A Clippings Scrapbook: The Life, Times, and Records of Wendy Carlos
Synth pioneer Wendy Carlos has given us eighteen albums, a massive website of personal writings and archival recordings, and a generation of trans synthesizer enthusiasts in her wake. For Halloween, we’re taking a look at her writings, her work, and the queer musicians she’s influenced.
by Piper Bly
Sources:
Bell, Arthur (May 1979). “Playboy Interview: Wendy/Walter Carlos”. Playboy. 26 (5). Playboy Enterprises. https://web.archive.org/web/20141201061203/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20091206,00.html
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/wendy-carlos-electronic-musician-first-trans-woman-grammy/
https://www.wendycarlos.com/open7.html
https://www.wendycarlos.com/biog.html
“After a Sex Change and Several Eclipses, Wendy Carlos Treads a New Digital Moonscape”. People. Vol. 24 (1 ed.) https://www.kdfc.com/articles/wendy-carlos-synth-visionary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Carlos#Gender_transition
https://www.synthforbreakfast.nl/wendy-carlos-playboy-interview-1979/ (thank you to Synth For Breakfast for uploading this and to Matt Traum for the transcription!)
Piper Bly is a professional illustrator and underground cartoonist. When she’s not busy plowing away at her drawing board, singing dirges in the moonlight, or wandering throughout the United States, she can often be found tending to her ivies, frying up some biscuits, spending unreasonable hours in the gym, or floating above the Mississippi River at midnight, waiting for the tide to wrap her in its loving embrace and take her away. Her whereabouts are currently undisclosed. You, however, can find her at piperbly.com.