Young People's Concert: "Bach Transmogrified" / Bernstein · New York Philharmonic

Young People's Concert: "Bach Transmogrified"
with the New York Philharmonic
Written and conducted by Leonard Bernstein
Bernstein discusses different transmogrifications or treatments of Bach's works. After an organ recital of the Little Fugue, guest conductor Leopold Stokowski conducts his own transcription of the fugue for symphony orchestra. Other transmogrifications include Foss' Phorion and a version of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 performed by the New York Rock and Roll Ensemble.
In this excerpt, Bernstein discusses the Bach Little Fugue in G Minor heard on the Moog Synthesizer.
Original CBS Television Network Broadcast Date: April 27, 1969
Produced and directed by Roger Englander
Available through KulturVideo.com: www.kulturvideo.com/Young-Peop...
© 1990, 1993 The Leonard Bernstein Office Inc.

[@joelsmith3473]

"Guess you guys aren't ready for that yet... but your kids are gonna love it."

[@daviddemar8749]

Thanks for the back to the future reference and very analogous

[@henriturgutyan9244]

Literally

[@pumukliboti]

Favourite comment.

[@Enigmatism415]

nice

[@daviddemar8749]

@@Enigmatism415 Fyi wo uesi hanyu by myself Wo kanjian he zhidao Liang ge hanzi Ying ? he gui? What is the meaning of this phrase? Ching gassuo wo pinyin, ma?

[@yoless42]

What many of the so-called "purists" like to forget is that Bach himself was very interested in making instruments. He was known not only for his organ playing, but also for his expertise in organ building. He helped Gottfried Silbermann with the development of the PianoForte and gave a lot of impetus for the further development of many instruments of his time. I think it's safe to say that Bach would have loved to own a synthesizer.

[@pancudowny]

Irony: It's Walter (Pre-Wendy) Carlos' impression that if the great composers of the "classical" period were alive in the age of the synthesizer, their works would be very-much like what he--and those whom assisted him--had transposed with the Moog onto several albums, including "Walter Carlos & The Well-Tempered Synthesizer".

[@JoshuaWillis89]

Pipe organs were literally the first synthesizers.

[@paulfoss5385]

@@pancudowny Try that again without the dead naming.

[@artfrieso8851]

@@paulfoss5385 How dare he acknowledge that Wendy Carlos was once Walter Carlos! /s

[@paulfoss5385]

@@artfrieso8851 I might agree with you, if we lived in a perfect world where transphobia never existed and dead names were just old names, never weaponized to dismiss people's identities, then it could be a harmless bit of trivia, but we don't live in that world. If you're using dead names, you don't get to hide behind the banner of just stating facts, it is generally understood that its rude to share certain pieces of personal information about people. Out of all the thousands of facts about Wendy, he zeroed in on one that causes trans people distress, and then repeatedly misgendered her, going out of his way to fit in more than one version of male pronouns. So yeah, let's focus on facts, like the fact he was trying to be cute about being deliberately transphobic.

[@odealianaffairs9001]

That kid who shook when he heard the bass went on to become skrillex.

[@chaddraizin6616]

I can see that kid with a scotch in his hand elbow on the bar complaining to the other fellas from work about his mother in law.

[@dreamfh69]

Is it the beast from the chase

[@TheLightningStalker]

Which one became Hatsune Miku?

[@hanyanglee9018]

You seriously?

[@darkmetaOFFICIAL]

bro that's Bill Gates

[@qwasd0r]

It's the musical equivalent of the steam train racing towards the movie theater screen

[@gordonfry2644]

This is an under-rated comment lol

[@sidneybarrett8941]

Well said!

[@philiproragen431]

His space machine puns absolutely bombing somehow makes this video even better

[@vigilancebrandon3888]

Lol

[@GUILLOTINE_GANG]

"Sounds never heard before, on this planet at least." *crickets*

[@DrDeuteron]

The audience is dead, Jim.

[@BLAHBLAH-ib3mo]

he wasnt bombing

[@Rosskles]

The HAL joke brought the house down 😂

[@danabarnes4751]

The combined look of fascination and hatred from the orchestra is precious.

[@RickPotvin54]

Right, I noticed that too but as well-- the entire show was sidelined by the reel to reel tape player... where they SHOULD have had a real person at the keyboard playing it in realtime. I don't get why they played a recording when they could have playing the machine.

[@Laurabeck329]

@@RickPotvin54 This was a multi track recording and the synth that it was recorded from was a monophonic instrument so you would either need like 8 of them all set to different sounds or just use a tape recorder.

[@Laurabeck329]

@@samuelfellows6923 yea, but that technology was creatred like 20 years after this was filmed

[@willjones7132]

3:24 Is quite a shot.

[@amonster8mymother]

The horror the horror.

[@wakeforldmusic]

the first bass drop was pure fire

[@checkoutmyyoutubepage]

The kids knew. Noticed their faces when the bass hit? Also they were so unaware how this style of music would be in so many video games.

[@Quasarii]

in final fantasy 6 there's this music called "Dancing mad" played for the last boss. and i'm pretty sure it has the same motif or the FF6 composer has been inspired to this bach peice

[@cahill48]

Moog Bach Suites and Heartbreak

[@mrfister1899]

Read this comment just as the bass dropped 😮

[@a_boundless_plangency]

The double bassist would beg to differ.

[@GenesisProgressive72]

"Hello, HAL" Sadly funny how new that joke must have sounded back then.

[@graytonw5238]

I remember hearing him say that when I watched a broadcast of this episode, but I could have sworn he also said something about the Beatles making use of it in their White Album. I might have it mixed up with some other show.

[@corezone4250]

Still funny to me.

[@pencrows]

yeah it came out a year before this recording aired on cbs

[@chickenflavor9880]

@@rareform6747 based

[@camaradaforte2531]

Why sad?

[@HenryLondon]

I was there when this was done live! What great memories for me.

[@johannsebastianbach3411]

Ah, I wish I was there too, but I was dead for centuries, sadly.

[@michaeldagod]

Did you feel robbed when you found out you would only be listening to the tape recorded version? Was the Moog not working properly that day? What happened?

[@leocomerford]

@@michaeldagod Are we sure that the Moog wasn't working? Apparently it was only a monophonic synth, so to record "Switched-On Bach" Carlos had to overdub every voice of the polyphony separately to tape en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-On_Bach#Recording . So the most you could do live (without wheeling out two or more Moogs, which would have been a serious feat) would be to have the Moog play one voice "live" from a sequencer (the thing on the top left?) while the other voices were replayed from tape. (Or instead of using a sequencer I presume you could record the output of the keyboard to one of the stereo tracks of the tape, and run that track live through the rest of the Moog.) OTOH the Moog apparently had terrible tuning problems-it was hard enough to work with in the studio, never mind live, though of course some did play it live. So it wouldn't be too surprising if someone tried to avoid playing it live at all (though I assume that a short performance like the excerpt in the video wouldn't be too risky).

[@attiliobastosguarnieri5416]

@@leocomerford perfect ! Exato.

[@michatroschka]

wot? thats so great!

[@jirihorecky9644]

“This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultraviolence”

[@asklfhjaw8o48934]

The old "in-out, in-out."

[@d33j4ybf]

"The Korova Milk Bar sold milk-plus: milk plus velocet, or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking..."

[@chrisbystrak7967]

righty right brotha.

[@vanodyssey1659]

The sounds we take for granted in 2020.

[@Esrom_music]

Meh... Half of us still use moogs in the studio

[@MuzixMaker]

It's funny that those "never heard before" sounds are now considered "dated."

[@vaiman7777]

@@Esrom_music That was his point! :|

[@darudesandstorm5993]

@@Esrom_music yep and u take them for granted

[@snarkylive]

@@MuzixMaker They only sound dated because now computers replicate sequenced music more perfectly than artist's instruments. Real live performances now sound subpar to musicians that have their live performance computer augmented.

[@gengraded]

The range of emotion on peoples faces are fascinating. Boredom, Confused, Inspired, Awestruck.

[@DoctorNemmo]

I missed a kid watching like Shinji's father

[@Enigmatism415]

Hilarity

[@danielomni9084]

And all edited by the film editor.

[@WinkLinkletter]

Could be mistaken, but I think that there was a monitor and some of the kids were seeing themselves in it, as well.

[@michael4576]

@@danielomni9084 what are you talking about? Why would you say something like that?

[@tilliinfinity]

The orchestra looks like "oh shit this thing is gonna replace us! we should kill it now"

[@samuelfellows6923]

Well before that, they had to contend with the pipe organ and the Wurlitzer organ, both could replicate a human/musician based orchestra with 1 organist and his music book.

[@lumix1640]

And now almost every composer use synth, the orchestra should have kill it

[@agnidas5816]

Orchestras should have died with the advent of the dynamic speaker. The whole purpose of an orchestra is to fill a large hall with sound. The larger the hall the more members you need in order to fill it with sound. With dynamic speakers now you only need one person per section. The music scene has not caught onto this. It has been quiet a long time since the advent happened : P We should go back to chamber orchestras only. No more huge ensembles : )

[@tilliinfinity]

@@agnidas5816 booooring

[@lumix1640]

@@agnidas5816 Nah Orchestra give something nothing else can

[@adam872]

I was pleasantly surprised by Bernstein's view on the synthesizer. He seemed to dig it. I certainly did and I'm watching it 53 years later. I'm also quite certain I would have loved it at the age these kids were too.

[@dandyandy2046]

2:33 I love it when the robot on the left peaks its head out to hear that groovy sound.

[@greggweber9967]

Looks like a studio TV camera.

[@ntaylor253]

@@greggweber9967nice observation

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

I love the fact that Bernstein broke a lance for the Synthesizer & emancipated it as a real instrument (as it rightfully deserves), back when people still laughed it off as some fancy new thing. Just a few years (maybe 5 or 6) Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze filled concert halls with a big moog like this one here & showed what it was capable of. Earth-shattering fat sounds, hypnotic sequencerlines, poly-rythmic patterns & unearthly pads.

[@snarkylive]

Normal people back then didn't understand it, they thought it was like a music box. Instead it is an expression of fields and waves transforming math and electricity to vibrations of sound. Now your smart phone can make more perfect musical sounds than anyone's normal musical instrument, all the soul of instruments is in noise and imperfection, that is also now replicated perfectly.

[@monad_tcp]

@@snarkylive there's still something with infinite harmonics and sound bouncing in real walls that's very hard to model with modern computers. that's why re-amping exists, and sampling. perhaps the problem is that computers are too perfect.

[@Ader1]

@@monad_tcp Well, not really as much as you think...

[@monad_tcp]

@@Ader1 Yeah, I know, frequency modulation can be simulated by software nowadays. Its just that most of the models used are crappy. The good plugins usually have bank samples, but in theory it could be perfectly simulated. I was playing with this, I only used 2 harmonics, it was funny the amount of pink-noise/white-noise I was getting because of it, because I was dropping all the other harmonics. The moog was monophonic and used AM modulation, it was a different kind of beast. With analogs, each harmonics would require a complete duplication of every amp stage, it would be a wall of boards.

[@Ader1]

@@monad_tcp Ok but, what is harmonics according to you?

[@joermnyc]

He failed to mention this kind of synthesizer only plays 1 note at a time. Hence why they had to play it on tape.

[@davidreece6193]

Yeap. They used to tape a load of b flats differing lengths and other notes differing lengths and taped them together. The original tracks where done at half speed. In the mix they were played back at normal speed. The BBC Radiophonic workshop did exactly the same. Polyphonic keyboards weren’t on the horizon at the time.

[@JrChery]

Holy Shit, mind blown

[@ceephaxx]

@@davidreece6193 They multitracked different monophonic lines for a polyphonic result, yes, but by 1969 they didn't have to record individually pitched notes and splice every single one together. This system features a sequencer which Bernstein switches on just before the tape machine (albeit for visual demonstration effect only).

[@steve1978ger]

I was wondering how they would get the whole fugue into that little sequencer

[@Highlander1432]

Very primitive indeed The creation of the actual sound is where the sweet science lies How we as human beings respond to and create these sounds is fascinating

[@christopherfreud5894]

It’s a playbach tape recording

[@politesociety]

He does mention that at the start.

[@MacXpert74]

'playbach' I like it! 😅

[@CraigMansfield]

Ow 😂

[@JohnChernoff]

Get out! :)

[@1SevenCirclesDesign]

"Wow the technology back then was so bulky and cumbersome!" 2:32 and then the camera is rolled in

[@harleygould7255]

That was an actual TUBE camera....no chips, you had 3 vidicon tubes, like amplifier tubes, that were light sensitive, one for Red, one for Green, one for Blue, to make color TV.....And yes, they weighed a ton....

[@1SevenCirclesDesign]

@@harleygould7255 Damn... its pretty amazing how far we have gone in a few decades, those two by themselves where marvels of their own time

[@idiotidiot5821]

It rolled in with comedic/villainous timing too lol

[@isaidstream4547]

This reminds me to, Evil Gameboy - Virtual Riot

[@profd65]

This is a new realization for you? That certain devices used to be bigger? Is this your first day on Earth, or are you just a Zoomer?

[@ProSimex84]

This sorta thing along with a glass of moloko plus would sharpen you up for a night of the old untraviolence.

[@dan42129]

Hahahaha

[@turnerthemanc]

how the krovvy would flow

[@patcowley6378]

makes me want to tolchock someone in the litso....

[@marcanglin7127]

Might want to have a bit of the ol' "in-out; in-out", as well.

[@MarcoBoneMan]

yes

[@adamiotime]

Man, I can't get over how charismatic Bernstein was.

[@elijahvincent985]

It's crazy to think that retro 8- bit music was assumed to come from video games by many... This is where it's from. Square, Sawtooth, Sine and Triangle waves.

[@monad_tcp]

yeah, its the opposite, videogames took it because of the miniaturization of things like the moog. they literally have one of those like a chip inside.

[@dabidhanky]

This is an analogue synth. No bits at all.

[@TrueFilter]

What the fuck are you talking about? This is an analogue synth.

[@thecynth3820]

It is analogue, but it sounds 8-bit due to the largelt unfiltered sounds on a lot of this song (especially the square-wave with stepped PWM). That's what they're referring to, just the sound of this particular piece.

[@jumpingman8160]

@@dabidhanky has chips

[@wesleyleigh4063]

Ohh so this is where Keygen.exe music is from

[@broklee]

LmoA 1911 YIFY .x264 repack

[@StrandCheckout]

My god can't unhear

[@justsupersteve]

You deserve the best KZbin comment section award!

[@teldrah]

lmao those Keygens knew no chill. You would open them up and they would instantly start blaring some god awful chiptune rendition of Gangsters Paradise at 250% system volume.

[@justsupersteve]

In the old Ps1 days when you played pirate copies and they started with a Russian menu called "kalypso" and the same music playing 😂😂😂😂🤣🤣😂

[@canon5204]

I was looking for cheap records at a thrift store and saw “Switched On Bach” for like $15 and took it home without thinking anything of it. It feels special knowing now what a historical milestone it is.

[@dpalaoro]

$15!! I bought it for a dollar 😂 But that was in 1992.

[@rjwh67220]

I bought Switched On Bach when it was new for only $2.99.

[@fepatton]

My Dad, who was always listening to classical music, brought home Switched On Bach when it was relatively new and I was young. It’s one of my favorite albums to this day. He felt that Bach would have appreciated it.

[@nickgluciano]

The shot 5:20 with the Moog in the foreground and Bernstein looking on is one of my all-time favorites of him.

[@sergeboisse]

"Switched on Bach", by Wendy Carlos, was a revelation to me, back in 1968. She was one of the greatest musician of her time. And the first classical electronic musician of all times.

[@wardka]

I dare say she did a more tasteful job than the rendition here, which wasn't bad but a little over the top in choosing weird vibrato timbres.

[@movierun]

@@wardka Yes. Wendy (Walter back then) understood the potentials of the Moog synthesizer as a real instrument. Her interpretations were always fresh, original and dynamic. This fugue sounds like a goofy, cartoonish cliche of electronic music.

[@coleorum]

Switched on Bach was the first thing I heard on a decent stereo system. I think the Carlos work still sounds fantastic to-day because it was far from gimmicky and used sounds that enhanced Bach's music and showed off the real potential of the Moog. The example here is very poor in comparison.

[@movierun]

As a teenager back in the 70s, I would play the album "Switched-On Bach" (and the sequels "The Well-Tempered Synthesizer" and "Switched-on Bach II") over and over in my upstairs bedroom (sometimes with my big, goofy "David Clark" headphones, but more often through my special "natural sound" hi-fi speakers). My dad had suffered an emotional breakdown around this time and was diagnosed as having "atypical schizophrenia". He was given medication which calmed his nerves but usually left him very low and depressed. One day my dad was resting on the living room couch as I was cranking up the Switched-on Bach in my bedroom. Later in the day he approached me and asked me what that music was. He said he had been very depressed that day, and that the music had lifted him up enormously. THAT is the power of Bach (and Carlos).

[@SorchaSublime]

@@movierun was mentioning her deadname really necessary? i doubt anyone who knows of her knows of her by that name.

[@pancudowny]

3:11 - The way that boy reacted to the sudden, strong bass line... if only he knew what popular music was to become in 2021! ;)

[@joxer96]

I love how he started the sequencer which did absolutely nothing besides display some pretty flashing lights. Had to have something other than two reels spinning, lol. Great video though, I'm a huge fan of electronic Baroque.

[@KC9UDX]

At that time, two or more spinning reels and some flashing lights were what people expected to see from the highest technology.

[@joxer96]

@@KC9UDX Very true, same for computers, that’s why you’d always see reels of tape spinning at full speed on TV or movies. 👍🏼

[@KC9UDX]

@@joxer96 what most people couldn't wrap their minds around at that time (understandably) is that computers do transcendental things. Everything prior did things physically. Without something physical happening, there was no way to understand that a computer was doing anything at all, let alone something technologically amazing.

[@InflatablePlane]

Okay. I wasn’t sure if it was actually playing based off tones generated from the tape deck as some sort of electronic triggers.

[@joxer96]

​@@InflatablePlane The thought crossed my mind as well, but it wouldn't have been possible since the modular is monophonic.

[@Laurabeck329]

Wendy Carlos was so ahead of her time it's kind of unbelievable. An absolute genius

[@Vukuzenzele]

*his

[@eliastinitus5045]

@@Vukuzenzele No her, she was a transgender

[@Vukuzenzele]

@@eliastinitus5045 Doesn't change the fact that Wendy is a man.

[@rubikmonat6589]

@@Vukuzenzele Was, no need to be rude. It doesn't hurt you to be polite.

[@Vukuzenzele]

@@rubikmonat6589 Acknowledging reality is not impolite.

[@lucascienza]

seeing so many kids at a concert is joy

[@qwertstrewq]

I can see in a way of how these Moog synths became the inspiration of using them for two Kubrick movies such as A Clockwork Orange and The Shining. I’m even more fascinated to know that Leonard Bernstein had gotten touch with modular synths. And this was in the 60s!

[@random-protogen]

3:10 imagine if it was your first time hearing that deep rich synth bass, that nowdays... we take for granted I for one love the rih yet dirty sound of it, its just a genuinely cool sound, it sounds big and scary, and i can imagine to the kids of 1969 it would be just that

[@karlsangree4679]

I can still vividly remember my father taking me to a Moog concert at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. I was in my early teens at the time so this would have been the late 60s. The concert was performed live on five Moog synths. It was incredible. I owned (and still have a vinyl copy of) 'Switched On Bach' by Wendy Carlos, and 'Moog, the Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman'. That concert began a long running love of electronic music.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

The Applause for the Big Moog was really a sweet touch and well deserved.

[@harukatakahashi8822]

Big Moog?

[@thegodistestingme]

54 years later and now we have Keygen Church. I love to find pieces of history of electronic music like this video here.

[@CountDoucheula]

How you missed the opportunity to call the video "Bach TransMoogrified" is beyond me.

[@klaigonmacro5578]

hurry up, its doucheula!

[@mattzr1550]

Our girl wendy!

[@valentinozangobbo]

Cause Walter already done it. I mean, Wendy.

[@TheNinetySecond]

@@valentinozangobbo Yes, you mean Wendy. Absolutely no reason to deadname someone half a century after their transition, and you know it.

[@FriendlyCroock]

@@klaigonmacro5578 How old are you

[@koreboredom4302]

Amazing how that entire machine can now fit in a USB drive smaller than my pinkie today.

[@mrkv4k]

It can't. We are just able to very closely approximate those functions mathematically, so you can have a fully digital machine that does almost the same. Analog one would be still at least the size of a phone, even with the most advanced technology we currently have.

[@josephharold808]

@@mrkv4k I'd love a handheld honest-to-god analog moog (or moog clone) to piddle around with.

[@agnidas5816]

@@mrkv4k No. It would be the size of a keyboard. The keys are still there. We have to play on something.

[@mrkv4k]

@@agnidas5816 Sure. But the keyboard could be small or external.

[@ilcugginocanadese]

This is available as a VSTi for any DAW from Mixcraft to Pro Tools.

[@HexLabz]

The polarized reception of it, as apparent on all of their faces, makes me smile. Some liked it, some hated it, and one guy in the band looks like he was just fired.

[@untro7287]

Really was crazy how huge switched on bach was. Even my parents and grandparents remember when it came out, i guess it was a kind of moon landing album

[@MrGone-bw6bk]

I don’t know how many copies of Switched-On Bach were sold initially but there seems to be an abundance of them circulating the used market. I have 2 or 3 for sale now plus the second volume released.

[@nsbd90now]

That, and then Tomita did similar things. I had all those records. Strange how digital they sound, rather than analog.

[@urphakeandgey6308]

It kind of marked (electronic) machines finally being able to indisputably perform music. There were mechanical machines before like music boxes and self-playing pianos.

[@joeltunnah]

It was such a success because of Walter Carlos’ musicianship and orchestrations. The fact that the two albums are still enjoyable today has nothing to do with the machinery used.

[@blemke6343]

@@joeltunnah Her name was Wendy Carlos

[@SamsTheBams]

Huge intimidating synthesizer: BleepBlipBlipBloopBluu

[@dvamateur]

Moog 55 has been reissued at $35,000 apiece, and it was immediately sold out.

[@TheLarryBrown]

Yeah, all six of them.

[@jlee29170]

Virtual version 'Modular V' from Arturia is half-price this week. It's amazing.

[@seanspartan2023]

Behringer System 55 is available at $99 a module...

[@matsh51]

Bought the iPad app instead...

[@agnidas5816]

Grand pianos easily go twice that much on a run of hundreds.

[@michaelroberts1120]

And to think, less than 15 years later people could do this on a commodore 64, which was a fraction of the size and probably one hundreth the cost of the moog contraption

[@parasiteunit]

Funnily enough - when I looked at the timeline for it and considered the refences... That though occurred to me. On the same note, when I began making music - I had a DX100 and a tape machine (reel to reel). That was my studio. How things have moved

[@bluegrasssasquatch4930]

Still, there's nothing quite like creating music from a modular system like Moog.

[@AfonsodelCB]

I don't think the commodore could hit this kind of fidelity

[@hadror13]

The commodore offered 8 bit digital synthesis which is sonically different, but was mainly used for sequencing analog synths such as the Moog ones

[@SpencerLemay]

the commodore's sound capabilities were immensely inferior to this.

[@vinnieladders3470]

“Oh it was gorgeousness and gorgeosity made flesh. The trombones crunched redgold under my bed, and behind my gulliver the trumpets three-wise silverflamed, and there by the door the timps rolling through my guts and out again crunched like candy thunder. Oh, it was wonder of wonders. And then, a bird of like rarest spun heavenmetal, or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now, came the violin solo above all the other strings, and those strings were like a cage of silk round my bed. Then flute and oboe bored, like worms of like platinum, into the thick thick toffee gold and silver. I was in such bliss, my brothers.”

[@paulklee5790]

Double plus good....

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Viddy well, Droogie. Real horrorshow! *sips his moloko plus*

[@richpeltier9519]

The look on the first chair violin at the end is hilarious. It's amazing to see the reactions of the people to the brand new sounds, that nowadays seems common place and even old and out of date. We live in an age of wonder.

[@danniem]

Yes, it's true. I was alive then. People were truly amazed and in awe of machines that made music that sounds, now, like it's from a 1980s gaming console.

[@Transit_Biker]

It’s funny you say that, because the consoles that you talk about actually can hold very limited sounds while this instrument can make nearly infinite sounds.

[@danniem]

@@Transit_Biker That's right, and the machine was truly deserving of the amazement and awe we had for it then. And I'm not saying that, among the machine's spectrum of sounds, the ones chosen for musical productions like this example are to be ridiculed. Quite the contrary, these were sounds that were not heard much before and therefore "groundbreaking" at the time. It's just humorous to go back in time with videos like this and reflect on the things we saw and heard and how we felt about them at the time and how they look and sound to us now. Cheers! :D

[@nsbd90now]

I had all those early synth records. Strange how today they sound more 8-bit or digital than the 70s-analog that is really linked with Moog.

[@fordmodelT1957]

Bach famously said “You can do what you want with my music, but don't make me boring.”

[@jamespilcher5287]

That stack of gear looks extremely precarious from the side.

[@karlmortoniv2951]

Not just me then. The wobbling tape player freaked me out.

[@MuzixMaker]

That’s Walter Sear off to the left at 2:16 . I still have two LPs of his from that era.

[@user-fx1zp7pk7g]

Waouh, such a 'document' i discover here ! Of course, we can't help thinking of Wendy Carlos... But I am certain that J.S. BACH himself, from 'where he was/is, pushes and contributes to the development of the modern synthesizer...because he was interested and involved himself in instruments evolution ! The man was an absolute genius, the man who reinvented music, because also we must realise that all 'future' music is already 'contained' in his compositions and work... he showed the way to all of us !? Obviously, he would have loved to invent and develop the synthesizer, organs, music software,...but others like L.S. Thermen, M. Martenot, Bob, Tom, Dave,...followed his path, and we can all thank him for this legacy !

[@giuseppelogiurato5718]

I love seeing the faces of the kids; I first heard MOOG/"Switched-on Bach" at a similar age, although much later than this film was taken (Me and sister weren't doing insane little-kid dances to this stuff until the early 1980's)... Our reaction was the same: surprise, laughter, smiling, delight, the urge to create some sort of "mad ballet", and just a little bit of fright to make it alright... We, as children, always perceived a sort of "abstract spookiness" in the music of JS Bach, no matter what instrument on which it was rendered, as if it were the music from the mind of a spider, spinning his web and doing his intricate little spider things... does that make sense?

[@mwj5368]

You're a good writer! I like how you use the spider as a metaphor too, a very poignant analogy!

[@julian.castro18]

I never have thought that I'd see Bernstein playing chiptune music.

[@harukatakahashi8822]

Bernstein?

[@arthurroberts491]

About 1989 I attended a meeting of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society San Francisco chapter. The speaker was the chairman of Stanford University Music department and the topic of his presentation was electronic music. The most interesting point he made was about how we perceive music. He said we can create sounds with perfect pitch, perfect timing, perfect attack, perfect sustain, perfect decay, perfect overtones, and all the other stuff that goes into music; and it sounds absolutely dead. What is missing is the subtle variations in timing, pitch, volume, all that stuff humans do when they play an instrument. Skip ahead two years and I am sitting at my desk at home doing homework for my master’s degree in software engineering. The radio announcer introduces the next piece, a piano solo by a famous Japanese pianist. I sort of half heard it while I was busy typing away. Ten minutes later it hit me like a brick. I was not listening to the piano anymore. I was only listening to that other stuff. His fingernails on the keys, his wheezing breath, the creaking of the piano bench, the actions of the piano, the echo in the room, and all that other stuff that makes music so interesting to listen to.

[@eldruidacosmico]

Also there are variations in tempo that are natural emotional responses to the music itself and seem to come natural if many musicians are playing together, it's not only vibration, there is also a certain underlying rythm in the universe that affects music and viceversa. My conclusion is that music can't really be explained from the materialistic perspective only, there is a metaphysical aspect to music and, as a composer, I can tell you that you only put in like 30% of the creativity, the rest seems to come from somewhere else, Plato called it the world of ideas, I just call it God.

[@vigilancebrandon3888]

I agree. Although I think it’s worth acknowledging that (and I think this is demonstrated in videos like this one) much of what is fascinating, valuable, and gratifying about synthesizers and elements unique to electronic music is the potential for completely novel timbral exploration, as well as new ways to take control out of the performer’s hands.

[@polyman4]

No i don't agree I have heard some fantastic music programmed by humans but 'performed' by machines. Who is to tell me that myself and many others are wrong in our musical reactions?

[@MysticMorigan1998]

I grew up taking singing lessons. We were middle class, but when dad got laid off in 08, we had to stop. I was in 3rd grade, now I'm 26. But I too listen for vocalists and singers to pause and hold their breath in between lines because I was taught to do so. I love weird and creative music, from the automatic fair organs playing modern music, to vocaloid programs. Something that has always stood out to me, is that one voice bank, called Megpoid Gumi, despite being released first in Japanese language, she's my favorite to hear sing because she's so BREATHY. THEY MADE A ROBOT VOICE BREATHY! I've listened to her sing Skyfall by Adele countless times.

[@BetamaxFlippy]

Very glad that the excerpt was expanded to include full presentation and performance ❤

[@derekflanderschang9654]

4:09 guys in the back “Yeah our jobs are safe.”

[@thechilledonion9313]

It's hard to figure nowadays how this was revolutionnary at the time. And, it was pure analog tech !

[@MargaretLeber]

I remember watching this original broadcast.

[@harukatakahashi8822]

What year please?

[@Melissa0774]

The American classical music scene today, NEEDS someone else like him to come on the scene so badly.

[@ElSWVisitor]

The kids' reactions are great 😂

[@R1GAMBLER]

children's expressions are priceless, I hope they are all still alive enjoying music 🎶

[@kristianbailes2974]

i find it crazy that this was considered “inter-planetary” and revolutionary in 1969, especially because these sounds are common nowadays

[@stephenshoihet2590]

Well, consider that commercial jet service only started in 1952, in 1969 many people didn't own a television and if they did it was probably black and white and having a portable transistor radio was popular. Up to the point of switched on Bach, synths were still relatively rare outside of academic settings. 2001 a space odyssey is probably the first time many people were exposed to that type of music. I find it pretty amusing that for the longest time I was dying for good quality sampled instruments and now I spend a lot of time composing things with synth sounds :-D

[@CthulhuOO7]

5:20 He totally gets it, like he can see 100 years into the future.

[@michael4576]

That's a girl

[@CthulhuOO7]

@@michael4576 Was talking about Bernstein.

[@baruchben-david4196]

Reminds me of a record I had called Switched-On Bach by (then) Walter Carlos, now Wendy Carlos. I really enjoyed that record...

[@checkoutmyyoutubepage]

The bass drops at 3:11 and it was glorious.

[@kevinsturges6957]

2:40. as the Dalek wheels out from behind the set.

[@vigilancebrandon3888]

Haha was thinking the same thing. Truly a behemoth

[@Jimbo386000]

Exterminate!

[@MENTIONED_YOU]

This started my life as an electronic musician in 1978 (switch on bach and a clockwork orange)

[@stephenhall11]

I remember well when our music director brought Switch On Bach in and gave it a spin on the turntable and pretty much everybody in the band really dug it. I listened to it for the rest of the year.And I think the Brandenburg sounds new and refreshing in the synth. Somehow synthesizers go really well with Space and all the galaxies out there. They just seem to fit. It is music to go to Mars by.

[@karl9313]

4:25 the kid be like: "Maybe I could make money out of this shit in the future"

[@karolakkolo123]

Lmao

[@joeyhardin5903]

and he grew up to be eminem

[@MirceaLazar]

This is actually how i hear bach when i play! Amazing.

[@christophedevos3760]

I can also recommend the Buchla synthesizer, as heard on Morton Subotnick's wonderful piece 'Silver apples of the moon'.

[@texangentlemen3115]

Is this the beginning of boss music?

[@fijifi6477]

Wait a second I know the synthesizer, why don't I use the synthesizer ... Which then was synced to the Moog module

[@DJShoji]

"Giorgio by Moroder" reference.

[@larshoel]

Call me crazy but not only is the synthesizer there just for show, I don’t believe the tape playback is coming off that Ampex 601-2 recorder. If you look carefully, the VU meters aren’t moving.

[@Christianarroyo96]

This is awesome 👏 thank you so much

[@kent3779]

Goosebumps:)

[@bcgrittner8076]

W. Carlos really helped me connect with Bach and the other classic composers. Switched On Bach opened the door and I never looked back. Now, add the lyrics to this fugue: Bach was born in sixteen hundred eighty-five.

[@rantan1618]

It's amazing how the children look so baffled yet also very bored. And to think today's children would be bored for a totally different reason

[@urphakeandgey6308]

*_WHERE'S THE DROP?_*

[@gyulaigyula5254]

@@urphakeandgey6308 it's at 3:10, what do you mean???

[@mattmexor2882]

These aren't the average children of the day. These are the children of people who find the culture on display in the video very important and they are children who are of age to follow in the ideas of those around them. Although the reverence for the culture has declined among that class of people to some degree, I don't think there would be much of a difference if some new and weird, interesting but repulsive, thing were introduced to classical music today in front of children of those who revere the culture.

[@djmips]

They may look bored but they are absorbing.

[@pancudowny]

@@mattmexor2882 Speaking of which, you should hear the latest cover of "You Don't Own Me!" to come down the pipe... and into the local club scene! :\

[@broklee]

Thanks for uploading this!

[@_PJW_]

'Bach' and 'Bernstein' in one sentence epitomizes the 20th century for me.

[@chickenflavor9880]

One of the best videos on the internet.

[@Maplaplaplapla]

Love how people are surprised by the sound of it, and nowadays synth sounds are nothing extraordinary in almost any situation

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

This is an ANALOG synth. Nothing like a modern one. They CAN be found. But "they ain't cheep."

[@bipbong2906]

@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823Modern analog synths are plentiful in music and not very expensive

[@DoctorNemmo]

I was pretty excited when I heard my Atari playing this kind of music back in 1984.

[@Jimbo386000]

@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 dude I’ve got a modern polyphonic analogue synth for like $700 sitting on my desk. You just gotta look around. Modern analogue synths are surprisingly affordable.

[@Jimbo386000]

That is until you meet a good sound designer. Then you can find some extraordinary synth sounds.

[@terrywestbrook-lienert2296]

This was awesomeness! I love Leonard Bernstein ❤️

[@AdrianDeVore]

One of my late Aunt had that LP, Switched on Bach. When I first heard it in high school, it was a weird listening experience.

[@doom705]

2:24 when the song starts! =3

[@troybradley1927]

Thank you Leonard Bernstein. I appreciate your open mind to new things.

[@BBoyBiff]

This is amazing,truly beautiful seeing the young faces so shocked when the bass waves hit was perfect 😀

[@Algoritmarte]

Great!!! I would like to know if one some of those children got involved in synthesizers (as musicians or technicians) later in their lives.

[@albertpratt4999]

That was me in electronic music class in the late 70's early 80s and yes it surely did influence my musical journey, Thank You Wendy Carlson and The Moog "Monolith".

[@finiteofficial]

Incredible.

[@3LegDogTube]

Always a treat to hear Flying Bernstein explain the ceremonial dances.

[@tdg710]

And with this EDM and Dubstep were born. Amazing. I love this, it's history.

[@melissarainchild]

And Bach heared, and sayeth:"Wunderbahr!"

[@pancudowny]

I love how the girl at 3:07 is listening so intently, as if trying to gain an understanding of what she's hearing. Bets are she went on to become some type of electronic or dance music artist. ;)

[@walfredswanson]

This! Launched my life with classical music. I still remember watching this program which included the New York Rock and Roll Ensemble as well. I could not get that theme from the fugue out of my head.

[@patrickbodine1300]

The musicians in the orchestra were saying to each other: "say, this thing could replace us some day."

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

Not really. You still have to be a damn good keyboard player to get the full effect. ELP Fanfare for the Common Man.

[@__teles__]

Musicians laughed at it. Even today, its not real to the snobs.

[@ProSimex84]

This was a serious concern to some at the time. Even some rock musicians like Queen sneered at it, but later recanted and embraced the technology

[@pugix]

Actually, that was the intent of the RCA Mark I and II, the first electronic instruments called 'sound synthesizers'.

[@terryforshee5203]

**blank gaping stares** But your kids are gonna love it.

[@AlexanderStoyMusic]

Awesome !!!

[@kevinnolan3592]

Bernstein's introduction is without prejudice, neither complementary not mocking, yet captures _what_ about synthesizers set them apart from other kinds of instruments. Raw, unadulterated musical insight and instinct. I'd wager a large number of the audience were not up to taking it on board, though a few were - and indeed one of the orchestra players in the background _was_ listening with intent. I'd wager as many of the general listening audience, and classically trained players today, are still prejudiced in their view of synthesizers as 'lesser' instruments. Certainly as a synthesis who has engaged a great number of classical / orchestral players and composers, I find that prejudice to be quite widespread.

[@baobabfruitgames]

I bet so many of the legends of classical music would have loved to mess with synths, bringing those two worlds together is amazing.