The multi-track system of "Switched-On Bach"

ebg31 · Post by **ebg31** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:30 pm

Here's an interesting topic.

Does anyone know how big Wendy Carlos' recording rig was in 1968? Knowing such information could shed some light on how many parts were arranged and recorded on each of the tracks on the original Switched-On Bach album.

It's so wonderful to imagine 24 tracks of Moog synthesizer. Is that what she used?

david · Post by **david** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:36 pm

She used a grand total of eight tracks to record and a further 2 to mix down to.
The eight track was custom built from surplus parts. Check out Wendy's website for comprehensive info.

Qwave · Post by **Qwave** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 9:15 am

Her main thing was being patient and hard working to get those great recordings done. Of cause the Moog made the sounds, but 8 tracks of Moog will sound as thick as mud if not using good sounds and a good thinking ahead when recording the individual tracks one by one, voice line per voice line, sound per sound. And no patch memory available to easy redo a sound from the track recorded before.
Her music, especially her own track "Timesteps" (from the Clockwork Orange soundtrack is still amazing after all those years.

ebg31 · Post by **ebg31** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 9:56 am

Thanks to both of you.

I can appreciate the virtue of being patient with a big synthesizer without presets. For five-to-six years, I didn't have an analog synthesizer that I could use to create my own digital patches. I became just as adept at twiddling knobs and sliders as with pressing the buttons.

All I had was an ARP Axxe and a Roland JX-8p that didn't belong to me. What can you do?

Array · Post by **Array** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 2:16 pm

Dont forget that she had to make patches to compensate for all of the intonations available to all of those instruments that she had to emulate. Its not as if she just made 1 french horn patch and recorded it....there were probably 5 or more french horn patches recorded seperately and then spliced back together to make it sound as if it was played by a single instrument.

ebg31 · Post by **ebg31** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 3:38 pm

That brings to light the question of how many oscillators Wdnay's synth has. For me, every oscillator per voice per synthesizer of any kind is like a seperate musical instrument. I'm sure that Wendy's Moog has, at least 3 VCOs, if not 4.

Sure, you have a point, Array. The notion of tape-splicing and bouncing is something that's not alien, today.

nicholas d. kent · Post by **nicholas d. kent** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 4:11 pm

The Switched on Boxed set has a good amount of technical details and even outtakes.

I see a 901, 2x 901A, 6x 901B for a total of 7 oscs + a self built Polyphonic Oscillator Bank in a 1968 photo

Carlos' Moog got bigger as they years passed. Also the original oscs (900 series) were replaced with the updated (920 series) ones in the early 70s.

Don't forget Carlos tracked almost everything at half speed playing an octave down with the patches tweaked to sound good at normal speed playback.

Wendy Carlos also tends to hocket whenever possible. Instead of playing all say a horn part in one patch she tends to break it up in short phrases and play each phrase in a different patch

Sweep · Post by **Sweep** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 5:33 pm

Wendy's website is a great source of information. Her album Secrets of Synthesis is also recommended for the very helpful discussion of techniques such as hocketing.

sir_dss · Post by **sir_dss** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 5:54 pm

On the subject...

What is the deal with Walter Carlos? Is it in poor form to ever discuss that? Is this post going to be deleated?

Even in this interview I heard with Bob Moog the other day he always refers to just "Carlos".

ebg31 · Post by **ebg31** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 11:13 pm

All that can be said is that Walter Carlos disappeared, and Wendy Carlos is who we all know.

Qwave · Post by **Qwave** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 3:39 am

She choosed to be a woman.

So she had to change her name (and not only her name) from Walter to Wendy. I don't think we should emphase this too much. It was her personal and very private decition.
I like her music very much, except the "Beauty and the Beast" scalling experiments.

MarkM · Post by **MarkM** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 10:03 am

That was an extremely brave thing to do at that time. Sex change operations were very new. Plus being well known it could have (and might have) affected her career.

My friend went to Bob's memorial service in Ashville this week and met her. He said she was very nice. He conversed with her about music and came away very inspired.

Don · Post by **Don** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 1:15 pm

[quote="Qwave"]She choosed to be a woman.

So she had to change her name (and not only her name) from Walter to Wendy. I don't think we should emphase this too much. It was her personal and very private decition.
I like her music very much, except the "Beauty and the Beast" scalling experiments.[/quote]

While I agree that there is no need to focus on Wendy Carlos' sex reassignment, I must disagree with your first statement which, respectfully, is a wild misunderstanding. She did not choose to be a woman any more than anyone chooses to be male or female. She was always a woman but was born in the wrong skin for a woman.

I remember the first time I saw the great guitarist, Leslie West. He came out on stage and was quite fat. The audience--about 10,000--exploded in laughter. And then he played. The audience exploded again, this time in appreciation for his brilliant playing.

We can make judgements on the way a person appears or on what a person does. I prefer the latter and am far more fascinated by Wendy Carlos' originality and musical brilliance than on her physical appearance.

rjm · Post by **rjm** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 6:05 pm

While I agree that there is no need to focus on Wendy Carlos' sex reassignment, I must disagree with your first statement which, respectfully, is a wild misunderstanding. She did not choose to be a woman any more than anyone chooses to be male or female. She was always a woman but was born in the wrong skin for a woman.

I agree, Don, let's focus on the incredibly original and brilliant music Carlos has made rather than delving into the vast misunderstanding that people can actually be born into the wrong skin. I can appreciate his/'her' music without respecting the personal CHOICES made.

ikazlar · Post by **ikazlar** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 6:51 am

Hello

I have emailed a track from "Switched on Bach 2000" to a pianist and he found it "interesting". In the liner notes one can find lots of information on how she approached the synthesis of the sounds, the recording and everything else. She mentions that a great deal of how the record sounds comes from the individual tunings which was those of the Bach's days (or she is convinced this was the case).

Indeed I agree that she must be a very patient person. Another example of what patience and practice can do!