Florian Schneider
|
|
Florian Schneider-Esleben (born April 7th, 1947, Düsseldorf, Germany) is one of the founding members of electronic music legends, Kraftwerk. He founded Kraftwerk with Ralf Hütter in 1970, the two having met in 1968 studying at the Düsseldorf Music Conservatory, and played together in the improvising ensemble Organisation.
Originally his main instrument was the flute, which he would treat using a diverse manner of electronic effects, including tape echo, ring modulation, use of pitch-to-voltage converter, fuzz and wah-wah. He also played violin (similarly treated) and made use of synthesizers (both as a melodic instrument and as a sound processor). Later he also created his own electronic flute instrument. After the release of their 1974 album, "Autobahn," his use of acoustic instruments diminished. Schneider speciality appears then concentrated on sound design and vocoding/speech-synthesis, one patented implementation of this being christened the Robovox, a distinctive feature of the Kraftwerk sound. He is known as the static, more secretive of the elusive duo, apparently disliking touring.
Schneider currently lives in Düsseldorf, and has a daughter.