When it arrived from Eternity, Outer Space, it had no laughter, no wisdom and no age. Then with the movement of planets it discovered time, rhythm, and sound, and it started to sing. For a short moment of its eternal life it played games and became like a child. As it turned into darkness again it left Toy Planet with a ring of light. In the lap of the unknown you will sometimes find stars with a shimmer of a smile.

One of Irmin Schmidt's concepts about making music is putting people together in a group who would not normally play together in order to induce new musical ideas. For example, in his last piece of film music for TV, he took an accordionist from a Belgian dance orchestra and put him with a free jazz trumpet player. The mix of different styles, personalities and musical experience initiated new ideas.

Spontaneity and collaboration are therefore key words for Irmin. His background as a classical musician and member of the German 'Can' group has given him a unique wealth of musical experience. He has been influenced in many directions: by Can's approach to playing modern music in a free spontaneous way; by his association in New York during the '60's with La Monte Young, Terry Riley and other 'avant-garde' composers; by his performing and conducting operatic and orchestral works from classics to Debussy, Ravel and Cage; and his special liking for impressionism, ethnic music and jazz. He also studied with the Hungarian composer Ligeti and undoubtedly his tuition in orchestration over several years - experimenting with tone colours and instrumentation - helped put this kind of album together.

His collaboration with Bruno Spoerri came from his use of Bruno's studio in Zurich, only to find that Bruno had much to contribute. Irmin's natural desire towards 'collective' composition led to their successful partnership on the album. He identifies his approach to Toy Planet with Debussy's three 'Images' and 'Jeux' pieces, that do not contain development in the classical sense, but rather have music that portrays one image that is explored. 'You don't leave this picture to go elsewhere - it's like being in a room and looking around, for every wall is different, but you never leave the room. Mahler has this feeling for me in his second movement of the 4th Symphony where everything seems to be based on the first eight bars. I also enjoy the orchestral works of Messiaen. So classical developments are not for Irmin and emulating Baroque and Classical styles with synthesiser simply because it is a new instrument is not the way he feels electronic music should be going.

Toy Planet came about like most of his music, in a spontaneous way. All its conception may appear to have been very carefully composed and totally organised from the outset, but this is not so.

'I'm not interested in having a concept, writing it down and then getting as near as possible to the original idea. I'm much more interested in the process of making, through spontaneous steps. Toy Planet pieces were all made from this kind of spontaneous composition, from Bruno and myself contributing ideas. When you are collecting ideas you always come to a point where the image is settled, maybe long before the piece is finished, and it's the material that gives you the image - not that you conceived a title and worked rigidly to achieve a work based on this title. Then it's important to explore that world - the more you do that, the stronger and the more satisfying the piece will be.

'What you have to be careful not to do is simply to produce in the end a piece that is merely a collection of effects. If you go back to the early days of Stockhausen and Boulez, technical progress was thought to be the actual process of using electronics to make music - the scientific applications were more important than new ideas in musical composition. So the final image is not so much a soundscape that gives a visual picture, but rather affects human emotions in different ways.

"Basically, I still feel I'm a rock musician (it is the element of rhythm that is important) even though my background is classical.

'Here's a point about listening and evaluating. You must listen from a distance. When I lived in Bruno's house in the basement room with the studio right above, I used to hear my recorded music in a different way, and what I had considered to be the strongest rhythms were often dominated by other elements I had not even thought about. If you're sitting in front of the loudspeakers, you can easily focus on particular sounds which become the main rhythmic elements, whilst the general listener will have a different impression altogether.'

Instruments and Equipment

Irmin is the first to admit that the musical equipment used to make Toy Planet was nothing out of the ordinary. There was a Prophet 5 synthesiser along with the large EMS Synthi 100 studio model which Bruno had much improved to reduce system noise. Its dual 60 x 60 patchboards are very versatile and the peculiar interfacing has its advantages for Irmin.

'That's what I mean by pre-conceptions - if you just use the electronic equipment you have to create your sound, forgetting anyone elses "interesting ideas" and simply see what you can get out of your equipment. Even noise inherent in an inferior setup can be utilised as part of the music!'

All the choirs on Toy Planet are done by a special keyboard that uses disc programs - one for violin and one for choir were used on the recording. 'Aah' sounds were changed later with filtering techniques so you might think you are hearing vocal words, but in fact it is all from this basic 'aah'. With the piece Toy Planet, I began to imagine certain words myself and probably people would quickly begin to make their own native language connections.

Other instruments that are important on the LP are the Eminent Organ, which incidentally did not give the strong plane rumbling between two tracks on side two as you might suppose. This was a combination of low pitched choir voices, a deep tone made through various filters, and also sounds from the Prophet and EMS synthesisers. De-tuning is employed to create the pulsating, phasing effect. The superb reverberation depth throughout the record comes from the Lexicon Digital Prime Time delay. The reverberation created gives the necessary depth to the images, making the sounds stretch to a distant aural horizon.

Multi-Layering

I asked Irmin how he created sounds that appeared to contain vast amounts of multi-tracking.

'A lot of this is obtained from using such effects as the British AMS delay and harmoniser, as well as the Syntovox Vocoder from Holland which was used for the "train" piece for example. Here it was triggered from a real train recording inputted to the Prophet, Vocoder and then to tape. Both phasing and frequency shifting were used throughout the album, and the complex rhythms were derived from three different drum machine outputs. These were controlled by Bruno using triggered filtering from the EMS Synthi 100 (which also sent triggers to control the drum machines) and this would take out certain patterns and allow considerable changes to be made. Meanwhile, I was working with the Frequency Shifter, moving the pitch of congas, bongoes and other drum sounds up and down. "Seven Game" gets most of its rhythm from my spontaneous reaction to the rhythms being generated.

'Sometimes we would make up tape loops with these recorded rhythms. In the "Toy Planet" piece we used the tape loops that were recorded as individual tracks at full volume on our 24-track machine and then faded these in and out at mix-down stage. The problem with this technique is the same as adding drum machine layers - getting accurate synchronisation of these from one trigger pulse. In "Seven Game", 12 complete "percussionist" tracks were merged together and this was quite a difficult task as our trigger pulse was operating at high speed and tape drop-outs or any fluctuations would cause errors in synchronisation. This meant starting over and over again to get it right.

'Once again, we might find by chance a new combination of rhythms would be created through these errors and so we would keep these.

'Bruno plays both Lyricon instruments (1 and 2) on the record, along with Tenor Sax and Sopranino, the latter only used on "Yom Tov" for the solo and on "When the Waters Came To Life". The more metallic high-pitched filtered sounds came from the Lyricon or the Prophet 5. Otherwise all other sounds are electronically derived (except for the rhythm guitars on Yom Tov).'

Planet Making

Bruno's studio, where Toy Planet was recorded, is in fact quite small and not over-sophisticated. Irmin reminisced to the days when Can started by making records just on two Revox stereo tape machines and little supplementary technical equipment. Irmin emphasised, 'As long as you accept the limits of your instruments, then any music can be made. Toy Planet would be absolutely impossible to reproduce again - for a live performance or even another studio recording.

'This record is done in a way I've never tried before and the next will be different again.' A sign of the times surely, for so many electronic music composers feel this way.

'I'm always seeking adventure and exploring new methods and I'm not interested in repeating previous ideas. Often there is pressure on a composer to repeat a successful style or approach, but even when Can started over 12 years ago, we tried different styles on each of our early albums and yet they all retained the feeling of Can and couldn't be anyone else.

'The record took around four months to complete, for Bruno and I had other work to do in between. I always have quite a lot of film music to prepare and I enjoy this very much - the scripts give me so many new ideas to work with. My approach to composing for films is to find musical themes and ideas that inter-relate and thus link up scenes and the whole film generally.'

Exploring the Planet

I discussed my own general analysis of pieces on Toy Planet with Irmin, who commented as I went along.

The Seven-Games

This begins with a 'water bubbling' background that is purely electronic and a 'whistle' motive repeated freely. Free drum rhythms emerge from the constant 'crickets' buzz as the volume of the forest life on the Planet increases. Slowly a steady rhythm becomes a driving force for a haunting synthesiser theme accompanied by off-beat Prophet 5 chords. The theme is repeated à la Ravel with multi-textured sounds. The Tenor Saxophone from Bruno (who in many ways provided the main ideas for this track), plays a series of syncopated notes interjected through the continuing percussion and chords.

Irmin pointed out: 'The first technical step was to record a "pulse track" which came from hearing one day a record with a bass drum line that made us try and get a more realistic effect, yet still electronic. It is at times like this when trying to choose the best effect that Irmin's wife, Hildegarde, also adds her criticisms and ideas.

'I like my pieces to generally start and end in the same key and I enjoy quoting from other works.'

So the piece starts and ends in A minor and at this point it begins its first change of key (up) for a repeat of the melody again - sax improvising with it. Another change of key again upwards and a full band effect provides the melody, almost like a trumpet line-up (it's actually the Lyricon with nine overlays). On the third change of key, as the music works to a climax, the added reverberation gives a feeling of space from the 'forest' as the sax improvises and the electronic drum soars up in pitch.

The next change of key uses synthesiser strings, flute and other preset sounds that improvise weaving melodies with the sax and finally reach a major triad ending, reminiscent of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (last movement). The saxophone has the last word on a very smooth sustained echo (a seventy second delay on the Lexicon) that leaves a gentle tinkling and atmospheric rustling in the distance.

I asked Irmin whether he felt that his wide musical experience gave him more scope for 'producing better music': 'I wouldn't really judge it in terms of quality, because there are plenty of younger composers who are untouched by classical music and yet come out with music that is so surprising and contains such strong ideas.

'The complex rhythm track (built up on our 24-track machine) inspired us with the idea of a melody that comes again and again over this rhythm, and the actual theme was eventually derived from Bruno's experimentation. Whenever Bruno improvised solos, these often took place at widely spaced periods of time and then one day it would turn out to be the right one.

'Being aware of time is another important aspect of composition. You feel this in ethnic African tribal, Balkan folk and Red Indian music which I listen to frequently. Because a piece often contains a 16-bar theme, you already have some indication of timing and formal pattern but it is still an instinctive feeling that a musician gets for the need to change or end a piece. You could say that this opening music on Toy Planet has a structure that rises to a peak and then fades away. This process of fading out the end of a piece still has to make musical sense. For example, a fade is ideal for giving the feeling that the music can go on for ever.'

Toy Planet

From the atmospheric rustling, distant voices approach (like Holst 'Planets'), forming a beautifully refreshing and space-like sound that stretches across the stereo field, and ebbs and flows through a mixture of echoed chords and solo voices. The echo effect gives the momentum for the piece, making the tinkling percussion "beat" in time. Filtered peaks wander through harmonics as the voices continue - a new chord is heard that returns with harmonics built up through the centre voices echoing with left and right melodies. The music reaches a hilltop and then sinks again to start once more. It's hard to define a key feeling, but all the time the music seems to move to another tonal level. As it dies away, voices almost produce words and finally wander away, leaving the tinkling.

I questioned Irmin about the harmonic structure. 'This track took several weeks to produce and the first harmonies came from us playing melodic lines that were made into tape loops for layering into sequence patterns and chords. By changing the playback speed of the loops and mixing these with the original, we produced a very complex harmonic structure. For each loop and each step we overlaid as many as 16 loops and of course you then create some strong dissonance effects. Don't forget that every loop had its own specific pattern to begin with as well! The choir voices also are always single lines that have been overlaid to achieve harmonies.'

An interesting point is that all the overlays get their own particular position in the stereo field, from left to right with the pan control, and front to back by using increased reverberation depth.

'When you work with electronics, there are strong psycho-acoustic effects created which come much more from what you associate - from your brain picking up certain patterns that are associated with natural events, and this makes you feel that a sound is far away or near to you when its aural proximity has not really changed at all! Just as visual patterns can suggest shapes that really don't exist. The secret of making, say, 20 loops is to make just one, listen to it, experiment and then decide on whether you want another loop or not to go with it. This way, every element, every step is spontaneous and of your creation - but still balanced with your awareness of building a form.

'When Bruno and I were working on the record in Zurich, we always started at 10.00 a.m. and worked all day until around 8.00 p.m. Sometimes I worked with the sound engineer, who played an important part in setting up the levels and images for the LP, but most of it was done with Bruno working alongside. The recording was made on a 24-track A800 Studer machine with a large MCI mixing desk (see photo), with the final mix in stereo.

Two Dolphins Go Dancing

This has strong Euro-disco style drums from the EMS with a dominating metallic 'scrape' that adds to these rhythms. There's a short theme on typically filtered synthesiser sounds from the Prophet against steady 2-beat Prophet chords, whilst the rhythm continues against plenty of syncopation in the background. The Tenor sax melody contains a Ravel quote (produced spontaneously here by Bruno) and finally becomes an improvisation over what appears to be a repeated 2-chord pattern a semitone apart.

Irmin explains: 'The metallic scrape came from some 30 overlays that included tracks from the "tinkling" effect in "Toy Planet" and a number of "horror" type rattling, screaming sounds. These were pulsegated to achieve the metallic "slice".

'The final dual chord effect is really just a single B major seventh chord that has its alternating feeling from emphasising lowest or highest notes of the chord.'

Yom Tov

This is an old Russian gypsy theme based on the chords: Cm G7 Cm C Fm F G G. A romantic saxophone theme opens with strings accompanying. Irmin gets this superb string effect from at least six overlays done with separate deep, mid and high tracks with or without phasing. High pitches are particularly important and very gently provide that extra realism.

'When I came to Bruno's studio, I was in fact intending to make a solo record and I had already recorded this gypsy piece for use as a basic track. The three guitars from the gypsy band were treated through the vocoder and the Prophet was added as well.'

The title is a Hebrew one meaning 'Happy Day' and certainly the piece contains this feeling and excitement from the various Lyricon and Prophet solos against the persistent guitar theme. After this seemingly wild improvisation there's an abrupt yet typical folk ending to this exciting dance style piece (that might seem out of place here), but it has a warm and enjoyable effect that is an ideal contrast at this point.

Springlight Rite

The whole record is like a fantasy of invented cultures, feast and rites and in the previous track 'Yom Tov' you have perhaps an ethnic flavour for the Planet. Now 'Springlight Rite' provides the ritual spring feast and, although formalised like the 'Toy Planet' piece, uses sequences created over several days that all tend to merge their rhythms and harmonies at particular points. Here's one instance where you could just not have recorded this piece in a studio when time is a premium. 'Tibetan horns' come from the Lyricon and seem to echo to each other from mountain tops in different spatial positions.

'Writing and notation is so difficult, we even tried to photograph the settings with a Polaroid so that we'd get it right the next day - yet temperature, minute adjustments and even your own listening can still change the whole sound image. Reverberation is added here on the individual tracks although it's sometimes left until mix-down of a larger group of sounds. It ends with a magical "fire" and "bubbling" effect, which came by chance during a recording of the Eminent organ using several mics. As we played it back, we heard this "whispering" effect from the tape that was really a subtle feedback from the mics and unanimously decided to use it. Irmin appreciates that "music, like emotion, is often dependent upon the inter-action of people".'

Rapido de Noir (Last Train To Eternity)

Irmin has always been fascinated by the sound of trains. 'I have always heard voices from train sounds and wanted to use this "train" element on the record. Bruno happened to have this "train-over-the-tracks" sound on tape. All through the piece, the rhythm of the train wheels on the railway line is evident.

'Initially, we built up a six-minute train sound from various recorded loops of the real thing. Two methods of treatment were then used - first we sent the sound through various devices including Vocoder, EMS and Frequency Shifter. We then kept overlaying these train sounds so that we created an interesting image. Second, by filtering we removed certain parts of the train sound and used this as a trigger for gating sustained Prophet chords. The Vocoder chords were also triggered in this way. The result was to make all the music appear to become part of the train noise. The last stage was to mix these in various forms so that the listener finds it hard to perceive music/train changes.'

Hildegarde was in London at the time and when she received a copy of the tape, did not like it at all so that Irmin felt obliged to do it all again!

After a short time, a distorted guitar/violin solo sound (actually done on the Prophet) has wah-wah treatment and the strong resonance, produced from the peaked overtones gives movement to the sounds. 'Rapido de Noir' is a fascinating atmospheric piece which musically conjures images of travelling across a mysterious Toy Planet.

When the Waters came to Life

Irmin achieved the largest number of overlays he has ever created in this piece - 112 layers! So the 24-track was used five times over for mix downs. The more common orchestral kind of sound available on preset synthesisers just didn't provide enough animation for Irmin and this was the only way he could achieve his orchestral images. Once again, spacial placement of sounds is important and moving images can be heard that are overlaid at twice speed. These were gradually multi-tracked into two tonal groups and as this 'backing' was playing, Bruno would improvise.

'Whenever I felt it was right, I would change tonalities by fading in the other group of channels. So here I was playing "Sliders"! The last chord of B major has 112 layers to achieve this very rich feeling and was a conscientious reference to Wagner.

'The track begins with a link from the previous train piece that has a deep melancholy sound. For me, it's as if the whole sky held this rumbling intense tone under its dome - a sound of some huge plane.'

Once again, getting final balance just right is so important. 'Using electronics is inventing instruments at every step - not using them just as a "brave new world" feeling that we all have when playing new instruments. The basic problem of working with synthesisers is that you don't work with a musical instrument that has grown over hundreds of years - each time you use a synthesiser you invent an instrument and in that moment you use it.'

Irmin is now in his early 40's (and Bruno too) and it is likely that he and the other members of Can will come together in the not too distant future to make another record. For the present, he plans to build himself a new home in France.

Through his Toy Planet he has shown that experience, coupled with spontaneity and collaboration, can offer the dedicated musician new possibilities in the creation of electronic music.

Toy Planet is available from (Contact Details).