Fritz Hilpert'', Sounds & Performance magazine, 2009</ref>

=== Reclusiveness and eccentricity ===
The band is also known for being notoriously reclusive, providing rare and enigmatic interviews, using life-size mannequins and robots while conducting official photo shoots, refusing to answer fanmail and barring visitors from the Kling Klang Studio, the precise location of which they used to keep secret.

Another notable example of this eccentric behavior was reported to [[Johnny Marr]] of [[the Smiths]] by Karl Bartos, who explained that anyone trying to contact the band for collaboration would be told the studio telephone did not have a ringer since, while recording, the band did not like to hear any kind of noise pollution. Instead, callers were instructed to phone the studio precisely at a certain time, whereupon the phone would be answered by Ralf Hütter, despite never hearing the phone ring.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ioyvLPs4Bc | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629180016/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ioyvLPs4Bc| archive-date=29 June 2012|title=Top 100 Albums: Kraftwerk Trans-Europe-Express commented by Johnny Marr and Mark Radcliffe |publisher=YouTube |date=1 April 2007 |access-date=14 December 2012}}</ref>

[[Chris Martin]] of [[Coldplay]] recalled in a 2007 article in [[Q (magazine)|''Q'']] magazine the process of requesting permission to use the melody from the track "[[Computer Love (Kraftwerk song)|Computer Love]]" on "[[Talk (Coldplay song)|Talk]]" from the album ''[[X&Y]]''. He sent a letter through the lawyers of the respective parties and several weeks later received an envelope containing a handwritten reply that simply said "yes".<ref name="Q Magazine – The 21 people who changed Music.">Goddard, Simon. "The 21 people who changed music – They are the robots." ''[[Q Magazine]]''. November 2007, p. 106.</ref>