I’ve been a big fan of Wendy Carlos since I discovered she did the music for TRON, and Clockwork Orange. I have since collected all of her albums. She is very inspiring in today’s modern music world. She has contributed to all sorts of advancements in synthesis and development of modern music today.

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia about her:

Wendy Carlos: is an American composer and electronic musician. Carlos first came to notice in the late 1960s (as Walter Carlos) with recordings made on the Moog synthesizer, then a relatively new and unknown instrument; most notable were LPs of synthesized Bach and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick’s film A Clockwork Orange. Several years prior, two Carlos compositions using classical (pre-Moog) electronic techniques had been issued on LP (Variations for Flute and Tape and Dialogues for Piano and Two Loudspeakers). Although the first Carlos Moog albums were interpretations of the works of classical composers, she later resumed releasing original compositions. Carlos used the Synergy synthesizer, one of the first polyphonic digital additive synthesizers.

My all time favorite Carlos’ cue is from the movie TRON, which if you know me, I’m a big TRON fan (own a TRON adidas jacket and keychain). This week I decided to transcribe and interpret what I could of the TRON SCHERZO.

This is a SCHERZO, which frequently refers to a fast-moving humorous composition which may or may not be part of a larger work. The word “scherzo” means “joke” in Italian. Not to imply this is a joking piece, but a rather playful one. The musical form is sort of A B A B C D. A being the intro, B the main melody, C the transition to D. Beethoven was famous for using scherzo in his symphonies and often modified the 2nd B a lot. Carlos does this as well.

Listen here: Tron Scherzo by Wendy Carlos
Read on!

I love her use of quartal and quintal movements in the melody. Very modern and computer like. Perfect for TRON.

The opening has that awesome F C G E riff that appears throughout the movie. The riff then modulates up to Ab Eb Bb A. I don’t think I managed to get all the notes in the hits, but a few are right. After that the strings come in with quartal movement going down “B F C” over and over leading us to the main B theme in the beginning

The 5th action in the bass when the melody kicks is G D A pulsing then moving up in half steps. (remember when that was against the rules to have parallel 5ths in part writing class? learn the rules to break em’!) The melody moves up in 5ths and 4ths down in 5ths then up in 4ths. The theme modulates up a whole step from where it started and repeats.

A comes back, this time harmonized a minor 3rd down then a major 3rd.

B comes back with a string voice playing the melody up an octave. The bass is now pumping the same thing in 4/4 while the synth voice in 6/8 is doubling the bass but in 4ths instead of 5ths putting the bass note doubled 2 octaves up and playing 8th notes.
The voicing bottom up is
G D A A D G
Good polyrhythm tension here.

A is hinted at in the middle of B then a new theme “C” comes in to connect the new D section.

This C melody is one of my favorites. I always sing this when I tell people about the TRON soundtrack. Good jazz riff too!

The D section is super slick in 6/8 with a guitar like riff that moves in alternating patterns. I really like the variation on 4ths moving down in 6/8 and sometimes 5/8.

I love how Wendy moves the 5/8 to different places almost randomly. Great way to keep things interesting. I wasn’t able to transcribe the FM BELL sound that swells in and ends the song.

I know if I had written this D section, I wouldn’t have come up with 5/8 or any kind of variation. Just loop it and leave it. Sequencing programs make me lazy. Not that I know much about composing anyway.

Here’s my transcription. Sloppy I know. A good first try!

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This is for educational purposes. Do not download this mp3. It’s a great soundtrack! Buy it! It’s worth a listen. Especially in contrast to the newest TRON soundtrack. Thumbs up to friends Joseph Trapanese and Mark Satoshi Noguchi for the TRON Legacy soundtrack.

Enjoy!

okbye