:: GussetBLOG ::

:: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 ::

Short Circuit

Short Circuit
[via fail]
"happens over a weekend (14th - 17th) in May at the Camden Roundhouse. Touch night on the Saturday (16th). Thursday has Can's Holger Czukay playing live, apparently kicking things off with a homage to Stockhausen before moving onto unheard Can material as well as his solo stuff.

"Friday night is taken over by Barcelona's Sonar Festival, no idea of the line up though. The festival draws to a close on Sunday night with the legendary BBC Radiophonic Workshop. We're most excited by the prospect of a live performance from the electronic pioneers. Get. Your. Tickets. Now."



Roundhouse > Whats On > The Radiophonic Workshop

"The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was founded in 1958, and closed its doors 40 years later. Throughout its life, and since its closure, it has been enormously influential on generations of musicians, with the names of composers such as Delia Derbyshire, John Baker, Brian Hodgson, Dick Mills, Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell taking on almost legendary status.

"Stlll pioneering, in 2002 four ex-members re-formed to create the soundtrack for “Generic Sci Fi Quarry”, an event held over three nights in a quarry in Oxfordshire. Now, they get together again to explore Radiophonics past, present, and future. Old and new innovative electronica for a large arena combines with live performance and multimedia projections. An event not to be missed."

Labels: Radiophonic Workshop

:: Dan 11.3.09 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Mute Bank: BBC Radiophonic Workshop Collection
BBC Radiophonic Workshop Collection
£28.00 (PHONIC-BUND)
Release Date : Nov 03 2008
This multi-buy offer pack contains the following products:
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop: BBC Radiophonic Music - CD album - normal price £8.99
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop: The Radiophonic Workshop - CD album - normal price £8.99
BBC Radiophonic Workshop: A Retrospective - Double CD album - normal price £11.99
[Thanks Gutta]

Labels: Radiophonic Workshop

:: Dan 4.10.08 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Did anyone catch the Daphne Oram documentary on Radio 3 last month?

"Fifty years after the creation of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the programme examines the life and legacy of one of the great pioneers of British electronic music - the Workshop's co-founder Daphne Oram."

I didn't know about it until I spotted a review in the Observer (alongside a photograph of Delia Derbyshire incorrectly credited as being Oram).
I'd love to hear it if anyone can find a recording.

In return, here is a scan of her book, An Individual Note of music sound and electronics.

Thanks.

Labels: Radio, Radiophonic Workshop

:: Dan 4.9.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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The secrets of a long-forgotten collection of recordings, correspondence and scores by [Delia Derbyshire] have been revealed to researchers at The University of Manchester

"Following Derbyshire’s death in 2001, the collection was entrusted to the composer and Radiophonic Workshop archivist Mark Ayres, who donated the 267 tapes - most of which have been unheard for over thirty years - to the University’s Dr David Butler to catalogue and preserve.

Among the jewels found in the collection is one of the earliest electronic “dance music” compositions, written by Delia for radio twenty years before the style was made fashionable... [listen here]

'it’s already proved to be an Aladdin’s cave and we’ve just started to scratch the surface.'

The collection includes her freelance work and really does give us a better sense of her range as a composer."

I'm hoping, once this has been properly catalogued, that a new retrospective release, like that of Daphne Oram's, will be on the horizon.

Labels: Radiophonic Workshop

:: Dan 18.7.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Sound effects that made TV history

Labels: BBC, Radiophonic Workshop

:: Dan 25.4.08 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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Ray White has let me know that his Radiophonic Workshop background notes and image gallery have moved to a new server. I've updated the previous post. Thanks Ray.
PS The Daphne Oram book referred previously to can be found here.

Labels: Electronic Music, Oram, Radiophonic Workshop

:: Dan 8.11.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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You wait for years for gems of early electronic music to surface and suddenly two come along at once. Paradigm Discs have released a comprehensive two CD set of Daphne Oram's post-BBC work, charting the evolution of her Kent studio and her Oramics drawn sound machine.


Daphne Oram – Oramics (Paradigm Discs)

Boomkat have sold out already but you may still be able to get it direct from Paradigm. There are MP3 samples on the page linked.

No sooner had I slipped that into my CD player, I got a letter telling me that Oram's book, which I ordered from the library last September, has arrived. I read it cover to cover over about a weeks worth of bus journeys. It's an easy going philosophical exploration of electronic music and thesis on the design of the Oramics system. Despite being dated, and her somewhat strange musings, it's well worth a read for all electronic music enthusiasts. As it's long out of print and incredibly difficult to get hold of I'm going to put my neck out and assume no one will be upset by me putting it online.

Oram, Daphne – An Individual Note of music sound and electronics - Galliard, Norfolk (1972) [29MB zip containing 36MB PDF]

Labels: Electronic Music, Oram, Oramics, Radiophonic Workshop

:: Dan 15.4.07 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post] ::
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"It's now ten years since the BBC Radiophonic Workshop closed. To commemorate this event, the author presents this small collection of images, along with background notes, just to remind us of the unique band of people who made the department possible." Ray White, Radiophone Workshop Engineer
These are my favorites:
Breakout the B&K "wobbulator"
The well-normalised patch bay
[via MusicThing]
And from the MT comments:
"daphne oram's book "An Individual Note" is a spectacularly eccentric treatise on electronic music, if you ever come across a copy (shows up in lots of libraries but never for sale)." Will have to look out for that.

08.11.07 Edit: Links updated following Ray's comment re server move. Thanks Ray. The Daphne Oram book referred to can be found here.

Labels: Electronic Music, Radiophonic Workshop

:: Dan 12.8.06 [Arc] [2 comments] [links to this post] ::
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