The Making of 'Pocket Calculator': Kraftwerk, The Bee Gees Rhythm Machine Toy Synth, and FREE STEMS!

[@liamg6328]

Superb reconstruction! Pocket Calculator was the first single I ever bought!

[@NostalgicExplorer]

Thank you so much for the nice words and what a great single get as your first. Cheers!

[@SteveClarkeSongs]

Excellent. Perfectly captures the deliberately lo fi charm of Kraftwerk's music

[@NostalgicExplorer]

@@SteveClarkeSongs Thanks Steve! Such a fun song to recreate.

[@_P_M_]

I had no idea. Very interesting. That whole album is great.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

Thanks for watching and indeed, the entire album is great, I also love Man Machine and Autobahn a lot. Cheers!

[@TheVirtualRockstarsTV]

awesome video fellow time traveler

[@NostalgicExplorer]

Hey! Thanks for watching. Cheers!

[@anthonyrothercom]

fantastic

[@Gerald_Daniel]

I've never heard of the BeeGees toy rhythmer & so great to hear the name of the calculator providing the ring modulated noises on "Taschenrechner". Besides, you covered my favorite Kraftwerk song of all time. Though it's from '81 I've first heard it in the.summer of '83 & tried immediately to accomp with VL1 as a little boy. Actually the whole music part of the song should be managable with just a multi tracked VL-1, except noises & rhythm patches of course.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

It is such an amazing song, fun fact I use to sing that song to my son that now is 12, I was lucky enough to take him to their concert here in New York a few years ago, he was maybe 8 and had su much fun, since then he is a Kraftwerk devoted listener. The VL-1 for sure will do the job with this track. Cheers!

[@Gerald_Daniel]

@NostalgicExplorer ...& you sing it in English to your son? I've heard it in German, English & Italian. I guess a Mexican version would be fun.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

@@Gerald_Daniel Yes, English is the one I play to him but in the concert they had a mix of Italian, German, English and Spanish as well. I can definitely work a Mexcian version of that 🎚

[@Gerald_Daniel]

@NostalgicExplorer Before you answered, I've fed the translator with the German lyrics. That was admittedly the very 1st time watching that Mexican as an independent language does not exist. Late but still learned something "new".🤒Anyway I'm sure there are Mexican dialects. I'd enjoy a Mexican version. Perhaps Kraftwerk is already watching you. 👁️‍🗨️➿👁️‍🗨️

[@5red5red]

Nice ❤❤❤❤

[@NostalgicExplorer]

Thanks!

[@GeyloFollen]

Just discovered this amazing channel and I wanted to thank you for all the amazing content you create. You truly deserve the support!

[@NostalgicExplorer]

I really appreciate the support and the nice words! 🎛🎚🙏

[@whiteman1506]

The "upslide" melody in the background was orginally made with a Dübreq Stylophone btw., as seen in Kraftwerks live performance. But I didn't knew the "Bee Gees Drum Machine" before. Anyhow, very interesting video and a very good recreation of the song.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

That's a graet piece of information I didn't know! Thank you so much for the nice words, I heard Kraftwerk are having a tour in 2025 here in the United States, excited to see them again, such an inspiration.

[@SUBWAYSWITCH]

That was wonderful

[@NostalgicExplorer]

Thank you so much!

[@daccrowell4776]

And that's not even the strangest musical instrument connection where Kraftwerk is concerned... there's their Nashville connection! All of those iconic strings and choirs that Kraftwerk was known for from "Radioactivity" thru "Computer World" are the result of a Vako Orchestron. And Vako was a Nashville company, run by Moog's early marketing genius, Dave Van Koevering. Unlike the Mellotron, the Orchestron's sounds were read from optical disks, which had the waveforms printed on them to be read in a similar fashion to an optical film soundtrack. This idea came from yet another Mattel product, the Optigan, but the Vako version of the reader used glass discs for durability and stackability...yeah, you could stack them for often-interesting timbral results! But the downfall of the Orchestron was its weight. The single-manual version (which is what they bought at Sam Ash in NYC) came in at around 100 pounds in its case! So they sound incredible, but don't plan on gigging out with one.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

That's an amazing piece of information, thanks for sharing. And well 100 pounds is heavier than a Rhodes or a Wurlitzer.

[@andremcpherson1424]

Brilliant video and a spectacular recreation of the song, but Kraftwerk used the Texas Instruments language translator for some of the bleeps on the record. That's what the late great Florian is using during the 1981 concerts. The device was used extensively on the song Numbers too.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

Thank you for watching and another great piece of information. Thanks for sharing Andre. Cheers!

[@AutPen38]

Some of the Bleeps and bloops sound a lot like the Speak and Spell by TI. It's amazing that the song was mostly made with children's toys. (I think a Stylophone was also used).

[@NostalgicExplorer]

@@AutPen38 yes, Stylophone was one of the instruments used as well. This song is a good reminder that sometimes you don't need the most expensive equipment to make a great song.

[@wasiuuu1]

man that was amazing , thank U 🙂 wondering why they did not continued work on another album like Computer World that album brought them recognition around the world, that sound is still recognize today :-))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[@NostalgicExplorer]

@@wasiuuu1 Thanks so much! I guess they are the type of project that keeps exploring constantly for a new sound which is in part the beauty of Kraftwerk. Cheers!

[@unadomandaperte]

I still can't believe I took apart one of these keyboards when I was 8 years old. I was just in that curiosity where I wanted to see what was inside. 😂

[@NostalgicExplorer]

Wow! What did you find? Most importantly, could you still use it after you open it? I used to make "My own cables" as a kid, sometimes they kind of work with a lot of hum, one day I almost fried my tape recorder. 🤣

[@bsquared4604]

I have the yellow vinyl 45. It's one of my most treasured records. I first heard the song on the Dr Demento show.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

@@bsquared4604 I was lucky to find a copy recently and it is also part of my most beloved treasures. Now I want the tape yellow version. 🫠

[@kevinputry5655]

"I'm the operator with my pocket calculator."

[@NostalgicExplorer]

"By pressing down a special key It plays a little melody"

[@R_Durand]

Exactly as you say “not an exact replica” but you got so much of it right! :D

[@NostalgicExplorer]

@@R_Durand hey! Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed this exploration!

[@boxingnationcar4833]

You forgot the two “tick ticks“ that came one beat after the two “klock klocks”

[@NostalgicExplorer]

I did 😬

[@nuNWO]

I had one of those BG toys for Xmas at the time.. didn't know the band had found a use for it though.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

@@nuNWO yes, they turn the sound of a little toy into an iconic track tune. Cheers!

[@LlewynDaviesTheThird]

Its that freaky off beat bassline that makes it

[@NostalgicExplorer]

That bass is so clever in this track!

[@rickvandijk]

This is pretty fantastic. I know all Kraftwerk albums by heart, but never knew they used this device for the melody line. Awesome! I wonder what you can do with Giorgio Moroder’s 1977 album From Here to Eternity. Particularly the track Utopia/Me Giorgio. As far as I’m concerned this track is the Mother of EDM. What do you think?

[@NostalgicExplorer]

I know right, who would have thought that they used a real calculator and this little toy to make such an iconic song. Love the Giorgio Moroder's suggestion and I truly believe Giorgio Moroder was ahead of the game and discovered Techno with Donna Summer's 'I feel Love' and with this 1977 album. Cheers!

[@Gerald_Daniel]

...almost forgot about the question of which artists should be covered next. How about Matt Bianco, the first successful act of the new jazz genre? Or if Matt has already been covered (unaware if). What about New Wave supergroup "Missing Persons", high-class musicians partly from Frank Zappa's environment with Terry Bozzio as world class drummer and live as great as on the record (in '83 not now) with a synth castle on stage even today many crave for.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

I like all of them but I from the thones you mention Missing Person is my number one. I will put it on my list and plan something around that. Thanks Gerald and take care!

[@Gerald_Daniel]

@NostalgicExplorer Nice! Take care as well!

[@ottovandentoorn6735]

Would Clear by Cybotron a cool one to explore? An electro classic. Many times sampled. But for always a real synth classic

[@NostalgicExplorer]

That's an amazing track that totally has the Kraftwerk influence. I will start putting the recipe together for this track and thanks for watching!

[@samprock]

Krafty. Both original song and your vid!

[@NostalgicExplorer]

Thanks Sam! 🎛🤖

[@TheRealChrisVessey]

Pretty sure they also used a Dubreq Stylophone.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

You are right about that. Cheers!

[@peter-utrblk]

I bought this years ago for 4 Euro at a flew market in Düsseldorf. Funny thing.

[@NostalgicExplorer]

That's a score there! Cheers

[@SUBWAYSWITCH]

please explpre the original 1983 tour de france

[@NostalgicExplorer]

I will put it on my list to explore. Great track!

[@AntoineVanGeyseghem]

🧐

[@NostalgicExplorer]

🤔