1970: WENDY CARLOS and her MOOG SYNTHESISER | Music Now | Retro Tech | BBC Archive 

In awe both at her knowledge and her Lupin the 3rd boymode

Wendy is probably one of the biggest unsung influences on modern music. Respect is due.

There's something so satisfying watching her have to physically plug and unplug cables to get the sound she wants. It's electronic but tactile, very cool.

I remember reading an interview with her regarding Tron and how producers originally only wanted her to score the electronic parts until she informed them she could equally write for orchestra (phds in both music and physics).

Her Clockwork Orange soundtrack was extraordinary: ominous, bleak, jaunty, unsettling, camp. One of the first soundtracks that I bought.

A true pioneer on so many fronts. Moog didn't consider himself a musician so he asked around for help designing his synthesizer. Wendy was one of those whose input he solicited. She knows it because she helped develop it. Moog never got a patent for it either. He couldn't have made millions off it. But he instead gave it to the world.

My uncle, who was an audiophile, played "Switched on Bach" for me in 1969. I was 8 years old, and it changed my life. From that time on I was a huge electronic music fan, and became a musician.

This video is over 50 years old, but I swear Wendy makes this whole "synthesizer" thing seem wild and new. Tomorrow's World.

Wendy Carlos was a true maestro of the pureism of sound, her music in TRON 1982 and A ClockWork Orange was a pure joy to listen to! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Not too many people realize the dedication & sheer madness involved in recreating Bach's works on a monophonic analog synth, note by note, waveform by waveform. If not for Wendy showing us it can be done, the Moog synth--and possibly all synthesizer music--could've died out as a mere curiosity like the Theramin. What she did was the musical equivalent of making the first airplane flight across the Atlantic, just to prove what the new technology can do.

How she can explain all of this highly technical stuff like she's talking about making breakfast is very impressive on its own, before taking into account her skill as an actual synthesist and musician.

Her voice is so pleasant that it makes this even nicer to listen to. Thanks RU-vid for reminding me I need to learn more about her.

As a little kid I had the album Switched On Bach. I did have some confusion about why Wendy ended up being named Wendy, but my dad explained it (he just said the truth, as much as he could to a six year old). Switched On Bach is wonderful, I still remember it nearly 50 years later (for me -- I know it was out in 1968, I didn't get it until I was six in 1974).

boymode wendy out here looking like an entirely unconvincing drag king in her $5 stick-on sideburns. legend

This is a genuinely good way to show a synth works. After all, it can be very intimidating as an instrument if you don't commit a huge amount of learning what every knob and setting does.

When you mix a great pianist/keyboardist and a great gearhead/electronic engineer, you get someone like Wendy Carlos. Legend. It's rare when there's a person who can not only operate these gigantic complex synths- she can play the hell out of them as well.

What a legend. She has the rare ability to put difficult to understand concepts into easy to understand chunks. Not only that, she has enormous musical talent. What a combination.

My older brother has gifted me so much cool music, to include Switched On Bach. That was in 1970. Since then, I have ALWAYS loved what a synth can do! This is great stuff!

To this day, Wendy Carlos "Rocky Mountains" on the Shining OST is one of the most incredible synth piece I ever heard. Great to see the artist technique here!

iconic moment in boymoding history

You can tell Wendy is a nerd as well because of the way how passionate and well elaborate she explains everything on a level that even non-professionals can follow. I remember having seen a similar Interview for the BBC from 1989 or so when did a similar demonstration and also explaining Additive Synthesis. :) You have no idea how important of a creative musical rolemodel she is for me. We Love you, Wendy!!! 💖 🎶🎵🎹

This is both a super effective basic introduction to electronic music and epic demonstration of sideburns at the same time. Just magnificent.

Wendy is one of my heroes. It's a shame that she is not more well known.

It's hard to believe that Switched-on Bach is 55 years old. The best electronic classical album in the world in my opinion.

Wendy Carlos is one of modern music's true pioneers. Massively underrated or even shunned by the wider music community after her life changes in the 1970s, so glad finally getting the recognition she deserves

Tron is a huge reason as to why i love early synth music.. Wendy is amazing!

I have heard of musicians that don’t regard synthesizer players real musicians. But listen to this person and just be in awe of her knowledge.

Thank you, BBC Archive. To watch a musician like Wendy Carlos give us a demo on her Moog synthesiser is a gift.

The way she showed the intricacies of the system made it so that even someone like me with next to zero knowledge in the matter could appreciate what a revolution this whole thing was at the time. There's always those who paved the way for the rest of us to make our dreams a reality.

She quite frankly revolutionized music, and does a great job presenting electronic sound design advice that's relevant even today. Nothing bur respect for her.

I love watching experts talking passionately about their subject. Wendy's such a professional, and her music is so good. I wish she could have been her true self outwardly at this point, but she shines through regardless.

I just don’t have enough words to express the massive admiration and love that I have for Wendy Carlos. Her contribution to music, movie scores, and being probably the best visionary of the Moog synthesizer is just mind blowing.

Embarrassed to say I hadn't heard of her, while simultaneously loving Tron and Clockwork Orange. The technical explanation is so precise that I now understand loads more about 21st century presets than I did 10 minutes ago.

She was a huge influence on my electronic music journey. Indispensable knowledge and she shares it in the simplest terms.

I've been making music for about four years now, but I haven't heard such a great explanation of how a synth works than here from Wendy. There's so much lingo to learn but it makes perfect sense that someone teaching synthesizers to an audience of people who have no knowledge of them is one of the best synth players of all time! It amazes me how the music we have now is so alien compared to what we had decades ago, in part because of her. What a legend!

I love how she explains the equipment she uses so eloquently

Thank you, Wendy, for paving the way for women like me who truly appreciate electronic music and how it is made.

This lady right here is such a under appreciated genius who went through hell I can’t even begin to imagine. Yet, she’s always just been curious and creative and let’s be real she is The Queen of The Synth

Carlos is for me the greatest Genius ever. I love her Music since 1978.

"The last of which is the least useful" Little did she know the home console would imortalise that sound forever.

Such a brilliant piece, Wendy Carlos is nothing short of a genius

Great to see this uploaded in higher quality She describes the fundamentals of subtractive synthesis better than anyone else I've ever heard.

I just love Wendy! Not only a true musical and technical genius, but grounded enough to be a brilliant teacher, letting all of us not in her world understand what goes into her extraordinary music. One of the greatest of all time. BTW - If you've only heard "Switched On Bach", look up her movie soundtracks and other albums. Brilliantly original composer as well.

It is absolutely the case that listening to Wendy Carlos’ albums was the start of me learning to love the music of JS Bach and I shall always be grateful to her for that

Wendy's method of crafting the exact sound is very similar to that of an organ builder voicing a specific rank of pipes to get that 'envisioned sound'. This clip is a real gem to watch. Makes me appreciate the work from her albums and film scores. Especially the one from Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange'.

The Switched-On Bach long playing record was the first time Bach made glorious sense to me, with that wonderful clarity of the voices

As a child I absorbed this music like a sponge! My great respect to Wendy for transforming this wonderful music of Bach into the electronic world of the Moog synthesizer already in 1969(!!!). The analytical presentation enabled me to delve deeply into the harmonies and melodic progressions in these early years. Thank you so much! ❤

Still stunning after all these years. Wendy is a true maestro.

Been slowly studying up on classic Big Names in music as just part of a phase where i keep wondering "how did we get here?" In genres i like. So excited whenever i come across these type of videos/archives, hearing the masters at work in terms of thought process and, as well, seeing the tech they had at the time is such a gem always! I could hear her talk about producing far above any knowledge i have for hours and cant imagine getting bored

Amazing. I love how these artists had profound knowledge of music theory and respect for past masters... they weren't kids banging away at a drum machine. I've always had a great deal of respect for artists like Wendy, Elizabeth Parker, Peter Howell... we owe them more than we think!

Bravado indeed, one of the most underrated people in musical history .

I live in Asheville, NC where the moog was invented. There’s a museum here. I have been in it multiple times.

OMG, legendary material! Thanks for releasing it.

Learned of Wendy from A Clockwork Orange. What an amazing contribution this musical talent brought to that iconic movie.

An absolute pioneer.... I remember my Dad had Switched on Bach when I was a kid and thought it sounded so ahead of its time.

She has been one of the biggest influences in electronic music that pushed me to love this genre, starting from A Clockwork Orange soundtrack.

So precise, straight to the point. A masterclass as we rarely see. Thank you for sharing. Hope to see more !!!

Amazing stuff! Great to see such a pioneer at work!

So happy that the BBC Archive is posting this excellent clip again!

It's amazing how all of these fundamentals are still in use in synthesis today - and she's better at explaining how they work than most audio courses too!

her voice is so relaxing to listen to, i love it 💕 i could listen to her infodump about synths for hours

Her explanation of how a Moog works was so simple and straightforward that even I could understand it!!.

I worked in an electrical supply house in the late seventies and met Bob Moog who was there buying supplies to wire his new house. I had no idea who he was but a fellow employee gave me some history about him. Seemed like a nice guy. Several years ago a factory for his synthesizer was built in the city I live.

This is an iconic interview. She wasn't out yet so she had to put on those weird sideburn things. As a trans chiptune artist I am grateful for her for paving the way and being such a class act! I wish her music was easier to come by though!

As a synthwave artist, I think it’s fair to say I owe a lot to the Moog Pioneers such as Wendy Carlos.

You can learn so much about sound synthesis just from this video that you can actually still portrayed in today's digital synthesizers, even tho this is more than 50 years old, fascinating

Her music is fascinating. She is fascinating. Her mind seems an alien landscape. I'd love to see her thought stream. Amazing.

Switched On Bach changed my life when it came out. Isao Tomita came close second but no less of a brilliant synthesist.

Trailblazer.

I have only seen small pieces of this interview with Wendy. Thanks for posting the whole interview!

Absolutely captivating. I understand nothing of it, to be honest. But watching it unfold is magical.

Without Moog and Wendy, we wouldn’t have GarageBand on our iPhones.

This is so very cool. My father was a rather accomplished pianist and it makes me a bit sad he's not still here to share this with. Knowing him he'd be like "oh yeah Wendy Carlos, I played with her in the 70s at the Clam Shack w Jimmy Jones and Bobby Maddox." I miss the big guy 😥

Wendy Carlos is the best at explaining synths. She can really make everything make sense.

What a great explanation of modular synthesis by one of earliest and greatest of masters!

Thank you Wendy! Much love and admiration for your expertise, innovations, and music. ❤

Wendy’s ability to explain all of this in a way anyone can understand is just phenomenal. What she and others did in the 1960s and 1970s laid the groundwork for almost all popular music in the 1980s, taking something that had been completely technical in nature and turning it into art. While primitive-sounding by today’s standards, her albums are still delightful to listen to. Bach’s intricately mathematical compositions marry perfectly with the electronic sounds of the Moog.

And that "surprise when she first heard it" made the Shining. Amazing!

Listening to someone who truly knows and is passionate about a topic is always a joy.

Just stunning. Her intelligence, articulation, musicianship, technical know-how & sheer compositional taste. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

This was the first clip I've seen of her talking and I kind of chuckled at how thick her New England accent is. Pure Rhode Island right there.

This is such a treat. Thanks to the beeb that such footage has been preserved. The gigantic proportions of the synthesiser is one element of my fascination, of course. However, her concise explanation of sound generation and shaping, though by no means comprehensive is enough to focus the listener on the bare essentials, in order to understand what follows. For me, the magic, what helps me understand her, is the familiarity and finess with which she handles the 8 track recorder. Craft and experience, not some boffin but a seasoned musician, whose choice of musical instruments is not what other musicians of the time would recognise. I was thirteen when this was recorded and the first time I heard "Switched on Bach was about a year later. I remember the mesmerising effect. It gave music a permissive quality. Music could be more or less anything. I could not aspire to owning a synthesiser then and it was many years before I could afford a basic one, by which time, thanks largely to this music, a world wide interest and mass market interest had started the snowball that would lead to the amazing instruments of today, many of which I'm sure Wendy would have loved.

Well, Wendy Carlos has had an impact on our music for sure.

Classic stuff, thanks for posting! Wow!

For a finished example of all this incredible pioneering work, have a listen to the soundtrack for A Clockwork Orange.

That was one of the best explanations of just how a synth works 🎉

This is absolutely mind blowing. That they don't just know the sounds but the why. So much admiration!

absolutely amazing

I loved the shining theme. Did not know she helped write that. What an incredible mind and talent

this video amazes me, how she can explain everything so easily and make it look so simple

In my opinion this is the most concise yet brilliant explanations of this process ever documented. Very interesting!

Epic - shivers as she makes those Stanley Kubrick sounds

Wow, nice to finally see what looks like the whole film segment.

this is actually an awesome explanation of basic synth technology

I know someone who has one of these and it always blows me away how awesome it is…

"it goes owf awn owf awn" Love her accent 😄

Just fantastic. Music of "Clockwork Orange" grabbed me fr first note-Alex jumping out window

Our music teacher taught us so much about Moog in 1970. Great memories 🇬🇧

Wendy Carlos is my idol!! Switched on Bach and her Brandenburg Moog records was a masterpiece!

Wendy is still cool af, making music in her 80s👌 I'd love to meet her one day but probably will never happen to cause I know she prefers her privacy. If you read this Wendy, thanks for giving us such innovative music ☺️♥️