Kraftwerk's Florian Schneider Has Passed Away

Some sad news in. Florian Schneider has passed away at the age of 73 due to cancer. As you can see below he was recently active and accessible in the synth community. To say he will be missed is an understatement. It could be said that Florian along with Kraftwerk is directly responsible for bringing the appreciation of synthesizers and electronic music to the masses. His influence is legendary. According to the WhoSampled site, Kraftwerk has been sampled 769 times, covered 180 times, and remixed 56 times.

Via The Guardian

"Florian Schneider, who as one of the founding members of German group Kraftwerk changed the sound of pop music forever, has died aged 73 of cancer.

The news was confirmed to the Guardian by one of his musical collaborators, who said Schneider had died a week ago and had a private burial. It was also confirmed via Sony Berlin.

Born in 1947, Schneider was the son of Paul Schneider-Esbelen, a noted architect who designed Cologne’s airport. Schneider first played music in various groups while studying in Düsseldorf, beginning in a band called Pissoff. Operating in the experimental, open-minded rock scene dubbed “krautrock” in the British press, he formed the group Organisation with Ralf Hutter, the pair later forming Kraftwerk in 1970.

Schneider played the flute, violin and guitar, though often filtered through electronic processing. His interest in electronic music grew. 'I found that the flute was too limiting,' he later said. 'Soon I bought a microphone, then loudspeakers, then an echo, then a synthesiser. Much later I threw the flute away; it was a sort of process.'"

Great tribute video from a djmixsound in 2009:


Electronic legend Florian Schneider Published on Jan 8, 2009 djmixsound

An nterview with Florian Schneider at SUPERBOOTH16 (previously posted here)


Some tributes from various artists in this BBC article, sent my way via Michael Hewel:

My dear Florian
Your Autobahn will never end..
Le Tour de France ne sera plus jamais le même..#FlorianSchneider #kraftwerk #Autobahn pic.twitter.com/07Oks7PV2j

— Jean-Michel Jarre (@jeanmicheljarre) May 6, 2020

We are absolutely devastated to learn that one of our heroes Florian Schneider has passed away. pic.twitter.com/Y2dnYfxkj8

— Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (@OfficialOMD) May 6, 2020

Such an important influence upon so much of the music we know, from Bowie, to electronica, much of the 80s and beyond into modern techno and rap, Florian Schneider was forging a new Metropolis of music for us all to live in. RIP #FlorianSchneider #Kraftwerk pic.twitter.com/y2nXuAY66e

— Gary Kemp (@garyjkemp) May 6, 2020

Take a look back at posts featuring Florian Schneider here.

Update: a nice tribute from CatSynth and couple of tributes from Korg and Moog below:

Florian Schneider (1947-2020)

Published on May 6, 2020 CatSynth TV

"We look back at the life and legacy of Florian Schneider, who passed away today (May 6, 2020).

Schneider was a founding member of Kraftwerk and saw the group’s evolution from experimental rock in the early 1970s to the icons of electronic music that we know today. He began as an accomplished flutist, and many of the Kraftwerk’s early albums feature him on flute and electronics. He later moved to pure electronics including vocoders for the band’s most well known albums and their iconic stage performances.

We at CatSynth send our thoughts to his family, friends and collaborators."

We are absolutely gutted to hear about the passing of @kraftwerk Co-founder, Florian Schneider, due to cancer. He was 73 years old. Florian, while being a part of Kraftwerk, helped shape electronic music & its influence on many genres from synthpop to rock. pic.twitter.com/tSrmnOgMQl

— KORG USA (@KorgUSA) May 6, 2020

Florian Schneider will forever be an inspiration to the world of electronic music. His artistry has been influential to creatives for the last 50 years. Today, we thank and honor him for helping to guide and shape our community through sound, imagination, and innovation. pic.twitter.com/wrq4nB4icz

— Moog Synthesizers (@moogmusicinc) May 6, 2020

Update:
Farewell Florian Schneider - Vintage Synth Lab tribute - The Model - Das Model
Novation Pays Tribute to Florian Schneider
MIKE303 'Tribute to Kraftwerk'
KRAFTWERK tribute to Florian Schneider 1947 - 2020

Modor Comb Filter and Formant Filter - Superbooth 2018

Published on May 7, 2018 Sound On Sound magazine

"Modor have adapted the formant filter from their NF-1 synth for the Eurorack format and introduced a new Comb filter as well. We take a listen..."

Superbooth16: Lost on Earth: Gebrueder Teichmann

Lost on Earth: Gebrueder Teichmann from HerrSchneider on Vimeo.

We finally get to see HerrSchneider dance. :)

"Brothers Teichmann made a product presentation on Superbooth16 for a real ousider product called midilooper getting it on the radar for distributors and midi-users this way. They offered two children workshops for live electronics on Superbooth17, they have been part of a panel talking not just about the gender situation in the synthmakers scene with Alec Empire, Holly Herndon and Alissa deRubeis and finally they played a concert on the Seaside stage, the only one that was recorded in 2017, see this at the end of this video after let us talk a bit about all this inside SchneidersBuero."

SuperBooth 2016: U-he Research Group (Physical Modelling Synthesizer)

Published on Aug 31, 2016 Synth Anatomy

"This is a late video from SuperBooth where I visited Sasha from U-he. He presented his Physical Modelling Drum Synthesizer project."

The Superbooth was held back in March 31st - April 2n this year. You can see the full setlist of panels for each day here, and all Superbooth16 posts here.

Video Diary - Superbooth16

Published on Jul 11, 2016 DivKidVideo

"The final video from Superbooth this time was a video diary from a collection of photos and videos from my phone (mainly). Hopefully it shows some of the vibe of the event outside of the interviews / jams I did while there."

You can find all DivKidVideo Superbooth16 videos in reverse order posted here.

CFM - Superbooth16

Published on Jun 24, 2016 DivKidVideo

"The final interview Superbooth video here with CFM. Unfortunately it was dark right where Alex was so the footage isn't amazing. However the scope shots show the audio and there's direct audio solo and full volume at the end."

Maker.ie - Superbooth16

Published on Jun 14, 2016 DivKidVideo

"Here's maker.ie taking us through what they do and the patchblocks modules at Superbooth."

Tell Me About: Karplus Strong Synthesis

Published on Jun 13, 2016 sonicstate

"Audio Damage's Chris Randall gives us an explanation of Karplus Strong, the synthesis technique developed in the 1980s and used in physical modelling"

SuperBooth 2016: Soulsby Synthesizers

Published on May 26, 2016 Synth Anatomy

"I was on the booth of Soulsby where the developer shows me their updated version of the The Atmegatron with a string machine engine and a complete new Eurorack module."

Meet The Makers - Ken MacBeth

Published on May 23, 2016 sonicstate

"Scottish synthesizer maker Ken MacBeth talks to Sonicstate, about his roots and designing synthesizers."

Modal Electronics - Superbooth16

Published on May 18, 2016 DivKidVideo

"We get a run down the new Modal Electronics modules from Superbooth."

Meet The Makers - Urs Heckmann U-He

Published on May 12, 2016 sonicstate

"We talk to Urs Heckman from U-He.com about his journey into making software instruments and how development is progressing in DSP modeling"

Andreas Schneider: "We should stop buying shit from China"

Published on May 11, 2016 Hispasonic

"Andreas Schneider, the mind behind Superbooth —the new trade show for synthesizers, based in Berlin—, talks about his reasons for leaving Musikmesse, an some other hot issues about the synth manufacturing sector."

RemixSample RemixSample

Published on May 10, 2016 DivKidVideo

"Paul Soulsby takes us through his new modular products and desktop devices. Pretty for some crunchy digital action! Great tag line too '8 bit - infinite possibilities'."

Bastl Instruments - Superbooth16

Published on May 9, 2016 DivKidVideo

"Ready for the most bonkers eurorack booth you're likely to see for a long time? Bastl Instruments bring the goods!"

birdkids - Superbooth16

Published on May 8, 2016 DivKidVideo

"We spoke Michael from birdkids at Superbooth. The Bateleur VCO is some of the most fun I've had with an analogue oscillator for sometime so I'm excited to check out the mixing system they're working on in the future too."

Rebel Technology - Superbooth16

Published on May 7, 2016 DivKidVideo

"We check out the Rebel Technology booth at Superbooth!"

Reaktor Blocks - Superbooth16

Published on May 5, 2016 DivKidVideo

"I had a good time meeting Jan from Native Instruments as we'd previously met online chatting about modular and I bought a Turing Machine from him (fun fact). He takes us through the new Reaktor Blocks update integrating plenty of gear while he's at it."

Kilpatrick Audio - Superbooth16

Published on May 4, 2016 DivKidVideo

"It was great to meet Andrew Kilpatrick and have him take us through the new sequencer which looks killer. Ok it's not modular, but it integrates perfectly and I think having that and maybe a 6U / 12U system for performance would be ace!"

KOMA Elektronik - Superbooth16

Published on May 3, 2016 DivKidVideo

"Hayden from KOMA Elektronik takes us through their sequencer and Poltergeist at Superbooth."