Christopher Franke (born 6 April 1953) is a German musician and composer. From 1971 to 1987, he was a member of the electronic group

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

. Initially a drummer with The Agitation, later renamed Agitation Free, his primary focus eventually shifted to keyboards and synthesizers as the group moved away from its psychedelic rock origins. While he was not the first musician to use an

analog sequencer An analog sequencer is a music sequencer constructed from analog (analogue) electronics, invented in the first half of the 20th century. Raymond Scott designed and constructed some of the first electro-mechanical music sequencers in the 1940s. T ...

, he was probably the first to turn it into a live performance instrument, thus laying the rhythmic foundation for classic

pieces and indeed for the whole Berlin school sound. After his departure from the group, he founded the Sonic Images record label, a new-age music label called Earthtone and the Berlin Symphonic Film Orchestra, and produced a number of solo music works. After leaving Tangerine Dream, his only live concert was on 9 October 1991 at the Astoria Theatre in London. He performed on stage with Edgar Rothermich (a.k.a. Richard E. Roth) who is also his producer and engineer on all his solo projects and film music after 1990. Franke moved to Los Angeles in 1991 to pursue film work. In 1995 he scored the

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

short '' Requiem''. He may be best known for composing the music for the science fiction television series ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tele ...

'', as well as the score of the

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

movie ''

Tenchi Muyo! in Love ''Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi in Love!'', also known in Japan as , is a 1996 Japanese animated film and the first of three films set in the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' multi-verse. The film takes place after the conclusion of ''Tenchi Universe'', and so varies ...

'' and in 2005 the music for German musical ''Ludwig²'' (with Konstantin Wecker).

Discography

Tangerine Dream 1980something (12882520393)

Solo

* 1991 – ''Pacific Coast Highway'' * 1992 – '' Universal Soldier'' * 1992 – ''London Concert'' * 1993 – ''New Music for Films Vol. 1'' * 1993 – ''The Tommyknockers'' * 1993 – ''Klemania'' * 1993 –

Journey to the Center of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (french: Voyage au centre de la Terre), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel ...

* 1994 – ''Raven'' * 1995 – '' Night of the Running Man'' * 1995 – ''

'' * 1996 – '' Perry Rhodan – Pax Terra'' * 1996 – ''The Celestine Prophecy'' * 1996 – ''Tenchi the Movie:

'' (rereleased in 2002) * 1996 – ''Enchanting Nature'' * 1997 – ''Babylon 5, volume 2: Messages from Earth'' * 1997 – '' Babylon 5: In the Beginning'' * 1997 – '' Babylon 5: Thirdspace'' * 1997 – '' Pacific Blue'' * 1997 – ''Transformation of Mind'' * 1997 – '' Babylon 5: River of Souls'' * 1999 – ''Epic'' * 2000 – ''Babylon 5: Episodic CDs – 24 CDs x 30 minutes per CD'' (1997–2000) * 2000 – ''New Music for Films Vol. 2'' * 2000 – ''The Calling'' * 2001 – ''The Best of Babylon 5'' * 2003 – ''Music for Films Vol. 3'' (2003) CD-R * 2004 – '' What the Bleep Do We Know!?'' * 2005 – ''Ludwig² – Das Musical'' * 2007 – '' Babylon 5: The Lost Tales''

with
Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

;Major releases * 1971: '' Alpha Centauri'' * 1972: '' Zeit'' * 1973: '' Atem'' * 1974: '' Phaedra'' * 1975: '' Rubycon'' * 1975: ''

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

'' (Live) * 1976: '' Stratosfear'' * 1977: '' Sorcerer'' (Soundtrack) * 1977: '' Encore'' (Live) * 1978: '' Cyclone'' * 1979: '' Force Majeure'' * 1980: ''

Tangram The tangram () is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat polygons, called ''tans'', which are put together to form shapes. The objective is to replicate a pattern (given only an outline) generally found in a puzzle book using all seven pi ...

'' * 1980: '' Quichotte'' (Live) * 1981: ''

Thief Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

'' (Soundtrack) * 1981: ''

Exit Exit(s) may refer to: Architecture and engineering * Door * Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure * Emergency exit * Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane * Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange ...

'' * 1982: '' White Eagle'' * 1982: ''

Logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive reasoning. Ari ...

'' (Live) * 1983: ''

Hyperborea In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans ( grc, Ὑπερβόρε(ι)οι, ; la, Hyperborei) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas" (the God of ...

'' * 1984: ''

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

'' (Live) * 1983–1985: ''Multiple film soundtracks'' * 1985: '' Le Parc'' * 1986: ''

Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

'' (Soundtrack) * 1986: ''

Green Desert ''Green Desert'' is the twenty-seventh major release and the fifteenth studio album by Electronic music, electronic artists Tangerine Dream. The music was recorded in Berlin in 1973, during a period when Peter Baumann had temporarily left Germany ...

'' (Recorded 1973) * 1986: ''

Underwater Sunlight ''Underwater Sunlight'' is the twenty-ninth major release and sixteenth studio album by electronic artists Tangerine Dream. This album marked the first appearance of Paul Haslinger. "Underwater Sunlight" spent one week on the UK Albums Chart at ...

'' * 1987: ''

Three O'Clock High ''Three O'Clock High'' is a 1987 American teen comedy film directed by Phil Joanou. The script, about a meek high schooler who is forced into a fight with a volatile new transfer student, is based on the high school experiences of screenwriters R ...

'' (Soundtrack) * 1987: '' Tyger'' * 1988: ''

Near Dark NEAR or Near may refer to: People * Thomas J. Near, US evolutionary ichthyologist * Near, a developer who created the higan emulator Science, mathematics, technology, biology, and medicine * National Emergency Alarm Repeater (NEAR), a forme ...

'' (Soundtrack) * 1988: ''

Shy People ''Shy People'' is a 1987 American drama about two branches of a family that reunite, with tragic results. It stars Barbara Hershey, Jill Clayburgh, and Martha Plimpton. It was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, written by Konchalovsky, Marjorie Dav ...

'' (Soundtrack) * 1988: '' Livemiles'' (Live) * 1991: '' Canyon Dreams'' (Recorded 1986)

External links

Official website

Sonic Images official homepage
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Franke, Christopher 1953 births German electronic musicians German television composers Living people Male television composers New-age musicians Private Music artists Tangerine Dream members

Discography

Solo

with Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

See also

External links

with
Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...