2 ms·

Generalized Carlos Scales

66 points by belter 2y ago

belter 2y ago
"The Broken Scales Of Wendy Carlos" - https://youtu.be/RuT6Y53LYH4 https://youtu.be/RuT6Y53LYH4
HPsquared 2y ago
Wendy Carlos' album "Beauty in the Beast" is an exploration of these types of alternative tuning schemes. https://www.wendycarlos.com/+bitb.html https://www.wendycarlos.com/+bitb.html
PaulHoule 2y ago
Carlos made the first big hit in electronic music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-On_Bach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-On_Bach which of course led to Disco, YMO, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Insoc and the rest is history.
drivebyhooting 2y ago
Without a sound sample and music I can’t appreciate it. Is there a link to an actual melody using it?
abetusk 2y ago
For those that don't know, Wendy Carlos (the "Carlos" in the above title) did the musical score for "A Clockwork Orange", "The Shining" and "Tron" [0]. My bet is many people, especially of a certain generation, will be familiar with the opening title sequence music for "A Clockwork Orange" [1], the Tron "Scherzo" [2], or the opening musical sequence to "The Shining" [3]. She was an early pioneer in the late 1960s and early 1970s or synthesizers and synthesizer music. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Carlos#Discography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Carlos#Discography [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPCScFIPlUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPCScFIPlUg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWEU5apbY0E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWEU5apbY0E [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjLip2FZLuA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjLip2FZLuA
- drivebyhooting 2y ago
  Just checked out the shining. Opening sounds like symphonie fantastique. Of course the synth texture is cool.
waffletower 2y ago
John Chowning's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chowning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chowning) work Stria (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=988jPjs1gao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=988jPjs1gao) unifies timbre and scale structure about the Golden Mean as a musical interval. It's completion predates this work by Carlos by nearly a decade (1977) and the composition process apparently began as early as 1972 (https://brahms.ircam.fr/en/works/work/7459/ https://brahms.ircam.fr/en/works/work/7459/). There are many academic papers available which analyze this work: https://laurazattra.com/2016/09/23/stria-by-john-chowning-the-ultimate-analysis/ https://laurazattra.com/2016/09/23/stria-by-john-chowning-th...
denizener 2y ago
I love Beauty in the Beast but whenever I have tried playing Wendy's scales to make my own stuff it just sounds terrible. That is the main problem with all non-12 TET IMO. Making music that doesn't suck is hard enough in 12 TET. Starting from scratch with a scale by Carlos or Harry Partch takes a real musical genius and that is certainly not me. Worst though is there is no road map to follow in order to get better for us mere mortals. BTW FM7/FM8 VST is the easiest way to play a few Carlos scales.

66 points by belter 2y ago

"The Broken Scales Of Wendy Carlos" - https://youtu.be/RuT6Y53LYH4 https://youtu.be/RuT6Y53LYH4

Wendy Carlos' album "Beauty in the Beast" is an exploration of these types of alternative tuning schemes. https://www.wendycarlos.com/+bitb.html https://www.wendycarlos.com/+bitb.html

PaulHoule 2y ago

Carlos made the first big hit in electronic music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-On_Bach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-On_Bach which of course led to Disco, YMO, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Insoc and the rest is history.

drivebyhooting 2y ago

Without a sound sample and music I can’t appreciate it. Is there a link to an actual melody using it?

abetusk 2y ago

For those that don't know, Wendy Carlos (the "Carlos" in the above title) did the musical score for "A Clockwork Orange", "The Shining" and "Tron" [0]. My bet is many people, especially of a certain generation, will be familiar with the opening title sequence music for "A Clockwork Orange" [1], the Tron "Scherzo" [2], or the opening musical sequence to "The Shining" [3]. She was an early pioneer in the late 1960s and early 1970s or synthesizers and synthesizer music. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Carlos#Discography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Carlos#Discography [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPCScFIPlUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPCScFIPlUg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWEU5apbY0E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWEU5apbY0E [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjLip2FZLuA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjLip2FZLuA

drivebyhooting 2y ago
Just checked out the shining. Opening sounds like symphonie fantastique. Of course the synth texture is cool.

waffletower 2y ago

John Chowning's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chowning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chowning) work Stria (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=988jPjs1gao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=988jPjs1gao) unifies timbre and scale structure about the Golden Mean as a musical interval. It's completion predates this work by Carlos by nearly a decade (1977) and the composition process apparently began as early as 1972 (https://brahms.ircam.fr/en/works/work/7459/ https://brahms.ircam.fr/en/works/work/7459/). There are many academic papers available which analyze this work: https://laurazattra.com/2016/09/23/stria-by-john-chowning-the-ultimate-analysis/ https://laurazattra.com/2016/09/23/stria-by-john-chowning-th...

denizener 2y ago

I love Beauty in the Beast but whenever I have tried playing Wendy's scales to make my own stuff it just sounds terrible. That is the main problem with all non-12 TET IMO. Making music that doesn't suck is hard enough in 12 TET. Starting from scratch with a scale by Carlos or Harry Partch takes a real musical genius and that is certainly not me. Worst though is there is no road map to follow in order to get better for us mere mortals. BTW FM7/FM8 VST is the easiest way to play a few Carlos scales.