I had worked with Donna Summer on what i would consider conventional disco albums before even thinking of using a synthesizer. We were going after a concept album, as in I Remember Yesterday where we deliberately utilized techniques of the past to key each song to a different time- one from the '30s, another from the '40s; one with the Motown sound, another like Phol Spector. When we decided on a futuristic sound i thought the only way was to use a synthesizer.
It`s nearly impossible to compose with a synthesizer. By its nature, improvisations are much easier, so i went into the studio and recorded "I Feel love" as it was composed. All i used was an electronic bass line and an electronic drum. That`s the big difference between normal and electronic recording.
With a normal recording we start with four or five musicians to lay down the rhythm tracks, then we add all the dubs. With electronic music i start with the bass line. I know the first 64 bars are a certain amount of chords and i start laying down the bass line with these chords. Then i put on a second sound, a polyphonic sound, which fills in the whole thing. Then i add particulars- most of the time electronic drums- and then slowly start doing the overdubs and all the little effects. The last thing is the melody. With "I Feel Love" the melody came to me as i repeated the bass line. The whole composition and recording process took a little more than a day. None of us thought it would become such a huge hit, let alone change the face of disco as it did.
In the case of the Midnight Express soundtrack, the motivation for using synthesizer was completely different. Unlike the emotional detachment usually associated with electronic music, we wanted a sound that would enhance the emotional impact of the situation. For Sorcerer, Tangerine Dream did not even see the film before they scored it and gave the director a spacy electronic canvas on which to impose his film. For Midnight Express our first concept was to give the film a recurring center -a natural heartbeat that could be subtle at times and then build up to an urgent pounding. This was the impulse behind using a synthesizer.
It would have been very easy to simply use Turkish music that was indigenous to the story -as we did at the film`s beginning. But since drugs are the core of the story, and since drugs are somewhat related to the kind of space created with electronic music, i felt it was appropriate. It also added an immense contrast to the film to have the ancient setting of the story punctuated by electronics. The director, Alan Parker, knew exacly when he wanted music, so after seeing the film we discussed the possible variations. The heartbeat concept worked very well -adding excitement to the chase sequence or even romantic understones to the shower scene.
I am most pleased with the success and wide acceptance of electronic music in the two mediums i`ve worked in, but i don`t want to be labeled in that way; i know we won`t be using synthesizers with Donna Summer again. My next film score will be for a movie called Foxes, about four California girls. I can`t guarantee that i won`t use electronics in it. I will if it applies -but in general it`s time to move on.

Complete article appear on Feature Magazine 1979 ?