Mittwoch, März 29, 2006

Walter "Wendy" Carlos - Switched-On Bach (1968)



This is a classic. Not because it´s Johann Sebastian Bach, Germany´s second best composer (right behind Bert Kaempfert), but because this is the first LP, on which Robert Moog´s new synthesizer was played. He developed it a short time before. Carlos started studing piano at the age of 6 and won a scholarship for the building of a home computer. He graduated at Columbia University, taking his M.A. in music composition with pioneers Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky at the first electronic music center in the United States. You should know him also from movie scores like "A Clockwork Orange" and "Tron". I still don´t know where the name "Wendy" came from, but here (s)he is, where the phrase on the cover "Trans-electronic Music Production" becomes a new meaning...

5 Kommentare:

Gwen hat gesagt…

Er... as someone who is a bit more in the know, I can answer your question on her name. She changed her name in the 1970s as part of her gender transition. Unfortunately, all the old albums still carry her old name, which is where the confusion comes from.

You might wish to update your post a bit on that, ast least for ronouns and such. Maybe even chaged that Walter "Wendy" thing up top. :-)

Cheers,
Gwen Smith

Gwen hat gesagt…

Sleepypie -- not necessarily. My old name did not sound or start with the same letter as my current one. Oh, and it would just be "her" with Wendy (and me, for that matter) not "His/Her," thanks. But hey, I'm not here to do "Trans 101."

fauxteur hat gesagt…

here's a cool documentary on the BBC Radiophonic Workshop the briefly mentions wendy/walter and the effect of the Moog on scoring, etc.

http://fatbaron.com/

big wmv at link

Will S. hat gesagt…

I have been a Wendy/Walter Carlos fan for many many years and have always used the name associated with the particular recording I am discussing i.e. Walter and his record when talking about SOB and Wendy and her work when talking about her collaboration with Weird Al.

Anonym hat gesagt…

Actually, the first album to feature the Moog was The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds. Switched-On Bach did a lot more to popularize it though.