Switched-on Bach

album by Carlos and Folkman

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July 14, 2026

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Switched-On Bach is a landmark 1968 album by Wendy Carlos and Benjamin Folkman. It features classical compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach reinterpreted using the Moog synthesizer. This album was groundbreaking because it introduced the synthesizer and electronic music to a mainstream audience, demonstrating the instrument's potential for creating consonant and harmonious sounds akin to traditional music. The album achieved significant commercial success, reaching number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart and earning Carlos three Grammy Awards.123

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Wendy Carlos
Early music career
…the project that would become Switched-On Bach in 1967, and the work was laborious. Because of the monophonic output—one note at a time—of the synthesizer, her use of a custom-built eight-track tape recorder, and the manual work needed to retune and calibrate the electronic instrument between recordings, Carlos estimates that…
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…the project that would become Switched-On Bach in 1967, and the work was laborious. Because of the monophonic output—one note at a time—of the synthesizer, her use of a custom-built eight-track tape recorder, and the manual work needed to retune and calibrate the electronic instrument between recordings, Carlos estimates that…
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The Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893
…on a Moog synthesizer (Switched-On Bach, 1968). She made other recordings of Baroque music on synthesizer as well, adapting for one recording the name The Well-Tempered Synthesizer (1969). One also may encounter selections from the complete set transcribed for other instruments and combinations of instruments, especially for string quartet.
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…on a Moog synthesizer (Switched-On Bach, 1968). She made other recordings of Baroque music on synthesizer as well, adapting for one recording the name The Well-Tempered Synthesizer (1969). One also may encounter selections from the complete set transcribed for other instruments and combinations of instruments, especially for string quartet.
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