Bach On Synth

Synthesist Nicolas Melis shared this live performance of J.S.Bach’s Partita No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 826 Courante on a Sequential Prophet Rev2.

“As a classically trained pianist and synthesizer enthusiast, I have always been fascinated by the intersection of classical music and electronic instruments,” notes Melis. “Recently, I had the opportunity to bring these two worlds together by recording Bach’s Partita no 2 in C minor BWV 826 with my Sequential Prophet Rev2 synthesizer. Thank you for listening!”

5 thoughts on “Bach On Synth

  1. I share your love for electronically realized classical music. I’ve been listening to it since the original “Switched-On Bach” by Wendy Carlos (yes, I am that old). I can’t play the piano for shit so, my way of making electronic classical is to find well crafted MIDI files on the web and voice them in my DAW. Been doing that on and off for years now.

    1. For a bit of fun this is the sort of thing I used to do with my Atati ST.
      Lots of good MIDI files on old magazine cover disks etc.
      I used a MIDI splitter from the Atari ST to things like Korg Volcas and other little synths. The results were always fun! Sometimes they were even quite musical!
      I haven’t tried doing it with a modern DAW, but may give it a go this weekend for something to do.
      Thanks for the inspiration.

  2. Beautiful bit of work. Synthesizers are a natural for Bach, since they’re so good at replicating the organs and harpsichords that were his bread & butter. Its a natural starting point. It seems likely that he would have loved being able to stretch things out with envelopes and LFOs. Nicolas built a good patch for the piece, being modern but also unmistakably Bach.

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