Electronic music composer Wendy Carlos – whose debut album Switched-On Bach has introduced a new audience to classical music – explains the fundamentals of electronic sound using her Moog Synthesiser, and demonstrates some of the techniques she employed to adapt Johann Sebastian Bach’s compositions for the electronic age.
This clip is from Music Now, originally broadcast 8 February, 1970.
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27 comments
Love those glue on sideboards
This guy is bright
I just today purchased “ Switched – on Bach “ and discovered this video while trying to discover more about “ Walter Carlos “ ( apparently the copy that I purchased was an early pressing release under her male name ) but could only find info regarding “ Wendy Carlos “ ( this was when I found out that she came out as transgender in 1979 and all the subsequent releases were under “ Wendy “ . Ya learn a new thing everyday if you’re lucky! ). Cool video! It makes me excited for the future that could have been in 1970!
WTF – that entire console can now me emulated in a laptop!!! As for the side-burns, I remember them from when I was a lad.
I wish I could hear her explain every type of synth
I don't know if she ever did stuff with FM and wavetables (still listening to the early stuff in her discography) but I'd love to hear talk about it
Her?
legendary <3
He was not 'Wendy Carlos' at the time. Let's appreciate reality, shall we?
Javier Milei's ancestor was so focused on Music as he is in Economics… 🤣
My brother had a Korg monophonic synth in the early 80's. To me, a child, it was like something from NASA with all the wires and knobs.
Wendy Carlos was amazing from the beginning of digital music.
Sick side burns bro
Walter
No doubt: the greatest genius of electronic music.
Does Wendy have sideburns?
Comments pass the vibe check. All hail the synth queen, Wendy Carlos!
I advise everyone to enjoy the video for her brilliance and importance as an artist and technician, and then ignore this comment section as if it were radioactive waste. Your time is better spent seeking out her albums of original music, which are easy to find, full of experiment and artistic innovation, and deeply rewarding – not 'for the time' but for all time.
Anyone know what song she plays at 3:30?
David Tennant got his style from her.
She must have an extraordinary sense of music and sound production.
I love the raw excitement of this pioneer in electronic music and the brilliant layman’s way she describes the electronic components and their function in the synthesizer. It’s very clear and accessible, she’s an excellent communicator like Delia Derbyshire.
There is a great documentary that covers the night she used synth to keep our planet from being destroyed from a comet. It’s called lords of synth and many don’t realize just how close we were to being wiped off the face of the planet.
Wow, what an amazing talent – and almost forgotten even in her own lifetime. Yet a bloody pioneer.
it's incredible to see the processes that made much of today's electronic music possible. She's making sounds with this that'd sound right at home ten or fifteen years later
I just love Wendy! Not only a true musical and technical genius, but grounded enough to be a brilliant teacher, letting all of us not in her world understand what goes into her extraordinary music. One of the greatest of all time. BTW – If you've only heard "Switched On Bach", look up her movie soundtracks and other albums. Brilliantly original composer as well.
It’s a shame she refuses to let her music be re released
You can learn so much about sound synthesis just from this video that you can actually still portrayed in today's digital synthesizers, even tho this is more than 50 years old, fascinating
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