Early Electronic Music Techniques Explained  

Superbooth 2022 not 2020, doh! Thanks for watching! Find the piece on my patreon.com/hainbach, thanks supporting the channel there.

I was privileged to attend a full week of Stockhausen masterclasses and retrospective at IRCAM in Paris, in November '83 or December '84 (I can't remember the exact date ; I was 19 years old). The Master was sitting in the middle of the Grand Auditorium, with all of us sitting in a circle around him. He had tape decks and the sound system was quadraphonic. Over the course of one week, he played ALL of his master tapes, from the first experiments at WDR, up to his most recent works. He went through great detail explaining what were their thinking at the studio back then, splicing minuscule bits of magnetic tape to produce timbres. Part of the critical dimension of thinking was the exploration of ratios that were either non-Pythagorean, or based on non-integer values. For both harmonic series AND note pitches AND durations. I remember he said that they had found that all the bass sounds they would create always ended up sounding like a bassoon, and they wanted to crack that code and find ways to produce a whole variety of bass sounds. Knowing this (I was by than already very familiar, aurally, with his work) helped me understand WHAT I was listening to. Part of the work with stereo and quadraphonic, and MOTION between channels (he was doing Doppler before anyone else), was also related to questions about cognitive psychology. His was always an artistic endeavour, but he always questioned the 'received rules' and 'common sense' of tonal music, but in a way that was different from dodecaphonists, Xenakis and Ligeti. When he sample words, for instance, he questioned the sensory-emotive effect of the word-as-sound and the word-as-concept. There's an Escherian dimension to his music ; which was 'meta-meta-meta'. Loved this guy to death. To this day, Kontakt remains one of the creations that electrifies my brain. It's like Kandinsky in sound.

Hainbach handing an audience member loose tape is like a rockstar guitarist throwing a pick into a crowd. It will go on a mantle, and the story of “the day I got Hainbach’s tape” will be become family folklore.

The moment we've all been waiting for.....42:10 "Let's try it at half speed" YES!!!!

The only course I didn't blow off to concentrate on calculus, the semester I was crashing and burning, was electro-acoustic music, I find this endlessly fascinating. Thank you so much for doing this Hainbach, I think of all the electo-acoustic composers, Stockhausen might be my fave. I've always been intrigued with how he created his works, with that sort of equipment, but never seen it in real time.

I find it fascinating how beautiful atonality can be - and the mix of atonality and tonality (I love Takemitsu's music for example.)

Of all the synth guys , this man and Simon the magpie are the only ones not trying to sell you a new product , they actively encourage you to look at stuff in the skip/dumpster and see if it can make a noise , love it

Loved the talk/demo! Ever since watching your videos, I've started saying "Generator" with the German pronunciation. Also speaking of pronunciation the word you're looking for, meticulous, is pronounced similarly to "ridiculous" ;)

Creating a piece from scratch this way in front of an audience: respect! Great job, and very entertaining to watch! 👍🏻

This is delightful, instructive, and masterfully presented 🙌

I was lucky to be in the room and I wont forget that low filter sweep resonating in the auditorium! thanks Hainbach! that was the highlight of superbooth!

That Hainbach, he continues to Astonish! Bloody irritating really...

To me, the end result has a strong vibe of the soundtrack of early ScienceFiction-movies (like forbidden planet and the like).

bravo! this is so hard to do live whilst giving such a compelling commentary. Loved every second

"Stockhausen's Bass Drum" was so beautifully delicate in the higher ranges like a gentle giant St. Bernard picking up a small puppy

The quality of the end result was actually pretty good. I'm amazed at the creepy and haunting feeling of early electronic music.

Love the Shadow of the Beast t-shirt. The artwork (especially Roger Dean's cover artwork) and music for that game has made a long lasting impression on me since childhood.

Always wonderful to see you working your sound alchemy. I also find interesting the delicate 50Hz from the power line. I’m in Quebec and it’s 60Hz here and it doesn’t have the same “character” if I may say. Great video as always.

Even though it probably felt like a long time, it was a really nice presentation to show that this type of process isn't maybe as tedious as some might assume. More tedious that a DAW, of course. But to get a viable piece going solidly in under an hour is something I don't even achieve with the DAW sometimes.

Cool to see this look at early electronic music. I've been aware of Stockhausen for years due to my interest in Can and their history, but I've never seen such a detailed look at how Stockhausen actually did things. The most remarkable part is that it's so similar to methods that still work with modern loopers and synths. Edit: nice to hear Holger specifically mentioned! Probably my biggest influence/inspiration.

Required viewing for every recording musician born after the rise of digital. What a crazy world we lived in back then.❤

Lovely, close my eyes with my surround system; I see my childhood with all the space shows and the music reminds me of all those wonderful sounds of my childhood. Thanks so much for sharing your talents and time with us all. Love those sounds..

Lol I just realised the top two units look like a face, and now the whole stack looks like a little robot making weird noises.

Finger Envelope: Move the faders and knobs with your finger! 😅 Great show!

And that’s how The Forbidden Planet soundtrack was made. Awesome

Danke ❤ Es ist einfach so Interessant was damals schon Möglich war😮 und heut zu Tage alles in eine DAW😅 Analog ist halt das beste 💯♥️

I want to go back to University and have Hainbach as my professor. Really!

Absolutely fascinating and I love what you created.

This is an awesome video. I love electronic/synth music from the late 60's to the early 80's. Mort Garson's Plantasia is one of my favorite albums. Jean Jacques Perrey made a lot of great stuff too. I have immense respect for those artists from so long ago, it definitely wasn't easy.

Half speed sounded like old scifi movie sound effects.

27:00 My Parents called a priest and exorcist on me.

This is awesome 👏 and the technical gear reminds me of the stuff we used in the Physik-LK at school 🏫 😂.

Hi! Thanks for showing love for Stockhausen!!! :)

The face a the top of the machines ... 😲

A question that always assaults me when I see these kinds of sound generation techniques is, how were the sound systems they used? Were they able to reproduce the full range? Or some of what we can hear now was lost? There was no mention on how Stockhausen monitored all this.

Great stuff!!! I really find it important to know a little bit about the history of electronic music making. By the way, you're a splendid lecturer! Thanks for sharing!

Hmm, now I want to make a digital version of this. Yes, I know that's basically what EDM is, but EDM software is extremely complex and doesn't tend to be very modular. I think writing my own modular software from scratch would be a good experience, and I think it would be easier to grasp! Excellent video though. I've actually written audio generation software in the past, and you've given me some motivation to take another go at it, from a different perspective.

I really enjoyed the experience, so warm and organic. Well done Sir

You have such interesting different topics on you channel. Discover every day something interesting 😂 But what I like most are your travels back in time with stories and really old vintage gear. I own some old Vermona stuff but a lot of your gear gives a new definition of vintage 😂 Some of the sounds remember me of BBC radioworkshop.

Mister Hainbach i don't know if you heard about IPEM (University Gent Belgium) . I think there is a interesting machine for you .

Watching this wonderful wizard work his magic in real time was an unexpected delight. Thank you!

My 12yo walked in near the end and said "Woah. That looks pike something that would be in Stranger Things in Hwwkins Lab." 😂

Great performance. Truly inspirational to see these methods live! Thanks, Hainbach.

Is it possible to do this without needing to get the vacuum tube synthesizer things? I've been really interested in making my own kosmiche musik inspired by early Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze music.

I got some random electronics around. Also a microphone and tape recorder from my grandpa from the 60s. What I am missing is an audio recorder to plug it all in and check it out. Might give myself a bit of a Christmas present tho. Really want something

Part of the track, the drone sound at half speed (43:15), sounds very similar to "The Beast" by Johannsson

It’s still unbelievable to me that I can sit at home and watch things like this. Stop by for a cup of tea anytime

Elektronische Musik is about the process, very nice, cheers Hainbach!

What you played at full speed sounds like incidental music in the classic movie Forbidden Planet! Fascinating work. Thanks!

all of the things he loves are found in the central principle unifyIng his passions is the concept of zitterbewegung... im suprized its never come up .

Love the talk Hainbach … most interesting and very “mad professor ish” … thank you 🙏

Love this work Hainbach. You are a genius! Cheers from Australia!

That SHIRT! 'Shadow of the Beast II'. Retro Amiga style XD

Back in the day this is what DJing looked like. You had to splice the magnetic tape on the fly if you wanted to mix two tracks. /s

Good to hear about (Stockhausen student) Holger Czukay using beer bottles instead of umlenkrolle!

Wonderful demonstration and I think a very nice result.

Once more, danke sehr Hainbach for this nice improvisation bringing me back to my 20s (in the early 70s) when I was happily messing with 2 Revoxes, 2 Akais and one Nagra trying to emulate my French idols (and for some, friends and even neighbours), Pierre Henry, François Bayle or Bernard Parmegiani... Happy days up memory lane. It was just before I went full steam ahead the VC/gate patch-cable way....

hainbach you're great at public speaking. i love the passion you have and as always you're an inspiration.

When will you be performing in the US next? It would be amazing to watch you live! Keep up the inspiring work Mr. Hainbach!

I kept visualising the equipment as really small and heinbach even smaller like a mouse or something.

You had me with STOCKHAUSEN! (Klingt einfach scheisse auf Deutsch, der Satz) Ich dachte immer, ich könne musikalisch alles "fühlen". Aber bei Stockhausen...bin ich raus. Umso verblüffter war ich, als ich jemand kennen gelernt habe, der 12Ton nicht nur als theoretisch interessantes Konzept versteht...sondern es tatsächlich geniesst und darin aufgeht wie der jungfreuliche Schlagerfreund bei seinem ersten Sekundensprung der letzten Refrain wiedeholung. Da war ich zum ersten mal neidisch. Edit: Ok. Darum gings jetzt gar nicht im Video. Aber hauptsache ich hab mal die Luft bewegt...ohmann ;-)

Great performance Hainbach! for next time: Meticulous = Met - ick - you - liss

I want a tee-shirt with : « Double glue spice sucks »

super interesting and brilliantly conveyed. Thank you

You made a lot of really nice sounds in your improvised composition. They were very rich and interesting.

Using a Microtech Gefell for podcast?!

"Everything is better at half-speed." Indeed.

if i was making music like this and threaded the tape backwards i winder how long it would take me to notice

An absolute gift. Thank you for taking the time to inspire and show the magic of these early marvels in sound and creativity.

23:36 coil - strange birds Feeling inspired again. Thanks

It would be fun indeed to hear also the audience reactions on such a great and rare presentation! 💘

you just need a single mixer, and a couple guitar pedals to do all that

Loved this! Fascinating.

Hainbach, du bist ein wizard! Love your experimental instruction.

A great watch (and listen), thank you.

You forgot to run the tape through Coca-Cola like the Beatles!

I use Audacity software for playing with sines and other basic waveforms. Not as cool as actual test equipment, but effective. Great presentation 🖖

Great... It's fantastic and ghostly

best lecture I never attended lol. What an awesome video

Metikkjülessli

Awesome can’t wait to watch this one!

MEH TICK YOU LUS. not MEH TISCH YOU LUS. This makes it even better though.

' Meticiously' is a new word you have created. A combination of meticulous. pronounced me-tic-u-lus and 'malicious' which means being nasty. hahaha!

This is a great video! Thanks Hainbach. By the way, at least the way we say it here in Canada, the word "meticulous" rhymes with "ridiculous".

Cool video dude

Love the t-shirt. Grew up playing the likes of Shadow Of The Beast on my Amiga. Fascinating watching the creation of music from nothing in this way.

Sehr informatives video uber Stockhausen

Hitchhiking in Germany, I was treated to a smoke, followed by Stockhausen on full volume. Nothing quite like it, is there?

Got me so hyped by 20 mins in, that I had to fire up Reason and record a 22 minute jam. Thanks Hainbach. 1 Thor, 2 Matrix, plenty cv re-routing and random pattern heaven.

I definitely think we all must be totally crazy, but for real, to hear this... But, personally, when the first sine started, something moved inside me... And the splices... Very very great for me. Thank you Hainbach for what you do... Thank you for sharing this experience.

love to hear this another 2x slower,...

You are endlessly inspirational. Thank you!

but ma, look at those DIALZ!

Fantastic video thank you!

Hello, thanks for such quality content, I wish you all the best. By the way, I always wanted to know what microphones do you use besides shure sm7b.Thank you in advance for your response.

i agree about some of that richard devine isnt actually selling anything hes gaining access to new techniques...i know alot of sound designers.. heinbach is definitely educating people on the history of electronic music... i was really suprised when he was in italy he didnt talk about simonetti cherry 5 or goblin all of the sound design that came from there. His specialty seems to be the early german and russian movements.... i bet if you put him in front of an ANS he would be just fine. Heinbach is always a great source of inspiriation. His enthusiasm for history and knowledge as well as technique and engineering all show brightly.

Excellent video. Hearing the creativ and technic process for such music in invaluable. Thank you, Scheremeister Hainbach!

yay, basics - takes me back to two cassette decks ❤

Great video, ❤ thanks.