And there’s not an analog synthesizer in sight.
Kraftwerk have been notoriously quiet about just what goes on behind their respective plinths when performing live, but a YouTube video has blown their cover.
The video was recorded at a gig in Amsterdam’s Paradiso venue on January 22 – a venue where one onlooker was able to get a good enough angle from their position in a balcony to record what the band use on stage. It was originally uploaded late last month, but has just been brought to attention by German website FAZEmag.
Analog purists might want to look away now – Create Digital Music’s Peter Kirn has cast his expert eye over it and it looks like a digital-heavy setup. Kirn has picked out a Native Instruments Maschine MKI drum controller, a MIDI keyboard, a Novation ReMOTE ZeRO SL controller, the display for Steinberg’s Cubase, which he believes appears to hold backing tracks, and one member reading something on what looks like an iPad interface.
What’s being read, nobody is quite sure, but if you’re going to see Kraftwerk live any time soon, be aware that one of them could well be checking their emails on stage. Watch the whole thing below.