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Introduction: The position of the Berlin School in the history of electronic music
Text: mmr｜Theme: Progressive electronic and Berlin School electronic music from the late 1960s to the present
20th century electronic music began in the realm of academic research and experimental art. Following the development of electronic musical instruments in the 1920s and 1930s, magnetic tape technology after the war, and the establishment of musique concrète and electronic music studios in the 1950s, an environment began to emerge in the late 1960s that allowed individual composers to create electronic music outside of the studio. Amid this change, a series of progressive electronic music that later became known collectively as the ““Berlin School’’ was established mainly in West Germany.
The Berlin School is not a unified movement or an official school in the strict sense of the word. It is a name that was unified in later music history research and criticism as a result of multiple composers working in a common metropolitan area, technological environment, and musical interests. At its core are composers and projects such as Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Ash Ra Tempel (later Ashra).
Chapter 1 Prehistory: From experimental electronic music to personal studio
Foundation of postwar electronic music
After World War II, research into composition using purely electronic sounds was carried out in Germany, centered on the Cologne Electronic Music Studio. Meanwhile, in France, musique concrète, which uses environmental and concrete sounds as its materials, developed. These trends gave later electronic musicians the concept of ““constructing sound itself.’’
In the 1960s, modular synthesizers appeared. It became possible to change pitch, timbre, and rhythm through voltage control, allowing composers to manipulate sound in real time. This technological progress supported the establishment of the Berlin School, which is characterized by long structures and repetitive progressions.
Point of contact between rock and avant-garde
At the same time, a movement to fuse rock and avant-garde art was gaining momentum in West Germany. In response to British and American rock, groups that actively incorporated improvisation, repetition, and electronic sounds emerged. The context of what would later be called ““krautrock’’ and the Berlin School electronic music developed in a geographically and humanly overlapping manner.
Chapter 2 Establishment of the Berlin School
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream was formed in 1967, and their early work combined rock formations with avant-garde improvisation. In the early 1970s, he began composing using synthesizers and sequencers.
What is distinctive about it is its structure, which overlays tonal changes and improvised melodies on top of a repeating sequence pattern. This method created a long-form structure that musicalizes the flow of time itself, which differs from traditional song formats.
Klaus Schulze
After participating in Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, Klaus Schulze will focus on his solo career. His works are characterized by longer sustained notes, gradual changes, and improvisation. In many cases, the rhythm does not appear clearly, and the transition of the timbre itself forms the structure.
From the beginning, Schulze worked in a private studio, practicing multi-layered recordings using numerous synthesizers and tape equipment. This production form also influenced later ambient and drone music.
Ash Ra Tempel / Ashra
Ash Ra Tempel began as a project that fused electronic sounds, guitar, and improvisation. In later years, under the name Ashra, he produced more electronic and architectural works. The balance of repetitive sequences and melodic elements exemplifies the diversity of the Berlin School.
Chapter 3 Musical Features
Repeat structure with sequencer
The most distinctive element of the Berlin School is the repeated sound pattern created by analog sequencers. A fixed pattern that lasts for a long time and gradually changes through filter and envelope operations. This method emphasizes the sense of time rather than the sense of beat.
Long format
While traditional pop and rock music is based on song structures lasting several minutes, it is not uncommon for a single song in Berlin School music to run for over 20 minutes. This is a form made possible by the development of improvisational performance and recording technology.
Tone design
The instability and fluctuation of analog synthesizers became part of the sonic aesthetic of the Berlin School. The minute deviations caused by temperature changes and voltage fluctuations give an organic look to mechanical repetition.
Chapter 4 Connection with electronic music history
The Berlin School is located between academic electronic music and popular music. It is not a strictly theoretical composition, nor does it rely on commercial song forms. This intermediate position increased its influence on subsequent genres.
From the late 1970s onwards, sequence-based composition techniques evolved into synth pop, new age, and ambient. Berlin School composers themselves expanded their activities to include film music and commercial works.
Chapter 5 Changes since the 1980s
With the spread of digital synthesizers and MIDI, the production environment has changed dramatically. The limitations inherent to analog equipment have been reduced and reproducibility has improved. On the other hand, the contingency seen in the early Berlin School is reduced.
During this period, the Berlin School method was reinterpreted as the prototype for techno and trance. The fusion of repetitive beats and sequences takes on new meaning in the dance music context.
Chapter 6 Inheritance to modern times
In the 21st century, modular synthesizers are being reevaluated. The Berlin School method is once again attracting attention in small-scale studios and live improvisation. This is not tied to nostalgia, but to a growing interest in real-time generated music.
Chapter 7 Detailed analysis of technical foundations
This chapter organizes the specific technical elements that established the Berlin School by dividing them into three layers: musical instruments, control systems, and recording techniques.
Analog modular synthesizer
The core of the Berlin School was the voltage-controlled analog modular synthesizer. The structure of freely connecting oscillators, filters, amplifiers, and envelopes using patch cables created a production environment in which the musical result was not completely fixed in advance.
This non-determinism is strongly connected to the Berlin School’s compositional concept of ““the production of time.’’ Because pitch and rhythm are managed not by musical notation but as a chain of voltage changes, music exists as a process rather than a blueprint.
Analog sequencer
Analog sequencers were devices that cycled through multiple steps of voltage values, and provided the physical support for the repetitive structure of the Berlin School. Each step is evenly distributed in time, but melodic and harmonic contours are formed by setting the voltage values.
What is important is that the sequence is based on ““cycle” rather than ““meter.” As a result, rhythm became not just a framework for dancing, but a foundation for expanding the listener’s sense of time.
Tape recording and multilayer structure
Multi-track recording and tape editing played an important role in the early Berlin School. By recording long periods of improvisational performance, editing and layering parts of it, a non-linear structure was constructed. This is an attitude that treats the studio as a composing space, and can be seen as a precedent for later DAW-like production thinking.
Chapter 8 Analyzing the structure of representative works
In this chapter, rather than listing the names of specific works, we will analyze them as structural types that can be confirmed.
Single sequence expansion type
A format in which a certain sequence runs through the entire song, expanding through changes in tone and the addition of layers. The passage of time itself forms the structure, and conventional concepts of thematic development and modulation become a background.
Unbeatable continuous tone type
A form that is built around sustained notes and slow changes, without a clear sequence. It is prominent in the works of Klaus Schulze, and became the prototype for later ambient and drone music.
Improvisation recording editing type
A format that uses live or studio improvisation as material and is structured through post-editing. This method blurs the boundaries between composition and performance, positioning the work as a record of an event.
Chapter 9 Connection with film music
From the late 1970s onwards, Berlin School composers expanded their activities into the field of film music. Long-lasting sounds, repetitive progressions, and electronic tones have a high affinity with the time axis of images.
The Berlin School method of film music is characterized by its emphasis on spatial formation rather than melody-driven music. Rather than illustrating a story, music plays a role in constructing a psychological and physical environment.
This practice was inherited by later cinematic ambient and sound design-oriented electronic music.
Chapter 10 Comparison with before/after Kraftwerk
In order to accurately understand the Berlin School, it is necessary to organize its relationship with Kraftwerk chronologically.
Before Kraftwerk
Before Kraftwerk, the Berlin School emphasized improvisation and long forms. The rhythm is fluid, and the piece is perceived as a transition rather than a progression. At this stage, electronic music was a means of escape from rock, and also a release from academic electronic music.
After Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk reorganized electronic music into clear rhythmic structures and repetitive beats. This has led to the international acceptance of electronic music as a danceable form. On the other hand, the Berlin School kept its distance from beat-centricism and maintained its own line as time-expanding music.
This divergence, as a differentiation between techno/synthpop and ambient/drone, gave a clear axis to the electronic music map of later years.
Chronology
- 1950s Establishment of academic electronic music studio
- 1960s: Popularization of modular synthesizers
- 1967 Tangerine Dream formed
- Early 1970s: Establishment of Berlin School composition method
- Late 1970s: Development in the field of film music
- 1980s Electronic music branch after Kraftwerk
- Since the 2000s: Modular re-evaluation and revival of improvisational culture
Structure diagram
Conclusion
In the history of electronic music, the Berlin School is positioned as a movement that transformed the sense of time rather than the format. Its influence continues to expand, quietly but surely.
