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michael hoenigMichael Hoenig is a musical pioneer from the innovative Berlin School of electronic musicians that included Klaus Schulz, Tangerine Dream, Agitation Free, Manual Goetsching, and Ash Ra Temple. His project Departure from the Northern Wasteland (11079-2) was for Michael a culmination of his musical experiences as a member of Agitation Free, Tangerine Dream, and his own Explorations of sound and electronics. Hoenig began experimenting with music in 1967. His first instrument was the zither to which he wired up contact microphones, feeding them into tape recorders, spring reverb and other electronic devices. Michael had no intention of learning an instrument in the traditional way. He preferred to concentrate on generating new sounds and developing sound collages. Because he was not trained on the keyboard, Michael's first approach to the synthesizer was different from that of many other trained musicians. To him, instead of being a souped–up keyboard, the synthesizer was an entirely new instrument with as yet untouched possibilities for sound. Said Michael, "I feel (the synthesizer) should be used for new structures. We must learn to accept the synthesizer as a new instrument with its own compositional properties." Michael had found a professional outlet for his interest in musical
experimentation and improvisation by the early 1970s when he joined
the adventurous rock group Agitation Free—a group already well-known
in Germany. The band was committed to playing improvisational music
and developing new musical structures and forms. They had a policy
never to perform the same thing twice. Agitation Free was also used
as an ensemble for avant–garde composers such as Between 1972 and 1974, the band released three albums and built a substantial following through successful tours in Europe and the Middle East. As the success of Agitation Free grew, however, the consistency of their purely improvisational approach diminished. "We'd reached a point where growth became almost detrimental," said Hoenig, "it was a combination of the success, the recognition, and the sheer exhaustion which made experimentation (our primary goal) an impossibility. It's funny how the acceptance of innovation can push you into a wall of repetition." Soon thereafter, Agitation Free was disbanded. Hoenig went on to collaborate with former Tangerine
Dream drummer and synthesist When Hoenig left Tangerine Dream, his music became more structured
Departure from the Northern Wasteland (11079-2)
was his own musical statement and reflected compositional trends seen
in the work of Departure from the Northern Wasteland (11079-2) maintains a certain complexity arising from a polyphonic approach and intricate metrical construction. "My polyphony," Michael notes, "is composed in a monophonic manner in such a way that the listener can pick out any one of the voices as the melody and the rest will fit perfectly as accompaniment." There is a basic pulse on which the notes occur, but they combine in overlapping patterns of threes, fours, sevens, and other units. "I also like rhythmic patterns with drifting downbeats—a pattern of four notes, with the downbeat on every fifth, for example." Michael has since released a second solo album and has been involved
with film scoring. He was musical director, co-composer and co–scriptwriter
on the acclaimed film Koyaanisgatsi—the sound track
featuring his collaborations with composer discography |
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