René Van Der Wouden - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Biography

René has been active in music since he was eight years old. He started having piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

lessons in a classical sense and later he also had some lessons on the organ. As a child René quickly got fascinated by the organs and synthesizers he saw on TV every week in the Dutch musicshows Toppop and Countdown. Also, his piano teacher of that time (in 1983) played a Roland Jupiter 6 synthesizer in a band. During a lesson this synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

stood next to the piano that remained untouched that day. Since 1987 the interest in electronic music

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

started to grow immensely. The music of Jean Michel Jarre

Jean Michel Jarre

Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...

, Vangelis

Vangelis

Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...

, Tangerine Dream

Tangerine Dream

Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...

and Jeff Wayne's “War of the Worlds

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a 1978 concept album by Jeff Wayne, retelling the story of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Its format is progressive rock and string orchestra, using narration and leitmotifs to carry the story via rhyming melodic lyrics that express...

” got his interest.

In 1993 René bought his first set of synthesizers like the Korg Poly800 and Yamaha DX7

Yamaha DX7

The Yamaha DX7 is an FM Digital Synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1986. It was the first commercially successful digital synthesizer. Its distinctive sound can be heard on many recordings, especially Pop music from the 1980s...

. During this period René started to compose and record many pieces of music. Also an expanse of more electronic instruments and recording-devices happened.

Pro Sequentia, the debut CD, was released first on the German Syngate label on April 16, 2005. Because of different visions between Syngate and René, the latter left and formed his own electronic music label in May 2005 for releasing his music. The Pro Sequentia album has been well received all over the EM-scene. The music can be described as retro/Berliner Schule

Berlin School of electronic music

The Berlin School of electronic music, or just Berlin School, was a development of electronic music in the 1970s, shaped by Berlin-based artists like Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and Ashra....

with contemporary elements. On this album analogue and digital synthesizers were used together will all the power and comfort of computers.

The concert at E-Live 2005 was the first concert of electronic music by Rene. This E-Live 2005 (an annual held festival of electronic music) sub-stage concert consisted of 3 sets. The first set was in the style of the Pro Sequentia album, the second set consisted of 2 tracks of ambient music

Ambient music

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...

and the last set/concert took place together with the most successful Dutch musician of electronic music today, Gert Emmens. The music was recorded for personal documentation and will not be released.

In 2006 the follow-up CD of Pro Sequentia was released on the 21 September 2006 as Alchemia. This CD is much more Berliner Schule/retro/sequencer based than Pro Sequentia and also contains the use of samples of "the EM-instrument", the Mellotron

Mellotron

The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...

. The overall style of the music can be referred to what is called the "Golden Era" of electronic music. The theme of the CD is "Alchemy". For years René has been interested in this kind of philosophy.

On October 28, 2006 there was a special concert given by EL-KA, René van der Wouden & Syngate artists at the GASOMETER

Gasometer

A gas holder is a large container where natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressure coming from the weight of a movable cap...

, Oberhausen in the afternoon from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The inspiration for this concert was: "How can we sound like our favorite electronic music band Tangerine Dream

Tangerine Dream

Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...

in a unique setting and building?"

For 2007 there were no albums planned, although the "Universal Quiet" album was planned for the fall of 2007 but due to some personal reason this album was released on January 4, 2008. This album can be seen as a further seek into the Cosmos, therefore its title. It's also referring to the period of the seventies and eighties of electronic music. This album was a well received one by the critics of electronic music all over the world.

In September 2008 the album "Sequential Tourism" was released. This album is a mixture of styles of retro music and rhythms in 4 long tracks and one short one. Next to the use of analogue synthesizers like SE Moog, Yamaha CS50, Sequential Pro One and the Moog The Rogue, modern rhythm patterns were used to give the music an exploring mood.

Studio albums

2005 Pro Sequentia
2006 Alchemia
2007 Recreation (originally from 2004)
2008 Universal Quiet
2008 Sequential Tourism

Compilations

The Netherlands

2005 Groove Unlimited's E-dition #9 with "E-Lively"
2006 Groove Unlimited's E-dition #12 with "Set 3 E-Live"

Germany

2005 Schwingungen auf CD #123 with "Shenzhen Morning" (previously unreleased)
2005 Schwingungen auf CD #124 with "Prosa 4"
2006 Schwingungen auf CD #138 with "The Alchemists"
2007 Schwingungen auf CD #141 with "The Alchemists Lounge" (previously unreleased)
2008 Schwingungen auf CD #155 with "Get Quieter"
2008 Schwingungen auf CD #161 with "The Sequential Tourists" en "Schallwende Rehearsal" (previously unreleased)
2009 Schwingungen auf CD #164 with "Holiday Hyve" (previously unreleased)

Live Concerts

2005 E-Live 2005 Eindhoven at the Green Room during the day
2006 Gasometer Oberhausen with Hajo Liese and Till Kopper as EL-KA
2008 Schallwende 10th Anniversary at the Gruga Park Essen together with Ron Boots and Remy
Remy
Remy is a name of French origin, and is associated with the Latin name Remigius.* Remy - Place names :* Pont-Remy, a French commune in Picardie* Rémy, a French commune in Pas-de-Calais* Remy, Oise* Remy, Oklahoma...
2009 Awakenings April 18, 2009 (scheduled)

External links

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