It’s hard to imagine the emergence of genres like ambient, IDM, or house without Schulze’s contribution to the progression of electronic music. However, in spite of his old age and health struggles, he still managed to announce one more album before his death: the LP Deus Arrakis, which was posthumously released on June 10th. After a long battle with an unspecified illness, he left behind a wife and two sons. On April 26th of this year, Schulze tragically passed away at the age of 74. Widely considered a master of the Moog, he all-but-invented the Berlin School–a flavor of early kosmische musik that was a bit more ethereal than the work of propulsive krautrock acts like Can and Neu!. He even played in the prog rock supergroup Go, alongside Stomu Yamashta, Al Di Meola, Steve Winwood, and Michael Shrieve. But while his output tended to be centered on cutting edge analog atmospherics, he still sometimes incorporated organic elements into his work, like electric guitars and human voices. In the decade to come, he churned out a number of classic records, including 1976’s Moondawn, 1977’s Mirage, and 1978’s X.īetween the 1980s and the 2020s, Schulze built up a seemingly-impenetrable catalog of releases, which were united by a digitized, retrofuturistic aural palette. Centered on imposing organ licks played through a crappy amplifier, it was an ambitious, neo-baroque effort from the up-and-coming avant-garde presence. In 1972, he put out the first album under his own name, Irrlicht. (However, he would continue to collaborate with them in various capacities in the years to come.) This time, his reason for leaving was to focus on launching a solo career. After the release of their 1971 self-titled debut and a ton of shows–in true Schulze fashion–he departed Ash Ra Tempel.

Schulze laid down the drum tracks for that trio–alongside guitarist Manuel Göttsching and bassist Hartmut Enke–for just one record. (He would go on to rejoin Tangerine Dream for a few shows in 1973.) He was behind the kit on their debut LP Electronic Meditation, but then left the act after a brief stint to help found the proto-New Age jam band Ash Ra Tempel.

After meeting Edgar Froese at the short-lived, yet iconic experimental music venue The Zodiak Free Arts Lab in West Berlin around 1969, Schulze started drumming for Tangerine Dream.

He cut his teeth performing in a number of local Berlin bands, including one called Psy Free. While Schulze is best known for his heady knack for synthesis, he was a percussionist before he was a keyboardist. Klaus Schulze performing live in Poland with Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard

Korg legacy collection vst