KLANG | Oberheim Eight Voice
The KLANG (german for sound) series of albums could be described as the “One-Synth-Challenge” put on steroids.
Despite using all the different kinds of instruments availlable to realise my musical ideas, I reversed the process and asked: What kind of music would I be inspired to create, if I restricted myself to produce a whole album with just one single synthesizer? What is the essence of its sound and how would that effect my playing and composition?
The first specimen is an absolute dream-synth of mine (and many others): The Oberheim Eight Voice. In the 1970s, when most synthesizers were only capable of playing one note at a time, Tom Oberheim created some of the first true polyphonic synthesizers by stacking up to eight of his SEM modules together. This concept of having eight complete synthesizers joining their individual voices is very unique in both workflow and the resulting sound.
I’m proud to share 7 tracks of sonic love for this one-of-a-kind monster. Two compositions are dedicated to the sound and characteristics of the Oberheim Eight Voice and five of the tracks are free improvisations, inspired by the presence and sound of the instrument, created in the moment.
Recorded at GForce Software’s synthesizer studio in England, Mixed by Antonio Pulli at Saal3 – Nils Frahm’s studio at Funkhaus, Berlin.