Tangram 2008
Tangerine Dream

D: TANGRAM [iš šio albumo [tadream] fanų elektroninės konferencijos]

Tangram was my first ever TD purchase, and, I believe, itr's one of theirtop four or five albums. I agree with most of the comments here, and wouldgo as far as to say that Tangram Part 1 is *almost* quintessential TD.It's complex, yet accessible, varied, yet nicely repetitive. A solid 4AS,very nearly a five

And it also make a great aid for teaching children how to multiply. I usedit once in a class that I taught as a student teacher -- one young lad hadnever understood multiplication properly. He was also a very good youngflautist, and I played him the first couple of minutes of Tangram Part 1,you know the bit with the kind of pan flute sound arpeggio. Anyway, theupshot of it is that they kind of overlay, one playing three notes, theother playing four, and they get back "in phase" after twelve notes (3*4).After having a bit of a listen to Tangram, this young guy (Brian or Bryceor something like that) had no more problems with multiplication, evenstuff beyond the standard 12 times tables; he thought of the numbersmusically. If anyone's interested, this stuff is tied up theoreticallywith Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory in the book "Frames ofMind", and to a lesser extent with Sternberg's Triarchic Theory ofIntelligence.

There's my anecdote for the week ;-)

Oh, the other thing is that I would have no hesitation in recommendingTangram to a fan of the "old" TD, a fan of the "new" TD, or a non fan ofTD. It's about the only TD album that I own that can be recommended inthis way (I've found that Logos is too long for some people, Force Majeurescares people, and a lot of people simply don't "get" Ricochet, in the sameway that a lot of people don't "get" Oldfield's AMAROK).

Cheers,Paul

Tangram gets the highest rating possible on any scale.

Tangram has a very special sound. I don't know exactly whichinstruments have been used, but I guess you canhear on Tangram the first PPG digital synthesizers, and whateverpolyphonic analogue keyboards like Prophet, Oberheim or Roland Jupiter.Lots of sawtooth and experimental sounds with a rich frequencyspectrum.

There seems to be lot of modulation in the sounds, probably toovercome the effect that all these Prophets, Oberheims and Rolandsanalogue polyphonic keyboards sound just like a better organbecause all the 6 or 8 voices are exactly the same. Just likea string orchestra gets its sound because of all the individualviolins (or whatever) sound different. Did somebody mention herethat Chris Franke was involved in developing the Jupiter 8?I wonder what he could have contributed, since it is the standard2VCO-VCF-VCA setup all these keyboard had. The only specialities onit were, I guess, the high-pass filter, and the key-follow at the2 ADSRs...which is the only effective tool to make the 8 voicesof the Jupiters sound different!

Moreover, Tangram, seems like a little symphony. No long parts likeon Rubycon, Encore, or Madrigal Meridian. Instead, a bunch of piecesnicely arranged together to two big one Vinyl side composition (as alreadyhad on Force Majeure). Maybe this can be regarded as the transitionto smaller pieces like on Exit.

Special remark: no drums (almost)

Absolute highlight for me is the beginning of Part II. Wonderfulmelting sawtooth-ish sounds and chord progression.

Armin

Hello all!

Set 1 is the reason why I´m here. I listened this a while ago (1986 Iguess), and was the right entrance to Tangerine Dream music. I remember afriend of mine copied a few discs and gave me two tapes: one was Tangram/Rubycon and the other Thief/ Flashpoint.

Set 1 is truly progressive electronic. The climax of this part is simply oneof the best passages I´ve ever listened (in terms of musical tension). Andthe second part, more abstract, even cold and far and diverse from the firstside, is the perfect balance.

I consider Tangram the beggining of the TD peak era (Schmoelling era). So,5AS!!!!!!!!!!!!Hasta la vista!

Carlos Alberto MartinezMonterrey, Mexico

The beginning of Tangram hooks me. Like the start of Ricochet Part 2 (orTubular Bells for that matter), I don't think I'll ever get it out of myhead. Where Force Majeure addresses power, Tangram embraces beauty. Itshimmers with inner warmth and with macrocosmic geometrical sensibility.

Tangram swings with extremes, from quiet, tiny sounds to thick evolvinglayers, from soulful piano/flute melodies to angular guitar/sequencerrepetitions.

Tangram (as the title implies) is like exploring a hidden dimension.Individual pieces fit together to become a whole, yet it is the relationshipbetween the pieces that is the revelation, rather than the pieces or thewhole. Like a mathmatical principal that can be re-applied and compounded,tangrams are a model of human understanding.

Tangram relentlessly tickles the mind, coaxing it to follow hidden trails.There's not a lot of predictability, but rather perpendicular symmetry.Every approach is peripheral. Every arrival is wondrous.

Tim Scallon

Nice to see some reviews on one of the best albums of TD...

I must say I don't know how or when I heard this album butI liked it from the first time I heard and still love tolisten to it.I like the first part better then the second part, but eventhe second part is great.Definitely pieces TD hadn't done before and of course it wasthe influence of Johannes but TD was already shifting from stylewith Cyclone and Force Majeure so it was probably 'logic?' thatTangram came.No boring part to see on this record and someone mentionedthe pieeoow part...well thats also a favorite of mine, it is justvery powerful with those sequencers under it (or above? :-))There is just one thing I sort of miss in it and thats justa little bit of mellotron :-)Okay there is a choir (is it really the tron?)... but I guess Edgarhad played enough on it already and wanted to try something else.It probably wasn't the same album then.

As with most Virgin albums I give this a 5AS.Nice to see that one person added to a group can have so much influeceon the sound...I wonder if someone was added now that it will have asmuch as an impact as then.

Marcel