If you can explain something in a way that a child can understand it, then you know what you’re talking about. She definitely knows what she’s talking about.
I know a man who used to work with Robert Moog, and when he was younger he went with Bob to Wendy's apartment. According to him, she was "lightyears ahead of everybody else, and on a completely different plane" that he knew at the time.
That's how artists are, honestly. The same applies to Astor Piazzolla. Or other brilliant people in the history, like, Einstein, Marie Curie and many others. There are people and people, and from time to time, there appears someone who seems not to be living in this time. They don't make friends with people like us, as Richard Feynman told once to Stephen Wolfram. Wendy was a friend with Arhur C. Clarke, and not everyday you see these people writing to your email or wanting to have a talk with you. They are not on the internet, also, as they live life in totally different ways than the rest of us....
@@VeronicaGorositoMusic I am interested in more of your thoughts about the difference in humans. I've had a contact with that type of person but with "bad intention", so imagine if Wendy wanted to mock with humans, it turns out window of brilliance opens even for some who decide to make a hell rather than good. And they cannot be played with neither pin pointed, unless you take a few years of your life to study what you never think existed. Problem is, for them that there is low self confidence carefully masked with enormus IQ, and they can be everything from teachers to scientists or famous rock star but cannot handle mocking, they cant reverse rage, they just sink and rewire their brain in lower parts of society. I like music, i all about it, but the way you described that what we cannot understand got me thinking if you understand more than that. It is a scary thing once you see how potential can go in other way and why we cannot describe it' s exsistance, but there is opposite of geniuses but on the same level. Scary. Anway, sry, i just need to get some analog synths and do what i do, but yeah, R. Feynman and those guys are different cats than us.. Cheers
@@RTCLR123 Hi, you seem to be overcomplicating it. I'm having a hard time trying to understand what do you want to know exactly 🙁 but here it goes: There's simple people, there's complicated people. Both can be either brilliant, or mediocre. Artists and scientists know they are badasses, they just shine and don''t give a single fuck to it haha! Great people are humble and kind. Others can have intelligence but seem to feed their little ego with a fake mistery halo around them. They're like black holes, absorbing light from others. My advice is: Be Yourself, is all that you can do (Audioslave).
@@RTCLR123 I get what you want to say but there are several things I need to point out. First of all, IQ is only a small part of intelligence, at least philosophically speaking : it doesn't say anything about emotional intelligence, intuition, or wisdom. Here's another head up : you said "(...) if Wendy wanted to mock with humans" This. This right here... Wendy IS human. As someone both diagnosed gifted and autistic ("asperger" as it used to be) this is SO crucial to understand. We're not "mocking" you with our "superior intelligence" : we genuinely are lost in social interactions, and just human. We might be condescendant from time to time... That does mean we can be a**holes too, but we have the entire range of emotions, just like anyone else. We have a more *unbalanced* intelligence. There are certain "basic" things we can't do proper because of executive dysfunction due the frontal cortex not responding properly in many cases of neuro-divergence, but other abilities that are natural to us can look almost super-natural to most. You are grossly generalizing when you that "they" can't handle mocking and "can't reverse rage". We do have a harder time to deal with emotions, in fact our emotional intelligence is lacking. We also have a harder time *understanding sarcasm* AND many of us had been gratuitously bullied all their life - so yes, our threshold for mocking is really, really low. If you mock me on certain things, I will have a bad reaction that comes from years of trauma, which is triggered by something you said, and you not knowing it might assume I have "bad intentions". Another of your perception that is completely wrong is that we "cannot be played with". That's not true at all. In fact, there are a lot of people with those "genius" traits who were emotionally abused. We tend to be more naïve in relationships, we don't understand many social clues, and we are also extremely honest - it is next to impossible for me to lie to get an advantage for example. Not that I cannot lie but it takes an insanely important reason. My brain is literally *wired* not to. So being so honest and socially naïve, you expect other people to be, too. Leonard Cohen was ripped-off of almost everything because his accountant of like 20 years left one day out of the blue with everything. You might want to educate yourself on the matter, because you make a whole lot of false assumptions here. We're not Gods, we're not aliens, we CAN absolutely be pin-pointed, played with, abused, and our perception can totally be wrong. We can also make more links than most, we have more synapses than most (literally, physically), and our logic is better in general BUT that does NOT mean we are always right or bored with "normal people". You act a little bit like a straight guy putting women on pedestals : we're NOT savants, we're not aliens. We are just humans really!
Sadly it's too short, but what strikes me is that she succeeds in talking about what's going on in an understandable, non-theoretical level, which is an art by itself.
Kravvall Good call. Perhaps there needs to be some research into whether cats and plants were always hand in hand with synths and we only now put it together through the rise of Facebook and Instagram. 😁
That she and her cat have this shoulder perch thing going just boosts her 1000x as a human in my estimation. Oh to be the cat who perches on Wendy's shoulder while she works!
Yes it’s always seemed a terrible tragedy she preferred to just leave any spotlight so long ago. Though if you look at the things that made her bristle, the focus always trying to be shifted from the work and quality itself to personal details, I can’t say I blame her. But yes these recent decades of electronic sound and music really would’ve benefited if she was in her rightful place. A place she’d have been comfortable with in how media and the public focus on her. But that was never really provided. I hope at least she knows so many of us always were focused on the music and the creator wholly, not the peering and prodding questioning she walked away from.
@@Revelator72 it's a shame she never got the chance (or refused?) to do a red bull music academy talk. the Suzanne Ciani one was really illuminating, would have loved to see Wendy given the same platform.
pabloplato Refused the spotlight is what I always find in research. Looking how long ago she seems to have left the internet altogether, it seems she’s fine to live whatever life holds for her now and in private. Though I have no idea on the Red Bull appearance situation. The Ciani one was brilliant I agree. In a perfect world we would be blessed to have such long form documents from all the great synthesists and designers.
She is THE giant! She uses the very expression "We stand on the shoulders of giants" - in a presentation she did for the Audio Engineering Society about Timbre, Tempo and Temperament
I always say … and always will say … that Wendy Carlos is _the_ Grandmama of all Electronic Music. Before Vangelis, before JMJarre, there was Wendy. Paving the way … if not inventing the paving machinery as she went!
@@John_Weiss in that time-line where does Brian Eno, Pink Floyd , and The Art of Noise belong? I say Floyd because I feel that the gad those kind samples and atmospheric effects on the there albums. Just an opinion btw.
@@sunofpeter2 In that timeline? Probably heavy collabs with Wendy. Or at the very least, having the same trajectory, but knowing the influence Wendy had on electronic music and citing that influence? How many well-known artists/groups who used a Moog __know__ Wendy Carlos' involvement in its creation or her popularization of its use through "Switched-On Bach?" Next to NONE, I would bet.
Though as a musician, I am not in Wendy's class, I also have to put up with cats occasionally walking across my (music) keyboard when trying to come up with something at least interesting, musically speaking. A more common Interruption is when one of them decides I have been paying too much attention to my computer screen (and not enough to them!) and then sits on that keyboard. Sometimes ruining a carefully thought out comment on YouT....
Watching and hearing a xylophone sound perfectly recreated from nothing in the span of about 45 seconds has to be one of the trippier experiences I've had lately
It's kind of strange to think about how modern music would sound like without Wendy. No doubt it would have gone electronic at some point, synthesizers already existed when she got started, but she was really the one to take it from being an experimental art to being on the charts. As an electronic musician, I'd say I owe a lot to Wendy for her contributions to music. Oh, and she has also taken the best picture ever of a solar eclipse. No joke.
"Now she specifies three more pure tones in the proportion *she already knows* a real xylophone produces"?! No trial-and-error? She just had the harmonic structure of a xylophone on hand as if it was a pizza coupon?!?! She is OP pls nerf 😢
Well, at the time this was recorded, she had already been reproducing classical instruments for over 20 years, so at that point, it'd almost be weirder if she didn't know it by heart.
You just called her underappreciated while listing 3 massive, triple A titles she's had a massive impact on, plus one of the most recognizable modules used in EDM today (the Moog) wouldn't have happened without her help. She's not a very public person, but I wouldn't say she's exactly underappreciated.
Wow. I never knew the creator of one of my all time favorite albums (Switched on Bach 1) was transgender. I'm not transgender but I have a lot of friends who are, of both sexes. (webmaster for the International Gay Rodeo Association here). And she did it back when I was just discovering I was gay and was scared to death someone would find out. More power to her.
@@BlueNorth313 If you're referring to gay rodeo, you need to study the sport the way the animals' anatomy functions, the rules of any given event and how the event is run before making judgements about it.
Hey Cowboy Frank, massive respect to you. You stuck your head above the parapet here to support a transgender person and share love of her work, and a personal story of your own. Your answers are so measured and respectful to the comments below, and you should be respected too. Here's to you for being your authentic self and helping to create space for others to do the same in a challenging world and by pushing the boundaries of your own culture in a brave way. Big love from the other side of the world for making a difference where you are. X
@@rickc2102 I would suspect that "Shake" would be a short burst of frequency modulation, going by the wording used ("don't scare the viewer with technical terms!") What "li'l synth" are you using, BTW?
It is our good fortune that Wendy Carlos is a perfectionist, with a keen ability to hear the subtleties of sound. From the beginning, her recordings of Bach and other Baroque composers had a distinct sound that captivated discerning audiophiles.
@@rr7firefly Well, Wendy had a body of work before Kubrik. And a body of work independent of her film scores. Hell, I've been a Wendy fanboi since my teens, back in the 1980s, and I _knew nothing_ of her film score work until decades later!
I love Wendy's music. Some of my most listened to albums are _Switched-On Bach_ and _The Well-Tempered Synthesizer._ And of course creating such an iconic soundtrack to _A Clockwork Orange._
A Clockwork Orange was my intro to her work. My dad had the album on his record shelf. That first time I heard that Funeral March was unforgettable! It changed me from disliking electronic music, into it eventually becoming one of my favorite things. Almost all of my favorite current/new artists are electronic.
Josep Duran YEAH! That TRON soundtrack is one of the only of her works that I’ve been able to buy digitally. I wish her other works were sold on digital music platforms. There must be a reason she has though so I respect that. Sometimes university libraries have music that’s hard to find. That’s how I’ve had some luck hearing some other 20th century composers’ works.
I've been a total fanboy of Wendy since I was a teenager in the mid-1980s. She is the grandmama of _all modern Electronic Music._ I first discovered Wendy Carlos' “Digital Moonscapes,” then her, “Beauty in the Beast,” which became and remains one of my favorite albums, period. I discovered Wendy's early work, like, “Switched on Bach,” in college. I think it may have been part of a History-of-Music class. It was, of course, under her deadname, but I had no idea. My reaction went like this, “Wait … Wendy has a brother? And he's a famous, accomplished groundbreaking musician _too?!?_ Daaaam! This is one talented family!” Once I discovered the truth, I got angrier and angrier. Not, I'm ashamed to admit, because I knew about trans issues; this was back in 1987. I grew angry because everything I found about Wendy Carlos was _obsessed_ with what she did/did not have in her pants. How _DARE_ they! How _dare_ they do that to her instead of focusing on this *Pioneer* of Electronic Music, and all of her many innovations and accomplishments. I always say that this “Walter” person is Wendy's twin-brother-from-a-parallel-universe. But in _this_ universe? There was, and is, Only Wendy. Always has been. Always will be.
@@boopyboop0 Thank You. 😊 The "twin sibling from a parallel universe" is how I explain being trans to clueless cis-heteros. Like I said, I'm cis, but gay. So I won't speak for someone trans if they're there, but I will speak up for my trans kin when they aren't there to do it for themselves.
@@John_Weiss reminds me a bit of the Robert-Rosalind Lutece "twins" from bioshock infinite. Two people with practically the same intellect and mannerisms, separated only by a single chromosome... and in different universes.
Wendy has done so much for electronic music, it feels so disrespectful to watch some people act like any of her personal life is their business honestly or worse yet, that their opinion on it matters. I've liked Wendy's music since I was eight years old it could come out that she was 3 children stacked in a trenchcoat all along and I wouldn't care.
@@archkull Oh, it was bad. One musicology reference had a 2 sentence entry for Wendy: the first mentioned which "real pioneers" of electronic music she studied under. The second sentence denigrated her work as being the means for, "The S3x Change." And this was _in a scholarly academic text_ in 1987. Disrespect doesn't even begin to touch it.
As a closeted trans teenager in the 1970s, Wendy Carlos was the first person whose work I already deeply admired who publicly transitioned. My entire world exploded with new potentials the day I found out. It took me another 35 years, but I finally followed in her footsteps. Thank you, Wendy, for pioneering my path. 💜
@@hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156Why would you be so defensive to somebody asking a question‽ That's the problem with that culture. Simple questions are attacked & then you all wonder why NOBODY wants anything to do with you whatsoever. Then you can people 'isms & 'ists.
@@ClickClack_Bam I wasn't attacking anyone. I didn't mean it as defensive. I meant to give a peaceful answer. I apologize if you interpreted my answer as an attack. The whole feel of my answer is in mt last 3 words. Let it be. It was meant as peaceful as the Beatles song. My apologies.
The fact that there are only positive comments here, for a change when it comes to commentary on anything involving a trans figure, is so heartening. Thank you so much, OP. Wendy Carlos deserves only the love that is posted in this comments section, for her massive contributions to modern music.
I see some replies to comments that allude to/are-replies-to transphobic comments, but don't see the actual transphobic comments. So someone is good about removing the hate.
I wish she would make switched on Bach and the rest of here back catalogue available on streaming services. It's too good, the world needs to be switched on.
As I understand it - she doesn't hold the copyrights currently - she leased them to a company that has subsequently gone bust and so her back catalogue is once again tied up in legal knots. It's a dreadful shame
Never ceases to astound me how someone can listen to a sound, mentally deconstruct it and tell an eight bit machine how to put it together... and be so right. Just assembling it like that has a level of understanding that I find just incredible.
The shape of the sound waves produced by classical instruments, which show the proportion of overtones, have been a part of textbooks for decades. I have no doubt she would have access both to the charts, and to the oscilloscopes used to compare your additive synth output to the charts, especially if she was working in the University acoustic science labs. 👍
I’ve been a massive fan of her music since I first heard the well tempered synthesizer album in 1970 and I absolutely love her full version of synthesized music from a clockwork orange. Over many years the sound quality of my stereo system has improved which enhances my enjoyment of listening to Wendy’s beautiful music. If Wendy were to ever read my comments, I would like to extend a massive thank you for the immense pleasure your music has given me for fifty years. Thank you Wendy from a life long fan. Peter.
I thank my music teacher for playing it and comparing it to the original instruments version. It got me hooked on electronic and classical music in one session. It was something else and novel but good, I still enjoy it.
I wholeheartedly agree with Peter's sentiments. My first exposure to her music was the Switched-on Bach album, which i heard on the radio in 1968 or 1969. It was love at first listen, and it caused me to delve deeper into the world of classical music.
I first heard Wendy's finale to Bach's 3rd Brandy, on the Columbia Records anthology album Bach's Greatest Hits - and immediately went out and got Switched on Bach, as a teenager - it hooked me for life - and made me want to be a musician - and always so deeply inspired by her amazing work and changing the world of music forever - and so much of what everyone does now digitally is all a consequence of what she pioneered starting in her basement studio with her amazing Collaborator and producer, and singer, Rachel Elkind. There should be a national holiday to celebrate Wendy Carlos!
The narrator says that she's playing a synthesizer that is now a "museum piece". Wow, how attitudes have changed. That so called "Museum piece" is now a much sought-after piece of technology that musicians would give an arm and leg for. Just like Keith Emerson's. Hah!...museum piece, indeed.
Indeed... It has gained such a following that a few years ago, it was re-released commercially by Moog Music. Many others have built similar synths, like for example Doepfer.
The Beginning of A Clockwork Orange is probably the most iconic intro sequence I've seen. The music at the start is pure genius. Carlos really understands the music.
Watched a BBC clip from 1970 of her demonstrating her synthesizer just before watching this. The technological changes are amazing. And what we have now is just....
Okay so I’m a musician, pianist, violinist, really getting into synth stuff. Had no idea who Wendy Carlos was before watching this video. Did a bit of googling. WHAT! This woman is incredible!
See her website! Same happend to me, till realizing if not for her and the work she did with Moog, we will never have all the beautiful, inspiring music we had in the past, and the tech for recording, and the implementations with MIDI, etc. I'm amazed at how much Wendy contributed to the whole music industry, working close to the people who developed the first DAW's and plugins and vsti's.
When her first album, Switched-on Bach, was released, the (late) Canadian piano virtuoso Glenn Gould stated that it was the best classical album he had ever hear, bar none.
This is the second interview with her I’ve seen. In each of them she is so well spoken and able to communicate her thoughts clearly when talking about her work.
She’s such an inspiration to me, both as a trans woman (which I’m trying to transition into) and as a pioneer of new styles of music and experimentation Edit: im now very much trans and almost 3yrs on hrt
@@ghostofwarski1770 first, don’t call me dude. I’m no dude and you don’t know me. Second, even if I can’t get surgery to get a uterus yet, I’ve changed my gender. Gender is a malleable social construct, by which I define myself as a woman and I ask that even someone like you at least try to respect that.
@@ghostofwarski1770 I have no rebuttal for you; it’s best not to try to reason with those who will not receive. Believe whatever you want, it doesn’t change me.
Huh I had no idea the person who made synths mainstream was trans. In my synth nerd internet quest I've heard Wendy's name quite a few times and never heard it mentioned. I like that her accomplishments and contributions to music are largely talked about without needing to bring up her identity. Like she's a human being and artist as opposed to an effigy for a political movement.
She's an absolute genius and inspiration ...and incredibly good at de-constructing the sounds she uses. Is there more of this? I would like to see the whole documentary.
@@automaticbazooti Would be nice if we could get them to rebroadcast this, as there has been a lot of great old music stuff from the BBC archives over the years, rebroadcast on BBC4. But sadly, we know a lot of stuff got wiped, back in the days when it took a massive roll of (expensive) video tape just to store one hour of video. So who knows what they still have...
Wendy did a CD called "Secrets of Synthesis" which is quite remarkable.....it has a lot of things like the tidbits she briefly mentions in this video. Also, on her "Switched On Boxed Set", which has all of her Baroque recordings straight off the master tapes and digitally cleaned up, she also adds (at the end of each CD in the set ) little "how I did it" lectures and demonstrations. Both are required listening for Carlos fans, but good luck finding copies.
I don't think there's much more than this (I wish), but go to her website, there's a LOT of info she was posting since these early years. It'll took some months to read all that! Wendy is 80 years old! And keeps posting in the website from time to time, also receives emails from admirers and tech people.
Truly a Legend. I LOVE her work on TRON. Such an amazing score. Not only in the creation of it, but of the restoration of it. She had to literally bake the tapes from 1982 in an oven to get them in working order for the CD release. Jaw dropping stuff.
I love the commentary, using the correct pronouns, "nothing to see here", as it should be. If we were capable of that in 89 what excuse do we have now?! Wendy ftw. The soundtrack for Clockwork is my favourite work of hers, what a quiet laid back genius she was.
This is so awesome. Clearly Wendy Carlos was far ahead of her time, as were Susanne Ciani, and a small handful of others. Someone was talking on youtube somewhere about Wendy Carlos' role in bringing Synth music into the popular consciousness, with Switched on Bach, and I was happy to find this video which gets you some tiny idea of the kind of musical process that lead to creating that historic recording.
I say let the idiots show themselves with their comments. Don’t do them the service of removing their ignorance from the history. This lady is wonderful and she is precious with her cats and her music! I was so happy to see she is still around… This era seems like so long ago… But we should try to remember it wasn’t very long ago at all… And to keep this time in history close to us.
@@Blyledge explicit is better than implicit, and looking at my campus radio time, there was a bunch of cis gals turning the knobs, so the implication doesn't hold water :)
Switched on Bach was the album that fueled my lifelong pursuit of music. Can not overstate the importance in my life. Much love and respect to Wendy Carlos!
You know you're very talented when you can explain what you do in simple terms. Wendy's a legendary artist, and a lot of influential musicians owe a lot to her.
Wendy Carlos was inspiration for Keith Emerson to start playing Moog. When he heard "Switched On Bach", he asked - what is this played on? Moog synthesizer? I want this thing
WENDY CARLOS - changed the ENTIRE COURSE of my life when my English played Switched on Bach for extemporizing in 1972. Classical Music became my unflinching obsession and it shaped everything I did. And it continues even now in 2022 and will as long as I am alive. ♥♥♥♥ Thank you, WENDY 😍🥰🤩😘
I'd love to have a conversation with Wendy Carlos about the early days of synthesis. She really bridged the gap between the new and the old. I think it was important to put the synthesiser into a classical music context to show that it was an evolution rather than an emulation (at least in this time period before Romplers etc) I'll never forgive the BBC for making her wear those ridiculous sideburns on what was one of the most fascinating and educational documentaries about synthesisers ever made. Thank you for your astonishing contributions to music, Wendy!
Check out the documentary Sisters with Transistors, about a bunch of women who worked in electronic music. When a few oscillators, and a tape machine were the main tools they had to work with ( of course there's somewhat more recent stuff too in the documentary.)
She was so cool! She created such incredible music! Her collaborations with Rachel Elkind are extraordinary. Listen to the opening scenes from "The Shining" and tell me that you don't get goosebumps. That is some of the most frightening music ever performed! Her score for "A Clockwork Orange" is also in the history books. She stretched the boundaries of every instrument, Moog or otherwise, that she had in her arsenal.
Wow, I have a whole new appreciation for synthesized music - to see the amount of calculation and planning that went into it, from designing the instrument, determining each "instrument sound", and then mixing it yourself.
It's so awesome to not only hear her talk (highly recommend Secrets of Synthesis if you haven't heard this album of hers) but also to see her work in the studio. I first heard Wendy Carlos when I was very young, and I've been hooked ever since. Carlos, along with Bob Moog, completely reimagined the way that we make music and changed the face of multiple genres.
I checked out that album from the library so much when they purged their lps they gave it to me. Thanx for mentioning that album , I had forgotten all about it , just remembered the SNDTK to A Clockwork Orange.
From Wendy to SOPHIE, electronic music has opened doors to new dimensions. I can never understand people who reject electronic music as an affront to classical analog music when demonstrably electronic music can be all that and infinitely more.
Fascinating stuff. She has never had the acclaim she deserved IMO. Clockwork Orange was an incredible sound now almost 50 years on from the very beginnings of the synthesizer. No one had ever heard sounds like that before and it more than makes the film what it is.
I love going back and listening to old electronic music from people like Wendy Carlos or Mort Garson. It's really awesome to see the old equipment for it.
Great presentation of subtractive and then additive synthesis. I love the FM and iPD, which provide shortcuts and enough flexibility to fall somewhere in between and then some.
This woman is remarkable. Talented galore with such a keen intellect. A sweet, gentle disposition... and down to Earth and personable. I love great synth music. She makes it seem so simple and easy--- which, it is not.
I haven't heard her equally brilliant 'Switched On Brandenburgs' since I checked it out from the local library when I was 12 or 13, and I fell in love with it. Wendy is a legend, and all her works need deluxe re-releases.
Wendy Carlos is pure brilliance and a visionary pioneer. Very underrated talent, decades ahead of her time. The score for The Clockwork Orange is just otherworldly, I am sure it would appeal to Beethoven himself...!
From the first time I heard it, from her fully her own soundtrack album for Clockwork Orange, that it is the best performance of Beethoven's 9th that ever existed - and still is, even to this day - her "montage" from the Scherzo and Choral movements are perfect - and the voice in the choral movement was sung into the vocoder, so to speak, by her collaborator, Rachel Elkind, also her producer, and such an important part of the equation. She proposed the idea of doing an album of "electronic Bach" to Wendy, after hearing the Bach F-Major 2 part invention, which Wendy at done at Columbia University at the "Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Center" - which was a feat in itself. Her first response, according to Wendy's playboy interview was essentially like "Really? you think anyone wants to hear that?" - but she at the same time thought it ideal for making the Moog into an expressive musical instrument - rather than the stuff of horror movies and sound effects...As you say - Wendy is pure brilliance and truly a totally visionary pioneer - and she herself in an interview said that she was aware that she was "ahead of her time" - she did all the "firsts" which then, years later, became part of the electronic music and, gulp, god help us, the "new age" music - ambient music - phenomenon and culture. Yes, I'm so in love with her!
I needed a clip of her for a project in my sociology class and I couldn't find this anywhere but a random Facebook page. Figured I'd might as well put it up here and let everyone find it 💕
Genius, pure and simple, and a true pioneer of electronic music. She was instrumental in the development of the Moog synth. Switched on Bach and the sound track to A Clockwork Orange are two amazing pieces of work.
A great artist with deep understanding of synthesis. An absolute inspiration for all those who love this amazing form of art. She really deserves a wider recognition
I still recall hearing Switched On Bach back in the early to mid 1970s, and to me this was life changing, Sonic Season's even more so. The 8 track open real machine, I believe that she built that one, along with many of the analog devices which she was using, along with her console. Truly a composer, engineer, and human being that I admire very very much. Thank yo for posting this, as a previous comment stated, it is so rare to hear and see her give an interview.
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Didnt know the Log Lady was into electronic music :O
@@roylcraft What do you mean? ^^
@@einszweidrei9577 It's a reference to David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" series :)
@automatic_bazooti Why pin such a derogatory comment? It's pretty scummy of you mate. It's ok for you to get clicks and views thanks to this lady.
🤣 Log Lady shreds
No it’s more like if a biologist finds an animal with a penis then he cut that penis off so he could claim it was female.
True fact: her cats names were “Paws” and “Play”
Lmfao no way! That’s adorable ❤
Wow the more I learn about her the more awesome she becomes
Whaaaaaaat...my cat is named Paws.
That’s so adorable
Good one😹
She still has a website. It's mostly cat pictures and looks like it was made in 1998. Adorable
What's the link?
truly before her time... wait does she have a cat instagram and nobody knows?
@@kingcole55 the update about the unauthorized biography about her is from August 2020. Check the bottom of the main page.
Nothing wrong with keeping it simple. Modern design fad elements are stupid and a waste of processing power and bandwidth.
@@kishascape simple and modern is a great combo
You can tell from the way she speaks, she’s so smart. She dumbs down what’s happening without making you feel dumb.
If you can explain something in a way that a child can understand it, then you know what you’re talking about.
She definitely knows what she’s talking about.
@@davestevenson9080 yes, she. problem chud?
You can tell from the way she speaks, she’s a man
It's not dumbing down, it's clarifying and simplifying.
@Will he heck as like why is that relevant?
The secret to early synth music production was to have two cats on the computer decks. This balanced the sound.
😂😂😂😂😂
The next progression was when they realised they make the input much easier by removing the cats and adding a mouse.
@@richardlloyd2589 aaaand there it is! slow clap
@guyontheblackchair
3 mice on the treble clef😁
This is like a DaThings1, which is appropriate I think
I know a man who used to work with Robert Moog, and when he was younger he went with Bob to Wendy's apartment. According to him, she was "lightyears ahead of everybody else, and on a completely different plane" that he knew at the time.
That's how geniuses roll...
That's how artists are, honestly.
The same applies to Astor Piazzolla. Or other brilliant people in the history, like, Einstein, Marie Curie and many others.
There are people and people, and from time to time, there appears someone who seems not to be living in this time.
They don't make friends with people like us, as Richard Feynman told once to Stephen Wolfram.
Wendy was a friend with Arhur C. Clarke, and not everyday you see these people writing to your email or wanting to have a talk with you.
They are not on the internet, also, as they live life in totally different ways than the rest of us....
@@VeronicaGorositoMusic I am interested in more of your thoughts about the difference in humans. I've had a contact with that type of person but with "bad intention", so imagine if Wendy wanted to mock with humans, it turns out window of brilliance opens even for some who decide to make a hell rather than good. And they cannot be played with neither pin pointed, unless you take a few years of your life to study what you never think existed. Problem is, for them that there is low self confidence carefully masked with enormus IQ, and they can be everything from teachers to scientists or famous rock star but cannot handle mocking, they cant reverse rage, they just sink and rewire their brain in lower parts of society.
I like music, i all about it, but the way you described that what we cannot understand got me thinking if you understand more than that. It is a scary thing once you see how potential can go in other way and why we cannot describe it' s exsistance, but there is opposite of geniuses but on the same level. Scary.
Anway, sry, i just need to get some analog synths and do what i do, but yeah, R. Feynman and those guys are different cats than us..
Cheers
@@RTCLR123 Hi, you seem to be overcomplicating it.
I'm having a hard time trying to understand what do you want to know exactly 🙁 but here it goes:
There's simple people, there's complicated people.
Both can be either brilliant, or mediocre.
Artists and scientists know they are badasses, they just shine and don''t give a single fuck to it haha! Great people are humble and kind.
Others can have intelligence but seem to feed their little ego with a fake mistery halo around them.
They're like black holes, absorbing light from others.
My advice is: Be Yourself, is all that you can do (Audioslave).
@@RTCLR123
I get what you want to say but there are several things I need to point out.
First of all, IQ is only a small part of intelligence, at least philosophically speaking : it doesn't say anything about emotional intelligence, intuition, or wisdom.
Here's another head up : you said "(...) if Wendy wanted to mock with humans"
This. This right here... Wendy IS human. As someone both diagnosed gifted and autistic ("asperger" as it used to be) this is SO crucial to understand. We're not "mocking" you with our "superior intelligence" : we genuinely are lost in social interactions, and just human. We might be condescendant from time to time... That does mean we can be a**holes too, but we have the entire range of emotions, just like anyone else. We have a more *unbalanced* intelligence. There are certain "basic" things we can't do proper because of executive dysfunction due the frontal cortex not responding properly in many cases of neuro-divergence, but other abilities that are natural to us can look almost super-natural to most.
You are grossly generalizing when you that "they" can't handle mocking and "can't reverse rage". We do have a harder time to deal with emotions, in fact our emotional intelligence is lacking. We also have a harder time *understanding sarcasm* AND many of us had been gratuitously bullied all their life - so yes, our threshold for mocking is really, really low.
If you mock me on certain things, I will have a bad reaction that comes from years of trauma, which is triggered by something you said, and you not knowing it might assume I have "bad intentions".
Another of your perception that is completely wrong is that we "cannot be played with". That's not true at all. In fact, there are a lot of people with those "genius" traits who were emotionally abused. We tend to be more naïve in relationships, we don't understand many social clues, and we are also extremely honest - it is next to impossible for me to lie to get an advantage for example. Not that I cannot lie but it takes an insanely important reason. My brain is literally *wired* not to.
So being so honest and socially naïve, you expect other people to be, too.
Leonard Cohen was ripped-off of almost everything because his accountant of like 20 years left one day out of the blue with everything.
You might want to educate yourself on the matter, because you make a whole lot of false assumptions here. We're not Gods, we're not aliens, we CAN absolutely be pin-pointed, played with, abused, and our perception can totally be wrong.
We can also make more links than most, we have more synapses than most (literally, physically), and our logic is better in general BUT that does NOT mean we are always right or bored with "normal people".
You act a little bit like a straight guy putting women on pedestals : we're NOT savants, we're not aliens.
We are just humans really!
Sadly it's too short, but what strikes me is that she succeeds in talking about what's going on in an understandable, non-theoretical level, which is an art by itself.
@@TheBigMclargehuge Why? The interview was recorded with Wendy, not Walter
@@agerven Hi from Brazil :) Old School Electronic Music , please let me know if you like it :) ruclips.net/video/NrmMsfmop7s/видео.html
She was just as articulate in 1970.
@@ericmuschlitz7619 She would've been one hell of an electronics lecturer
yes
The cats make me feel like she was so ahead of time that she knew of "cats & synthesizer" memes before the internet was even a thing
Kravvall Good call. Perhaps there needs to be some research into whether cats and plants were always hand in hand with synths and we only now put it together through the rise of Facebook and Instagram. 😁
@@Revelator72 She is a time traveller.
Trans people are ahead of our time :)
or before simonthemagpie came^^
it's rather she created the cat/synthesizer meme that we know of today, mad props
Loving how she first appears on camera with a cat on her shoulder. Holy shot.
Also she is a sonic wizard, dang...
@@TheBigMclargehuge we get it, you’re transphobic 😉
@@vogelvogeltje Hi from Brazil :) Old School Electronic Music , please let me know if you like it :) ruclips.net/video/NrmMsfmop7s/видео.html
Lol, didn't even notice the cats at first!
That she and her cat have this shoulder perch thing going just boosts her 1000x as a human in my estimation. Oh to be the cat who perches on Wendy's shoulder while she works!
So rare to hear her talk in an interview. Genius who has revolutionized music. Real pioneer in more ways than one. Respect.
i was just thinking that - i don't recall ever seeing footage of her, let alone talking! WHERE ARE YOU WENDY?? THIS SHOULD BE YOUR TIME!
Yes it’s always seemed a terrible tragedy she preferred to just leave any spotlight so long ago. Though if you look at the things that made her bristle, the focus always trying to be shifted from the work and quality itself to personal details, I can’t say I blame her. But yes these recent decades of electronic sound and music really would’ve benefited if she was in her rightful place. A place she’d have been comfortable with in how media and the public focus on her. But that was never really provided. I hope at least she knows so many of us always were focused on the music and the creator wholly, not the peering and prodding questioning she walked away from.
@@Revelator72 it's a shame she never got the chance (or refused?) to do a red bull music academy talk. the Suzanne Ciani one was really illuminating, would have loved to see Wendy given the same platform.
pabloplato Refused the spotlight is what I always find in research. Looking how long ago she seems to have left the internet altogether, it seems she’s fine to live whatever life holds for her now and in private. Though I have no idea on the Red Bull appearance situation. The Ciani one was brilliant I agree. In a perfect world we would be blessed to have such long form documents from all the great synthesists and designers.
Being a keyboard player and trans woman myself, I cannot imagine being able to list all of the ways Wendy Carlos is absolutely my hero.
We (synth music freaks, addicted, makers) are standing on the shoulders of giants. And she is definitely one giant.
She is THE giant! She uses the very expression "We stand on the shoulders of giants" - in a presentation she did for the Audio Engineering Society about Timbre, Tempo and Temperament
so…we’re the cats?
I always say … and always will say … that Wendy Carlos is _the_ Grandmama of all Electronic Music. Before Vangelis, before JMJarre, there was Wendy. Paving the way … if not inventing the paving machinery as she went!
@@John_Weiss in that time-line where does Brian Eno, Pink Floyd , and The Art of Noise belong? I say Floyd because I feel that the gad those kind samples and atmospheric effects on the there albums. Just an opinion btw.
@@sunofpeter2 In that timeline? Probably heavy collabs with Wendy. Or at the very least, having the same trajectory, but knowing the influence Wendy had on electronic music and citing that influence?
How many well-known artists/groups who used a Moog __know__ Wendy Carlos' involvement in its creation or her popularization of its use through "Switched-On Bach?" Next to NONE, I would bet.
wendy is who i aspire to be: a cat lady who has trouble doing synth stuff because the cats are crawling all over them
Though as a musician, I am not in Wendy's class, I also have to put up with cats occasionally walking across my (music) keyboard when trying to come up with something at least interesting, musically speaking. A more common Interruption is when one of them decides I have been paying too much attention to my computer screen (and not enough to them!) and then sits on that keyboard. Sometimes ruining a carefully thought out comment on YouT....
@@Nomoneynohamburger Looks like a woman, acts like a woman, wants to be a woman, that's good enough for me.
same goals here!
I here to sample the xylophone 🤷🏾♂️
Dogs go under. Lol
Watching and hearing a xylophone sound perfectly recreated from nothing in the span of about 45 seconds has to be one of the trippier experiences I've had lately
Underrated comment!
It's kind of strange to think about how modern music would sound like without Wendy. No doubt it would have gone electronic at some point, synthesizers already existed when she got started, but she was really the one to take it from being an experimental art to being on the charts. As an electronic musician, I'd say I owe a lot to Wendy for her contributions to music. Oh, and she has also taken the best picture ever of a solar eclipse. No joke.
Oh wow, she actually has a whole series of beautiful solar eclipse pictures. Completely off-topic but thanks for this fact anyways!
"Now she specifies three more pure tones in the proportion *she already knows* a real xylophone produces"?! No trial-and-error? She just had the harmonic structure of a xylophone on hand as if it was a pizza coupon?!?! She is OP pls nerf 😢
OP pls nerf? Okay
Well, at the time this was recorded, she had already been reproducing classical instruments for over 20 years, so at that point, it'd almost be weirder if she didn't know it by heart.
I used to think I understood music. Wendy Carlos, who is my hero, makes me feel like I know very little. Her grasp on musical energy is genius
Thing is, Wendy is musician AND an engineer, which is a terrifying combination, because she is able to fuse art with science.
@@mournblade1066 Indeed; she understands both music AND electronics at the fundamental levels, this is why she reigns supreme as a synthesist.
@@TheBigMclargehuge Actually had the operation, so "her."
@@Dan474834 Bro go cry about Ron Paul losing in 2012
@@mournblade1066 Hi from Brazil :) Old School Electronic Music , please let me know if you like it :) ruclips.net/video/NrmMsfmop7s/видео.html
Wendy is an underappreciated musical genius. Her work on Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Tron are amazing!
I agree! I helped get her hired for Tron!
@@AnalogPlanet Hi from Brazil :) Old School Electronic Music , please let me know if you like it :) ruclips.net/video/NrmMsfmop7s/видео.html
You just called her underappreciated while listing 3 massive, triple A titles she's had a massive impact on, plus one of the most recognizable modules used in EDM today (the Moog) wouldn't have happened without her help. She's not a very public person, but I wouldn't say she's exactly underappreciated.
She's a legend, definitely not under appreciated.
@@matthijs2981 I think OP means 'underappreciated' in the sense of 'deserving to be more widely known' perhaps
wendy carlos be like "i'm gonna put a fucking cat on my shoulder"
Damn right! ❤️
🐱👍
knowing how some cats are, that cat probably insisted on being there and would not take no for an answer
@@sarahbezold2008 Yes
Legend
Wow. I never knew the creator of one of my all time favorite albums (Switched on Bach 1) was transgender. I'm not transgender but I have a lot of friends who are, of both sexes. (webmaster for the International Gay Rodeo Association here). And she did it back when I was just discovering I was gay and was scared to death someone would find out. More power to her.
Shoulda seen the look on my dads face when I told him Wendy was once Walter
@@BlueNorth313 If you're referring to gay rodeo, you need to study the sport the way the animals' anatomy functions, the rules of any given event and how the event is run before making judgements about it.
@@BlueNorth313 Animals have NEVER ASKED YOU to speak up for them.
NEVER.
@@BlueNorth313 No need to have a point with fundamentalists jerks.
Hey Cowboy Frank, massive respect to you. You stuck your head above the parapet here to support a transgender person and share love of her work, and a personal story of your own. Your answers are so measured and respectful to the comments below, and you should be respected too. Here's to you for being your authentic self and helping to create space for others to do the same in a challenging world and by pushing the boundaries of your own culture in a brave way. Big love from the other side of the world for making a difference where you are. X
I was shook at the xylophone replication, especially at the end
Amazing!
I can do a lot of that with my li'l synth, but now I've gotta go find out about this Shake thing...
@@rickc2102 I would suspect that "Shake" would be a short burst of frequency modulation, going by the wording used ("don't scare the viewer with technical terms!") What "li'l synth" are you using, BTW?
@@rattywoof5259 ...and not "stirred"?
Me too
It is our good fortune that Wendy Carlos is a perfectionist, with a keen ability to hear the subtleties of sound. From the beginning, her recordings of Bach and other Baroque composers had a distinct sound that captivated discerning audiophiles.
Her and Stanley Kubrick were a match made in heaven.
@@JosephDutra You are on top of it. Makes me wonder: what if Stanley hadn't found her?
@@rr7firefly Well, Wendy had a body of work before Kubrik. And a body of work independent of her film scores.
Hell, I've been a Wendy fanboi since my teens, back in the 1980s, and I _knew nothing_ of her film score work until decades later!
Certainly captivated me when I was 13 in 1975 and I somehow got my hands on a copy of Switched On Bach.
@@josefkay5013 THAT was a killer album. A treat in every possible way. I wish I could find it on CD.
I love Wendy's music. Some of my most listened to albums are _Switched-On Bach_ and _The Well-Tempered Synthesizer._ And of course creating such an iconic soundtrack to _A Clockwork Orange._
A Clockwork Orange was my intro to her work. My dad had the album on his record shelf. That first time I heard that Funeral March was unforgettable! It changed me from disliking electronic music, into it eventually becoming one of my favorite things. Almost all of my favorite current/new artists are electronic.
And the iconic soundtrack to Tron.
Josep Duran YEAH! That TRON soundtrack is one of the only of her works that I’ve been able to buy digitally. I wish her other works were sold on digital music platforms. There must be a reason she has though so I respect that. Sometimes university libraries have music that’s hard to find. That’s how I’ve had some luck hearing some other 20th century composers’ works.
Glenn Gould loved her Brandenburg #4 very much.
Mine are "By Request," the "Tron" soundtrack and "Digital Moonscapes."
I've been a total fanboy of Wendy since I was a teenager in the mid-1980s. She is the grandmama of _all modern Electronic Music._
I first discovered Wendy Carlos' “Digital Moonscapes,” then her, “Beauty in the Beast,” which became and remains one of my favorite albums, period. I discovered Wendy's early work, like, “Switched on Bach,” in college. I think it may have been part of a History-of-Music class. It was, of course, under her deadname, but I had no idea.
My reaction went like this, “Wait … Wendy has a brother? And he's a famous, accomplished groundbreaking musician _too?!?_ Daaaam! This is one talented family!”
Once I discovered the truth, I got angrier and angrier. Not, I'm ashamed to admit, because I knew about trans issues; this was back in 1987. I grew angry because everything I found about Wendy Carlos was _obsessed_ with what she did/did not have in her pants. How _DARE_ they! How _dare_ they do that to her instead of focusing on this *Pioneer* of Electronic Music, and all of her many innovations and accomplishments.
I always say that this “Walter” person is Wendy's twin-brother-from-a-parallel-universe. But in _this_ universe? There was, and is, Only Wendy. Always has been. Always will be.
Love this comment so much.
@@boopyboop0 Thank You. 😊
The "twin sibling from a parallel universe" is how I explain being trans to clueless cis-heteros.
Like I said, I'm cis, but gay. So I won't speak for someone trans if they're there, but I will speak up for my trans kin when they aren't there to do it for themselves.
@@John_Weiss reminds me a bit of the Robert-Rosalind Lutece "twins" from bioshock infinite. Two people with practically the same intellect and mannerisms, separated only by a single chromosome... and in different universes.
Wendy has done so much for electronic music, it feels so disrespectful to watch some people act like any of her personal life is their business honestly or worse yet, that their opinion on it matters.
I've liked Wendy's music since I was eight years old it could come out that she was 3 children stacked in a trenchcoat all along and I wouldn't care.
@@archkull Oh, it was bad. One musicology reference had a 2 sentence entry for Wendy: the first mentioned which "real pioneers" of electronic music she studied under. The second sentence denigrated her work as being the means for, "The S3x Change." And this was _in a scholarly academic text_ in 1987.
Disrespect doesn't even begin to touch it.
As a closeted trans teenager in the 1970s, Wendy Carlos was the first person whose work I already deeply admired who publicly transitioned. My entire world exploded with new potentials the day I found out. It took me another 35 years, but I finally followed in her footsteps. Thank you, Wendy, for pioneering my path. 💜
That's so beautiful! Now you can inspire others as well 😊❤️
Are you aware of the brilliantly talented Angela Morley?
@@edatnatcirIf something doesn't matter to you, it doesn't mean it doesn't matter to anyone else. Different lives, different perspectives. Let it be.
@@hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156Why would you be so defensive to somebody asking a question‽
That's the problem with that culture.
Simple questions are attacked & then you all wonder why NOBODY wants anything to do with you whatsoever. Then you can people 'isms & 'ists.
@@ClickClack_Bam I wasn't attacking anyone. I didn't mean it as defensive. I meant to give a peaceful answer. I apologize if you interpreted my answer as an attack. The whole feel of my answer is in mt last 3 words. Let it be. It was meant as peaceful as the Beatles song. My apologies.
The fact that there are only positive comments here, for a change when it comes to commentary on anything involving a trans figure, is so heartening. Thank you so much, OP. Wendy Carlos deserves only the love that is posted in this comments section, for her massive contributions to modern music.
I wondered about that, but if it isn't a big deal, why even mention it?
I see some replies to comments that allude to/are-replies-to transphobic comments, but don't see the actual transphobic comments. So someone is good about removing the hate.
@@AnonymousFreakYT yeah I don’t tolerate those goons in the slightest. I’ll delete comments and block chuds all day and night 🖕🏻😎🖕🏻
@@automaticbazooti thank you for doing that
@@Flashback_Jack Is there something wrong with appreciating that? I’m confused by your comment.
I wish she would make switched on Bach and the rest of here back catalogue available on streaming services. It's too good, the world needs to be switched on.
Many musicians of her generation are very skeptical of streaming services, it's not really that surprising.
@@ChrisLeeW00 Surprising? No. Frustrating? a little. I'll try to survive.
I have a copy of Switched On Bach on vinyl. I keep looking for other albums when I go to a record store.
As I understand it - she doesn't hold the copyrights currently - she leased them to a company that has subsequently gone bust and so her back catalogue is once again tied up in legal knots. It's a dreadful shame
@@hagbarthr Sonic seasonings is a classic masterpiece of the 1970s. Good luck w/ your search.
Never ceases to astound me how someone can listen to a sound, mentally deconstruct it and tell an eight bit machine how to put it together...
and be so right.
Just assembling it like that has a level of understanding that I find just incredible.
The shape of the sound waves produced by classical instruments, which show the proportion of overtones, have been a part of textbooks for decades. I have no doubt she would have access both to the charts, and to the oscilloscopes used to compare your additive synth output to the charts, especially if she was working in the University acoustic science labs. 👍
Math is a really crazy thing I’ve started to appreciate lately it’s amazing
She’s genius
I’ve been a massive fan of her music since I first heard the well tempered synthesizer album in 1970 and I absolutely love her full version of synthesized music from a clockwork orange. Over many years the sound quality of my stereo system has improved which enhances my enjoyment of listening to Wendy’s beautiful music. If Wendy were to ever read my comments, I would like to extend a massive thank you for the immense pleasure your music has given me for fifty years. Thank you Wendy from a life long fan. Peter.
I thank my music teacher for playing it and comparing it to the original instruments version. It got me hooked on electronic and classical music in one session. It was something else and novel but good, I still enjoy it.
I wholeheartedly agree with Peter's sentiments. My first exposure to her music was the Switched-on Bach album, which i heard on the radio in 1968 or 1969. It was love at first listen, and it caused me to delve deeper into the world of classical music.
I first heard Wendy's finale to Bach's 3rd Brandy, on the Columbia Records anthology album Bach's Greatest Hits - and immediately went out and got Switched on Bach, as a teenager - it hooked me for life - and made me want to be a musician - and always so deeply inspired by her amazing work and changing the world of music forever - and so much of what everyone does now digitally is all a consequence of what she pioneered starting in her basement studio with her amazing Collaborator and producer, and singer, Rachel Elkind. There should be a national holiday to celebrate Wendy Carlos!
Wendy Carlos is a fucking legend. We have no choice but to stan.
The narrator says that she's playing a synthesizer that is now a "museum piece". Wow, how attitudes have changed. That so called "Museum piece" is now a much sought-after piece of technology that musicians would give an arm and leg for. Just like Keith Emerson's. Hah!...museum piece, indeed.
Indeed... It has gained such a following that a few years ago, it was re-released commercially by Moog Music. Many others have built similar synths, like for example Doepfer.
The Beginning of A Clockwork Orange is probably the most iconic intro sequence I've seen. The music at the start is pure genius. Carlos really understands the music.
It is like her love letter to Beethoven from an alternate universe. What an achievement to have a dialogue at that level.
Watched a BBC clip from 1970 of her demonstrating her synthesizer just before watching this. The technological changes are amazing. And what we have now is just....
Okay so I’m a musician, pianist, violinist, really getting into synth stuff. Had no idea who Wendy Carlos was before watching this video. Did a bit of googling. WHAT! This woman is incredible!
See her website!
Same happend to me, till realizing if not for her and the work she did with Moog, we will never have all the beautiful, inspiring music we had in the past, and the tech for recording, and the implementations with MIDI, etc.
I'm amazed at how much Wendy contributed to the whole music industry, working close to the people who developed the first DAW's and plugins and vsti's.
When her first album, Switched-on Bach, was released, the (late) Canadian piano virtuoso Glenn Gould stated that it was the best classical album he had ever hear, bar none.
@@VeronicaGorositoMusic Hi from Brazil :) Old School Electronic Music , please let me know if you like it :) ruclips.net/video/NrmMsfmop7s/видео.html
@@BertGrink this is the best thing I read on the internet this year so far. 👏👏👏
This is the second interview with her I’ve seen. In each of them she is so well spoken and able to communicate her thoughts clearly when talking about her work.
This is a message for Wendy Carlos in case she Googles herself and finds this video. Thank you for your music! We love you!
What a nightmare it must have been having to record each instrument separately of all those Bach's intricate pieces. Total genius!
That's the easy part
Editing measure by measure, note by note is where the magic happened
Maybe!, but something perceived by you and me to be a nightmare is probably something that is meditative to her.
She’s such an inspiration to me, both as a trans woman (which I’m trying to transition into) and as a pioneer of new styles of music and experimentation
Edit: im now very much trans and almost 3yrs on hrt
@@btd7664 fuck you and have a nice day 🥰
@@ghostofwarski1770 first, don’t call me dude. I’m no dude and you don’t know me. Second, even if I can’t get surgery to get a uterus yet, I’ve changed my gender. Gender is a malleable social construct, by which I define myself as a woman and I ask that even someone like you at least try to respect that.
@automatic_bazooti
@@ghostofwarski1770 I have no rebuttal for you; it’s best not to try to reason with those who will not receive. Believe whatever you want, it doesn’t change me.
Huh I had no idea the person who made synths mainstream was trans. In my synth nerd internet quest I've heard Wendy's name quite a few times and never heard it mentioned. I like that her accomplishments and contributions to music are largely talked about without needing to bring up her identity. Like she's a human being and artist as opposed to an effigy for a political movement.
She's an absolute genius and inspiration ...and incredibly good at de-constructing the sounds she uses. Is there more of this? I would like to see the whole documentary.
i've yet to find the rest of this BBC short sadly :/
@@automaticbazooti Would be nice if we could get them to rebroadcast this, as there has been a lot of great old music stuff from the BBC archives over the years, rebroadcast on BBC4. But sadly, we know a lot of stuff got wiped, back in the days when it took a massive roll of (expensive) video tape just to store one hour of video. So who knows what they still have...
Found this... www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/whitepaper275
Wendy did a CD called "Secrets of Synthesis" which is quite remarkable.....it has a lot of things like the tidbits she briefly mentions in this video. Also, on her "Switched On Boxed Set", which has all of her Baroque recordings straight off the master tapes and digitally cleaned up, she also adds (at the end of each CD in the set ) little "how I did it" lectures and demonstrations. Both are required listening for Carlos fans, but good luck finding copies.
I don't think there's much more than this (I wish), but go to her website, there's a LOT of info she was posting since these early years. It'll took some months to read all that!
Wendy is 80 years old! And keeps posting in the website from time to time, also receives emails from admirers and tech people.
Truly a Legend. I LOVE her work on TRON. Such an amazing score. Not only in the creation of it, but of the restoration of it. She had to literally bake the tapes from 1982 in an oven to get them in working order for the CD release. Jaw dropping stuff.
Me too. The score for Tron is out of this world
Love her Rhode Island accent
So do I. "Clockwork Ah-range"
"A replicar of a xylophone"
I know, right?
I love the commentary, using the correct pronouns, "nothing to see here", as it should be. If we were capable of that in 89 what excuse do we have now?! Wendy ftw. The soundtrack for Clockwork is my favourite work of hers, what a quiet laid back genius she was.
Almost 80, and she's still going
This is so awesome. Clearly Wendy Carlos was far ahead of her time, as were Susanne Ciani, and a small handful of others. Someone was talking on youtube somewhere about Wendy Carlos' role in bringing Synth music into the popular consciousness, with Switched on Bach, and I was happy to find this video which gets you some tiny idea of the kind of musical process that lead to creating that historic recording.
Just want to appreciate the uploader for being so good with moderating the comments.
Mister Apple I do what I can 👍🏻👍🏻
@@automaticbazooti It's a lot of work, but it is appreciated.
I just wanted to echo that - it's very much appreciated :)
I say let the idiots show themselves with their comments.
Don’t do them the service of removing their ignorance from the history.
This lady is wonderful and she is precious with her cats and her music! I was so happy to see she is still around… This era seems like so long ago… But we should try to remember it wasn’t very long ago at all… And to keep this time in history close to us.
@@automaticbazooti you are a legend.
The absolute legend!
I'm a trans girl in audio electronic engineering and she's one of my inspirations
same bestie omg!
SOPHIE (r.i.p) was also did so much to push the electronic music forward.
Just say you're in audio electronic engineering. The first part is implied.
@@Blyledge explicit is better than implicit, and looking at my campus radio time, there was a bunch of cis gals turning the knobs, so the implication doesn't hold water :)
It was „Switched on Bach“ which got me hooked in Synthesizer back in the day, when I was a teenager. Thank you Wendy!
Currently I am a teen and I do have an interest for synthesizers thanks to Brad Fiedel.
it's refreshing to see someone who can analytically explain musical/acoustic concepts while still being simple
Switched on Bach was the album that fueled my lifelong pursuit of music. Can not overstate the importance in my life. Much love and respect to Wendy Carlos!
played the album in 1969 for my future wife - rest is history
Okay this video is absolutely amazing but the bit at the end recreating the xylophone was mind blowing.
That is insane talent, wonder if anyone can match that today?
Wendy Carlos is one of my all-time favorite ppl in history for her incredible synth beats and being such a cool pioneer ❤
You know you're very talented when you can explain what you do in simple terms. Wendy's a legendary artist, and a lot of influential musicians owe a lot to her.
I love wendy carlos. I had switched on bach on vinyl as a kid in the 70s and played it again and again.
I didn't know she was responsible for some of my favourite movie tracks of all time. What a legend.
What a beautiful, rare, and precious gem!! ❤️
Lisa Bella Donna 💕
Wendy Carlos was inspiration for Keith Emerson to start playing Moog. When he heard "Switched On Bach", he asked - what is this played on? Moog synthesizer? I want this thing
Great people like her should be remembered more often. People who helped transform culture and science.
I wish there were more interviews with her! What a master of the craft.
Thanx! The Tron soundtrack is just incredible!!! Huge Wendy Carlos fan!
WENDY CARLOS - changed the ENTIRE COURSE of my life when my English played Switched on Bach for extemporizing in 1972. Classical Music became my unflinching obsession and it shaped everything I did. And it continues even now in 2022 and will as long as I am alive. ♥♥♥♥ Thank you, WENDY 😍🥰🤩😘
I'd love to have a conversation with Wendy Carlos about the early days of synthesis. She really bridged the gap between the new and the old. I think it was important to put the synthesiser into a classical music context to show that it was an evolution rather than an emulation (at least in this time period before Romplers etc)
I'll never forgive the BBC for making her wear those ridiculous sideburns on what was one of the most fascinating and educational documentaries about synthesisers ever made.
Thank you for your astonishing contributions to music, Wendy!
Check out the documentary Sisters with Transistors, about a bunch of women who worked in electronic music. When a few oscillators, and a tape machine were the main tools they had to work with ( of course there's somewhat more recent stuff too in the documentary.)
She was so cool! She created such incredible music! Her collaborations with Rachel Elkind are extraordinary. Listen to the opening scenes from "The Shining" and tell me that you don't get goosebumps. That is some of the most frightening music ever performed! Her score for "A Clockwork Orange" is also in the history books. She stretched the boundaries of every instrument, Moog or otherwise, that she had in her arsenal.
Absolutely spot on!
She has a natural, warm teaching skill, I wonder if she has ever been a lecturer or teacher?
For never wanting to be in the public eye, she had a knack for clearly explaining complex things in a digestible manner.
Wow, I have a whole new appreciation for synthesized music - to see the amount of calculation and planning that went into it, from designing the instrument, determining each "instrument sound", and then mixing it yourself.
I grew up with this album- I'm so grateful to my late dad for introducing me to this music.
It's so awesome to not only hear her talk (highly recommend Secrets of Synthesis if you haven't heard this album of hers) but also to see her work in the studio. I first heard Wendy Carlos when I was very young, and I've been hooked ever since. Carlos, along with Bob Moog, completely reimagined the way that we make music and changed the face of multiple genres.
This is amazing, I've never seen her speak or create music live! A prodigious musical genius and indisputable pioneer of electronic music! 🙏🏼💙
Check her ‘Sonic Seasons’ album. Released in 1973 it was ambient sound/music before ambient music was thought of.
I checked out that album from the library so much when they purged their lps they gave it to me. Thanx for mentioning that album , I had forgotten all about it , just remembered the SNDTK to A Clockwork Orange.
Ambient was invented by satje
Christian Macchiella do you mean Erik Satie?
Yes I would agree with that.
Also, Claude Debussy
I've tried to find that one. That's one of her few CBS albums I haven't heard.
From Wendy to SOPHIE, electronic music has opened doors to new dimensions. I can never understand people who reject electronic music as an affront to classical analog music when demonstrably electronic music can be all that and infinitely more.
Fascinating stuff. She has never had the acclaim she deserved IMO. Clockwork Orange was an incredible sound now almost 50 years on from the very beginnings of the synthesizer. No one had ever heard sounds like that before and it more than makes the film what it is.
I love going back and listening to old electronic music from people like Wendy Carlos or Mort Garson. It's really awesome to see the old equipment for it.
Her creation of the Tron soundtrack was genius!
It sure was. It was an amazing piece and still is.
her rhode island accent kills me. I love her.
Not only a musical prodigy and a legend in her own time, an excellent teacher Wendy Carlos also turns out to be! Could watch her tutorials for days!
I could watch this all day. She is such an incredible musician/composer and pioneer.
@@servantofaeie1569 Yawn
Great presentation of subtractive and then additive synthesis. I love the FM and iPD, which provide shortcuts and enough flexibility to fall somewhere in between and then some.
She pronounces ''Moog" correctly, the narrator does not.
He also says "Carloss".
Of course she did, she knew Bob Moog personally, only Bob himself would know better how to pronounce his name ;-)
wait you pronouce it "mog" not like "moug" damn i didn't know
Clarence G “Moog” like “Rogue”
Did she? - ruclips.net/video/UDN-y0QQ7cs/видео.html
This woman is remarkable. Talented galore with such a keen intellect. A sweet, gentle disposition... and down to Earth and personable. I love great synth music. She makes it seem so simple and easy--- which, it is not.
She seems really nervous, but the intelligence and ingenuity seeps through, incredible musician
Well tempered synthesizer is one of my all time favorite albums. So amazing.
This woman is a goddamn fucking genius. I only wish there were more archival footage like this.
I love how simply and effectively she explains subtractive synthesis. A lot of knowledge wrapped up in her easy eloquence.
Thanks RUclips for this extraordinary suggestion. Respect to Wendy Carlos.
I haven't heard her equally brilliant 'Switched On Brandenburgs' since I checked it out from the local library when I was 12 or 13, and I fell in love with it. Wendy is a legend, and all her works need deluxe re-releases.
Wendy Carlos is pure brilliance and a visionary pioneer. Very underrated talent, decades ahead of her time. The score for The Clockwork Orange is just otherworldly, I am sure it would appeal to Beethoven himself...!
From the first time I heard it, from her fully her own soundtrack album for Clockwork Orange, that it is the best performance of Beethoven's 9th that ever existed - and still is, even to this day - her "montage" from the Scherzo and Choral movements are perfect - and the voice in the choral movement was sung into the vocoder, so to speak, by her collaborator, Rachel Elkind, also her producer, and such an important part of the equation. She proposed the idea of doing an album of "electronic Bach" to Wendy, after hearing the Bach F-Major 2 part invention, which Wendy at done at Columbia University at the "Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Center" - which was a feat in itself. Her first response, according to Wendy's playboy interview was essentially like "Really? you think anyone wants to hear that?" - but she at the same time thought it ideal for making the Moog into an expressive musical instrument - rather than the stuff of horror movies and sound effects...As you say - Wendy is pure brilliance and truly a totally visionary pioneer - and she herself in an interview said that she was aware that she was "ahead of her time" - she did all the "firsts" which then, years later, became part of the electronic music and, gulp, god help us, the "new age" music - ambient music - phenomenon and culture. Yes, I'm so in love with her!
Beginning of cat and modular synths memes (actually one can be seen on switched on bach 1968)
Bought Switched on Bach on vinyl when it first came out. Brilliant stuff.
Wendy, you were the pioneer and a trail blazer ... a hero to all electronic music lovers everywhere 🤟🖖
She was mad influence on the soundtrack in the lives of the kids from 70's and 80's. She's a titan, eternal. Very cool.
Thank you so much for sharing this.
I needed a clip of her for a project in my sociology class and I couldn't find this anywhere but a random Facebook page. Figured I'd might as well put it up here and let everyone find it 💕
@@automaticbazooti I heard her voice as she narrated "Secrets of Synthesis" but I don't recall seeing any video of her before. Thanks!
Genius, pure and simple, and a true pioneer of electronic music. She was instrumental in the development of the Moog synth. Switched on Bach and the sound track to A Clockwork Orange are two amazing pieces of work.
She's really brilliant with the way she can dissect sounds and implement them via the analog controls
she was the pioneer of electronic symphonic, later perfected by Isao Tomita with his plasma orchestra.
A great artist with deep understanding of synthesis. An absolute inspiration for all those who love this amazing form of art. She really deserves a wider recognition
Listening to Switched on Bach back in college in the late 70's took me to other worlds, absolutely brilliant work by a brilliant soul.
Very rare footage of Wendy programming a Crumar GDS. Amazing, thank you for sharing!
john FOXX would love this
There was a ROM cartridge of her GDS patches for the Synergy. That was one of its selling points.
I so love her music. I wish more of it were available without having to track down the original vinyl
she's a genius at this !
When switched on Bach came out I was blown away! I knew nothing of the creator. What genius.
I still recall hearing Switched On Bach back in the early to mid 1970s, and to me this was life changing, Sonic Season's even more so. The 8 track open real machine, I believe that she built that one, along with many of the analog devices which she was using, along with her console.
Truly a composer, engineer, and human being that I admire very very much.
Thank yo for posting this, as a previous comment stated, it is so rare to hear and see her give an interview.