As much as I dislike the use of the prefix “Switched-on” for any new synthesizer recording, I’d like to present this quaint little snippet of Handel’s Water Music played on the Yamaha SY1.

From the same performer, here’s the 4th movement from Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4.

From WikiPedia:
Johann Sebastian Bach (German pronunciation: [joˈhan] or [ˈjoːhan seˈbastjan ˈbax]) (31 March 1685 [O.S. 21 March] – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.[1] Although he introduced no new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and motivic organisation in composition for diverse instrumentation, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad, particularly Italy and France.

Magic Lamp Electronic Bach

I don’t usually go for classical music with added drums, but Magic Lamp has got me dancing with this one, the Concerto No. 2 by Bach. It’s a clever arrangement, and the drums in this case are a mere groove enhancer.

I’ve been searching YouTube for the best new classical synthesizer recordings (those made after the turn of the century), and came across this charming recording of the Sinfonia No. 35, recorded by Paul Glover. While most of the classical synth stuff on YouTube is pedantic and lacking creativity and soul, Paul manages a delightful performance (using actual hardware synthesizers, I might add- no small feat).

From the YouTube page:
This is the Sinfonia to Cantata 35 ‘Geist und Seelle wird verwirret’ by J S Bach. It is played on a home constructed Moog Modular 3C I built from schematics about 15 years ago and am still completing. Some of the sounds have been sampled direct from the 3C when the tuning became an issue and the piece was not recorded onto tape, as was the original S.O.B’s, but directly to digital multi track. Paul Glover

From Wikipedia:
Louis-Claude Daquin was born in Paris, to a converted Jewish family from Carpentras originating from Italy (where their name was D’Acquino). One of his great-uncles was a professor of Hebrew at the College de France. Daquin was a musical child prodigy, for he performed for the court of King Louis XIV at the age of six. He was for a while a pupil of Louis Marchand. At the age of 12, he became organist at the Sainte-Chapelle, and in the following year took a similar post at the church of the Petit St. Antoine.

In 1727 Daquin was appointed organist at the church of St. Paul in Paris, besting Jean-Philippe Rameau for the job. Five years later he became organist, succeeding Louis Marchand, at the Cordeliers. In 1739 he became organist to the king. In 1755 he succeeded Antoine Calvière as titular organist at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.

By reputation a dazzling performer at the keyboard, Daquin was much appreciated by the aristocracy and his great expertise at the organ drew considerable crowds to hear him. As a virtuoso organist and harpsichordist, he was known for his “unfaltering precision and evenness”.

Another piece from the Baroque period by Daquin. This time, The Coucou. I first heard this piece in the early-80′s performed on a harpsichord. Here is the score if you want to read along.

From Wikipedia:
Louis-Claude Daquin was born in Paris, to a converted Jewish family from Carpentras originating from Italy (where their name was D’Acquino). One of his great-uncles was a professor of Hebrew at the College de France. Daquin was a musical child prodigy, for he performed for the court of King Louis XIV at the age of six. He was for a while a pupil of Louis Marchand. At the age of 12, he became organist at the Sainte-Chapelle, and in the following year took a similar post at the church of the Petit St. Antoine.

In 1727 Daquin was appointed organist at the church of St. Paul in Paris, besting Jean-Philippe Rameau for the job. Five years later he became organist, succeeding Louis Marchand, at the Cordeliers. In 1739 he became organist to the king. In 1755 he succeeded Antoine Calvière as titular organist at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.

By reputation a dazzling performer at the keyboard, Daquin was much appreciated by the aristocracy and his great expertise at the organ drew considerable crowds to hear him. As a virtuoso organist and harpsichordist, he was known for his “unfaltering precision and evenness”.

Well here I am, age 38, and doing what I’ve dreamed of since I was nine: making synthesizer recordings! When I was nine, I was introduced to the joys of classical synthesizer music by my grandfather. We would go to his house every Saturday night and have beans and hot-dogs (and the hottest steamed rolls on the planet), then retire to the cellar where my grandfather’s massive stereo system cranked out Switched-On Bach, The Unusual Classical Synthesizer, The Well Tempered Synthesizer, Snowflakes are Dancing, and dozens of other amazing albums that came out of the synthesizer explosion of the early 1970s.

Here’s the album that got me hooked on classical synthesizer music:

And here’s me, lower left, with the snazzy plaid pants, standing with my family in front of the massive stereo that cranked out synthesizer music every Saturday night.

The sounds I heard were magic , pure and simple. Even now, almost 30 years later, I can remember every detail of that cellar room; it’s smells (a charming potpourri of must, cheap furniture and cigarette smoke), it’s 1970s wallpaper, and the stacks of records that lay in the chest held the 100% analog stereo system with it’s magnificent 5′+ homemade speakers.

Back to the present. I now have a state-of-the-art Mac Pro with Logic Pro 8 and more synthesizer power than a hundred Moog Modular equipped studios that dotted the music scene in the 70s. Bliss!

With this blog I will share with you the recordings I have made of Classical (read: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist and modern compositions, including some of my own) Synthesizer music.