Two synthesisers are used throughout Tron the analog Moog Modular, for the ‘fat’, occasionally ‘chorus-like’ sounds, and the GDS (General Development System). We must remember that Carlos had graduated from Columbia University with a degree in physics and maths she spoke the language of science fluently, and it helped her understand the limitations, as well as the capabilities, of the synthesiser. The types of synthesisers you’ll hear in Tron significantly impacted how Carlos wrote the score. That chapter could only have been written by someone like Wendy Carlos. But more importantly, Tron, is more than a superficial artefact of ‘80s aesthetics it’s a vital chapter in the development of the synthesiser unfolding right before your ears. It’s also the kind of soundtrack that benefits from solo listening, having been mixed rather quietly in the film. Tron therefore stands as Carlos’ fullest cinematic vision out of the trio of soundtracks.
Her working relationship with Kubrick came to a close when Carlos and producer Rachel Elkind slaved away for two years on the score for The Shining, only for three measly cues to be used by Kubrick in the final cut. Meanwhile, The Shining became acclaimed for its use of chilling pieces by Penderecki and Bartok – but as on its predecessor, Carlos was given little room to actually compose. Tron is routinely overshadowed by her work on two other major soundtracks, Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange and The Shining.Ī Clockwork Orange became famous for its eerie Beethoven performances, along with the first recorded use of the vocoder for singing. This week is the anniversary of the Tron soundtrack, which Carlos composed in 1982. Without Carlos, the synthesiser simply would not exist in the same way it does today.įor all the critical acclaim, it’s notoriously difficult to find digital copies of most of Carlos’ work – that is, except for her soundtracks. It was Carlos who advised Robert Moog on the refinement of his novel instrument, the Moog Synthesizer, the first commercially available synthesiser and the blueprint for most that would follow. It was the release of Switched-On Bach that exposed mainstream audiences to the possibilities of the synthesiser as an instrument. But Ciani’s quote was a surprisingly blatant slap in the face during a documentary supposedly dedicated to uplifting the various female creatives that had otherwise been omitted from the official narrative.Īs retroactive as her music supposedly was, Carlos was instrumental to not only the popularisation of the synth, but its construction, too. But Carlos' relationship with the media has been turbulent for a long time, the most egregious example being an invasive Playboy interview that zeroed in remorselessly on her gender transition at the expense of talking about her music. Not even considering the visual misgendering the film indulged in, the coverage looked like an attempt to leave her legacy undermined. This claim was made by electronic musician Suzanne Ciani in the 2020 documentary Sisters With Transistors, during the meagre portion set aside to cover pioneering electronic musician Wendy Carlos. Switched-On Bach, the way it impacted the public’s consciousness of what a synthesiser was… was completely retroactive." "Up until that moment, electronic music had this promise of a different vocabulary, a different language, a new paradigm, a new way of working.
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