Kosmische Musik
Roots · 1971 · also known as Cosmic Music, Berlin School
Kosmische Musik is the synthetic branch of krautrock, the Berlin School: Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze stretch analogue sequencer patterns across entire album sides, arpeggios turning like slow-moving stars. It is the direct ancestor of trance, ambient music and anything that thinks in pads and sequences rather than songs. Tangerine Dream's Phaedra, from 1974, marks the milestone: a Moog sequencer becoming a landscape in itself rather than a backing track. The music trades verse-chorus structure for patient, cyclical motion, built almost entirely from synthesizers and tape rather than conventional bands, and it changed how electronic music thinks about time.
10 reference tracks
- Tangerine Dream: Phaedra (1974)
- Harmonia: Deluxe (1975)
- Tangerine Dream: Rubycon Part One (1975)
- Cluster: Sowiesoso (1976)
- Klaus Schulze: Mindphaser (1976)
- Klaus Schulze: Osiris Pt. 1 (2022)
- Popol Vuh: Kha - White Structures 1
- Popol Vuh: Train through time
- Tangerine Dream: Ricochet, Part One
- Harmonia: Sehr kosmisch
At a glance
- First appeared: 1971
- Machines: Moog modulaire, EMS Synthi AKS, Mellotron, Orgue Farfisa, Orgue, Écho à bande
- The sound: Moog Modular et séquenceur, EMS Synthi A, Orgues Farfisa, Echo à bande
- Labels: Virgin, Brain, Ohr, Bureau B, Grönland, SPV Recordings
- Key artists: Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Tempel, Manuel Göttsching, Popol Vuh
Producing Kosmische Musik
Kosmische Musik drops the drummer entirely: the pulse comes from an analogue sequencer, often set to a slow-seeming 60 to 90 BPM while running in sixteenths for a felt pulse closer to 120 to 180. Following the Moog 960's eight-step layout, program short eight-note sequences and let them run with a machinal feel, no swing, though tempo can drift slightly over minutes. Build the rhythm from the sequence itself, an eight-note line through a resonant filter automated open and closed over 32 bars, layered with a second sequence at a different subdivision for crossing patterns. The bass is a low, repeating sequence with a Moog-style sawtooth tone, sliding by minor thirds every 32 bars, sharing its clock with the percussion. A Mellotron, a Farfisa organ and sweeping modular textures fill out the sound, tied by a tape echo.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Kosmische Musik?
Kosmische Musik is the synthetic branch of krautrock, the Berlin School: Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze stretch analogue sequencer patterns across entire album sides, arpeggios turning like slow-moving stars. It is the direct ancestor of trance, ambient music and anything that thinks in pads…
Who are the key Kosmische Musik artists?
Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Ash Ra Tempel, Manuel Göttsching, Popol Vuh.
In the same family
- Musique concrète
- Électroacoustique
- Krautrock
- Space Music
- Proto-Techno
- Synth-pop
- Early Industrial
- Funk
- Philly Soul
- Dub
- Hip-Hop
- Reggae
Listen to Kosmische Musik in the atlas · Cette page en français
