When she began to study composition seriously in 1960, a teacher, Gustav Ciamaga, introduced her to the relatively new field of electronic music.
"I loved the mucking-around quality of it," she said of her time in the University of Toronto's electronic-music studio.
"It was a combination of making things happen and letting things happen. There was no point trying to tune anything. Things would just kind of drift off. It was like a wilderness of sounds. And now that whole wonderful playground has been paved over," she said, referring to the much more sophisticated equipment available today. (source: theglobeandmail)
She founded, with Mary Gardiner, the Association of Canadian Women Composers in 1981. She was the first president (1980–'88), life member (2002), and honorary president (2007). (source: thecanadianencyclopedia)
photo: taken from facebook, but original is archived by the Canadian goverment :-)
Date:10 March 1975.
Reference:Accession number: 1981-262 NPC, Box number: 6359
Type of material:Photographs
Found in:Archives / Collections and FondsItem
ID number:4814808
Place of creation:Canada
Extent:1 photograph.
Language of material:English
Additional information: Series added entry: X-306, frame 22/22A
Source:Private
source: government of Canada: Library and Archives :-)
📸: Walter Curtin
An informative piece on the electronic music pioneer Wendy Carlos. Worth a read if you dig electronic music and want to familiarize yourself with one of the musicians who helped establish and shape that genre.
Carlos attended Brown University, double majored in Music and Physics, then went on to complete a master’s degree in music composition at Columbia University. Carlos’ formed a working relationship with Robert Moog (”the inventor of the first commercially available synthesizer” as the article puts it) which resulted in Moog introducing “touch-sensitive keys” into his synthesizers “allowing a similar level of dynamic expression to the pianos upon which they were based.”
After producer and singer Rachel Elkind heard one of Carlos’ renditions of Bach, Elkind helped Carlos produce what would become her debut album, ‘Switched-On-Bach’ (the release of which lead to the Moog synthesizer becoming a legitimate instrument and helped establish it’s popular use).
From the article:
“Carlos says she chose Bach’s music because his flurries of notes would be easier to replicate on a primitive synthesizer than slower, more sustained orchestral pieces. Despite involving exceptionally complex circuitry, the early Moog synthesizers were monophonic, meaning they could only play one note at a time, and they were recorded, painstakingly, note by note, in analogue fashion. Each inch of tape contained up to eight manually spliced edits; altogether, the album took over 1,100 hours of work to complete.”
....
“While the likes of the Beatles and Beach Boys had already used synths in pop songs by 1966, Switched-On Bach was the essential album in the first revolution of the synthesizer. It took the instrument out of the abstract realm of textures and avant-garde compositions, and made it sound harmonic, organic and instantly recognizable as music.”
....
“Carlos brought classical music back into the present and the future of popular music. In 1969, Switched-On Bach reached number 10 on the Billboard 200; by 1986, it was the second classical album, and first-ever electronic album to go platinum, selling over a million copies in the U.S. In 1970, it won three Grammys, for Best Classical Album, Best Classical Performance—Instrumental Soloist and Best Engineered Classical Record. It was a genuine phenomenon and spawned leagues of long-forgotten imitation albums. But, on a much deeper level, through Switched-On Bach, the foundation of western classical music and harmony also became the foundation of global popular electronic music.”
All the while, “Carlos had been working with the sexologist Harry Benjamin, whose work focused mostly on transgender patients.”
“The success of “Switched-On Bach,” Grammys included, helped Carlos complete her transition and focus on her musical work. Carlos eventually came out, and as such she became the first openly trans woman with a Grammy — three, to be exact. After that breakthrough album she kept rising to new heights, scoring the films A “Clockwork Orange,” “The Shining,” and “Tron.” That success set an important precedent for trans artists in the industry.”
Note: some of my above biography was lifted from the second article linked to below. Giving credit where it’s due because attribution is important.
After the Romanian's Got Talent contest finished, the tv post made me a big surprised and knowing my dream of becoming a festival dj, they invited me as a Special Guest at Saga Festival which was a beautiful experience so I will continue my SAGA FESTIVAL series.