Tangram

Jurgen Vitrier, a TD fan from Belgium, who had always been fascinated about the intro of Tangram Set One, after some research found out that it had been made on a Prophet-5. So he tried to recreate it and to prove that it was not just sampled from the original recording he added a variation to the end. The result can be listened to via Youtube.

When Schmoelling joined Tangerine Dream, the band took a new direction and the long improvisations with a very simple harmonic base, or even just a drone, were replaced by more complex harmonic structures and composed pieces.

Schmoelling: "Before I joined, I felt the music of Tangerine Dream was basically built on sequencer loops, more or less in one key, with little harmonic changes and long ongoing sessions of improvisation. When I joined we tried a mixture of more structured elements with more jazz-orientated chords, composed melodies and synthesizer solos close to rock". (Interview with Mark Pendergast, January 1994, Tangents)

The first result of the work of this new trio was the album Tangram, which was recorded in Franke's new Polygon studio in Berlin. It was recorded during the spring of 1980 and was released in May the same year.

Tangram is one piece of music split up by the two sides of the album and it is much more diverse and softer than previously. It is much more interesting, and chord progressions form the framework around the melodic structures and synth or guitar solos. On side two is a very convincing solo which sounds like it has been played on some kind of guitar synthesizer, but in an interview Schmoelling revealed that he actually played it on a keyboard after practising a lot on how a real guitar player would perform his playing!

Again, the cover was made by Monique Froese with her beautiful and atmospheric photographs: on the front cover is some kind of strange red laser beam, which breaks out of the cover. On the inner sleeve, she has made a big Tangram figure of mirrors, which reflect the white snow in a winter dressed forest. [...]

A Tangram is, by the way, a very old Chinese puzzle; a square is broken up in certain fragments and with those it is possible to make a vast number of other forms and figures. A Tangram was used for telling stories. [...]

It is a very convincing and wholehearted album, and all the details have been carefully worked out, and Tangram is absolutely one of Tangerine Dream's best albums. After its release it could also be found on the English charts.

The album [...] was followed up by a longer tour in most of Western Europe, and that meant the countries south of Germany, and as usual Tangerine Dream did not come to Scandinavia and to this day they still have not played here. Two concerts were also launched in the USA in late November 1980, and the tour in Europe was resumed again in January/February the following year.