Wendy Carlos — My Introduction to Electronic Music

I have, on many occasions, referred to Wendy Carlos as one of my introductions to the world of electronic music and synthesizers through her 1968 album Switched On Bach. It was Wendy who inspired Robert Moog to refine and perfect his Moog synthesizers, with which she recorded the album.

Carlos also produced scores for movies, including A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Tron, and she arguably produced the first album of “ambient” music, 1972’s Sonic Seasonings, which was released shortly before albums by Tangerine Dream and several years before Brian Eno’s album, Discreet Music.

Carlos’ response to an unauthorized biography by Amanda Sewell, the first book published about one of electronic music’s most important figure, prompted an article about Carlos on The Guardian in November of 2020. Rather than try to recreate a most excellent wheel, I’ll simply suggest that you read the article there.