Invention of Electronic Music | How Kraftwerk Predicted Techno

In 1970s Germany, a newly formed Kraftwerk stumble across the blueprints of Techno music, a genre that wouldn't exist for 20 years. How did this come to be?
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Songs Used (In Order Of Appearance):
A Rising Wave - Jeremy Blake
Swroop141 - Kown
Age Of Love - The Age Of Love
Fly High - Gunnar Olsen
Organisation - Milk Rock
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
#Kraftwerk #Techno #TingoMedia
Keywords: First Techno, first techno song, Kraftwerk first Techno, early electronic music, Techno Band, Kraftwerk 1970, Kraftwerk Techno, Techno 1970

[@robbieschertz3726]

I think the coolest thing about Kraftwerk is that they had to engineer their own instruments becasue the tech didn’t exist yet

[@NeroTheBoop]

Yeah, that's amazing, they truly were pioneers

[@mavm7473]

Instantly noticed how well crafted this video is, you should consider making full documentaries, the editing , the voice, everything Is very pleasing

[@bonbaldwin]

how are you not big??? this was such a well put together video and as a fan of kraftwerk, this was awesome!

[@johnbocanable]

Probably because as a fan of trance and techno, and also Kraftwerk the history is a bit iffy. Trance still exists and was never really influenced by Kraftwerk but more so of artists like Jarre and Tangerine Dream. Kraftwerk was more of a house and techno predecessor.

[@a_ya5555]

Because he tells the truth and is not an "approved" channel with a narrative typical of the cockraoches that run many things these days. Thus not high up in the algorithms.

[@edulokomaster]

No way there's less than 1k views, looks like something that would gather AT LEAST 100k views Your stuff deserves way more attention

[@a_ya5555]

He'd have to add lies about some sjw thing to get promoted higher.

[@fatinymeri3343]

You deserve more followers and likes my friend

[@thefixer742]

Great video! Just a heads-up - in the original footage, which you see a part of here, the drummer is Klaus Dinger, who later left Kraftwerk to form NEU! with Michael Rother. That distinctive drumming style became a hallmark of NEU!'s sound, influencing krautrock and beyond. If you like Kraftwerk, definitely check out NEU!.

[@diegoc4230]

The beatles of techno

[@Retrogamingmaverick]

YES

[@TheHolyOne9511]

You mean EDM not techno.

[@braelyn.b__]

this was such an interesting video and so well produced! thank you!

[@fatkev1983]

My favourite line up of Kraftwerk was early 1971 with Florian Schneider, Michael Rother, and Klaus Dinger. The latter two went on to start the band NEU!. The first two Kraftwerk albums were something special. The third album, Ralf And Florian, is also great. Also, lets not forget how instrumental Konrad Plank was to all of this. Then... Autobahn landed... the rest is history.

[@Bram25]

There is only one small thing here. The drumming was more of a signature for another legendary band called NEU! They made like, 3 albums or so with very minimal change of drums or beats or anything but none of the tracks get boring. Not one minute. You should really check them out. Also. Still a shame Kraftwerk does not think of this concert being cannon to their other work. They called it stuff from a time "they were not mature yet."

[@arthurbernardokohlerolsen823]

Someone noticed a Jean Michel Jarre's image of the 70's? He is definitely the fifth member of Kraftwerk!😂😂😂 Another name that revolutionized Electronic Music at that time.

[@mp-pi2rl]

Appreciate the video bro, good job

[@mrglasses8953]

INVENTED Techno.

[@Engineeer]

In my opinion the 1970 recording is more straight techno than trance. This said, "Space Lab" on their 1978 Album "Man Machine" predicts 90s trance.

[@continuum_mid]

I'm pretty sure the song in the video is "Milk Rock" from Organization's Tone Float. Albeit an odd variation of it.

[@nomad1517]

I remember seeing the song popcorn played live in the 60s. Nobody knew what to do with it. So they just danced super awkwardly.

[@ruuddekoff1090]

Nice vid. The performance shown, however, is not in Germany, but in Soest in the Netherlands.

[@adrienplg]

I'm not able to find the track you referenced in the comment: Swroop141 - Kown Could there be a typo?

[@Hollowsmith]

If you're going to mention Kraftwerk being ahead of their time in 1970, then you need to mention Silver Apples being equally ahead of their time 2 to 3 years earlier.

[@M.EngelhART]

They Were Not That Rhytmic Conequent.

[@beesting6135]

No one ever heard of them😂😂😂

[@kelechi_77]

@@beesting6135 There's a whole doc on youtube with 3 mil views, wdym no one has ever heard of them? You are just ignorant

[@beesting6135]

@@kelechi_77 bs never heard of them🤓🤥🤡

[@beesting6135]

@@kelechi_77 take the skirt off girl

[@trancextend]

More please!!

[@snörre23]

I think the Menschmaschine Album is totally a time travel thing. Like they came from the future. I am not aware of anything comparable at the time.

[@alphabetmusicgroup]

The creators of techno had Kraftwerk as an influence. Everything revolves around them, hip hop too, with Afrika Bambaataa. I'm not saying it's techno, but without them, the history we know today would be different. They are one of the most important

[@TDNA]

underrated

[@caseonfire]

yes I agree good videos

[@samuelharris7991]

2:36 What’s the name of that song???

[@Xogroroth666]

Beethoven did better, boosting us into even the future still. Without the Beathoven/Basshoven, there would still be Salieri playing "mainstream" as contemporary.

[@MoustiluigiRandom]

Excellent.

[@armanamini-nazarian9714]

that's krautrock for you. it was the direct predecessor to edm.

[@lonceysvideos333]

Funfact - Dr Dre is one of their biggest fans and consistently has given them shoutouts, almost his whole music life 😊❤

[@MsPili1]

🙌🏻🖤✨

[@hR-gw3re]

they created a new genre. saw it was way ahead of its time and said 'let's go back a bit. we still gotta pay the bills' literally a seed in electro music

[@mitschnel607]

3:25 not sure if this is the map of germany in the 1970s lmao

[@1TakoyakiStore]

Wait till he hears about Silver Apples. 👀

[@jackman435]

Kraftwerk didn't originally call their sound Techno... Kraftwerk called their sound Electro! and many Americans who first heard Electro during the early 1970s called it KrautRock...

[@mariokingston7999]

Someone sample that rift and modernize plz

[@philippbohland2420]

I'm so tired of hearing this over and over again, no Kraftwerk didn't invent electronic music, they were just the first to get mainstream attention. The first examples of electronic music date back as far as the early 1930s.

[@dancegregorydance6933]

Yeah I was going to say the same thing. Musique concrete had existed for a couple decades before Kraftwerk, a good example is the original Doctor Who theme.

[@elektro2249]

0:53 why there's Jean-Michel Jarre? 😭

[@NuGanjaTron]

'Cos he's just too cool not to mention here. 😁 But yeah, I'm pretty sure that's him.

[@knuftobor]

Your title insinuates that Kraftwerk invented electronic music and 4/4 kick drum which they did not.

[@pennywise5095]

Who did invent it then? If you wouldnt mind teĺling me.

[@knuftobor]

@pennywise5095 I will submit this in three parts: first, a little history on 4/4 time or beat. Primitive Times --------------- - Early human music likely involved simple rhythms using natural objects. - Drumming with sticks and stones was common. - Rhythmic patterns, including consistent beats, facilitated communal activities like dancing and rituals. Medieval Times -------------- - Music began to be documented in written form. - Gregorian chant (9th-10th centuries) used free rhythms but laid the groundwork for rhythmic notation. - Development of polyphony in the 12th-13th centuries led to more structured rhythms. - Ars Nova (14th century) introduced more complex rhythmic patterns, including early use of regular time signatures. - 4/4 time, or "common time," emerged as a straightforward, balanced rhythm for both sacred and secular music. Summary ------- - Four-beat rhythms were common in primitive music for simplicity and communal engagement. - Medieval advancements in notation and polyphony laid the groundwork for structured rhythms. - 4/4 time became a fundamental time signature in Western music, evolving from these early practices.

[@knuftobor]

Now, a little on recorded 4/4 Beats. Early Jazz and Swing --------------------- 1. Chick Webb and Gene Krupa - Influential in the swing era of the 1930s - Laid down a consistent four-beat pulse for dancing - Examples: Chick Webb's "Stompin' at the Savoy", Gene Krupa with Benny Goodman Rock and Roll ------------- 2. Earl Palmer - Credited with using "four on the floor" in early rock and R&B - Examples: Little Richard's "Keep A-Knockin'" (1957) Disco Era --------- 3. Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder - Iconic example: "I Feel Love" (1977) - Defined the disco genre with relentless "four on the floor" beat House Music ----------- 4. Frankie Knuckles - "Godfather of House Music" - Used drum machines to create "four on the floor" beats - Examples: "Your Love" (1986)

[@knuftobor]

@pennywise5095 And now the early pioneers of electronic music. Early Pioneers -------------- 1. Thaddeus Cahill - Created the Telharmonium in the early 1900s - Used electromagnetic tone wheels to generate musical sounds 2. Leon Theremin - Developed the Theremin in 1920 - Played without physical contact using hand movements 3. Maurice Martenot - Invented the Ondes Martenot in 1928 - Used a keyboard and a sliding ribbon to control pitch Mid-20th Century Innovators --------------------------- 4. Pierre Schaeffer - Founded Musique Concrète in the 1940s - Utilized recorded sounds as raw material 5. Karlheinz Stockhausen - German composer in the 1950s and 1960s - Produced pioneering pieces like "Gesang der Jünglinge" and "Kontakte" 6. Daphne Oram and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Co-founded in 1958 - Known for work on the "Doctor Who" theme Late 20th Century Innovators ---------------------------- 7. Robert Moog - Developed the Moog synthesizer in the 1960s - Brought electronic sounds into mainstream music

[@thepostapocalyptictrio4762]

No one told you about Silver Apples yet.

[@Bigk3695]

Kraftwerk never invented techno. That came out of Detroit in the 90s.

[@TeamAcXa]

You're clearly clueless.....

[@_VISION.]

Yup. Techno was created by three musicians from Detroit, often referred to as the 'Belleville three' (Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson & Derrick May).

[@kotryna5682]

oonts oonts oonts

[@AndrewDasilvaPLT]

Charanjit Singh, please look him up. Ten ragas.

[@javierszapari5836]

I wouldn't say is like EDM. It is more like Rave, New Beat or EBM

[@sapphiretigerhead762]

I love the content but I have to point this out. The map of Germany you used is map from around 1790s, where borders between Germany and Poland were completely different. Talking about 70s and showing highly wrong map, doesn't go well, as if you were talking about parrots and showing photo of a horse. It's better to use nothing than wrong one because it looks esthetically better. Despite that, great content! Keep going! :)

[@TingoMedia]

Thanks for the feedback! I honestly didn't even notice, sometimes it's easy to overlook basic things like that when working on these pieces. I triple check my supporting material next time to avoid this mistake again

[@simonh6371]

It's not from the 1790s! There are no maps of Germany from the 1790s because there was no Germany in the 1790s, it was a mass of independent states which were united by Bismarck in 1871 to create Germany. The map he shows is post WW1 as you can see Alsace & Lorraine (Strasbourg etc.) are in France, and pre 1945, so between 1919 and 1945. But even after 1945 well into the 60s some German maps showed those parts of East Prussia, Prussia etc. ceded to Poland as Germany since it wasn't really sure whether they weren't going to go back to Germany.

[@sapphiretigerhead762]

@@simonh6371 Thanks a lot for correcting this! I peeked at map from Polish side of the border and completely forgot about previously used names of countries. I feel embarassed, that was pretty big mistake from my side haha

[@iseytheteethsnake6290]

I still don't see how that's techno. Its just experimental synthesizer music. Which is problably why they did a polka instead of the more popular rythm of that time! And it's not even an early sound! 1930s soviet union had something of similar quality of electronic music! 1930s!! But kraftwerk is still somewhat of a pioneer. They got inspiration off of Tom dissevelt and kid baltan, Later 1950s and early 1960s.

[@simonh6371]

@@iseytheteethsnake6290 It isn't techno. Nor was Kraftwerk until 1991. Nor any of the new wave/new romantic/electro/synthpop/new beats played in the ''Frankfurter techno scene'' in the 80s. Techno came to Germany from the US, via UK in about 1991.

[@sirjohnmara]

They Invented it. Not predicted it... You said: "Got their hands on synths" They build many of them. Not many musicians that create their own instruments?

[@LucasHearts]

They invented electronic not Techno, techno is from Detroit made by Black Americans

[@cardellino5342]

@@LucasHearts No, they didn't. Kraftwerk were the spark for the explosion, meaning they are responsible for the develepment 'cause everybody liked it and emulated their sound. Fully electronic songs existed already in the 60s. Black Americans indeed invented Techno... and House... and Breakbeat... and many more I'm to lazy looking it all up lol.

[@_VISION.]

Techno was created by three musicians from Detroit, often referred to as the 'Belleville three' (Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson & Derrick May)

[@mrglasses8953]

@@LucasHearts Kraftwerks music was called "techno-pop" in Germany during the 70s. Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson & Derrick May used to openly admit they didn't invent anything new, just put their own spin on what was going on in Europe at the time. Also check out "Dancing Ghosts" by Chris and Cosey (CTI) from 1981.

[@mrglasses8953]

@@_VISION. Kraftwerks music was called "techno-pop" in Germany during the 70s. Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson & Derrick May used to openly admit they didn't invent anything new, just put their own spin on what was going on in Europe at the time. Also check out "Dancing Ghosts" by Chris and Cosey (CTI) from 1981.

[@stacyperalta555]

GOOD VID MAN! THE 9th COMMENT HERE

[@insidetheuniverse1]

Silver apples did it first

[@M.EngelhART]

They Were Not That Rhytmic Conequent.

[@Andor.]

silver apples was 2 years before this tho

[@M.EngelhART]

They Were Not That Rhytmic Consequence.

[@Andor.]

@@M.EngelhART Conequent? Can't find what word you mean, do you mean consistent/consequent meaning like "repetitive"? If you mean that I do disagree, like listen to Oscillations which has a four on the floor kick and a pretty repetitive dance groove, id say its more similar to dance music as we know it now then this is.

[@M.EngelhART]

@@Andor. "Oscillations" Is Cute Like You Are. ;-)

[@Andor.]

@@M.EngelhART thank you?

[@M.EngelhART]

@@Andor. Cute And Not Convincing.

[@paweltrawinski770]

super video but.... this map of europe (3:27)...... ughhh.... it pains me!

[@abelcoss]

Drum pattern was inspired by Native American music , klaus was a fan of those rhythms

[@Xpl2024]

You can actually trace it to 1820's kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6LYnKx7eJikja8

[@thebrilliantmrpedro]

They are the fathers of hip hop too

[@_VISION.]

No they are not

[@Retrogamingmaverick]

@@_VISION.they literally invented the devices used in hip hop

[@_VISION.]

@@Retrogamingmaverick that doesn't mean that they fathered the artform. Are you dumb? Just because I invent the hammer, doesn't mean I invented the homes that was built by that hammer. Just because I invent pencils, papers, and rulers, doesn't mean I fathered the artform of architecture.

[@miamiwax5504]

Tone Float

[@AntoineVanGeyseghem]

=o

[@berlinberlinberlinberlin4929]

Not good

[@SolKonstrukt]

EDm is generic for real break through music.,. When you call it EDM it takes all the love out of it..

[@robluiten445]

Oh, and by the way, Soest is a town in The Netherlands, not Germany.......just saying!

[@7919AEM]

Within the a few seconds of the intro, this whole video went nowhere for not mentioning The Beatles when talking about artists ahead of their time. Mind blowing for sure.

[@TraeNotTrayffs]

ofc they were but not so much in the electronic scene, more so heavy metal & countless other genres ofc

[@kelechi_77]

how the hell were the beatles ahead of their time? They were literally the 1960s epitomized, and never even did anything new besides take stuff from other people and popularize it, the only trailblazing thing they ever did was Tomorrow Never Knows and maybe I Want You (She's So Heavy)

[@7919AEM]

@@kelechi_77 👏🏽🤣

[@triggeredmusic6291]

Have you ever heard of funk music or disco or experimental jazz? Have you ever heard of gospel? Kraftwerk is hella influential to electronica music but by no means the sole influencer or predictor

[@triggeredmusic6291]

Lol this is the whitest take on techno

[@cardellino5342]

Not everything is based of jazz, r'n'r and blues geez. Afrika Bambaataa anyways loved Kraftwerk, emulated their sound and made it his own. Then Electro was born.

[@triggeredmusic6291]

@@cardellino5342 literally everything post romanticism is based I jazz and blues

[@triggeredmusic6291]

@@cardellino5342 when the founders of Detroit techno listened to Kraftwerk they though they where funk musicians. That’s why they took influence from kraftwerk it had the essence of funk but also alternative and punk post punk

[@triggeredmusic6291]

Even post romantic music/Impressionism is based in jazz.ravel was influenced by George Gershwin

[@cardellino5342]

@@triggeredmusic6291 The majority, not everything. Small but important difference. I agree on Popular Music. Take Industrial music, German fucking folk music (the contemporary shit) or Noize - wheres the Blues? Not there. Worldwide are music traditions existing outside of Jazz/Blues, at least outside of popular music.