Wendy Carlos demonstrates her Moog Synthesizer in 1970

Wendy Carlos interview on PBS' NOVA in 1989: • Wendy Carlos interview...
Note: the BBC has posted a longer version available here: • 1970: WENDY CARLOS and...
From the BBC archives. The music towards the end of the video is the 2nd movement of the 4th Brandenburg Concerto from her Well-Tempered Synthesizer album. You can visit her webpage at: wendycarlos.com

[@soup2881]

Hey Wendy, we love you no matter what you looked like. We really wish you would put your music back on the market and keep better in touch with us, so that fans can once again can enjoy your great art.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

I support this message!

[@chris_htepo]

Same

[@ventoilin5938]

she is like 80

[@234cheech]

@@ventoilin5938 shes prod dead

[@234cheech]

@Fremglerk thanks

[@andytheobliviator]

came for the sideburns, stayed for the best explanation of a synthesizer I've ever seen

[@i.t.577]

Lol same. She puts all of the modern "experts" to shame with her masterful and amazing simple explanation of such a difficult thing to explain. That's the mark of a true GENIUS.

[@MikkelGrumBovin]

Came for the music stayed for the sideburns

[@smonson2]

Fun fact, they're fake sideburns and she's wearing a wig in order to pass as male due to anxiety.

[@scruff921]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@scruff921]

@@MikkelGrumBovin my guy x

[@henryyuliano3288]

In just under 4 minutes Wendy put the fundamentals of synthesizers into more comprehensible terms than I’ve ever heard before

[@CreNativeFosho]

I honestly think that the people now a days all want to “show off and prove” how much they know, drawing out explanations and tones of condemnation that are condescending, and this fantastic being of Wendy Carlos is just explaining it how it is in her mind

[@ResidentRemixer]

I've understood far more here than anything else about this subject

[@digiquo8143]

@@CreNativeFosho I think it's probably more that most of what he's talking about here has been abstracted into tons of different tools and features that accomplish the same thing, but in a far more user-friendly environment that doesn't provide much intuition into what's actually happening. Much like how high-level programming such as C++ uses many keywords that make it "easy" to use, but don't necessarily aid in understanding what's actually happening at the machine code level post compilation.

[@AlejandroShredderDJ]

I thought I was the only one. I just understood how those waves work

[@johnlime1469]

Exactly this.

[@Peloponnesia666]

“She composed the score to two Stanley Kubrick films, A Clockwork Orange (1971) and The Shining (1980), and for Tron (1982) for Walt Disney Productions.” -from her Wikipedia page. That’s fucking nuts. What an accomplished artist.

[@gabrielwong9063]

She is incredible, proud trans woman pioneer

[@user-gl9gf7bm6q]

Wow 👌 good to have more backstory what a legend

[@pluralizor2957]

I knew it sounded familiar some reason thank you

[@pluralizor2957]

@@pocoxiaomi5182 There's a difference between a women who appreciates suites and doesn't care to identify as male understanding science and that, but yes, she clearly was a lesbian lol

[@pocoxiaomi5182]

No, no nuts anymore ...

[@dragonluvver975]

It's crazy seeing her mention white noise like nobody knows what it is, and it makes sense cause people probably didn't know what it was at the time! So cool

[@InfernalPasquale]

What do you mean they didn't know? I'm pretty sure they knew it's statistical and mathematical properties?

[@eldiablo7862]

We knew exactly what it was and it was on every tv channel after they went off the air till returning in the early morning.

[@InfernalPasquale]

@@eldiablo7862 You are confusing simple white noise with the cosmic microwave background

[@daroob]

I’m willing to bet most people now don’t know exactly what white noise is other than a sound that comes out of a speaker.

[@BennyAscent]

You know that TV static is only, like... 1% cmbr, right?

[@lejesstanner]

"It's quite simple," she says standing in front of a massive wall of dials and cords with two keyboards at the bottom

[@Therealdamuski]

It’s simple in a way that no one knows how to use them. You just keep pluggin in things and adjusting knobs til you get a sound that you like.

[@gingganggoolie]

Explaining transition be like

[@B1SCOOP]

It's not rocket science, unlike programming a FM synth.

[@rfichokeofdestiny]

Well, the basics of it actually are pretty simple. There’s just a lot of basics put together here and it can appear overwhelming if you’re not used to it.

[@surkey5055]

@@rfichokeofdestiny exactly, the actual principle behind it is simple, you just need to be familiar with the layout

[@DanielMothers]

"You have to start with something pretty simple" *Camera pans to cables everywhere*

[@panicfarm9874]

@Mr. Roboto it is a bookcase

[@richardlloyd2589]

@@panicfarm9874 ....swaps door signs back over on and .

[@cj0986]

That was “simple” in those days.

[@grahamparsons1070]

😂

[@AlexofZippo]

“If you can’t explain it to a five year old, you don’t really understand it.” She explained it perfectly. What a legend. Also I literally had no idea she was transitioning, I saw the sideburns and the suit, shrugged, and said “eh, it was the 70’s.”

[@fasterpcp1]

You had no idea the person called Wendy, wearing a suit and sideburns i still can't grow at 53 was transitioning. You're either really stupid or you think everyone else is, do better

[@gabrielladavidson2938]

Same lol, didn't even question it 😂

[@sforza209]

Misuse of the word literally.

[@MatthewGill-nv4tb]

​@sforza209 no she's actually STILL transitioning

[@MatthewGill-nv4tb]

@@NowhereNN no

[@Titanscreaming]

Millions of songs now exist using this, especially virtual instruments, its oscillation. insanely beautiful

[@jacksonwalsh6900]

Holy shit they made fl studio into a real thing

[@arfansthename]

yes lol

[@kiddcarmine_]

Lmao

[@Arctic_silverstreak]

Lmao yeah

[@fulsame1]

Think about how miraculous digital synths and mixing software is that all of that ANALOG HARDWARE can be condensed into a microchip you can stick in your pocket.

[@flamencoprof]

Correction, FL Studio made the Moog into a digital thing. Let's give precedence to the correct source. Actually, I hope I didn't do a whoosh with your humour? It's hard to tell when someone's channel doesn't have any content.

[@zamaurijones2725]

“Very smooth, very flute like” *BeEeEeEeEeEp*

[@robertplues4661]

More like the life sopport machine has just flat lined

[@0niKingu5ama]

"TeEeEeEeEeEeT!!!" 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

[@stiffyBlicky]

lmao

[@StuffOffYouStuff]

LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best comment

[@janiellawinchestra1838]

I read this while he said it at the same

[@acidxero]

This fundamentally changed my understanding of the moog synth. Thank you, Wendy.

[@keefsmiff]

As a sideburn, I encourage this type of behaviour

[@aliahxpiano]

the sideburns are fake and the hair is a wig lmao. the bbc wanted to make her look like a guy XD

[@davidswanson5669]

How does a woman grow such a thing? Looks fake.

[@HeLLo_gUys_george_here]

Im no 100

[@keefsmiff]

@@HeLLo_gUys_george_here yaaaayyyy.....🤣

[@ShadyLurker16]

You would, nepotism is a huge problem in the sideburn community.

[@disgruntledgrunt4259]

Wendy Carlos is the one who composed the soundtrack to Tron and I believe A Clockwork Orange. Amazing how she was able to explain something that really is fairly technical in terms that just about everyone can understand.

[@tangenty6987]

AND The Shining

[@michaelshields7777]

And those pork chop sideburns look just fabulous too, 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@fstover5208]

'Wendy' composed very little music for Clockwork Orange. He/She mostly arranged/transcribed of other composers' work (Beethoven, Purcell, etc.) Kubrick liked to use music in public domain because he was a tightwad.

[@MrThefrederic]

Oh man, when she was playing it at the end I was thinking i’m getting stanley kubrick vibes here. Good to know.

[@WightKnight]

@@fstover5208 The compositions would have been in the public domain meaning Wendy didn't have to pay a lisence holder to recompose them. But her recordings wouldn't have been public domain. As for Kubrick, it's less that he was a tightwad and just barely even had funding for A Clockwork Orange, it was a very cheap film for what it is

[@jeffstone2136]

_The Shining. TRON. A Clockwork Orange._ Each one of those is epic, and Carlos composed all three. Genius.

[@jammydodger7065]

her soundtrack for the shining really made that film work

[@nodrogdivad]

I was looking for the comment specifying what I think I already knew... just listening to the end of this video, I immediately thought of the synth version of Beethoven from ACO.

[@kimjones600]

ntm "Switched-On Bach," which she's recording there. that album came out & came home when I was 5. dad, b.1917, was a huge fan.

[@JunkBondTrader]

clockwork orange is one of my favourite scores ever! Cool. It had such an artistic, yet eerie vibe to it.

[@madarab37]

Composed TRON? I...I did not know that.

[@conservativecat9613]

I just love all of this. The sounds, the analog tech, the cables and knobs, the explanation, the dressing and the hair style. Oh yes, the 70s were some quite funny years

[@galaxybiscuit]

Peak style clearly

[@AlexDMC]

I also knew he had knob from the first moment

[@The_Establishment_Is_Satanic]

@@AlexDMC 😆 Facts.

[@tophers3756]

​@@AlexDMC she

[@MrKoocanusa]

Tron would not have worked without you. You were the soul with the je ne sais quoi of soundtracks.

[@yur-wj2cq]

Check out her Wikipedia page, it's fascinating. Not only was she one of the first electronic music composers, she even contributed to the Moog synthesizer's design, collaborating with Robert Moog and offering suggestions for improvements, most of which went into the final product. She's genius

[@jamiesmart9016]

It's guy Martin 😂

[@caspernicus5822]

@@jamiesmart9016She is not

[@TheMadMonk9]

"He"

[@tryax811]

​@@caspernicus5822he obviously is

[@neolord50pro77]

​@rick39guitarist those sideburns stolen my heart. Looks very hot.

[@pgm3]

Wendy, that is one of the most clear and succint non-calculus descriptions of musical tone synthesis I've ever heard. Well done!

[@Tlaloc_D1]

I believe she had synesthesia

[@Retfie719]

@@Tlaloc_D1 she just studied enough physics while also being a talented musician, composer and - this case - and educator

[@Craig-dv3ji]

Agreed! Very clear.

[@TheNinetySecond]

@@Retfie719 She was (is?) a huuuge nerd with everything sound. She actually worked on the implementation of stereo sound in consumer products, which is fucking huge. I came to know her when researching quadrophonic surround sound, of which she has been a proponent for years. As far as I know, her mixing and mastering credentials are also outstanding, although she's most well known for her synthesizer work.

[@mikubrot]

I hope to look like her one day

[@UlyssesM]

Shame

[@hazelnut5084]

Follow your chops dreams, friend.

[@BenjaminBox]

She didn't even want to look like this. Those are fake mutton chops because she was scared of people knowing she's trans.

[@AndyB1286]

I remembered a lot of this information from Delia Derbyshire's video about the different sound waves. You can clearly hear some of the precursors to post-1980s electronic music here. These folks were ahead of their time.

[@SJM6791]

You know you’re a great teacher when a person with no musical background like myself can have a general understanding of what you’re doing after a brief video.

[@thisisaname5589]

I am just wondering why this weird woman has sideburns. And is wearing a suit. Very degenerate, very strange, very distracting.

[@AlanCanon2222]

YES, it's a four minute master class in musical synthesis. Even in this digital age, the algorithms that generate electronic music are entirely based on the analog models that Ms Carlos demonstrates in this incredibly succinct, well explicated tutorial. Far be it from me to knock the digital revolution (I'm a computer programmer as well as musician), but when sound meets our eardrums, it does so in the analog domain. I grew up on the Clockwork Orange soundtrack and Switched On Bach, Switched On Brandenburgs, and before that, Gershon Kingsley's "Music to Moog By" and "First Moog Quartet" LPs that my dad had. Electronic musical instruments are legitimate musical instruments, and the maestros of the electronic domain have names like Theremin, Rockmore, Moog, Kingsley, and Carlos. If someone disagrees, well, they are disagreeing with the invention of artificial musical instruments like the bone flutes we find in archaeological digs from 40,000 years ago or whenever it was. Music is music and human beings, it turns out, will go to incredible lengths to make it however they can. Thank you, Ms Wendy Carlos.

[@nymboi6865]

@@thisisaname5589 who asked

[@sol2835]

@@thisisaname5589 lol you’re so insecure

[@vtcabbit]

@@thisisaname5589 oh boo hoo cry me a river

[@willscomix]

Wendy would be the ideal music teacher. Breaks exactly what a synthesizer is down so anyone can understand it. Mark of a genius, really.

[@natfoote4967]

I have a motto, you don't really understand something until you can explain it to a five-year-old.

[@natfoote4967]

@@revokdaryl1 That's not an experience I have to imagine. People remember the past fondly; they hang onto the good memories and try to forget the bad. There were no "good old days" and kids have always suffered grim, existential thoughts. The difference is today we hear about all the bad things because of the internet. That's actually a good thing because now we can do something about those problems and not ignore them. Being able to help people is a pretty good reason to live.

[@natfoote4967]

@@revokdaryl1 There is no call to apologize, young brother. I don't know you from Adam but I do care how you're doing and where you go from here. You are part of the world I live in, so my care for you is a matter of enlightened self-interest: It's no good living in an ivory tower surrounded by a slum. Remember the good things your parents taught you and carry those things forward, enact them as your parents would. Then, the effects of their being still remain, like ripples from a stone. Don't worry about being great. That's a pop culture fad. Just be good. That is an accomplishment you can achieve, and it is actually the more important one.

[@kkenny]

@@natfoote4967 I don't know who you are, and I'm not the original poster, but this is exactly what I needed to hear today. Thank you for your kindness and wisdom.

[@natfoote4967]

@@kkenny I am here to serve, and it is my pleasure.

[@scottevans3247]

Absolute pioneering genius with the ability to relate that to others and teach them!! Plus those cuff links looked sweet!

[@EVILJAMARR]

I saw this video for the first time in my teens when I first wanted to play/make electronic music. Wendy taught me the basics and we've never met

[@hatoline4731]

I like how she just casually demonstrates all this stuff about production when lots of people take exhaustive amounts of time explaining this.

[@MrSoso1050]

He*

[@KillTheJester]

It's one of the most concise ways I've heard someone talk about the basics of synthesis. She put it into words anyone could understand.

[@burnerdgaf5222]

Einstein said it best: “if you can’t explain it to a six year old you don’t understand it yourself.” She has a very deep knowledge of sound design, you can tell by the brief and concise description of a vast subject.

[@DavidVercettiMovies]

I learned more about meaning of filters and envelope here than when I was studying synths

[@sethmorris4767]

@@holidaycomplex who’s being transphobic? What are you talking about... calm down puss

[@dw2971]

Her voice is so soothing to me

[@kal9728]

it is I love listening to it

[@Frip36]

you like it thin and high, yes?

[@georgepierson4920]

So, you like guys who think that they are girls, huh?

[@kal9728]

@@georgepierson4920 get out of here, man

[@Frip36]

@@georgepierson4920 We're all pretty much him.

[@taylorsukoshi6126]

I didn't expect the president of Argentina to sound like this

[@acemanhomer1]

Dude......was just on my way to leave this comment 🤣

[@The_Establishment_Is_Satanic]

@taylorsukoshi6126 😆

[@okarowarrior]

funny. tho dont even dare to compare our darling Wendy with the nefasto hijoderemilput as del duende

[@mymusicaljesus]

She did the Main Street Electrical Parade @ Disneyland. I loved watching it at the end of a day there growing up in SoCal in the 80's & 90's.

[@The_Establishment_Is_Satanic]

*he

[@KeksimusMaximus]

​@@The_Establishment_Is_Satanicthat's a crossdressing woman with fake sideburns, dude She has ovaries, haha

[@josephreynolds1220]

Bet that was great.

[@0DTEVIXCALLS]

He*

[@eddiekalista3222]

This is the first time I’ve actually understood the concepts of old synth systems.

[@neonraytracer8846]

These are the concepts of any synthesizer! Also software ones

[@superultrathanksmom3845]

@@neonraytracer8846 Not any synthesizer, this is an example of subtractive synthesis. There's a lot more interesting forms of sound synthesis(Additive, Frequency Modulation, Granular, et cetera) Modern subtractive synths are also different als they have more complex sound generation (for example wavetable oscillators) and more complex filtering (for example comb filters) Sound synthesis and sound manipulation is a beautiful field and I fully encourage anyone interested in sound amd music to take the plunge and learn more about it! There is a great free and open-source synthesizer named "Surge" that is amazing. A quick google for "Surge open source synth" will find it for sure.

[@neonraytracer8846]

@@superultrathanksmom3845 Okay I perhaps should have phrased it as the basics of any subtractive synthesis... But I still think my comment is somewhat valid for modular synthesis. Thanks for clarifying for me, though.

[@bradleyvantassal8328]

I've never been jealous in my whole life, 44+ years now, until today. Those sideburns. Hell I'd call em mutton chops. But in all seriousness this is what KZbin was meant for. The preservation of gems like this. Beautiful video. Very informative.

[@fredfrederickson]

They are not real unfortunately

[@toccandocreacanaleulterior176]

​@@fredfredericksoni hope so☠☠

[@SirPano85]

​@@fredfrederickson I thought they were made from her hairs...

[@carriebecker8383]

​@@SirPano85Wendy is trans, was a guy at the time

[@kesagatame]

Switched-On Bach will forever be my entry into the world of synthesizers and for that I’m so thankful!!

[@cubdukat]

If you can find her album "Secrets of Synthesis," get it. She gives the most accurate description of additive synthesis I've ever heard: "The good news about additive synthesis is that you can control every aspect of a sound, the bad news is that you must control every aspect of a sound."

[@leatherandtactel]

Her? She?

[@sapphire6293]

@@leatherandtactel Yes.

[@theswissmiss69]

@@leatherandtactel yos.

[@leatherandtactel]

This person has sideburns, how is that possible?

[@theswissmiss69]

@@leatherandtactel she’s a trans woman.

[@chameleonedm]

*makes the first wub* "A trombone quality, quite strange" 3:00 Don't worry Wendy, we found countless uses for the wubs - many thanks

[@thoyo]

wub step

[@KumaBean]

@thoyo 🤣 👌

[@oivinf]

She said "Has almost a trumpet quality, or trombone quality in _this range_"

[@mikuhatsunegoshujin]

Thank you for letting me know what the "wub" sounds similar to. Alter a Trumpet VST to make them.

[@ibanezgomezangeldavid9649]

I never thought sylenth 0.5 was so big

[@-processdrone-]

Such passion! A pioneer of the modern age in more ways than one.

[@triggerbunny]

I learned about Wendy Carlos in Film school- we watched this in our intro to sound class. Always remembered how clearly she explained this all & loved her style!

[@the_neutral_container]

Imagine what it must have been like to hear this stuff without the baggage of 40-odd years of synth sounds being commonplace - let alone as a musician at a point in history when people were getting a bit bored by guitar-only pop music. You could create any sound you want from a bunch of lab hardware :-o. Let's also appreciate what a damn fine educator Wendy is here.

[@ArielArkenax]

As a child of the sixties her Switched On Bach album blew my and friends minds age 13/14 and completely steered my course in life toward synthesisers.

[@crominion6045]

I was born in '70 and had a similar experience in '76 when I first heard Ricochet by Tangerine Dream. My little 6-year-old mind was totally blown. I couldn't imagine what strange devices they were using to create those otherworldly sounds. The album actually scared me at the time, so I didn't start listening to it again until I was about 10 or 11. 😄 However, it would then go on to change my life and lead me to a lifelong love of electronic music. 👍

[@stolenname94]

I still think synths are super cool and will have a place for years to come

[@jakemertz2660]

I think about that a lot too... just imagining what it was like to be a person hearing a synth who had never heard a synth before... must’ve been magical.

[@stolenname94]

@@shinmadd3517 I would vote again!!

[@Mardy-old-Bstard]

It's like watching Bob Ross of the synth world.

[@dont.ripfuller6587]

Noice

[@troyc4841]

Bobbi Ross

[@jadedandbitter]

@@troyc4841 nah he was still Walter back then

[@seyyednaqvi6760]

Why is everyone the Bob Ross of everything?

[@Minihood31770]

@@jadedandbitter generally it's considered polite to refer to someone as how they identify now, even when talking about before they came out publicly.

[@musicobsessive123]

love you wendy, thank you for your work in the tech and audio field 💜

[@randomeyeliner]

A beautiful person and great artist ❤

[@Garionica]

this is unironically a very good starting tutorial on how to do subtractive sound synthesis, for anyone who wants to make their own sounds it's all there, in this four minute clip - the basic oscillators, the filters, and the envelopes for controlling all of these good stuff from a synth legend

[@JC20XX]

100% If anyone asks me how my synths work this is the first thing I'd show them

[@thechilledonion9313]

Agreed

[@ThatGuy-zw4le]

wow, thanks for the tip

[@wispa1a]

Absolutely she explains the basic waves. Day 1 synth work £20 saved

[@KCJbomberFTW]

Wait so why is she dressed like a guy?

[@HaloInverse]

Start of video: can't unsee the sideburns A few minutes later: the sideburns are _irrelevant,_ this is brilliance

[@CamelBlue777]

Hahahaha my thoughts exactly!!

[@jarzantarzanful]

Legend has it those sideburns were reused as pubic hair.

[@themav3ricm3thodd91]

those are legit lambchopz

[@abracadab1497]

Pretty sure she is wearing a wig over her real hair and put the chops on to be eclectic and cool which she succeeded in doing completely

[@thomascarcary9408]

I agree

[@WhereisWalashek]

Got an urge to watch clockwork orange towards the end and only realized why after. That was somewhere deep in the back of my mind from like 20 years ago.

[@crominion6045]

Wendy: "Okay, we're in tune." Moog Modular (to self): "At least in this octave..." 😄

[@TheSideProject]

lol could you explain?

[@crominion6045]

@@TheSideProject ​ On an analog synth, particularly an older one, when you tune the VCOs they will be in tune in the part of the keyboard where you tuned from, but have a tendency to get progressively out of tune the further away you get from that point. Let's say you do a standard tuning of the first A above Middle C to 440 (A440). Your keys surrounding that A key will be in tune, but as you move up or down the keyboard from that point the notes will start to drift slightly out of tune. There are ways manufacturers use to alleviate this as much as they can (tracking), but these adjustments can drift over time as well and need to be recalibrated by opening up the unit.

[@yellowmustard7482]

Underated comment

[@TheSideProject]

@@crominion6045 I get it. Something like that used to happen to me with a Pianica

[@bojangprodoktschns5428]

@Cro Minion: The Moog modular was built until 1980 and she also was Bob's assistant, so it is quite possible that the one she is playing here is brand new. Of course that still doesn't mean that it can't go out of tune.

[@paulseale8409]

Did Wendy explain these Moog Synthesizers were hand built one of a kind electronic wonders? I listened to these in the 70's. They are incredible!!!!!!

[@Praetoria113-zm3no]

Correct, in 2012 I got to be on stage with the number "1 Moog built right after Moog died. Tribute at a musical festival in Pennsylvania in Gettysburg.

[@francoisejohnson5492]

You pretty much needed an electronic expert to calibrate those old 901 oscillators. Moog was a genius!

[@cathiwalker3852]

I remember when our band Dillinger got the first one. Our sound man, Jim was a genius.

[@queefcheif9306]

no wonder why it was so expensive for ELO to tour, they were working with something as complicated as this

[@lukakoprivica]

Beautiful... Simplicity, music, freedom.

[@TanukiOfficial]

3:29 Of course Wendy would give us *A Clockwork Orange* sounds. The movie could not exist without her soundtrack. They are so one and the same to me.

[@harrybarrow6222]

When Wendy made “Switched-On Bach” there was no digital editing and no digital music. It was all analog, so editing was by cutting and splicing mag tape. It must have taken hundreds of hours of work to make her albums. An amazing creative woman. Dedication and genius. Her music helped me through university, almost 60 years ago now.

[@tangyorange6509]

Tape

[@cartoonhanks1708]

Trans woman? Or regular woman with fake facial hair? I an genuinely perplexed.

[@mariuspoppFM]

@@cartoonhanks1708 Technically she was still a male here but her androginy was rather impressive already.

[@fredschmitt456]

@@cartoonhanks1708 "Her" real name is Walter Carlos. And that's what his name was, when this was filmed, and when he composed the score for 'A Clockwork Orange'. Simple sex change late 70s, no big fuss. I used to own a record still labeled "Walter Carlos" - my oh my, why did I not keep it? Would probably be worth a bunch today.

[@montseservin1306]

@@fredschmitt456 ok so she's a woman. Got it. Thanks

[@Auntkekebaby]

Wendy Carlos was a gifted composer and educator. Respect for doing the work at this time in history

[@MrG9002]

also a legendary total eclipse photographer. The things that some people can fit into a life is staggering....and inspiring.

[@mizuko6132]

A time before internet. People used to have deep fascinations and hobbies.

[@quantumblur_3145]

​@@mizuko6132some folks still manage, but I know I don't

[@pbxkreal]

​@@mizuko6132💀

[@scobeymeister1]

​@@mizuko6132Nah she's transgender and autistic. We're still here and we still do this. The furry community (which is overwhelmingly queer and neurodivergent) built and continues to maintain our digital infrastructure. It's so universal that there are in-jokes that you get your hormone replacement prescription and your computer science degree as a set. It's not the phones! She's literally just built different. Signed, a transgender and autistic person with deep hobbies

[@user-to1su2iy4d]

​@@mizuko6132 Projection to feel better about oneself is definitely a take

[@axeman3d]

The amount of hardware involved in making and recording early synth work is impressive. The minute the piece starts playing I think we're all right back to the 70's and BBC dramas and sci-fi with the Radiophonic Workshop.

[@MikeSmith-tx2lp]

Absolutely, check out Isao Tomita if you want to see some serious multitracked Moog.

[@stevearkwright]

Exactly - with *Delia Derbyshire*, the wonderful wizardess of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop!

[@sicks6six]

I stayed in maidavale near the BBC workshop.

[@HighlanderNorth1]

☑️ Yeah, and by the late 80s you could do all ^that and more with a keyboard and maybe 1 or 2 small components, each about the size of a standard AM/FM stereo receiver. My friend nearly died in a catastrophic car accident, but ended up getting the first of a 2 part settlement in 1989, my friend spent about $2,000 - -$2,500 of a near-death personal injury settlement on a basic, but good quality musical studio setup for his home. It was pretty much all Yamaha branded. It included a Yamaha keyboard, and a Yamaha digital effects processor, Yamaha drum machine, and a Yamaha 4-track recorder, along with the requisite (Yamaha)studio reference speakers. The combination of the keyboard and the effects processor provided the digitally sampled sounds of a myriad of different orchestral instruments, along with many of the same synthesizer sounds you'd expect to hear from ^these classic rock era synthesizers. Once you figured out how to competently operate that 4 piece home studio system, you could singlehandedly cobble together and record what would sound like 3, or 10, or 15 or 25+ separate musical instruments being played by just as many different musicians, but all by yourself! Now you can do much of that with just a computer with sound processing software installed! Until I'd first seen how recording studio equipment works, I wasn't aware how easy it was(is) for a big record company to 'manufacture' music. By that, I mean they can take any untalented person and make him or her(or ze or zir) sound like an ultra talented musician! In order to record songs with these multi-track recorders, you don't have to teach the person to play entire parts of a song at once. They can literally play and record just 1 note at a time, then cobble it all together into what sounds like an organic melody! It's why some "artists" sound talented on their albums, but they suck live! 🥴

[@christopherconnors9258]

agreed, being a synth musician/operator in the 60's and 70's might as well have been a trade haha

[@charlescharliecharlotte]

All snuggled in my bed, I use to listen to the Switched on Bach record at grandmas house as a kid! Perfection!

[@thelastsidewalk]

I love analog synth. Just amazing.

[@rogerb5615]

All of us who sit before a digital board in the control room should bow to this woman. We punch a few buttons, move a few sliders, and key in some presets from our libraries. Wendy meanwhile was stringing patch cords, multitracking, overdubbing, and hoping the music didn't disappear in analog noise.

[@jgil1966]

This is a guy

[@meelsky]

Jonathan Gil Santillan No it isn’t, she’s a woman.

[@meneerlagerwaard2047]

Not to mention she's doing all of this on TAPE removing yet another factor of assumed luxury like distortion, changing your mind on the levels of any single little part of a drum kit, punch ins, and altogether stable playback rates, clock synchronization, and with both, pitch. What an absolute feat this synth revolution was. Incredible.

[@naysayerck5971]

​@@jgil1966no it is not

[@richinoable]

​@@jgil1966triiiiiiggerrrrrrrrrrrd fwad

[@hoonyfan2924]

I work as a welder for a living and find it incredibly fascinating to see how much of this technology I use on my welding machine. I can change my sign wave form from a crisp square wave to a soft square wave and into triangle wave. I also can adjust frequency from as low as 20Hz up to 180Hz. I have pulse settings as low as 0.1 pps up to 120 pulses per second. I can control the delay the wave balance from positive to negative and back. I wish I had the ability to plug and play like this to see what other effects I could generate and manipulate my arc while welding various types and thicknesses of aluminum. Now that I’m thinking of it, Moog should consider partnering with Miller or Lincoln and see what they could offer each other in both fields. I love technology.

[@Persun_McPersonson]

Wow, that's actually really neat!

[@qwopiretyu]

Musical welds

[@gatorbuilt]

Radio Frequency welding is a real technique.

[@golkor9879]

Everything is connected. That's some Tesla shit

[@selewachm]

I worked for a company that made valves. Big ones. Like huge sheets of steel welding together then cut apart into bodies for the internal valve parts. Those welders were awesome!

[@justinnewman13]

I am privileged to know about input waves and filters as a MechE, and in light of that the fact she knows how all of this works, and used it in an industry-changing product, is really impressive.

[@vinsgraphics]

Just came across an original 1968 Switched On Bach LP at the local Goodwill. The disc is in good shape, the sleeve is beaten up and coming apart, but it’s still a keeper. Wendy Carlos Vangelis Keith Emerson Jean Michel-Jarre - Giants of the Synth Age

[@OmeedNOuhadi]

Thank you guys for sharing! Wendy is 82 in 2022, but I hear is refusing interviews. Thank you so much for doing the Tron (1982) soundtrack. I've seen it over 600 times, but your soundtrack really helps to capture the digital to analog interface of the film from the audio to the video.

[@By_the_gods]

I can't imagine how different music would sound today if there weren't such very smart, creative, and capable people who came before us. Its probably corny and cliche but I absolutely marvel at shit like this. There's lifetimes worth of a life's work all around us, and fascinating people too. This is good weed, too.

[@audreyazwell]

You're not trippin imo, synthesizers really are an absolute modern marvel to behold to this day.

[@drioko]

Would be the same because creative people are not only on the past.

[@matrixate]

They spent less time using meaningless apps...like Tiktards today.

[@thepermman]

@@drioko we'd be in a different tech tree. Creative people only can focus on so many things at a time. Change someones day 50 years ago and we have a totally different world 50 years later.

[@SatansSimgma]

Are you being ironic? Or ha e you just not heard music in 20 years?

[@gabetrain8834]

Fun fact: one of the first if not the first polyphonic synthesizer was invented in 1938. It was made by the Hammond organ company and was called the Novachord. It looked similar to a square piano, but took more of its appearance from the electric organs. The synth had LFOs, filters, an attack and release, much like synths that came 30 years later. It had a volume control pedal, similar to the electric organs Hammond made too.

[@Wisselink87]

They way she's able to explain her craft in such a simple way is only testimony to her remarkable talent. What an absolute genius and treasure Wendy is!

[@harkerroland9750]

Wait... she????

[@hrdwrd2570]

@@harkerroland9750 She's transgender. Had not fully transitioned yet at that time I believe.

[@christiensebastien2442]

Look, I'm not saying she's not a marvel, but that was the most basic explanation of analog synthesis. No mastering of the craft required.

[@Wisselink87]

@@christiensebastien2442 That's the whole point, it may look basic to us now but don't forget this interview is over half a century old. The visionairy aspect of her work lies in grasping the potential of what was then alien to most people and using it to create and recreate works of art.

[@nervousprophets6879]

@@hrdwrd2570 medically wise, she was pretty far in at the time. Hence, the fake sideburns

[@jwardbass4452]

It takes great intellect to not only use complex synthesizers to create music, but to also be able to effortlessly explain the fundamentals of how the damn thing works. Much respect to Ms. Carlos.

[@ariesdane5876]

They say there's a fine line between genius and insanity. I do love how she dressed like Bach though, and this whole video reminds me of the synthesized Beethoven soundtrack used in the movie A Clockwork Orange. Just goes to show that people in the 70's had access to way better drugs.

[@sleebysyd]

@@ariesdane5876 I may be remembering wrong, but I believe she did the soundtrack for A Clockwork Orange!

[@tommyboy7598]

i diont think it takes much intellect, but people say im a genius so i might be the guy who can do these things

[@Celticshade]

Not sure why i was recommended this video but mechanical synthesizers are very cool machines. I cant remember who it was when i first saw basically a video showcasing theirs, and it looked like a control panel out of an old school spacecraft. It was genuinely fascinating to watch music being made on it, (this was a modern day one btw)

[@leeann4743]

I played Switched on Bach until it was ruined on my turntable and then I replaced it with a tape cassette... and then a CD... loved it so much!

[@BlackEpyon]

That's the most 70's anime hair I've ever seen!

[@Titaniumjake1472]

Legit sideburns thicker then myn

[@EternalResonance]

Conan Obrian agrees

[@0228christian]

Looking like Lupin the Third.

[@Nomzai]

Anime sucks.

[@0228christian]

@@Nomzai look out folks, we've got an edgy boi here!

[@Tronicate]

Producers: Synthesis is too complicated to be explained in a simplified way. Wendy: Hold my patch cable!

[@RizzlaBeatz]

More like “hold my sideburns” lol

[@jordanb.4514]

insert generic template comment

[@rrock2025]

Me: ok

[@WhatssupAlly]

@@RizzlaBeatz well this vid is about music not her sideburns lol

[@morgantrevino4881]

All sounds, are just combinations of various wave forms and noise. It really is that simple. Now how you combine those for effects is where it gets incredibly complicated.

[@stratuspei9405]

The sideburns appear to be a from a square wave. Kidding aside, I appreciate coming across this vintage video and intro to sound synthesis. Love the sepia tone of the film, the fashion and the devices shown

[@classicpontiac37]

For some strange reason I am doubting they are real.

[@not_ever]

@@classicpontiac37 they aren’t real. Nor is the hair. She wore them as some kind of disguise to hide that she was trans. She also used makeup to fake stubble. Eventually she developed a fear of appearing in public for a while before coming out.

[@classicpontiac37]

@@not_ever I'm shocked I tell you. Shocked. 😆

[@CaptainMyCaptain33]

Fucking awesome. She is so brilliant. That machine scored two of my favorite Kubrick films and her music was soooo good, moody and way ahead of it’s time which really helped create the mood of those two films.

[@dmj7180]

she?

[@saigey]

@@dmj7180 yup

[@Piespys]

@@sonnyplourde90 transitioned

[@derelictgbdavidlovo107]

@@sonnyplourde90she’s a trans woman, this was filmed before she was out

[@SVENY]

@@sonnyplourde90She is a trans woman, and your comment is very disrespectful lmao

[@morsine]

This isn't just art, it's an engineering masterpiece.

[@dogbot55]

I hope wendy carlos has seen "oscilloscope music"

[@Jedward108]

Fascinating on many levels.

[@Sabre_Wulf1]

I still feel kubrick gets all the credit where clockwork orange would be less than half the film it is without Wendy's iconic score. Its left a lasting impression on my entire life.

[@Marcus-nt8yx]

So the actors don’t count? How about Beethoven?

[@pearz420]

You're giving her credit right now...

[@violenceisfun991]

The music in the film is great, but i think the camera work and the colour schemes are the most memorable part of the film

[@Marcus-nt8yx]

@@violenceisfun991 i agree

[@jasonjacoby]

I could say the same thing about Tron! 💜

[@ruffastoast8570]

She just explained everything I've ever wondered about the plugins I'm trying to use.

[@Suzuha_Amane]

it's a he

[@tensevo]

wut?

[@gandalf8216]

@@Suzuha_Amane It's a woman. Don't let the sideburns fool you.

[@Suzuha_Amane]

@@gandalf8216 it's a dude

[@gandalf8216]

@@Suzuha_Amane Was born a dude, but however little I think of transsexuals in general, I'm giving her the pass for giving us the Moog synths. Same as with William Shatner, he gets the pass of being a narcissistic asshole because he was Captain Kirk.

[@luciusvorenus9445]

Loved Wendy's work on "Tron".

[@jimmea6317]

the synthesis of analog to digital waveforms creates some of the most beautiful and mysterious sounding tunes in its own way

[@eikopoppy29]

Because of records like this, future generations hundreds of years from now will be able to look back on "ancient" technology in the context of when it was cutting edge. Imagine being able to watch Orville Wright explain how to fly an airplane, or Sir Francis Drake commanding a sailing ship.

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

Yes! Although I'm unsure that Drake invented sailing :P

[@Tjalve70]

@@ellenorbjornsdottir1166 Eiko never said Drake invented sailing. He just said sailing was cutting edge technology. There is a lot of technology that has vanished, because it's not of use anymore.

[@juanmarcelo589]

Wright brothers explaining how to use a catapult to put a plane on air meanwhile Santos Dumont explaining how to make a airplane fly by itselt

[@tedmerr]

on an episode of ALF he describes electronic music as "Ancient history" when working on making a rock video for Lynn

[@botmw7241]

deez nuts

[@Tesla_Death_Ray]

Hard to overstate her significance to electronic music

[@DominusOminous]

Impossible to overstate.

[@otakumangastudios3617]

Can someone please explain how she has sideburns?

[@digiquo8143]

@@otakumangastudios3617 he's a dude

[@otakumangastudios3617]

@@digiquo8143 you know they literally called the person wendy, right? I've never heard of a man named Wendy

[@digiquo8143]

@@otakumangastudios3617 "born Walter Carlos" from Wikipedia

[@FLORIDIANMILLIONAIRE]

The square wave width change is called pulse width modulation now

[@ghostcoffee5112]

the sideburns are a goddamn power move edit: I just liked the sideburns...

[@TemenosL]

She actually wasn't ready to come out, so wore a 'disguise' here.

[@caveiradacaverna6713]

Wish I looked half this cool with sideburns

[@Philrc]

@@TemenosL she wasn't gay, she was/is transgender

[@candelacandela41]

@@Philrc you can "come out" as trans too

[@MiyaAhmed]

@@candelacandela41 I think that's what they meant?

[@chrizzle30]

As a child of the 80s, these sounds were iconic and normalized. Now they just sound creepy... And I love it.

[@privateprivate1865]

I couldn't agree more. I'm actually really interested in '70s and '80s synth soundtracks. I got tired of all the crappy music nowadays and bored with listening to the same old favorites from the '80s that I started looking into some of my favorite horror movie soundtracks. One of my favorites is near dark from Tangerine dream. I like the soundtrack from creep show I like soundtrack from Dawn of the Dead. If you have any you could recommend I'm all ears.

[@dirt420]

@@privateprivate1865 youre not looking enough if you think todays music is crappy, look up domi, jd beck, puma blue, spill tab, tyler the creator, isaiah sharkey i could go on and on.

[@EliChristman]

Were you ever into Michael Iceberg (Iseberg). He headlined Tomorrowland in Disney in the 70s and 80s. A 20+ minute clip is even on KZbin of an entire concert and him explaining the machine he built (but not in such detail as this video). Man, that video gets the feels moving for me. :-)

[@The_Touring_Jedi]

I remember that synth sound when I heard first time Sweet Dreams from Eurythmics in 1985 my mother was listening...woow that sound was amazing...

[@brianregan75]

The 70s was a creepy, dark decade overall. So these medieval synth sounds suit it just perfectly :)

[@user-gl9gf7bm6q]

What an amazing person

[@tightcamper]

That was immensely interesting. How to you get all those controls into your brain and muscle memory. Extraordinary!

[@dannygjk]

People today don't realize how much painstaking work went into creating a Moog machine music track. With today's hardware and software almost anyone can do it in an hour.

[@nobodycares5981]

how so

[@dannygjk]

@@nobodycares5981 I mean a person with music training and/or experience composing of course not someone with zero training or experience. I've watched people in KZbin videos do things quickly using software on a modern piece of equipment and/or a computer. Using the Moog machine vs what is available today is like night and day. Many things have become easier due to computer's hardware and software. Another example is creating animation - cartoons for example.

[@xenasBS]

It's amazing, isn't it? The democratization of art! That said I'd still love to play around with a Moog someday. Analogue equipment always has a quality you just can't capture with the software equivelents I'm used to.

[@MirekFe]

@@xenasBS m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXfKpZJ3p7yibNU

[@MirekFe]

@@xenasBS _Analogue equipment always has a quality you just can't capture with the software equivelents...._ The Yamaha Reface CS, begs to differ. ↑↑↑

[@sham_wow_guy]

This is by far the simplest explanation I've ever heard on how synthesizers work.

[@anniedarkhorse6791]

Wendy is a true musical genius. Very useful synth lesson here.

[@willo7734]

She actually did make it sound more simple, even though it’s obviously massively complicated.

[@dean6816]

That ain't no she!

[@Regular_Decorated_Emergency]

@dean6816What are you on about?

[@Widderic]

First thing I thought of was clockwork orange and boom just realized she did the score.

[@hiphopefx]

And The Shining.

[@akirafan28]

Cool to know ^_^

[@wininspn]

I was looking for this comment! Same with me.

[@starmc26]

He, did the score.

[@Widderic]

@@starmc26 What?

[@echoesrecordingstudio586]

It’s quite hard to express in words what a absolute genius and wonderful human being that Wendy is.

[@skottcoucill8343]

Lol. Gay.

[@uv23baby]

Is this a guy or a girl ?

[@lukassheridan5271]

@@uv23babyI'm pretty sure she's a trans woman

[@mariuspoppFM]

@@uv23baby A guy with strong female features some years before her transition operation

[@molybdenumrose]

@@uv23baby She is a trans woman

[@rosemarywessel1294]

Not only a technical and musical genius, but one of the best teachers ever. I've loved her work and explanations of it since I first discovered it as an elementary school kid 50+ years ago.

[@The_Establishment_Is_Satanic]

@rosemarywessel1294 *He is very talented there is no doubt.

[@Haitch_Kay]

​@@The_Establishment_Is_Satanic your family is embarrassed by you and you'll spend your entire life miserable and alone. You have no joy inside of you so all you do is try to punch down at marginalized people just so you can feel like you have something in your life

[@0DTEVIXCALLS]

His*

[@MrDubmaster]

Fascinating. I always loved the music from Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange film, but this is the first time I've ever encountered any film documentation of the creator of that soundtrack.

[@bobpuslkr5025]

She put on the Sideburns from that Spongebob episode to be an adult.

[@IamSpacedad]

I wish there was more readily available footage of Wendy Carlos giving lectures on how to use electronic music equipment.

[@tizzlekizzle]

Can you imagine having that entire room in your laptop it's unbelievably amazing

[@masonmorgan4]

nigga please..that room is can fit in my pocket now

[@tizzlekizzle]

@@masonmorgan4 Thanks for sharing.

[@efisgpr]

@@tizzlekizzle LMAO

[@efisgpr]

@@Akronkangaroo So true! Also: movie theater, language lab...and, accounting for delivery -- grocery store, restaurant, store (Amazon, post mates). Even a gym class, tutoring appointment, job interview, college course, etc. can happen via cell. Truly amazing. Don't need a TV or radio either, of course.

[@el34glo59]

Crazy

[@dalriada]

This sounds so much warmer and richer than a lot of techno synth. I just love the sound of old Moogs and Hammonds.

[@doctorwhouse3881]

Most techno intentionally tries to sound mechanical and inhuman.

[@Smithy88888]

Ooh she did The Shining! I can hear that organ intro now.

[@the_local_bigamist]

Just seen a comment which revealed to me that Carlos composed the theme for A Clockwork Orange, the amazing synth rendition of Purcell's 'Funeral for Queen Mary'. Still sends chills down my spine. What a legend this person is! I find synths hard enough to programme in this day and age, with all the ease that digital audio workstations give us, and that is nothing compared to the complexity displayed here - and displayed with such ease, whilst explained so clearly! Wendy Carlos was truly a pioneer of music technology.

[@blast3613]

"Purcell's 'Funeral for Queen Mary'" I saw a photo-slideshow of Bernado and Homulka , the serial killers, on YT with that as the backing track. Truly Haunting.

[@luminousfractal420]

it was a lot more hands on then though. theyd probably built 100 small devices themselves over the years, theyd understand every component and buy these synths based on that knowledge. these days we just get presented with all the options. we almost have to reverse engineer everything we use or just fall to accepting ignorance of it.

[@MichaelBrewick]

@@luminousfractal420 you may get a chance to build instruments from scratch again - solar storm coming our way now ; )

[@evakatrinaa]

...And adapted Dies Irae for the opening credits of The Shining. She's a genius.

[@Leon-cd4ne]

Exactly my thoughts too 👍

[@urphakeandgey6308]

Crazy to think a gadget that fits in your pocket could easily simulate that synth like it's nothing, but back in 1970, it would've been extremely expensive and state-of-the-art. Well, and analogue, but you get the point.

[@saintsataniko2116]

That didn't occur to you years ago with your cell phone? They literally had supercomputers that took up the whole floor of a building that had less computing power than your iPhone.

[@FreezyPop]

@@saintsataniko2116 what does that have to so with the fact you can use a synth on your phone?

[@Osamailyas]

its impossible to produce analogue wave sound on your cell phone or even a computer

[@Therealdamuski]

No it can’t produce the same sound. Not even close. Modular synthesizer are still cutting edge technology

[@geovani60624]

@@Therealdamuski no

[@slava1657]

Wow nice explanation from Stifler