Kraftwerk co-founder dead: He was a pioneer of electronic music

A shock to the music world. A power plant co-founder is dead. The group paved the way for electronic music. 

• Florian Schneider-Esleben died at the age of 73 . 
• The power plant co-founder was one of the pioneers of electronic music .
• He developed sounds and effects that still characterize techno-pop to this day.

Munich - Florian Schneider-Esleben died on Wednesday 6 May at the age of 73. The sad news of the death of the power plant co-founder brought his record label. She relies on Ralf Hütter, the founder of Kraftwerk .

Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider-Esleben is dead: the band paved the way for techno music

The duo's success story began in late 1970 with their first album. Like the band, it was called  "Kraftwerk" and climbed to number 30 on the German charts. Transverse and electro flutes ensured an unprecedented sound. The electronic instrument was specially developed by Schneider-Esleben . 

And even after the musicians had decided to forego the flutes and develop from experimental acoustics to electro pop , groundbreaking albums were to follow. Florian Schneider-Esleben has contributed to “Autobahn” (1974), “Radio Activity” (1975), “Trans Europa Express (1977),“ Die Mensch-Maschine ”(1978) and“ Tour de France ”(2003) .

Florian Schneider-Esleben developed sounds and effects: they still characterize the genre today

The perfect project by Schneider-Esleben was to perfect the artificial Robovox voices that made up the sound of the power plant . The synthetic effects he developed are now an integral part of techno music . There is a lot of science behind the apparent clay gadgets. In 1998, after many years of study, the artist was appointed professor for media art and performance at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences.

Power plant robots in the House of History in Bonn: They symbolize musical progress as androids representing musicians Ralf Hütter, Fritz Hilpert, Henning Schmitz and Florian Schneider.

© picture-alliance / dpa / Emi

Ten years later, in 2008, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider-Esleben parted ways . The trained musician left the band and did not take part in any of the nine concerts this year. He officially announced his departure in 2009. Stefan Pfaffe, employee from the "Kling-Klang-Studio" founded by Kraftwert's founders  , took his place.

"A true legend": Kraftwerk and Florian Schneider-Esleben have made electronic music possible

Now the music world has to say goodbye to an artist who made techno what it is today. He lost his fight against cancer , his record company said. "I looked up at these guys and loved their sound so much," calls a female fan, " Florian Schneider-Esleben is a true legend ." 

Cannot even express how much hearing Kraftwerk as a kid in the 70's changed my life and taste in music. When I was growing up I studied piano and thought I would become a musician. I looked up to these guys and loved the sound so much. RIP Florian Schneider-Esleben pure legend https://t.co/FkTpOK7lYO

Drum legend and Afrobeat co-founder Tony Allen * died recently. His death came as a complete surprise. Just a day later, Dave Greenfield said goodbye forever *. The "The Stranglers" keyboardist had previously been infected with the corona virus. Unfortunately, he is not the only celebrity who is not spared the dangerous lung disease *.

* tz.de is part of the nationwide editorial network of Ippen-Digital.