Monolake

2025-09-05T12:38:51Z

2605:A601:A61C:E900:EC91:255F:7621:507B: Update infobox to reflect current status of band, per text. Add links to members where available.

{{short description|German electronic music group}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name = Monolake
| image = Monolake 2014.jpg
| caption = Monolake in 2014
| image_size =
| background = group_or_band
| alias =
| origin = [[Berlin]], [[Germany]]
| instrument =
| genre = [[Dub techno]], [[minimal techno]], [[ambient music|ambient]]
| occupation =
| years_active =
| label = [[Chain Reaction (record label)|Chain Reaction]], [ml/i]
| associated_acts =
| website =
| current_members = [[Robert Henke]]
| past_members = Torsten Pröfrock<br> [[Gerhard Behles]]
}}

'''Monolake''' is a German [[electronic music]] project founded in 1995, initially consisting of members [[Gerhard Behles]] and [[Robert Henke]]. Monolake is now being perpetuated by Henke while Behles has focused on running the [[music software]] company [[Ableton]], which they founded in 1999 together with Bernd Roggendorf. In 2004, Torsten Pröfrock became a member of the project.
Monolake is now perpetuated by Henke alone.

Monolake's minimal, [[Dub music|dub]]-influenced [[techno]] helped establish the sound of the [[Basic Channel|Chain Reaction]] label, also located in Berlin, which subsequently used their own [ml/i] (''Monolake / Imbalance Computer Music'') label for the group's output. Both current members of Monolake have their own solo projects, with Henke releasing under his own name and Pröfrock as "T++" and "Various Artists."

In 2008, T++ followed [[Ricardo Villalobos]] in bridging the gap between [[minimal techno]] and [[dubstep]] by [[remix]]ing [[Shackleton (musician)|Shackleton]]'s ''Death Is Not Final'' for the [[Skull Disco]] label.

In 2009, Henke appeared in the electronic music documentary ''[[Speaking In Code]]'', which presented the completion of the [[Monodeck]].<ref name="XLR8R Magazine">{{cite web| author= McAllister, Lulu| title= Q & A: Speaking In Code| url= http://www.xlr8r.com/features/2009/06/q-speaking-code/| work= XLR8R Magazine| year= 2009| access-date= 2009-06-19| url-status= dead| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090607211519/http://www.xlr8r.com/features/2009/06/q-speaking-code| archive-date= 2009-06-07}}</ref> As of 2012, Henke has been designing a new form of live show syncing surround-sound audio stems with visual loops, allowing for improvisation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Listen to a discussion with Monolake from Unsound New York 2012|url=http://thewire.co.uk/index.php?page=articles&article=9552|website=Thewire.co.uk|access-date=15 August 2012}}</ref>

Monolake is named after [[Mono Lake]], which is east of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] in [[California]].

==Monodeck==
[[File:Monodeck.jpg|thumb|right|Robert Henke's Monodeck II]]
Henke is a [[software]] engineer who develops custom software and hardware for live performances. As well as working as an engineer for Ableton, Henke designed the Atlantic Waves software for performing live with other producers in different countries simultaneously.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.monolake.de/installations/atlantic_waves.html|title=Monolake - Atlantic Waves|website=Monolake.de}}</ref>

In 2003, Henke designed the Monodeck, a [[MIDI]]-controller interface for spontaneous editing and effects work during live performances, even without having to look at the computer screen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.monolake.de/monodeck/|title=Engineering|website=Monolake.de}}</ref> The Monodeck and its successor, Monodeck II, control Ableton Live through special software designed with [[Max (software)|Max/MSP]].

==Discography==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
* ''Hongkong'' (1997)
* ''Gobi. The Desert EP'' (1999)
* ''Interstate'' (1999)
* ''Cinemascope'' (2001)
* ''Gravity'' (2001)
* ''Momentum'' (2003)
* ''Polygon Cities'' (2005)
* ''Plumbicon Versions'' (2006)
* ''Silence'' (2009)
* ''[[Ghosts (Monolake album)|Ghosts]]'' (2012)
* ''VLSI'' (2016)
* ''Archaeopteryx'' (2020)
* ''Studio'' (2024)
{{col-2}}
'''Robert Henke solo'''
* ''Piercing Music'' (1994)
* ''Floating Point'' (1997)
* ''Signal to Noise'' (2004)
* ''Layering Buddha'' (2006)
* ''Atom/Document'' (2008)
* ''Indigo Transform'' (2009)
'''Torsten Pröfrock solo'''
* Various Artists, ''Decay Product'' (1997)
* Various Artists, ''8, 8.5, 9 Remixes'' (1999)
* Dynamo, ''Außen Vor'' (2002)
{{col-end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://roberthenke.com/}}
* {{discogs artist|artist=Monolake|name=Monolake}}
* {{Discogs label|label=3180-Monolake-Imbalance-Computer-Music|name=Monolake / Imbalance Computer Music}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:German electronic music groups]]
[[Category:German intelligent dance musicians]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Berlin]]

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Monolake