Top 5Has said they use
Moog Music
Minimoog“together with a Minimoog, Farfisa organ and our little electronic drum pads, was it.”
Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
Photo: Slyronit · CC BY-SA 4.0
Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Kraftwerk. Every item links to its public source.
13 items · Last checked What DAW does Kraftwerk use?
Karl Bartos has said Kraftwerk's 1970s live rig was a Minimoog, a Farfisa organ and electronic drum pads. Sound On Sound reported Ralf Hutter on a Prophet-5 and the Speak & Spell robot voice on Computer World, and Bartos named the Emu Emulator, Yamaha DX7 and Atari ST.
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Top 5
Where to start with Kraftwerk's gear.
01
02
Top 5Has said they use
Sequential
Prophet-5Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
03
Top 5Has said they use
Atari
Atari ST“It started to get easier with the Atari ST, specifically Steinberg's Pro24 software.”
Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
04
Top 5Has said they use
Yamaha
DX7“programming a Yamaha DX7 with two Atari computers and two different types of librarians”
Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
05
Farfisa
Organ
Top 5Has said they use
Farfisa
OrganSaid in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
No store page for this one.
What synths Kraftwerk uses: a sourced gear guide
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
Live rig (1970s)
Has said they use
Moog Music
Minimoog“together with a Minimoog, Farfisa organ and our little electronic drum pads, was it.”
Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
Farfisa
Organ
Has said they use
Farfisa
OrganSaid in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
No store page for this one.
Computer World era (Ralf Hutter)
Has said they use
Computer World era (Florian Schneider)
Moog Music
Polymoog
Has said they use
Moog Music
PolymoogSaid in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
No store page for this one.
Computer World era
Texas Instruments
Speak & Spell
Has said they use
Texas Instruments
Speak & SpellSaid in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
No store page for this one.
Studio (1980s)
Linn Electronics
Linn MIDI sequencer
Has said they use
Linn Electronics
Linn MIDI sequencer“I bought two of the first Linn MIDI sequencers for Kraftwerk in the mid-'80s; the small rackmount units.”
Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
No store page for this one.
Commodore
Commodore 64
Has said they use
Commodore
Commodore 64“Immediately after that came the Commodore 64 computers, which were also bad.”
Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Atari
Atari ST“It started to get easier with the Atari ST, specifically Steinberg's Pro24 software.”
Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
Find it on
Steinberg
Pro-24 sequencer software
Has said they use
Steinberg
Pro-24 sequencer softwareSaid in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Yamaha
DX7“programming a Yamaha DX7 with two Atari computers and two different types of librarians”
Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
Electric Cafe sessions
E-mu Systems
Emulator
Has said they use
E-mu Systems
Emulator“In '86, on Electric Café, we used the first Emu Emulator.”
Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
Studio (Ralf Hutter)
New England Digital
Synclavier
Has said they use
New England Digital
Synclavier“I told him not to buy it; it was so terribly expensive!”
Said in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
No store page for this one.
Live rig (1980s)
Matten & Wiechers
Custom 32-step analogue sequencers
Has said they use
Matten & Wiechers
Custom 32-step analogue sequencersSaid in Karl Bartos: Elektric Music and Kraftwerk (Sound On Sound), March 1998
No store page for this one.
Questions
About Kraftwerk's gear.
What synths did Kraftwerk use?
Karl Bartos told Sound On Sound the early live rig was a Minimoog, a Farfisa organ and electronic drum pads. The magazine reported Ralf Hutter played a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and Florian Schneider ran a custom flute controller into a Polymoog.
What did Kraftwerk use for the robot voice on Computer World?
Sound On Sound reported that the robot voice on the Computer World title track came from a Texas Instruments Speak & Spell.
What sampler did Kraftwerk use?
Karl Bartos told Sound On Sound that Kraftwerk used the first E-mu Emulator on Electric Cafe in 1986. Ralf Hutter also bought a New England Digital Synclavier.
What computers did Kraftwerk use?
Bartos said Kraftwerk moved from Linn MIDI sequencers to Commodore 64 computers, then to the Atari ST running Steinberg's Pro24 software, which he said made things easier.
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Named in this guide
K
Kraftwerk
About this guide · Last checked
Kraftwerk are the Dusseldorf electronic group founded by Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider, behind Autobahn, Trans Europe Express, The Man Machine and Computer World. This legacy guide covers the synths, samplers and computers named by former member Karl Bartos in a Sound On Sound interview.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Kraftwerk didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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