Johannes Schmoelling – Early Beginnings – Anthology 1979 – 1985
“What you will hear on “Early Beginnings” are rough drafts and demo recordings, which were originally not meant for the public. Good friends encouraged me and helped me to release this material. Except for tracks 4 and 5, the authentic original master-tapes can be heard, chronologically and digitally remastered.“ Johannes Schmoelling (Berlin 2008)
Track 1-3:
In summer 1979, Edgar Froese invited me to his studio to play something on his Steinway Grand piano. So I improvised something very spontaneously for perhaps 20 minutes. After the session, Edgar disappeared and returned with a Korg synthesizer in his hands which he passed to me and said “Come back in one month and let me hear what you have composed by then!”. Tracks 1 – 3 are the exact pieces of music which I composed on the PS 3100 Korg synthesizer, my Minimoog and a Revox A 77 2-track tape recorder, my equipment in those days.
Track 4 & 5:
The master tapes were so badly damaged that I had to re-perform both tracks on my Apple G5 with the MIDI recording software Logic 7, as close to the originals as possible. In 1980-1981 1 used the Polymoog, Roland Jupiter 8 and Minimoog.
Track 6
was composed after our concerts in Los Angeles and San Francisco in December 1980. At that time we had just finalized the soundtrack to the movie THIEF by Michael Mann at the Burbank Studios, Hollywood. My instruments: Roland Jupiter 8, Minimoog, Roland TR 808 drum machine and Tascam 8-track recorder.
Track 7 & 8:
I composed and performed both tracks for the movie ENTE ODER TRENTE Director: Petra Haffter. Instruments used: Elka Rhapsodie, Roland Jupiter 8, Roland TR 808, Minimoog and Otari 8-track recording machine.
Track 9
comes from the production period of Michael Mann’s movie THE KEEP and was revised and newly arranged by myself, later.
Track 10:
This is THE SOLDIER theme, originally composed for the movie THE SOLDIER. lt can also be heard on the live performance LOGOS, played in a slow-tempo (alla breve).
Track 11:
is similar to the Streethawb Theme, originally composed for the American TV-series STREETHAWK and arranged in a pop-jazz orientated version by me. But, nobody liked it!
Track 12
comes from the production phase of Ridley Scott’s movie LEGEND, the last score I did with Tangerine Dream.
Track 13:
This track is dominated by digital sampling technology. The samplers used: AKAI S 612, PPG Wave 2.3 System and AKAI S 900. The samples I used were cymbals played backwards and sounds from my Kaps Grand Piano, which were then transmodified.
Track 14:
This track may sound similar to my improvised piece which I performed on Edgar’s Steinway Grand in summer 1979. This recording was made at my Riet-Studio in Berlin – Kreuzberg in 1985 and is an extract from a 30-minute session, which I played on my nearly 100 years old Kaps Grand Piano. Because this improvisation sounds like a piece from the beginning of my work with Tangerine Dream, I would like to dedicate it to Edgar Froese and Christoph Franke in thank for the time we spent together.
Tracklist:
- The Blue Door 02:44
- The Blue Window 02:29
- Nevermind 06:28
- Perpetual Motion 03:49
- The Avatar 03:58
- Walking On Sunset Blvd. 04:03
- It Better End Soon 02:54
- Violence In The Street 05:50
- Echo Village 04:19
- The Soldier Theme 02:25
- Riding The Bike 03:59
- Tracks In The Snow 06:32
- Metamorphic Forest 02:50
- Circles 04:01
Total: 56:21 min.