My rambling words potentially diffused throughout the world.
My primary intention for this blog is to provide a record of what I'm listening to and how it transforms with the wind of time. While I could (& possibly should) have simply created a Word document & said fin, my egocentric urges prevailed with the assumption that 'you', whomever you may be, is interested.
The artist of the day is "Walter/Wendy Carlos"
A fitting choice for the beginning, since I've listened to Carlos since I was a kid. Switched-On Bach (1968) was one of the few records that my Dad held on to from his college days. The record was monumental for electronic music, popularizing synthesizers (at the time the Moog) & coincidentally also bringing classical music to the masses, being the first classical album to hit platinum. Carlos went on to create several other classical 'moogs' : such as Switched-On Bach II, The Well-Tempered Synthesizer, and notably the soundtrack for Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange before having a sex-change in 1972 (hence the 2 names). Switched-On Brandenburgs (Wendy Carlos' debut) followed along with soundtrack work for The Shining and Disney's Tron.
While Wendy still is involved with the science of synthesizers, she has moved her focus to other art forms, becoming a renowned photographer of solar eclipses & drawing kittens.
Regardless of the sci-fi / geek tendencies throughout Carlos' life - Walter/Wendy pioneered into the abyss of the unknown, providing the base work for musicians to come - proving the ability to tie classical ideas with the modern world & igniting the beat of the electronic music movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment