Wendy Carlos is an American musician and composer best known for her electronic music and film scores. Carlos is the first transgender recipient of a Grammy Award.
Switched-On Bach is the debut album by American composer Wendy Carlos, originally released under her birth name Walter Carlos in October 1968 by Columbia Records. Produced by Carlos and Rachel Elkind, the album is a collection of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach performed by Carlos and Benjamin Folkman on a Moog synthesizer. It played a key role in bringing synthesizers to popular music, which had until then been mostly used in experimental music.
Hear 'n Aid was a charity record recorded by a large ensemble of 40 heavy metal musicians and released in 1986. The project was organized by Ronnie James Dio, Jimmy Bain, and Vivian Campbell, all from the band Dio. Proceeds from the album were used to raise money for famine relief in Africa.
Discreet Music is the fourth studio album by the British musician Brian Eno, and the first released under his full name. The album is a minimalist work, with the titular A-side consisting of one 30-minute piece featuring synthesizer and tape delay. The B-side features three variations on Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel, performed by the Cockpit Ensemble and conducted by Gavin Bryars.
Lawrence Roger Fast is an American synthesizer player and composer. He is best known for his 1975–1987 series of synthesizer music albums (Synergy) and for his contributions to a number of popular music acts, including Peter Gabriel, Foreigner, Nektar, Bonnie Tyler, and Hall & Oates.
"Never Let Me Down" is a song recorded by English singer David Bowie, serving as the title track for his 1987 studio album of the same name. It was released as the third and final single from the record in 1987, and served as his last solo single until 1992's "Real Cool World". "Never Let Me Down" was written by the singer himself and Carlos Alomar, while production was handled by Bowie along with David Richards.
Roger Powell is an American musician, programmer, and magazine columnist best known for his membership with the rock band Utopia.
Sonic Seasonings is a studio double album by American keyboardist and composer Wendy Carlos, originally released under her birth name Walter Carlos, in 1972 by Columbia Records. The album features four ambient music tracks, each loosely based on one of the four seasons, combining various field recordings with sounds from a Moog synthesizer. It marks a departure from her previous two albums which featured synthesized renditions of pieces of classical music. The album reached No. 168 on the US Billboard 200. In 1998, it was remastered for CD with two previously unreleased tracks.
A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis. These sounds may be altered by components such as filters, which cut or boost frequencies; envelopes, which control articulation, or how notes begin and end; and low-frequency oscillators, which modulate parameters such as pitch, volume, or filter characteristics affecting timbre. Synthesizers are typically played with keyboards or controlled by sequencers, software or other instruments and may be synchronized to other equipment via MIDI.
The Plan is an archival compilation album of early demo recordings by British new wave band Tubeway Army, released in 1984.
Lost in the Fifties Tonight is the seventeenth studio album by American country music artist Ronnie Milsap, released in 1986. The album produced four singles, all of which claimed the top spot on the Billboard country singles chart, including the title track, which was previously featured on Milsap's Second Greatest Hits Volume. The others included "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby", "In Love" and "How Do I Turn You On."
The α (alpha) scale is a non-octave-repeating musical scale invented by Wendy Carlos and first used on her album Beauty in the Beast (1986). It is derived from approximating just intervals using multiples of a single interval, but without requiring an octave (2:1). It may be approximated by dividing the perfect fifth (3:2) into nine equal steps (3:2)1⁄9, or by dividing the minor third (6:5) into four steps (6:5)1⁄4.
The β (beta) scale is a non-octave-repeating musical scale invented by Wendy Carlos and first used on her album Beauty in the Beast (1986). It is derived from approximating just intervals using multiples of a single interval without, as is standard in equal temperaments, requiring an octave (2:1). It may be approximated by splitting the perfect fifth (3:2) into eleven equal parts [(3:2)1⁄11 ≈ 63.8 cents]. It may be approximated by splitting the perfect fourth (4:3) into two equal parts [(4:3)1⁄2], or eight equal parts [(4:3)1⁄8 = 64 cents], totaling approximately 18.8 steps per octave.
The harmonic scale is a "super-just" musical scale allowing extended just intonation, beyond 5-limit to the 19th harmonic, and free modulation through the use of synthesizers. Transpositions and tuning tables are controlled by the left hand on the appropriate note on a one-octave keyboard.
The γ (gamma) scale is a non-octave repeating musical scale invented by Wendy Carlos while preparing Beauty in the Beast (1986) though it does not appear on the album. It is derived from approximating just intervals using multiples of a single interval without, as is standard in equal temperaments, requiring an octave (2:1). It may be approximated by splitting the perfect fifth (3:2) into 20 equal parts, by splitting the neutral third into two equal parts, or ten equal parts of approximately 35.1 cents each for 34.188 steps per octave.
Digital Moonscapes (1984) is an album by Wendy Carlos. "Written for orchestra, it is inspired by several astronomical subjects." A symphony orchestra is simulated using Digital Synth's GDS and Synergy Digital Synthesizers. These used additive and complex FM/PM modulation. She named her ensemble the LSI Philharmonic: "('Large Scale Integration' circuits, i.e., computer chips)". "This was the first digitally synthesized orchestra of any significance that a single composer could command."
But why do all this?...The goal ought to be providing the base on which to build new sounds with orchestral qualities that have not been heard before but are equally satisfying to the ear...look for the next steps using the experimental hybrid and imaginary sounds which have grown out of this work.
While the City Sleeps... is a 1986 studio album by American guitarist and singer George Benson, released on Warner Bros. Records. It features musicians like Paulinho da Costa, Preston Glass, Paul Jackson, Jr., Marcus Miller and Narada Michael Walden, alongside young talents of the time like Kenny G, Randy Jackson and Kashif. Although it does not have any instrumental tracks, Benson's guitar playing is somewhat in the headlight in songs like "Love Is Here Tonight", "Teaser" and "Too Many Times". The most successful single of the album, "Kisses in the Moonlight", is still frequently played by Benson at live performances and is present on many of his compilation albums On the B-side of the "Kisses in the Moonlight" single – alongside "Breezin'" on the 12" version – is the instrumental song "Open Your Eyes" which is not available elsewhere.
Switched-On Rock is an album by the Moog Machine, released in 1969 on Columbia Records. It comprises instrumental covers of popular songs from the 1960s, performed on the Moog synthesizer. It was one of a spate of albums capitalizing on the success of Switched-On Bach (1968), an album of Bach pieces performed on the Moog by Wendy Carlos.
Orakel / Tiefe is the debut studio album of Peter Frohmader, released in 1986 by Auricle and Dark Star Records. It was remastered and issued on CD for the first time on October 13, 2014 by Cosmic Egg for a limited run of 20 pressings.
Private Parts & Pieces VII: Slow Waves, Soft Stars is the twelfth studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and composer Anthony Phillips. It was released in August 1987 in the United States by Audion Recording as the seventh installment in his Private Parts & Pieces album series. The album sees Phillips explore ambient and new-age music with synthesizers and guitars.
