The Well-Tempered Synthesizer

The Well-Tempered Synthesizer
Reissue front cover
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 1969
Recorded1969
Genre
Length37:58
LabelColumbia Masterworks Records
ProducerRachel Elkind
Wendy Carlos chronology
Switched-On Bach
(1968)
The Well-Tempered Synthesizer
(1969)
Sonic Seasonings
(1972)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Rolling Stone(Positive)

The Well-Tempered Synthesizer is the second studio album from the American musician and composer Wendy Carlos, originally released under her birth name Walter Carlos, in November 1969 on Columbia Masterworks Records. Following the success of her previous album, Switched-On Bach (1968), Carlos proceeded to record a second album of classical music performed on a modular Moog synthesizer from multiple composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Claudio Monteverdi, Domenico Scarlatti, and George Frideric Handel. Its title is a play on words from Bach's set of preludes and fugues named The Well-Tempered Clavier.

Upon its release, the album peaked at No. 199 on the US Billboard 200 chart and was nominated for two Grammy Awards.