Inside Stockhausen's WDR Studio

US Peter Beste visits the Studio für elektronische Musik 22/03/22

The WDR Studio für elektronische Musik (Studio for Electronic Music) was one of the first of its kind in the world, based in Cologne, West Germany and founded in 1951. It was pivotal in the development of electronic music, housing the lkes of Karlheinz Stockhausen, György Ligeti, Luc Ferrari and Henri Pousseur. While it's moved multiple times, a large proportion of the original equipment is still in operation. US photographer Peter Beste visited the studio for the Red Bull Academy:

Hidden in the basement of a gym complex in an uninviting industrial area is the remains of Cologne's most important contribution to the world of music: the WDR Studio für elektronische Musik (Studio for Electronic Music). Founded in 1951 by Herbert Eimert, the studio hosted a who's who of avant-garde composers in the post-World War II era, and reached the height of its international renown when Karlheinz Stockhausen took over the management in 1963.

It was on these oscilloscopes, ring modulators and tape machines that Stockhausen conjured up Gesang der Jünglinge, while adventurous composers like György Ligeti, Luc Ferrari and Henri Pousseur frequented the premises at Cologne's Wallrafplatz.

A wonderful selection of gear including synths, filters, amplifiers and impulse generators - alongside a seemingly futuristic Emulator2 in the MIDI corner.

Read the full story here: https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/08/stockhausen-photo-essay

Here's a 5 part video tour of the studio:

Further reading on the studio at Google Arts & Culture: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/sounds-of-cologne-wdr/gQWRzsVclcCYPA?hl=en

About the author [midierror]: midierror makes nifty Max For Live devices, innovative music hardware, award winning sample packs and hosts a podcast speaking to people in the music world.