* * * * * * * kdm

Vor ein paar Wochen hatte ich wieder mal ein Interview vermittelt; beim anfragenden Journalisten hatte ich ein gutes Gefühl und es hat nicht getäuscht. Hier ist das Ergebnis.

The use of the computer for creating – as well as storing and re-using – musical recordings makes it difficult for a compiler to collect accounts of such recordings for an accurate discography.
. . . . . Before, with tapes, it also was not easy, but now with the new technique it's a nightmare. Today, the results are not visible anymore, the new digital signal processing methods are 100% virtual; there are no tape boxes anymore on shelves, no touchable and visible 2-, 4-, 8-, 16-, or 24-track master tapes, but just plenty of Zeros and Ones on harddisks (or little sticks, or whatever). And worse: It's so very easy now to reuse or recycle this musical material. With the right software it's so simple to change the key of a piece, the speed, the rhythm, play it upside down, etc. and use the same or the altered piece (or parts of it) again for a "new" recording (hence the sudden fashion of "re-mixes", because, I repeat: it's so very easily done today).
. . . . . However, for an observer and compiler it's hard to keep tracks = which musical snippet was done when? changed when? by whom? and used where? and how often? This brings the artistry of serious discographical work not to an end, but ...
. . . . . I fear that it also makes the music more arbitrary (= beliebig) and worthless. By coincidence this is happening at the end of a century and maybe it also marks the end of an era. Not many of the younger people collect music anymore, as it was seriously done in the past with the old formats on DISCs: schellack, vinyl. What is left to report about for a DISCographer, are just the obvious final results, the released discs (or any other tangible, touchable & visible medium in the future) as long as those will be still offered and used.

Mr. Mueller has put some clever subdivisions on numerous longer tracks in the set [and else]. Some people may think it's useless, but in my opinion it helps to understand the piece structure and helps to better remember some passages in it. For example, in "L'opera aperta", the "Scherzi a parte" section is a strong one, but distinctive from the other ones (it's also a favorite one!). We have the precise moment and duration with kdm's subtitles. I'm also more attentive when each section changes. Just take a look at your cd player! The song structure is sometimes complex, evolutive, etc. It's also a great reason why I prefer the Ultima Editions albums in comparison with KS regular albums. I remember the "Vie de rêve" structure more easily than the "Dune" one, just because of these subdivisions.

(from a longer article by Frederic Letourneau from Canada, in The KS Circle from October 2001, about THE ULTIMATE EDITION; most of this 50-CD set's music was later reissues in La Vie Electronique, vol. 1-16.
The subdivisions and its (sub-)titles are all mentioned in detail on the covers or in the booklets of the CDs and sets (and in THE WORKS), but - because of space - not in the Schulze website discography)

British PROG magazine has just released what they call "The Synth Issue!". There is also a pleasing article about the "true musical maverick" KS on pages 44 and 45, based on an interview that I had arranged two months earlier.

Ab und zu bekomme ich solche Hinweise:

Hallo,
der nachstehende Blog bietet illegale Downloadlinks für Klaus Schulze Alben an: http://xxxxxx.net/?s=klaus+schulze
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Oliver S.

Ich antworte dann jeweils ungefähr so:

Danke für den Hinweis. Du solltest das an die Plattenfirma schicken: info@mig-music.de Es sind deren Produkte, die illegal kopiert und angeboten werden.
Übrigens:
Die mitgeteilte Website ist leider nicht das einzige derartige illegal Angebot im Netz. Und es trifft nicht nur Klaus Schulze. Hier zum Beispiel gibt es ebenfalls alles mögliche: http://xxxxxx.se/music
...und neben der Musik auch Software, e-books, Computer-Spiele...
Wenn man dort nach "Klaus Schulze" sucht, kommt diese lange Liste mit download-Angeboten fast aller KS-Alben: https://xxxx.pw/Klaus-Schulze/post-406621.php
An diese Leute und Firmen kommt man so gut wie nie ran, die sitzen in bestimmten Ländern... Und in der Tat verlinken sie "nur" auf Filehoster, bei denen man die Musik dann (illegal) downloaden kann. Und an die kommt man noch schwerer ran.
Leider aber auch:
"Die Leute draußen" finden das doch alles ganz toll; manche Musikliebhaber (wg. Geiz) und viele Journalisten (wg. Ahnungslosigkeit) lieben kostenlose Musik.
Siehe z.B. YouTube: Die Rechte an den gezeigten Filmchen UND AN DER MUSIK hat Google/Youtube in der Regel ebenfalls nicht. Und wenn die Urheber (mit ihrer Vereinigung GEMA) oder die Musiker (mittels ihrer Plattenfirma) dagegen juristisch vorgehen, werden sie öffentlich als böse "Content-Industrie" niedergemacht, die "uns" "unsere" tolle Musik wegnehmen will. Nein! Der Musiker lebt nicht von der Musik, sondern von dem Geld, das er dafür bekommt.
(die Webadressen habe ich mittels xxxx anonymisiert)

It is well known by those who listen to Klaus Schulze's music, that he's not playing Rock'n'Roll oder "Rock". What Klaus is creating with his brain, heart, belly and instruments is not yet clearly expressed, but "Rock"...?
Anyway, here is a website that tells us the plain truth:

Our "official" Klaus Schulze website was set online for the first time on the 20th of August 1996. We don't have a screenshot from these first days or weeks, but we have one that visitor numero One Million has made and kindly sent us eight years ago:

After 20 years with more than two million visitors, we have now deleted the counter, for technical reasons.

A friendly request to all the designers and wannebe designers who offer their "help": No, we don't want to "make the site more fashionable"; our intention was and is to offer (plenty of) facts for those who search for facts about KS and his music. Gadgets, gimmicks and diversion are not our metier. Not ev'rything that is possible must also be done. The world (& the www) is already full of needless crap, and we don't want to add more of the same kind. If you use an ad blocker and/or Ghostery, you may have already noticed that there is nothing on our KS website that makes these (otherwise very helpful) tools necessary.

My sincere thanks go to Lennart Koschella, who is editing the site technically from the very beginning, and still ...because he likes the music of Klaus Schulze. Yes, he's doing it beside his daily work. See also his informative anniversary text in the official KS website: "No rumours, no gossip, no bling-bling, just facts and information."

...heißt nun Wer Schulze heißt, muss was können. Die erstaunliche Schulze-Geschichte. Aus Gründen. Ich hab sie erweitert auf 168 Seiten Din A4 und gebunden wie "The Works" oder "The Essential...".
Hier unten in 'Kommentar' kann man das Inhaltsverzeichnis sehen Die circa 110 Fotos sind dort natürlich nicht extra vermerkt; sie lockern aber den Text erläuternd auf.
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The (slightly different) English version The Amazing KS Story is also available. It's now in the same format as "The Works" and "The Essential...". THE AMAZING STORY has 150 pages and includes circa 100 pics to illustrate the four decades of KS. You can read the INDEX below in "comments".
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Der erste Ausdruck ist mein Geschenk an KS zum Neunundsechzigsten. Er bekommt's zum 4. August mit der Post. Und da er hier nicht mitliest, wird's hoffentlich - so die Post will - 'ne nette kleine Überraschung.

See also in comment, below.

I'm doing THE AMAZING KS STORY as well as the slightly different German version DIE SCHULZE-GESCHICHTE again in a larger format: I will use the same size now as for "The Works" and "The Essence..." books. It's more stable.
It will need some days...