[HN Gopher] Kraftwerk issued their own pocket calculator synthes...
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Kraftwerk issued their own pocket calculator synthesizer (2019)
Author : layer8
Score : 144 points
Date : 2023-08-26 11:00 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.openculture.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.openculture.com)
| zw123456 wrote:
| Reason number 379 why I love HN.
| egorfine wrote:
| I have seen them live here in Kiev, Ukraine. One of then-oligarch
| invited them to play at a closed party of about 2k or 3k people
| and I did everything I could to get a ticket.
|
| Living legends. The light and stage are minimalistic to the point
| of disappearing and the sound is nothing but perfect.
| LeoPanthera wrote:
| I saw them in the Albert Hall a couple of years ago in London.
| Mesmerizing. Would recommend to anyone.
| lb1lf wrote:
| There is an amazing video of an early Kraftwerk gig somewhere
| on YouTube - basically, the audience, dressed like latter-day
| European hippie-wannabes, haven't got the first idea what hits
| them, then a few rather hesitantly begin to dance and gradually
| win the crowd over.
|
| Incredible. I was blown away by Kraftwerk both times I have
| seen them live, and I very much knew what I was in for; I can't
| even begin to imagine what it must have felt like to be caught
| unawares...
|
| I kind of envy that crowd.
| kakoni wrote:
| I believe it's this 1970 gig? https://youtu.be/hWUiLJnEYJI
| defrost wrote:
| Obligatory direct link to Kraftwerk's _Pocket Calculator_ :
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSBybJGZoCU
|
| as an excuse to sideload a link to the Balanescu Quartet's cover
| of Kraftwerk's _The Robots_ :
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRBPZl-Fmqk
| mellosouls wrote:
| Which gives an excuse for the amazing original video (English):
|
| https://youtube.com/watch?v=D_8Pma1vHmw
|
| German performance:
|
| https://youtube.com/watch?v=YHaZ3UL2oHk
|
| Insanely influential and ahead of their time.
| layer8 wrote:
| Japanese version (fitting for Casio):
| https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZbmFeXTN7GA
| bouvin wrote:
| I have had the privilege of seeing Kraftwerk live three times -
| easily some of the best concerts, I have attended. Even if
| there is not much left of the original axe, I can still
| recommend the experience. They have a reputation for
| perfection, and that is most certainly reflected in their live
| performance.
|
| I also had the good fortune of attending Balanescu Quartet in
| concert during their Kraftwerk era. The only time, I've ever
| attempted (and succeeded!) to get backstage to meet the band.
| beebeepka wrote:
| I am the operator. With my pocket calculator
| Iridescent_ wrote:
| I am adding
| pieterr wrote:
| And subtracting
| likeclockwork wrote:
| I'm controlling
| baggy_trough wrote:
| And composing
| brookritz wrote:
| by pressing down a special key
| gizajob wrote:
| it plays a little melody
| sneak wrote:
| Later, Teenage Engineering would make a series of tiny exposed
| PCB synthesizers called the "pocket operator" in a direct
| reference to same.
| staplung wrote:
| https://teenage.engineering/products/po
|
| And a little performance with 9 of them:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF2NsGFqJ_Q
| dr_kiszonka wrote:
| They look incredibly cool. Not being a musician, are they
| actually useful or just fun little novelty gadgets?
| schwartzworld wrote:
| The sampler is the most useful. The others have a limited
| set of sounds that are fun, but get exhausted pretty
| quickly.
| anjel wrote:
| No suprise that th success of this line of naked toy synths
| spawned more than just a cottage industry in cases for
| same. https://pocketoperations.com/pocket-operator-
| cases.html#case...
| posterboy wrote:
| funny little novelty gadgets, which are useful if you don't
| know any better _and_ have too much money - the definition
| of hipster.
|
| Get a cheap editor with free plugins, there are enough
| around. Or get a Volca if you must.
| thih9 wrote:
| They're overpriced novelty, relatively few musicians would
| use them in an actual gig or a production.
|
| They're fun though, so many musicians play / jam with them
| just for that.
| zoklet-enjoyer wrote:
| Very useful for fun. I have a few of them. My favorite is
| the sampler, PO-33
| kramerger wrote:
| I always thought they were for chiptune enthusiasts
|
| https://www.linusakesson.net/music/po-2x/
| mch82 wrote:
| Kraftwerk's 2017 album "3-D the Catalogue" is one of the best
| examples of spatial audio I've heard on iOS.
| bowsamic wrote:
| Ich bin der Musikant mit Taschenrechner in der Hand
| blast wrote:
| The article says: "they parodied the stiff, precision-obsessed
| German stereotype to perfection".
|
| I never had the sense of Kraftwerk as parody, or even as ironic.
| In fact the opposite. Did I miss something?
| _a_a_a_ wrote:
| Off-topic plug for another german institute that parodies,
| Henning Wehn, the the German Comedy Ambassador. If you are in
| the UK see him if you can but beware he can really rip into
| Brits (it can be brutal but it's never mean. He doesn't spare
| Germans either). From wikipedia
|
| .
|
| Of his decision to stay in the UK, Wehn later wrote:[5]
| I initially planned to stay in the UK for only 12 months to
| improve my English, but the good weather, the tasty food and
| the classy women made me stay. In order to blend in with the
| locals, I decided to get extremely lazy, spend money I don't
| have and, most importantly, to unjustifiably bang on about my
| great sense of humour
|
| .
|
| He is a very, very good night out. (Edit: his 2011 tour was
| entitled _My Struggle_ )
| ddingus wrote:
| Ever listen to "Boing Boom Chuck?"
|
| It is respectable parody, also ironic in that it is also trope,
| not trope. Self referential too.
|
| Great tune!
| yardshop wrote:
| When I was in high school in the late 70s, I had a Casio music
| calculator somewhat bigger than the one in the article, layed out
| horizontally instead of vertically, but probably had similar
| musical capabilities.
|
| I found that by entering a number, I think it was 951, and taking
| the square root, it would play a melody that ended on an up note,
| and taking the square root again ended on a resolution note. So I
| could press on a special key to play a little melody! (further
| square roots were random and less musical)
|
| I knew about Kraftwerk at that point (Autobahn and Radio
| Activity), but this was a couple years before Computer World came
| out. Now I wish I still had that thing!
| fsckboy wrote:
| in the same timeframe, there was a bug in the DEC VT-100
| terminal (maybe related to autorepeat?) where hitting the right
| key combinations would put it into a mode where pressing keys
| would play an incomplete variety of low notes, but sufficient
| for _Ride of the Valkyries_
| jgab wrote:
| Very cool. If you like the idea of a pocket synth but want
| something more powerful, the dirtywave m8 is a fantastic full
| featured tracker, with multiple synthesis models, stereo
| sampling, I/O and ability to send audio over usb.
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(page generated 2023-08-27 23:00 UTC)