By Joshua Cornelius

Though the synthesizer provides a decidedly dated sound by modern standards, it’s easy to forget the indelible mark the instrument has made in the annals of film history.  Many films of the 70s and early 80s were scored in part or whole with the use of synthesizers, including Tron, Scarface and Apocalypse Now.

Kubrick’s infatuation with the instrument dates back to the soundtrack for his 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange.  Prior to scoring the film, a young Wendy Carlos (then Walter) was garnering attention for her album “Switched-on Bach”, an ode to the great composer sequenced entirely using synthesizers.  Kubrick, famous for marrying existing classical works with his films, sought out Carlos and her new futuristic sound.

Kubrick recruited Carlos once again for the soundtrack to The Shining, but wound up discarding most of her work for the score in favor of more traditional arrangements.  For many years, these works were considered “lost” until being remastered in the double album, “Rediscovering Lost Scores”.

Carlos and Kubrick may not have had the most enduring relationship in the scope of cinema, and indeed Carlos is perhaps better known for her work on the score for the Disney film Tron.  Regardless, the legacy of Kubrick is perhaps more intertwined with Carlos than any other artist in history.  Reclusive and prone to demanding nothing less than perfection from his cast and crew, it’s little wonder that Kubrick chose to re-team with a fellow artist capable of commanding the whims of an infallible musical machine.

For more information on Carlos and her continued works, be sure to visit her charmingly retro website where the artist and musician posts essays, photographs and commentary on her oeuvre.