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Switched-On Bach is a musical album by Walter Carlos on CBS Records, released in 1968. It was the first record to popularise music performed on electronic synthesizers, and resulted in a huge increase in interest in them, particularly Moog synthesizers. The album was the first classical album to go platinum. Entering Billboard's pop Top 40 charts on March 1, 1969, it climbed quickly to the Top 10; it stayed in the Top 40 for 17 weeks , and in the Top 200 for more than a year. In the 1970 Grammy awards, the album took three prizes: Best Classical Album, Best Classical Music Performance, Instrumental Soloist(s) (With or Without Orchestra) and Best Classical Engineered Recording.

The album consists of a selection of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed on a Moog Modular synthesizer system, one of which can be seen at the back of the room on the album cover. Switched-On Bach, or S-OB as Carlos referred to it, was recorded on an 8 track Ampex tape recorder using numerous takes and overdubs. This was long before the days of MIDI sequencers and recording the album was a tedious and time-consuming process.

Carlos followed the release of this album with a number of other classical Moog albums:

While Switched-On Bach is the best known of these albums, it is not necessarily the most interesting for modern listeners. The later albums featured more developed usage of the Moog and wider varieties of sounds. For example, a review in All Music Guide says that Switched-On Bach is significant mostly in historical terms and prompts the listener rather to try the next album, The Well-Tempered Synthesizer.

Influence

The album was given a mixed reaction at the time of its release. Some critics reviled it for trivialising the work of one of the most revered classical composers of all time, but others were excited by the freshness of the sound and the virtuosity that went into its creation. Regardless of the negative reviews, the album caught the public attention and sold better than anyone had expected. Suddenly Moog's company found itself inundated with requests from the record companies for Moog systems, and a rash of synthesizer albums were released to capitalise on the popularity of the new sound.

Some of these albums were similar to S-OB in being synthesized versions of classical pieces including:

  • The Moog Strikes Bach by Hans Wurman (RCA 1969)
  • Chopin À La Moog by Hans Wurman (RCA 1970)
  • Switched on Gershwin by Gershon Kingsley (Avco 1970)
  • Everything You Always Wanted to Hear on the Moog* (*but were afraid to ask) by Andrew Kazdin and Thomas Z. Shepard (CBS 1973)
  • The Unusual Classical Synthesizer (ABC 1972) by Mike Hankinson
  • Snowflakes Are Dancing (Clair De Lune) by Isao Tomita (RCA Red Seal 1974)

Others capitalised on the Moog craze by creating synthesized versions of contemporary artists and other genres:

  • Switched On Bacharach by Christopher Scott. (Decca 1969)
  • Music to Moog By by Gershon Kingsley (Audiofidelity 1969)
  • Moog Plays The Beatles Marty Gold (Avco 1970)
  • Country Moog - Switched on Nashville by Gil Trythall (Athena 1970)
  • Plugged-In Joplin by The Eden Electronic Ensemble (Pye 1975)

Track listing for Switched-On Bach

  1. Sinfonia to Cantata No. 29
  2. Air on a G String (from orchestral suite no. 3)
  3. Two-Part Invention in F Major
  4. Two-Part Invention in B Flat Major
  5. Two-Part Invention in D Minor
  6. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (from Cantata No. 147)
  7. Prelude and Fugue No. 7 in E Flat Major (from Well-Tempered Clavier)
  8. Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C Minor (from Well-Tempered Clavier)
  9. Chorale Prelude "Wachet Auf"
  10. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major - Allegro
  11. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major - Adagio
  12. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major - Allegro

  • Note: the second part of third Brandenburg Concerto is Carlos's own composition since the original piece is meant to be improvised

Personnel

  • Wendy Carlos (under her birthname of Walter Carlos) - Keyboards, programming
  • Rachel Elkind - Producer

Re-releases

Carlos released Switched-On Bach 2000 in 1992 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original album's release. It is essentially a remake of the original LP--not a rerelease--using state-of-the-art (as of 1992) digital synthesizers and computer-assisted recording. Although the CD contains the same track listing as the original (with the additional inclusion of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and a brief original composition) the new digital synth sounds are radically different in feeling, prompting some criticism from fans.

In 1999, Carlos released the Switched-On Boxedset, a lavishly produced 4-CD boxset comprising the following albums in their original form:

  • Switched-On Bach
  • The Well-Tempered Synthesizer
  • Switched-On Bach II
The remaining disc differs from its original vinyl LP format by including only the remaining Brandenburg Concertos not heard on the previous three discs:
  • Switched-On Brandenburgs

The albums have been remastered by Carlos and include some bonus tracks. The boxset also includes a 150 page booklet with photos, production notes, etc.

References

  1. Joel Whitburn. Top 40 Albums. New York: Billboard Books.

External links

  • http://www.wendycarlos.com/+sob.html

1968 albums

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Switched-On Bach".

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