Description WALTER CARLOS Switched-On Bach NM/NM Used Audiophile Vinyl Record Record Label: CBS Mastersound/Columbia HM 47194 Switched-On Bach is a musical album by Wendy Carlos (originally released under the name of Walter Carlos) and Benjamin Folkman, produced by Carlos and Rachel Elkind and originally released in March 1968 by Columbia Masterworks Records. This Original Master Recording was made using the half-speed production process. The pressing was sourced from the original stereo master tapes. Produced by Columbia in the 1980s in very few quantities and are very collectable today. Condition: Record cover shows no wear. Corners are sharp. Spine, top and bottom are solid and show no signs of shelf wear, chipping or splits. There are no spindle marks on the label. Vinyl is clean, shiny and plays like new. Side One 1. Sinfonia To Cantata No. 29 2. Air On A G String 3. Two-Part Invention In F Major 4. Two-Part Invention In B-flat Minor 5. Two-Part Invention In D Minor 6. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring 7. Prelude And Fugue No. 7 In E-Flat Major Side Two 8. Prelude And Fugue No. 2 In C Minor 9. Chorale Prelude "Wachet Auf" 10. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 In G Major 11. First Movement 12. Second Movement 13. Third Movement Review: The album consists of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed on a Moog synthesizer, a 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Bach," or "S-OB" as Carlos referred to it, was recorded on a custom-built 8 track recorder (constructed by Carlos from superseded Ampex components), using numerous takes and overdubs. This was long before the days of MIDI sequencers or polyphonic keyboards. Recording the album was a tedious and time-consuming process—each of the pieces had to be assembled one part at a time, and Carlos, Elkind and Folkman devoted many hours to experimenting with suitable synthetic sounds for each voice and part. Due to the monophonic nature of the Moog instrument, Carlos never had the option of recording multiple notes on the same track, and in the same take. The simplest chordal constructions required multi-tracking, synchronization, and perfect timing, adding greatly to the overall time consumed by the project. Carlos—a highly proficient musician and studio engineer and a former student of Vladimir Ussachevsky -- worked closely with synthesizer designer Robert Moog throughout the recording process, testing his various components and suggesting many improvements.