Cinco perguntas para Harald Grosskopf

Nascido na cidade de Hildesheim, Alemanha, no dia 23 de outubro de 1949, Harald Grosskopf é um dos músicos mais atuantes da sua geração. Harald participou mais de 95 discos de bandas e artistas importantíssimos nos anos 70, como Wallenstein, Cosmic Jokers, Ashra Tempel, Klaus Schulze e Walter Wegmüller, entre outros. Em 1980, Harald lançou seu clássico disco “Synthesist” (relançado recentemente em vinil pelo selo norte-americano Rvng Intl), além de atuar como baterista da cantora Lili Berlin, na primeira metade dos anos 80. Nos anos 90 e 2000 participou de dois projetos legais ao lado do também músico e produtor alemão Steve Baltes (Sunya Beat e N-tribe), além de dedicar-se à sua carreira solo. Harald tem 6 discos solo lançados, sendo o mais recente uma regravação do álbum de 1980, agora chamado “Synthesist 2010”.

Tive meu primeiro contato com o Harald Grosskopf pela internet, durante minhas pesquisas tanto sobre os pioneiros da música eletrônica quanto sobre a música feita na Alemanha nos anos 70, o chamado “krautrock”. Trocamos alguns emails e mensagens e quando o convidei para fazermos esta entrevista para o meu blog, ele foi muito atencioso e me respondeu prontamente! Aqui está tradução para português da entrevista (o texto original está neste outro post). As fotos que ilustram esta entrevista estão, originalmente, no website oficial do Harald e seu uso foi autorizado por ele.

ASTRONAUTA - Você é um dos músicos mais atuantes da Alemanha, principalmente nos anos 70, quando tocou com bandas como Wallenstein e Ashra Tempel/Ashra, no “projeto” Cosmic Jokers e também em vários discos de artistas como Klaus Schulze e Lili Berlin (já nos anos 80). Como você vê a extensão dos trabalhos realizados por você nesta época e existe algum disco que você tem como preferido de cada banda ou artista?

HARALD - Muito obrigado pelos cumprimentos! :D)

Quando juntei-me à banda Wallenstein, no início de 1971, foi a minha entrada no mundo profissional da música em todas suas variações encorajadoras e também frustrantes. No início, com o Wallenstein, criamos uma maneira bastante nova de tocar rock clássico, uma maneira complexa e original. Os problemas financeiros eram muito complicados, eramos muito pobres. Eu morava em apartamentos pequenos. Às vezes tinha ratos dividindo a sala de estar e alimentos comigo. Eu tinha que passar por isso para poder viver a minha vontade apaixonada de fazer música e eu sonhava com o sucesso e com as groupies.

O Wallenstein era influenciado pela música clássica e as estruturas das músicas eram relativamente complicadas. Nós ensaiavamos com muita frequência e disciplina, lançamos 4 álbuns em quatro anos.

Com o passar dos anos, porém, cada vez mais nossa música se encaminhava para o mainstream. Eu estava frustrado. Não só por causa da música mas também por causa do desligamento psicológico da banda. Não estou dizendo que não era minha culpa. Eu definitivamente tive a minha parte nessa história.

Naquele momento, em 1972, fui convidado pelos produtores da nossa gravadora, OHR MUSIK, para trabalhar como músico de estúdio, eles estavam agrupando os músicos do selo. Foi ai que encontrei pela primeira vez o Klaus Schulze, o Manuel Göttsching e o Hartmut Enke (da banda ASHRA TEMPEL), o Edgar Froese, o Christoph Franke e o Peter Baumann (do Tangerine Dream).

Klaus Schulze, o então baterista do ASHRA TEMPEL, estava prestes a deixar a banda para iniciar sua carreira solo. Seu primeiro álbum solo, "Irrlicht" era muito estranho. Não me tocou de maneira alguma. Era intelectual e abstrato. O ASHRA TEMPEL era bem mais interessante. Seu estilo estava mais ligado com o rock que eu estava acostumado também. Naqueles dias o Tangerine Dream, para mim, soava mais parecido com o Pink Floyd, sem as estruturas da música concreta. Todos esses músicos de Berlim eram muito respeitados e descontraídos do que os músicos do que eu estava acostumado a lidar. Eles elogiaram meu estilo de tocar bateria. Eu nunca tinha ouvido aqueles elogios antes, de qualquer membro do Wallenstein... Mas mesmo com toda a crítica que eu tenho em relação ao Wallenstein, aprendi muito durante esses quatro anos, nos anos 70, a começar pelas estruturas musicais e técnicas de gravação. Cinco anos depois que saí do Wallenstein, eles tiveram um grande sucesso na Alemanha mas, além do líder da banda - Jürgen Dollase - nenhum dos outros membros originais estavam envolvidos. Este sucesso foi também o fim da banda.

Durante as sessões de gravação para um álbum do nosso selo chamado "TAROT", comecei a me apaixonar pela música eletrônica e pelo jeito único de Manuel Göttsching tocar guitarra. Ele usava uma câmara de eco. Seu estilo era muito particular. Na minha visão, esse era “O” link com a música eletrônica. E a sonoridade e estilo de Hartmut Enke tocar o baixo também. Ele foi o primeiro baixista do mundo a utilizar um compressor para sustentar as notas e também uma câmara de eco. As coisas que ele produziu eram muito originais e tinham alguma coisa a ver com os sequencers que surgiram anos mais tarde. Hartmut Enke, infelizmente, faleceu em dezembro de 2005, depois de um triste destino em sua vida. Ele foi o Syd Barrett do ASHRA TEMPEL...

Após essas experiências, não consegui continuar no rock. Achava chato e antiquado. Ele não se encaixava nas minhas raízes culturais. Depois da segunda guerra mundial a juventude alemã, como consequência da Alemanha nazista de Hitler, afastou-se das próprias raízes culturais e começou a idolatrar a jovem cultura de música de entretenimento anglo-americana. Rock'n'roll, Blues, estas coisas.

Eu também amava os Beatles e, mais tarde, o Jimi Hendrix e o Pink Floyd. Mas crescer na Alemanha Ocidental pós-guerra, não tinha nada a ver com o ambiente social da Lousiana, nem do Tennessee, nem nos subúrbios de Londres e eu nunca tive a sensação de que eu era capaz de sentir o blues. A Alemanha, ja há um século, tem tradição de ser uma cultura de maior evolução tecnológica, disciplinada e enfática. Os alemães inventaram 90% de todas as inovações tecnológicas da terra, de carros, energia atômica e filmes 3D até foguetes espaciais, como você sabe.

Sem uma perspectiva de futuro, eu saí do Wallenstein no verão de 1974 e vendi minha bela bateria de acrílico transparente (veja as fotos no facebook). No lugar, eu comprei uma câmara de eco WEM Copycat, um amplificador de guitarra e um violão de 12 cordas. Eu estava fascinado por ecos. Os grooves repetitivos e monótino me fascinavam mais do que as estúpidas batidas 4/4 do rock’n’roll. Eu estava convencido de que a música que criávamos nas sessões de improviso em estúdio seria muito influente no futuro da música.

Verão 1974. O Popol Vuh, uma banda de Krautrock que também era contratada do selo OHR, estava procurando um baterista. Eu conheci Florian Fricke no mesmo estúdio onde gravamos com o Wallenstein. Então arrumei meu velho Volkswagen verde metálico e fui para Munique, pronto para me juntar aquela formação musical muito original. O Popohl Vuh produzia músicas para os filmes do lendário cineasta alemão Werner Herzog. No dia seguinte começamos a testar a possibilidade de uma colaboração entre a banda e eu. Florian Fricke era um gênio do piano. Ele tinha formação musical clássica e sua mãe era cantora de ópera. Daniel Fiechelscher, colega de Florian, era filho de um músico de jazz bem conhecido na Alemanha e era um grande guitarrista e também era um ótimo percussionista e baterista. Ele estava querendo se concentrar somente na guitarra, por esta razão eles estavam procurando um baterista. Daniel também tocou percussão com Amon Düül 2, outra lenda do Krautrock.

Infelizmente Daniel era viciado em heroína e pouco confiável. Mais de uma vez Florian teve de ir na loja de penhores e pagar para Daniel ter de volta sua valiosa guitarra Gibson, que ele havia deixado lá em troca de dinheiro para drogas. O Popol Vuh tinha uma maneira muito particular de gravar e tocar ao vivo. Era simplesmente um piano de cauda amplificado e Daniel, com o amplificador de guitarra com volume quase zerado. Eu estava acostumado a tocar música feita com volume muito alto, por muitos anos, e não foi capaz de lidar, sem perder o equilíbrio emocional, com aquele tipo de música feita com volume baixo. Então, infelizmente, eu não fui cumpri com as expectativas deles e fui embora de Munique no dia seguinte, terrívelmente frustrado porque eu gostava daquele estilo de música muito original. Em dezembro de 2001, o grande Florian faleceu, com apenas 55 anos de idade.

De volta ao lar, no meu pequeno apartamento de dois cômodos, eu continuei tocando o meu violão de 12 cordas, ligado na minha câmera de eco, até que um dia a campainha da porta tocou. MANUEL GÖTTSCHING, no caminho de volta para casa depois de um pequeno passeio na França, sorriu para mim. Ele irradiava simpatia, relaxamento e auto-confiança. Nós conversamos muito sobre música e compartilhávamos as mesmas idéias sobre como fazer música. No final ele me convidou, já que o ASHRA TEMPEL estava caindo aos pedaços, para juntar me à nova formação banda. HARTMUT ENKE, depois de algumas viagens ruins de LSD, passou a ter crises psicóticas e não era mais confiável para continuar na banda. Ele nunca voltou a ter um comportamento “normal”, até sua morte, em dezembro de 2005. O nome original da banda foi encurtado para apenas ASHRA. Um novo guitarrista, Lutz Ulbrich - um antigo amigo de Manuel - foi chamado. O publico francês nem conseguia pronunciar o primeiro nome de Lutz da maneira correta. Daí passamos a chama-lo de Lüül, com um sotaque francês. Uma semana antes de Manuel visitar-me eu tinha escrito uma carta para Klaus Schulze, que tinha acabado de lançar o seu novo álbum "Blackdance". Escrevi-lhe dizendo que eu estava espantado. Que mudança de "Irrlicht" para este novo disco! Ritmos e melodias fortes e apaixonados, com sons eletrônicos novos e incomuns. Sua resposta sobre a minha carta foi uma curta frase em um cartão postal: "Venha visitar-me!". Poucas semanas depois, eu fui para sua casa e nós gravamos "Moondawn", seu melhor álbum entre todos.

Em 1977 eu estava morando em Berlim há um ano. O ASHRA tinha gravado o disco "Correlation" e em novembro começamos uma longa turnê pela França e Suiça. Nós quase fomos presos ou mortos por policiais muito nervosos, na noite seguinte à nossa última apresentação em solo francês. Manchete: terroristas do German RAF haviam acabado de matar um magnata alemão na cidade francesa de Mulhouse - onde haviamos tocado no mesmo dia - e haviam encontrado seu cadáver em um porta-malas de um carro. Os policiais, em um carro atrás de nós, tinham visto o nosso Mercedes verde com placa alemã e nos pararam com bombas de fumaça e armas apontadas para nós. Nós cabíamos perfeitamente na sua descrição preconceituosa sobre a idade e imagem de terroristas alemães: cabelos compridos, carro rápido. Nem o fato de estarmos bêbados e chapados os interessava. Graças a deus, Lüül falava francês fluentemente e foi capaz de acalmar aqueles caras muito nervosos. Depois de verificarem nossos passaportes, nos deixaram ir embora.

ASTRONAUTA - Em 1980 você lançou o álbum “Synthesist”, um clássico recentemente relançado em vinil e com um CD bônus (com vários artistas em releituras das músicas originais). Como foram as sessões de gravação de Synthesist em 1980? Quais instrumentos e equipamentos você utilizou na gravação do album?

HARALD - Berlim, Alemanha, verão de 1979, eu tinha 29 anos e estava em uma encruzilhada pessoal e criativa. Minha namorada tinha me deixado e o ASHRA tinha dado uma pausa temporária. Eu sempre me considerei um grande parceiro rítmico para meus numerosos colaboradores, até que alguns amigos musicos me convenceram a partir para algo solo, com minha própria visão criativa. Munido de um gravador ITAM de 8 canais, parti para o interior da Alemanha Ocidental naquele outono e me isolei em um estúdio caseiro por quase dois meses para gravar “Synthesist”. Eu não tinha nenhum teclado nem estava acostumado a utilizar sintetizadores. Tudo que eu queria era fazer música. O uso de equipamentos eletrônicos aconteceu por acaso pois era a maneira mais fácil de obter todos os sons básicos necessários para criar música, do som de baixo aos sons das cordas e muito mais.

O pequeno estúdio era de propriedade do UDO HANTEN (da banda YOU) e ficava no seu apartamento. Udo foi o cara que mais me motivou começar minha carreira solo. Antes disso eu era conhecido apenas como músico acompanhante e eu não era tecladista.

Tudo o que eu utilizei durante as sessões de gravação foram o Mini-Moog e o sequencer de 16 steps ARP do Udo e um sintetizador duofônico KORG PS-3100 de algum outro amigo. Não existia MIDI naquela época então, como sincronizar e sequenciar tudo com um único sequencer? Um cara que lidava com eletrônica e morava na casa preparou um cabo com um componente eletrônico que, saíndo do gate-out do sequencer, disparava um impulso que poderia ser armazenado em um dos 8 canais disponíveis. Este mesmo cabo também produzia outro impulso que permitia controlar o timing do sequencer. Eu tinha que "formatar" uma pista após a outra antes de poder ter as seqüências diferentes nas músicas em sincronia.

Outro problema que era a afinação muito instável do MOOG. Todos os primeiros MINIMOOGS a serem fabricados vinham com este problema. A defasagem da afinação acontecia de forma bastante lenta, não dava para perceber logo na gravação da primeira pista do sequencer. Porém, após 3 ou 4 minutos de gravação do canal de sequencer, o problema ficava óbvio. Desafinação horrível! Eu coloquei uma lâmpada incandescente de 60 W bem perto da parte traseira do MOOG, para amenizar o problema. Eu tinha que repetir a gravação do sequencer várias vezes, até que os resultado fosse satisfatório. Na maioria das vezes eu gravei durante a noite, esvaziado centenas de xícaras de café. Foi o momento mais intenso e emocionante da minha vida, apenas eu e minha criatividade solitária. Poucas semanas depois, eu gravei as baterias e os solos no PANNE PAULSEN STUDIO, em Frankfurt, onde algumas das melhores obras da música eletrônica alemã foram produzidas. A mixagem final e a masterização também foram feitas lá.

ASTRONAUTA - Nos créditos de vários discos importantíssimos, principalmente dos anos 70, seu nome consta como baterista. Dai em 1980 você resolve gravar um disco totalmente voltado ao uso de sintetizadores. Como foi para você esta transição de um instrumento (bateria) para outro (sintetizadores) e o quanto o fato de você ser baterista influenciou seu modo de utilizar e tocar sintetizadores?

HARALD - A maioria dessas perguntas foram respondidas anteriormente. Até hoje eu não sou tecladista. Eu meio que toco bateria no teclado, com os dedos, e ouço os resultados. Se eu gosto do resultado, eu registro e faço um loop. Como baterista, minhas noções de tempo, groove e acentuações foram aprimoradas em muitos anos e talvez sejam especiais.

Demorou muito tempo para eu aceitar que era capaz de criar música com teclados e que estas músicas poderiam ser compartilhadas e apreciadas pelas outras pessoas. Não ser tecladista significa alguma limitação por um lado e não ter limites, por outro. O sequencer me permite executar idéias que eu não poderia realizar com as mãos. Eu sou capaz de consertar notas “erradas” no tempo e sincronizar corretamente, com a ajuda de softwares de música moderníssimos.

Devo explicar que eu nunca fui um fanático a ponto construir ou possuir montes de sintetizadores analógicos empilhados. Eu definitivamente gosto de sons analógicos sintetizados mas, nos dias de hoje, eu cada vez mais vejo os sintetizadores analógicos apenas como relíquias antiquadas do passado, que devem ser colocados em museus. Eles causam muitos danos ambientais. Muito material. Consumo de electricidade muito alto. O transporte deles necessita de muito espaço. Carros grandes são necessários. A poluição de gás carbônico é demais.

Eu prefiro notebooks e sintetizadores de plug-ins ao invés da idéia de produzir ondas de áudio com a ajuda de circuitos eletrônicos. Um ou dois plug-ins soam tão analógicos quanto as maquinas antigas. Agora eu viajo com menos peso para qualquer lugar do mundo. Tenho meu estúdio e meus instrumentos debaixo do braço… Perfeito! Meu kit de bateria eletrônica é mais leve do que qualquer kit “real” de bateria, mas ainda pesado o suficiente para eu ter problemas com excesso de bagagem em aviões. No Japão, quando tocamos com o ASHRA no festival Metamorphose - em 2008 - os organizadores alugaram um modelo idêntico ao meu, para eu usar. Tudo o que eu tive que levar foi um acessório com saída USB contendo minhas configurações do módulo da bateria eletrônica e um par de baquetas.

ASTRONAUTA - -Você ainda mantém alguns dos seus equipamentos, sintetizadores e baterias utilizados nas gravações que você fez? Quais destes ainda estão com você? Existe algum instrumento ou equipamento que você se arrepende de não estar mais com você?

HARALD - Não! Nenhum! Alguns anos atrás eu comprei um ARP Odysey e paguei muito barato. Todos os botões e controles deslizantes estavam com problemas. Eles tinham ruídos e o problema de afinação era imenso. Eu rapidamente o vendi com lucro…

ASTRONAUTA - Entre um lançamento solo seu e outro existe um periodo de tempo de, às vezes, 10 anos. Este tempo entre um disco e outro é necessário para você? Imagino que deva existir muito material inédito da sua carreira solo. Você tem planos de lançar discos até então inéditos ou mesmo relançar mais alguns de seus álbuns nos moldes deste relançamento de “Synthesist” (com músicas bônus inclusas, gravadas na época)?

HARALD - Um dos motivos foi que eu nunca gostei da idéia de me repetir. Eu precisava ficar um longo período sem ouvir minhas músicas. Depois que eu terminei “Synthesist” eu não voltei a ouvi-lo por quase 20 anos. Você pode imaginar quantas vezes eu tive que ouvi-lo durante o processo de gravação. A gravação é a alegria do músico. No palco, você tem que recria-lo cada vez que você toca novamente, se você não quiser se cansar logo. Por um tempo, no começo, eu simplesmente não fui capaz de dizer se “Synthetist” era bom ou ruim. Diferentes situações, sentimentos e frustrações estavam conectados com o periodo de gravação do disco. Agora, depois de todos estes anos, eu descobri a ingênuidade inocente e o frescor energético do disco. É como outra pessoa o tivesse criado.

Eu tive que refazer as músicas do disco “Synthetist” no ano passado, com a ajuda do meu software de música (Ableton Live 8), para poder executá-las ao vivo no palco. Um monte de trabalho e a sensação de que era impossível repetir 100 por cento aqueles momentos especiais e singulares de 1979. O público em Nova York, onde eu toquei “Synthetist” primeira vez em 31 anos, gostou muito. Então eu acho que eu não ficou muito longe do original...

Acabei de preparar a reeditação em vinil do meu segundo álbum, "Ocenheart" (1985), para o selo novaiorquino RVNG Intl. Existe material inédito desde os tempos anteriores ao disco “Synthetist” e eu gostaria de lançar isto, mais cedo ou mais tarde.

Com os melhores votos para o Brasil!

Harald Grosskopf / Fevereiro de 2012

Harald Grosskopf, Axel Manrico Heilhecker e Astronauta Pinguim
(São Paulo, 26 de julho de 2013)

Site oficial do Harald Grosskopf: www.haraldgrosskopf.de

Five questions to Harald Grosskopf

Born in Hildesheim - Germany - on October 23rd 1949, Harald Grosskopf is one of the most active musicians of his generation. Since the 70's he can de heard on more than 95 albums of very important bands and artists such as Wallenstein, Cosmic Jokers, Ashra Tempel/Manuel Göttshing, Klaus Schulze and Walter Wegmüller. In 1980 Harald released his classic album "Synthesist" (re-released in vinyl recently by U.S. label Rvng Intl) and he also played the drums on Lili Berlin's band in the first half of the 80's. In the 90's and 2000's he took part in two cool projects sided by the also German musician and producer Steve Baltes (Sunya Beat and N-tribe), and focused on his solo career. He has six solo albums (the newest is a remake of the 1980 album, now called "Synthesist 2010").

I found Harald Grosskopf's contacts on the internet, during my researches on the pioneers of electronic music and about the music made in Germany in the '70s, the "krautrock". We exchanged a few emails and messages and when I invited him to do this interview for my blog, Harald was very kind and answered promptly! Here's the interview in English and also translated to Portuguese (see this post). The photos illustrating this interview are, originally, posted in Harald's official website www.haraldgrosskopf.de and its use was authorized by him.

ASTRONAUTA - You are one of the most prolific musicians of Germany, mainly in the 70’s, when you played with bands like Wallenstein and Ashra Tempel/Ashra, with the Cosmic Jokers "project" and also in various records of artists like Klaus Schulze and Lili Berlin (already in the 80’s). How do you see the extension of your work with all these artists at that time and is there a favorite album of each one of these bands or artists?

HARALD - Muito obrigado pelos cumprimentos! :D)

Joining WALLENSTEIN in the beginning of 1971 was my entry into the professional world of the music business in all its encouraging and frustrating variations. In the beginning WALLENSTEIN created quite a new, complex and unique form of Classic Rock music. The money situation was all the way through very poor. I lived in small flats. Sometimes I had rats sharing my living room and food. I had to do it to be able to live my passionately longing to make music in the first place and I dreamed of success and groupies.

WALLENSTEIN was influenced by classical music and the structures partly where complicate. We rehearsed very often and disciplined and published 4 albums in four years.

But during the years more and more the music developed to become mainstream. I was frustrated. Not only because of the music, also because of the psychological disconnectedness of the band. I am not saying that it was not my fault. I definitely had my part in that story.

In that situation (1972) I was invited by the producers of our record label OHR MUSIK (EAR MUSIC) to join in studio sessions, they had arranged to bring the label musicians together. That's were I met Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke of ASH RA TEMPEL, Edgar Froese, Christoph Franke and Peter Baumann of TANGERINE DREAM the first time.

Klaus Schulze, drummer of ASHRA TEMPEL, was just about to leave the band to start his solo career. His first solo album "Irrlicht" was very strange. It did not touch me at all. It was intellectual and abstract. ASHRA TEMPEL was more interesting. Their style had more links to the rock music I was used too. TANGERINE DREAM in these days for me where like the sound passages of PINK FLOYD without concrete music structures. All these Berlin musicians where much more respectful and relaxed than I was used in dealing with the musicians of my environment. They complimented my drum play. I never had heard that before from any of the WALLENSTEIN band members... With all the critic I have for WALLENSTEIN, I learned a lot during those four years in the beginning of the seventies about music structures and recording techniques. Five years after I had left WALLENSTEIN, they produced a very big hit in Germany. Apart from band leader Jürgen Dollase, no one of the former band members where involved. The success was the end of the band.

During the label sessions for an album called "Tarot", I started to fall in love with electronic music and the unique guitar play of Manuel Göttsching. He used echo machines. His style was distinctive. In my sight - the - link to electronic music. Also Hartmut Enke`s bass play and sound. He was the first bass player in the world who live used a compressor to sustain his tone and an echo machine. The groove they produced was very original and had something of the years later constructed sequencer machines. Hartmut Enke unfortunately died in Dec 2005 after a sad fate in his life. He was the Syd Barrett of ASHRA TEMPEL....

After these experiences I was not able to continue Rock Music. I found it boaring and old fashioned. It did not fit into my cultural roots. After world war 2 the German youth, as a follow up of Hitler`s Nazi Germany, turned away from it`s own cultural roots and started to adored young anglo-american entertainment music culture. Rock`n Roll, Blues a.s.o.

I also loved the Beatles, later Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. But growing up in post war west Germany I had nothing to do with the social environment of Lousiana, nor Tennessee, nor the suburbs of London and never had the feeling that I was able to feel the Blues. Germany since a century expressed a culture of highest technical developments, discipline and emphasis. Germans invented 90% of all technical inventions on earth, from cars, atom power, 3D-film to space rockets, You name it...

Without a future connecting perspective I quitted WALLENSTEIN in summer of 1974 and sold my nice see-through shaped acrylic drum kit (facebook pic). For the proceed I bought a WEM Copycat echo machine, a guitar trunk amplifier and a 12 string guitar. I was faszinated by echoes. The monotonous, repeating grooves fascinated me more than stupid rock'n'roll 4/4 drum beats. I was convinced that the music we created, during those studio improvisation sessions, would be very influential in future music.

Summer 1974. POPOL VUH, a Krautrock formation, also on OHR record label where looking for a drummer. I met Florian Fricke in the same studio where we produced WALLENSTEIN. So I packed my old metallic green colored VW and went to Munich, ready to join into a very original music formation. Popohl Vuh produced film music for the German artist legend, film director Werner Herzog. The next day we started to test weather a cooperation between me and the band would have been possible. Florian Fricke was a genius of the grand piano. He was a classical trained musician, his mother an opera singer. Florian's companion Daniel Fiechelscher, son of a well know German Jazz musician, was a great guitarist, a very good percussionist and drummer. He wanted to be concentrated just on guitar. That`s why they where looking for a drummer. Daniel partly played percussion with AMON DÜÜL 2, another Krautrock legend.

Unfortunately Daniel was an unreliable heroin addict. More than one time Florian had to pay at the mortgage office to get Daniels valuable Gibson guitar back, which he had left there to score money for drugs. POPOL VUH performed and recorded unusual silent. Pure, un amplified grand piano and Daniels, volume down turned, guitar amp. I was used for years to accompany loudest rock music and was not able to cope with such kind of low volume level, without loosing my emotional balance. So unfortunately I was not able to fulfill their expectations and left Munich the next day, terrible frustrated, because I liked their unique music style very much. In December 2001, the great Florian, aged 55, passed away much too early.

Back home in my small 2 room flat, I played my 12-string and echo machine, until one day my door bell rang. MANUEL GÖTTSCHING, on way home from a little tour in France, smiled at me. He radiated relaxation, friendliness and self-confidence. We talked a lot about music and shared the same ideas about making music. In the end he asked me, after ASHRA TEMPEL was falling apart with their former constellation, to join in. HARTMUT ENKE, after a few bad LSD trips was shaken by psychosis and was not reliable anymore for the band. He never returned back to a "normal" behaving level until his end in Dec 2005. The band`s name was shortened, influenced by reality into ASHRA. A new member on guitar named Lutz Ulbrich, old companion of Manuel, had joined in. The french people could not pronounce his first name Lutz the correct way. Since we called him Lüül, with a french accent. A week before Manuel had visited me I had written a letter to KLAUS SCHULZE, who just had radio broadcasted his new album "Blackdance". I wrote him that I was overwhelmed. What a change since "Irrlicht"! Strong, grooving rhythms, melodies, passion and unusual new electric sounds. His short reply on my letter was one sentence on a postcard: "Come visit me!" A few weeks later I lived at his home and we recorded "Moondawn". His best album ever.

In 1977, I was living in Berlin since one year. ASHRA had produced the "Correlation" album and started in November an extended tour through France and Switzerland. We almost got busted and killed by thrilled, highly nervous french cops, during the night after our last performance on french soil. Headline: German RAF terrorists had just killed a German business tycoon in french town Mulhouse, where we had performed on same day, they had found his dead corpse in a cars trunk. The cops, in a car behind us, had spotted out our green Mercedes with German licence plate, stopped us with smoking breaks and pointed guns on us. We perfectly fitted into their pre-judice about age and image of German terrorists: Long hair - huge, fast car. That we where drunk and illegal sedated, did not interest them at all. Thank god, Lüül spoke perfect french and was able to calm these quite nervous dudes down. After they had checked our passports they released us.

ASTRONAUTA - In 1980 you released the album "Synthesist", a classic (reissued recently on vinyl with a bonus CD, with various artists playing versions of your songs). How were the recording sessions of "Synthesist" in 1980? What equipment and musical instruments did you use to recording that album?

HARALD - "Berlin, Germany, summer of 1979, I was 29 years old and at a personal and creative crossroads. My girlfriend just left me, ASHRA was on temporary hiatus. I always considered myself a rhythmic accomplice to my numerous collaborators' lead, until prompted by some fellow musician friends to pursue a singular creative vision. Armed with an ITAM 8 track reel-to-reel, I set off for the West German countryside that fall and isolated myself in a home studio for almost two months to record "Synthesist". I did not own any keyboard instrument, nor was I set in general to use synthesizers. All I wanted was to make music. Using electronic equipment was, by accident the choice, because it was the easiest way to get all necessary basic sounds for creating a piece of music. From bass to string sounds and more...

The small studio was owned by UDO HANTEN (from the band YOU) and located in his flat. Udo was the guy who motivated me to try going solo. Before that I understood myself as a music companion and I was no keyboard player at all.

All I used during the recording sessions was Udo's Mini-Moog, his ARP 16-step sequencer and another friends KORG PS-3100 two-voice synthesizer. In these days MIDI was not existing. How to get a singular sequencer doing all the work of parallel sequencing? An electronic goof, that lived in the house, prepared a cable with an electronic component that formed from the sequencer gate output impulse a trigger impulse that was able to be recorded on one of the 8 available tracks. Vice versa it produced, via the same cable, a trigger impulse to control the sequencers timing. I had to "format" one track after the other to be able to get the different sequences of the music pieces synchronous.

Another emerging problem was the very unstable tuning of the MOOG. All early MINI-MOOG's shared this problem. The decrease of detuning was quite slow, not perceptible during recording of the first sequencer track. But after 3 or 4 minutes during recording of the second sequencer track the comparison made it obvious. Horrible detuning! I positioned a heat spending 60W light bulb very close to the back of the MOOG, to get the problem mitigated. I had to repeat the sequencer recording over and over again until the results where satisfactory. Most of the time I recorded during nights and meanwhile emptied hundreds of coffee pots. It was the most intense and thrilling time of my life in creative loneliness. A few weeks later I recorded the drums and the solo voices at PANNE PAULSEN STUDIO in Frankfurt, where some pieces of the best German Electronic music was laid. Final mix and mastering was done there too.

ASTRONAUTA - - A lot of very important albums, especially from the 70s, has your name credited as the drummer. So, in 1980, you decided to record an album totally dedicated to the use of synthesizers. How was for you this transition from an instrument (drums) to another (synthesizers) and how the fact that you was are a drummer influenced you in the use of synthesizers?

HARALD - Most of these questions are answered with my last answer. Until now I am no keyboard player. I kind of play the drums on keyboards with my fingers and listen to the results. If I like it I record and loop it. As a drummer my feel for timing, groove and emphasis is trained in years and maybe special.

It took quite a while to accept that I was able to create music on keyboards that can be shared and liked by others. Not being a keyboard player means limitation on one hand and being unlimited on the other. The sequencer allows me to construct ideas I could not realize with my hands. I am able to repair "wrong" notes in time and tune with the help of modern state of the art software music machines.

I must explain that I never was a fanatic fan, in order to build up, or own, or use piles of stacked, analog synthesizer keyboards. I definitely like the analog sound synthesis, but in these days I more and more see analog synthesizer as antiquated relicts of the past that should be presented in museums. They are kind of environmentally damaging. Too much material. Too much electricity consumption. Too much transportation space. Big cars needed. Huge CO2 pollution.

I prefer notebooks and synthesizer plug-ins, in consequence (!) of the idea to produce audio waves with the help of electronic circles. Since one or two years plug-ins sound as analog as the old music machines. Now I am able to travel light. Anywhere in the world. I have my studio and instruments under my arm..... Perfect! My electronic drum kit is lighter than any "real" drum kits, but still heavy enough to get overweight problems on airplanes. In Japan, when we performed with ASHRA at METAMORPHOSE FESTIVAL 2008, they organizers hired an identical model. All I had to carry was a USB stick, containing my drum module settings and a pair of drum sticks"....

ASTRONAUTA - Do you still have some of the equipment, synthesizers and drums used in the recordings that you made in the 70’s and 80’s? Which of these instruments are still with you? Is there any instrument or equipment that you regret not being with you anymore?

HARALD - None! No! A few years ago I bought a very cheap ARP ODYSSEY. All knobs and sliders had problems. They all crackled, caused dropouts and the tuning problem was immense. I soon sold it with profit.

ASTRONAUTA - In between your solo albums there is a certain a period of time, sometimes 10 years. This time between an album and another is necessary to you? I suppose there must be much unreleased material from your solo career. Do you have plans to release records hitherto unpublished or even reissue some of your albums like the re-release of "Synthesist" (with bonus tracks included covered by new artists or even tracks recorded at the time)?

HARALD - One reason was that I never liked the idea to repeat myself over and over. I needed a long period of not listening to my own tunes. After I finished "Synthesist" I had not listen to it almost during a period of 20 years. You can imagine how many times I had to listen to it during the recording process. The making is the joy of the musician. On stage You have to create it new every time You play it, if You do not want to get bored soon. In the beginning I simply was not able to say weather "Synthesist" was good or bad. It is connected with millions of different situations, feelings and frustrations during the making. Now after all the years I discover the innocent naivety and energetic freshness of it. It is like someone other than me had created it.

I had to "remake" the "Synthesist" pieces last year with the help of my music software (ABLETON LIVE 8) to be able to perform them live on stage. A lot of work and the knowledge that it is impossible to repeat those special, singular moments of 1979 in a 100%. The audience in New York, where I performed "Synthesist" the first time after 31 years, liked it very much. So I think I was not too much away from the original....

I just prepare to reissue my second album "Ocenheart" (1985) on RVNG Intl, New York, on vinyl. There is unpublished material from the times before SYNTHESIST existing I like to publish sooner or later"....

Com os melhores votos para o Brasil!

Harald Grosskopf / February 2012

Harald Grosskopf, Axel Manrico Heilhecker and Astronauta Pinguim
(São Paulo, July 26th 2013)

Harald Grosskopf's official website: www.haraldgrosskopf.de

Korg VC-10 vocoder (text in english)

Produced between 1978 and 1982, the Korg VC-10 vocoder was the most popular among the many vocoder models made in the 70’s by several manufacturers. When the VC-10 came on the market, both the Korg - originally called Keio Electronic Laboratories - as the voice decoder (or vocoder) had some years of existence. What Korg did was attach a synthesizer to something that already existed and that was what made this instrument extremely popular: portability and the convenience of having a vocoder that didn't require external instrument to generate audio signal and modulate the pitch. They created a "self-sufficient” vocoder – you could only plug a microphone into it and was all ready to go!

Simplifying the explanation for the operation of an analog vocoder, it picks up the signal from a microphone (or another musical instrument), continuously analyzes the frequency spectrum and combines it with the spectrum of another instrument. The tuning of the output is generated by the second instrument while the characteristics of sound and articulation comes from the first instrument or voice. Simplifying further, it transforms the human voice into a synthesized voice.

The Korg VC-10 is relatively simple to use. Its controls are few compared with other analog vocoders from the same period and the resulting sound that can be achieved with it is - also relatively - limited, although unique and brilliant! It comes with three built-in effects: an individual adjustment of vibrato's speed and depth, a control of an "Accent Bend" (whatever it might be) which is pretty cool in certain situations and an effect called "ensemble", which acts as a good old chorus, despite being fixed (it has no knob, just an on/off switcher). The user can pass the microphone or other instruments directly through the "ensemble", without going through the vocoder - I used this feature to record some guitars from my new album. The keyboard is fully polyphonic and it is two and a half octaves long (32 keys, from F to C) and can go up an octave through a selector switch. Input and output volume control knobs for the microphone and the external signal (if the option is to use another synth or instrument other than the one in the VC-10) and a needle VU, a very cool and aesthetically beautiful is also present on the front panel. There is no input or output jack on the rear of the instrument. A knob that allows to balance between the synthesizer and a noise generator completes the instrument.



Many artists have used this particular model because, as I said here, the Korg VC-10 was one of the most popular vocoders ever produced. But to get the most well known names that played with this instruments I mention Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, Klaus Schulze (on solo albums and with "Tangerine Dream"), Isao Tomita (on the albums "The Bermuda Triangle" from 1979 and "Bolero" from 1980), Roger Waters, Joe Zawinul (with "Weather Report"), Air, Geoff Downes (with the Buggles on the classic "I love you miss robot" and with Yes on the album "Drama" - 1980 - and on several songs with Asia), Rudiger Lorenz , Apollo 440, Klaus Netzle (also known as Carlos Futura, Claude Larson and VC-people), Trans X, Steven Tyler (from Aerosmith, on the song "Prelude to Joanie" from the album "Rock in a Hard Place"), Tommy Mars (keyboard player from Frank Zappa's band), Goldfrapp, Dave Greenfield (of the British band "The Stranglers", on the albums "The Raven", 1979, "Gospel According to Meninblack", 1981, and "Aural Sculpture", 1983) and Daft Punk. Ahhhh, and me, of course!



I have my Korg VC-10 since July 18, 2007. I remember very well the day because it was exactly one day after the crash of TAM Flight 3054, at Congonhas airport (São Paulo)! I bought it in Caxias do Sul (Rio Grande do Sul, south of Brazil) and remember that, as several passengers died on this flight de Caxias, this plane crash was the only subject of all the people that rainy morning. From Caxias I went straight to Cristiano Krause's studio, in São Leopoldo, because I was recording some tracks with "Animales" (Ramiro Pissetti and Rodrigo Pissetti's band). The vocoder itself doesn't weigh too much - about 7 lbs. - but only the case that came with it should weigh about 10, 15 lbs. It was difficult to carry it alone. Anyway, I bought it in very very good conditions and all original - as it must have left the factory in late 70's or beginning of the 80's - with the exception of an adjustment in the microphone stand (the original came with a optional microphone/stand). It took me a few days to learn how to use it in recordings and live performances, but that doesn't stop me from using it since the first moment I laid my hands on it. Today I know the entire process to the point of not only pass voice through but also several other instruments (in my new album I passed the signal of the electronic drums macines of three songs through it and the result is very good and, as far as I know or remember, unlike any music I've ever heard!). The serial number of my Korg VC-10 is 161.199. It is one of the most rare instruments that I have - probably THE most rare - and, along with my Minimoog, the one with the most beautiful design!


photos: Kay Mavrides

I recorded this video on a Saturday, May 14th 2011!



I found this bizarre and cool original advertisement on the internet:



Here you can listen to the song "I love you miss robot" from The Buggles first LP, "The age of plastic", 1980. Geoff Downes is using a VC-10 on this track:



On the track "Fly-by-wire", from my third solo album, "Zeitgeist/propaganda", I used my Korg VC-10 both to record the voices and to pass the drum machine through the vocoder. Here you can check a cool version of this song, recorded by Naomi:



And here is a song recorded on december 11th, 2011. Here I'm playing the VC-10 vocoder, a Minimoog, a Moog Prodigy, a Crumar organ and an Electro-harmonix v256 vocoder:



And here is a photo of my friend from Lazkao (Spain) Israel Santos Borreguero's vocoder (he also has Korg MS-10, as you can see on this photo:


Ralf Hütter (with a Korg VC-10) and François Kevorkian:

WURLITZER 200A electronic piano (text in english)

The first Wurlitzer electronic piano appeared in the second half of the last century in the U.S.A. The idea came from an early invention of Benjamin Meissner. In the 1930s, he used an electrostatic pickup to amplify the sound of a traditional piano and this system was used first by the Everett Piano Company. Later, in the '50s, the Wurlitzer Company bought the patent of the invention of Meissner, finally changed the strings of the piano for the (now) famous metal reeds and, in 1955, the first Wurlitzer electronic piano was put on the market.

The operation of a Wurlitzer is very simple. Well, actually not as simple as a Rhodes electric piano, but still very simple: one key activates a hammer - almost like the hammers of a traditional piano, but smaller - which hit a reed made of metal whose sound is picked up by a huge electrostatic pickup and the signal is pre-amplified and amplified inside the instrument. The piano also has a sustain pedal that also functions in a simple manner: a lever pressed by the foot creates tension in a cable that in turn triggers a mechanism similar to the sustain pedal of a traditional piano.


The Wurlitzer model 200 appeared in 1968 and the 200A (the best known of several models made by the company) in 1972. The 200A is lighter than previous models (a little over 56 lbs.) without the legs, without case and without the pedal. The extension of the 200A keyboard is 64 notes, ranging from A (equivalent to the second A of conventional piano) to C (equivalent to the penultimate C of a conventional piano). The manufacture of the 200A lasted until 1982 and it was sold in black and green colors (there are some 200A in white, like those used by Supertramp, the Beach Boys and the Carpenters, but these were customized versions on request, were not usually marketed). In 1978 came also the 200B model, but these new piano did not have many innovations. It was visually identical to the 200A, but could be powered with a rechargeable battery. It also had no amplifier or internal speakers. I've never seen in Brazil none of the other models, although I know about 10 people (including this astronaut who writes here) that have a 200A.

Many artists and bands used (and still use) a Wurlitzer piano, I can give an almost infinite list of recordings. The world's most famous are Supertramp (the sound of the piano is often confused with the sound of the band itself as we can hear in classical tunes like "The logical song", "Dreamer" and "Breakfast in America", among many others. Also the band was, without any doubt, the main disseminator of the Wurlitzer pianos during its existence), Pink Floyd ("Money", "Breathe," "Time" and "Have a cigar"), The Archies (on the famous "Sugar sugar"), the canadian band Klaatu ("The love of a woman" and "Paranoia"), The Kingsmen ("Louie, Louie"), the Seeds (virtually all their songs were based on the sound of the Wurlitzer piano or the Farfisa organ), Joni Mitchell ("Woodstock"), Bob Dylan ("Till I fell in love with you"), Ringo Starr ("I wanna be Santa Claus", Wurlitzer played by Jim Cox)), Carpenters ("Top of the world"), The Doors (the beautiful "Queen of the highway" - from the album "Morrison Hotel/Hard Rock Cafe" - and "Crawling King Snake - from the album "LA Woman") Elton John ("Lady Samantha" and "Heart in the right place"), John Lennon (on "How do you sleep", among others), Gentle Giant ("Proclamation"), Paul McCartney ("Ram on"), George Harrison (on the song"All Those Years Ago" the Wurlitzer was played by Al Kooper), Queen ("You are my best friend", from the magnificent album "A night at the opera"), The Rolling Stones ("Miss You"), Steely Dan ("Do it again" among many others), Stevie Wonder ("Love having you around", "Sweet little girl" and "Tuesday heartbreak") and Sun Ra (on several tracks, including the first use of a Wurlitzer piano in the history of music, recorded in 1956).



I bought my Wurlitzer 200A from a citizen whose name I do not remember, I think it was Edson - or Edson the name of his band's guitarist, who was present at the time I picked up the piano. I know they both played together in a very famous band in Rio Grande do Sul called "Musical Impacto." I bought in 1997, while recording the album "Era uma vez um gato xadrez" of Acreticine Atray, a band that I played at the time. I remember that I recorded my piano in a song or two, as we were finishing the recordings. At the time I came to take him to some shows, both of Acretinice and other bands and artists that I played with. When I bought it, the piano was full of termites and I disassembled it entirely to reform and paint again! I already bought without knob vibrato with one or two blades broken, but many more have been breaking over the years. It is hard to find (both as a Wurlitzer reeds round) but I found a store in the U.S.A that sells reeds and another parts from Wurlitzer piano (and Rhodes) by the internet so I bought the missing reeds and the knob too (the photos you can see here were taken before I put the knob I bought). You can check and buy it on www.vintagevibe.com

The serial number of my piano is 76.159 (so, they shall made more that 76.000 before they put my 200A on the market, mostly into north america, since it was manufactured in Illinois, USA). It left the factory on May 25th, 1972.

Some curious facts about the Wurlitzer electronic piano:

- The "electronic" in its name was used to differentiate it from an "electric piano" previously manufactured by Wurlitzer. It was an instrument very interesting called "Orchestrion", dating from early last century! Search on the internet about the "Orchestrion" and you know about a great machine created by the human being. In my opinion, it is one of the most curious and innovative instruments made before the invention of the synthesizer, creating the concept that years later would lead to full automation and synchronization between musical instruments (and the whole concept of MIDI)!

- Wurlitzer was very well known for its pipe organs and jukeboxes before becoming world famous for the electronic pianos.

- The first artist to record with a Wurlitzer was the mad jazz musician Sun Ra (in 1956) and the first artist of international fameto record with one was Ray Charles, on his song "What I'd say" (in 1959).



photos: Kay Mavrides


I recorded this video with a short demonstration of my Wurlitzer on March 30th, 2011!



And here are some videos of bands and artists playing on a Wurlitzer electronic piano:

Pink Floyd - Money (official video, 1974)


The Archies - Sugar sugar (1969)


Klaatu - The love of a woman (1981) - The Wurlitzer piano on this track was routed through a Leslie speaker rotating at slow speed to produce a doppler-like effect:


Bob Dylan - Till I fell in love with you (1997)


Sheryl Crow - All I wanna do (1994)


Gnarls Barkley - Crazy (49th Grammy awards, 2007)


Sun Ra - India (1956) - audio only


Ray Charles - What I'd say (1959) - audio only


John Lennon on a white Wurlitzer and Yoko Ono on a black Wurlitzer playing "Instant Karma" live in New York on august 30th, 1972!!!


I also used my Wurlitzer on the track "Fly-by-wire" from my third album, "Zeitgeist/propaganda"


Here you can watch a video of a version of "Fly-by-wire" recorded by Naomi (from the band Quick White Fox):


And - finally - me, playing my Wurlitzer as a guest musician with Justa Causa, in a brazilian TV show called Musikaos (june 23rd, 2001)

Roland EP-30 electronic piano (text in english)

Roland Corporation was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi on April 18, 1972. He started Roland Corp. from another company he had founded nearly 10 years before, Ace Electronic Industries Inc. (or simply Acetone), which had the electronic organs and the drum machines as its main products. The first instruments manufactured by Roland were drum machines too, but yet in the first year of existence the company launched its first synthesizer (SH-1000) and its first electronic piano (EP-10). In the following year, 1974, appeared the first electronic piano with touch-sensitive keys in the world: Roland EP-30.



The Roland EP-30 has a fully polyphonic keyboard with 5 octaves (from F to F) and four different voices, two pianos and two harpsichords. A bass sound also can be switched-on in the first octave and a half. A vibrato effect (with individual controls of rate and depth) can be added to the presets. A knob for adjusting the pitch is also present in front of the EP-30. The sensitivity of the keys can be removed by the volume knob, pulling it out.


Unlike a Rhodes electric piano or a Wurlitzer "electronic" piano or even a Hohner Pianet, the EP-30 is fully electronic, without real mechanical action (only electronically simulated) and its keys do not have the same weight of the piano keys. Its sound is generated from fixed frequency oscillators. Even being a fully electronic piano (not a electric one), the chassis itself is the suitcase of the instrument and a wooden cover was part of the instrument, following the tendency of almost every electric/electronic piano of its time. A steel basis to support sheet music scores was provided to attach on the top of the piano.

The connectors on the rear of the piano are very simple, being a jack for sustain pedal and other two for audio output (low and high impedance, for headphones). This instrument has a sort of drawer on the bottom that serves to keep the power cable safe when the instrument is off. It's a very useful and interesting detail that should have continued to be done, both in the Roland instruments as on the other manufacturers!



I bought my Roland EP-30 in July 2009 from a friend who repairs analog instruments in São Paulo. It - the piano, obviously - is in excellent condition, except of some rust on the chassis. All knobs are originals from the factory and I bought it with the wooden cover and the original basis for sheet music included! The serial number of my EP-30 is 311.410 and no change or adaptation were made. It is a rare instrument - I don't know any other, at least in Brasil - so I didn't find much information on it, so I have no name of musicians or bands who had used this electronic piano.


photos: Kay Mavrides

I recorded this video on March 2, 2011!




I found the User Manual (in Japanese) on the internet and here is the link!


And here's an original advertisement, with the suggested price for sales of JPY 180.000 which, converted into U.S. dollars, would cost something around U$ 2.200:



Here you can watch a TV show I appeared playing my EP-30 with Lirinha's band on november, 2011: