Search - Recorded Sound, Johann Sebastian Bach, Claudio Monteverdi :: Switched-On Boxed Set

Devotion to her art, dedication to her audience.

Joseph Ekaitis | Southern California | 10/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wendy Carlos didn't have to do this, you know. Fer pity's sake, the oldest of these recordings is now well past legal drinking age! And, heck, on the average stereo system found in Joe Sixpack's living room (where a vinyl copy of the original "Switched-On Bach" is lost between an LP of "The Byrd's: Greatest Hits" and the soundtrack album to "The Sting"), the original Columbia Masterworks CD of "Switched-On Bach" sounded just fine. Besides, the analog synthesizer has long since taken its place next to the valveless Baroque trumpet and the rare violino piccolo as a "period instrument". "Puh-leez, Wendy!" some might shriek. "Give it a rest!"



But, no. Wendy Carlos knows that her musical medium of choice is rarely heard in live performances. It's largely confined to film scores and recordings. Synthesizer ensemble concerts came and went so fast, who noticed? And, yes, we all ran out and bought "Switched-On Bach 2000" on the Telarc label, eagerly plopped it into our CD players and, quite frankly, wondered where all the fun went. Wendy's experiments with "tuning on the fly" went right over most of our heads. In the ensuing 25 years since the original, Wendy's skill as a musician had grown. Her mastery of digital technology had certainly kept pace with each development, but somewhere along the way, the passion, the verve, the very lfe of the music just wasn't there.



"Switched-On Bach" was a unique recording. It could no more be recreated nor improved upon than could an ensemble of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and a couple session musicians be dubbed The Beatles for the New Millennium. Even if Wendy dusted off and plugged in every module and submodule of the Moog synthesizer on which it was created, it wouldn't be the same. Part of what makes a great recording is the recording itself.



And this is exactly what Wendy Carlos has chosen to concentrate upon. First, she secured both the rights and all of the master tapes of "Switched-On Bach", "The Well-Tempered Synthesizer", "Switched-On Bach II" and "Switched-On Brandenburgs" from Columbia. Then, she literally scrubbed every second of the music of tape noise, splice pops and all those other delightful little surprises that wound up on the Columbia CD of "Switched-On Bach". She equalized the sound to take full advantage of current 20-bit CD technology. With the help of independent label East Side Digital, she packed it all into 4 CDs with graphics and midi files, a booklet of the original liner notes and another booklet about the whole project. Inside a single slipcase is the turning point of an entire industry and thanks to Amazon.com, it's yours for less than half a C-note.



Thank you, Wendy."

Better than ever

Ian R Lewis | 01/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow. Switched-On Bach still has the magic, after all these years.I doubt you could find any compilation anywhere that would even come close to the value that this set presents. Newly remastered versions of all four of Carlos's incredible baroque Moog transcriptions, all of the original liner notes, reproductions of the original covers, extra audio tracks with outtakes from the original albums, and a gargantuan booklet of new notes--plus nearly 35 MEGABYTES of material accessible from a CD-ROM drive. Carlos includes a snapshot of her entire website, pictures of her studio, even the MIDI source for the entire SOB 2000 album (which updated the original SOB selections). All this for less than sixty bucks!Value isn't the only point in this set's favor. This is THE seminal work of electronic music, the recording that launched the entire genre into the public eye. Carlos's orchestration makes classical music fun to listen to again--even if you've heard Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, and Monteverdi hundreds of times, you've never heard them like this. Creative use of stereo and careful attention to synthesizer programming ensure that every part of every piece is distinct and special. You literally cannot do these things with a traditional orchestra. This isn't a replacement for acoustic performances of the classics, but it is an indispensable companion to them.Fans of pure electronic music shouldn't be disappointed, either. These discs are the origin of "phat." Whether you like New Age or Hip-Hop, the sounds and textures in this set should really move you. Carlos worked more than a decade before the TB-303 and the TR-808, but you'll recognize a lot of the sounds in these albums anyway--because they were so good that they became widely imitated instant classics.I wish I could come up with a list of negatives for this set, but I honestly can't. It's true that I like some tracks more than others, but I can't in truth say that any of them are bad. This set is a must buy."

Editorial reviewer is clueless

David W. Skinner | Grandview, WA United States | 12/14/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jason Verlinde (editorial review) are you nuts? I seems that you intended to write a favorable review but you clearly have no understanding of the music. "Wacky", "goofy", "hilarious" are words you use to describe a serious groundbreaking milestone in both classical and electronic music. You dismiss worldclass musicianship as a "battery of special effects". Shame!"