MATRIXSYNTH: Search results for Daphne Oram


Showing posts sorted by date for query Daphne Oram. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Daphne Oram. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Sunday, October 15, 2023

Spinning the dial on Clough Brengle oscillator, a late 1930s analog device


video uploads by Brian Comnes

Update:

"It's all analog for sure , from 1938!! Don Buchla was 1 year old at the time. Bob Moog was 4 !! Daphne Oram was only 13. It uses two heterodyned tubes oscillating around 80k hz and uses a monster variable capacitor to generate the differential frequency much akin to that used in a tube based theremin, and then to an internal tube amplifier

Best part of this device is it sweeps continuously from 40k hz to about 9k. Most bench oscillators have stepped narrower ranges Here's some vids. "



via this auction

"Used Clough Brengle Beat Frequency Oscillator Model 79C

Estimated from 1937 in good working order. see videos

This an all tube analog oscillator capable of sweeping form 30 hz to 9k hz CONTINUOUSLY .

All orIginal to my knowledge. MassiVe transformers, this thing weighs in at 20 pounds (which will make shipping a bit pricey) Has new grounded power cord

Includes one connector cable."

Monday, September 04, 2023

Norman McLaren's hand-drawn sounds


video upload by Robotussin Vintage Synths

"Scottish-Canadian animator Norman McLaren developed a technique of painting onto the optical soundtrack area of the film negatives of his animations.

The shapes would then make drones and buzzes when played through a special type of projector. He used the technique to create experimental soundtracks to his animations.

It's similar to Daphne Oram's technique of turning shapes into sound – though hers, which she called Oramics, was more complex, with dedicated machines that read shapes on the entire area of the 35mm film, rather than just the little strip that contains the soundtrack.

You can see the results in the third video above, an extract from McLaren's film 'Dots', which employs the technique.

McLaren – born in Scotland in 1914 – worked for the British Post Office's film unit until around 1939, when he moved to New York, then to Canada in 1941, where he produced animations for the National Film Board, before setting up an animation studio at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal and the Ontario College of Art.

There he produced around 70 films, much of it highly experimental and strange. He died in 1987 aged 72."

This also reminds me of the Optigan.

Norman McLaren is mentioned in this book: Vector Synthesis: a Media Archaeological Investigation into Sound-Modulated Light

Friday, April 14, 2023

Likaon Instruments Marie’s LFO


Marie's LFO and Mandala demo video upload by likaoninstruments



via Likaon Instruments

"An LFO / quad envelope generator with a completely customizable waveform, based on Bézier curves.

During a discussion with Marie Ann Hedonia, we got to talking about what would be the ultimate feature in an LFO module.

The killer feature that came out is the ability to draw a completely custom waveform, instead of tweaking around with sines, squares and triangles. Daphne Oram had this idea years ago, and we thought it was time to implement this great concept in an LFO in Eurorack format.

Marie’s LFO is a module where you can draw your own waveform by using Bézier curves (think about Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape’s paths)

You have the ability to select points and control points, and move them around to exactly define the output voltage evolution over time. Needless to say, the curve shape can be adjusted in real time 🙂

Synchronization

The module has three synchronization modes.

No synchro : it runs freely and you can modulate its frequency with a knob or CV input
MIDI : it detects the MIDI clock frequency, and you can divide or multiply the tempo by power of two (1x, 2x, 4x, 8x…)
TRIG : it detects the input trigger’s frequency and you can also apply clock division on it.
Outputs

Marie’s LFO offers 4 offset-able outputs. Each output runs on the same curve, but you can adjust their offsets.

The audio mode allows you to generate signal based on your curves, but in audio frequencies. Controlled by MIDI input (and sooner or later 1v/octave).

Noise generation

Because purity is no fun, Marie’s LFO also contains a configurable (in amplitude and density) OpenSimplex noise generator that can be applied to your curve in real time. The noise generator is controllable with CV inputs as well.

Saving your work

The module allows you to save your work (curve path) and configuration(frequency, sync mode, outputs offsets) in 32 memory slots, so you won’t have to restart from scratch every time !

Sunday, April 02, 2023

1969: What Is ELECTRONIC MUSIC? | Workshop | Radiophonic Workshop | BBC Archive


video upload by BBC Archive

Be sure to check out 3:59 on. I won't give it away, but it's interesting they had the same views back then. Note 7:33 for a glimpse of what would come. Finally also see this post for Daphne Oram's Oramics and her Bird of Parallax. See the Oramics label for more.

"What is electronic music? How is it produced?

Desmond Briscoe - the head of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop - enlists the help of Daphne Oram, David Cain and John Baker to explain the fundamentals of synthesised sound.

This clip is from Workshop: The Same Trade As Mozart, originally broadcast 3 August, 1969.

You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of tv to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic tv clips from the BBC vaults."

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Cosmic Tape Music Club Podcast hosted by The Galaxy Electric - E12 Daphne Oram


video upload by The Galaxy Electric

"Thanks for joining us for Episode 12 of the Cosmic Tape Music Club Podcast! Join your hosts Jacqueline and Augustus of the experimental pop band The Galaxy Electric as they get cosmic on the topic of Daphne Oram. What a pioneer of sound and vision.

Recommended Listening: Bird of Parallax - [below]

Vimeo video on the Oramics Machine - [below - also posted here]

Her book - https://www.daphneoram.org/anindividu...

Our Daphne-inspired Synth Performance - [below]"

You can find additional posts mentioning Daphne Oram here.

Daphne Oram - Bird of Parallax


"Daphne Oram - Oramics - Bird of Parallax
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphne_Oram"

Oramics from Street | Films on Vimeo.

A brief glimpse of Daphne Oram's pioneering and unique Oramics synthesizer, designed in 1957 after she left the legendary BBC Radiophonic Workshop to pursue the project.

For a look at the Oramics machine now, in the Science Museum's "Oramics to Electronica" exhibition see this new film. http://vimeo.com/29318062 | http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/oramics

This short film features Dr Mick Grierson, Director of The Daphne Oram Collection, acquiring the synthesizer from a collector in 2009.

Contact me (Nick Street) regarding the documentary film
http://twitter.com/street83

Dr Mick Grierson - Director of the Daphne Oram Collection
http://doc.gold.ac.uk/~mus02mg/

For more information on Daphne Oram and her machine
http://daphneoram.org



The Galaxy Electric - Improvised Electroacoustic Music - Daphne Oram Theme

video upload by The Galaxy Electric

"Thanks for listening! Come on a musical voyage with us where we'll send you a new song every day, a cosmic story, and a chance to earn space treasure: https://thegalaxyelectric.lpages.co/5...

Radiophonic Sci-Fi Sonics Inspired by Daphne Oram

Utilizing analog tape delay (unfortunately out of frame of this video) - we set out to improvise in the style of the early work of Daphne Oram, whose first radio program was an extended poem set to eery radiophonic tape experimentation.

In this video, we created an improvised soundtrack to a poem by Edgar Allen Poe.
Join us every Wednesday for a ride on The Galaxy Electric Express 🚀

We perform a LIVE (improvised) Cosmic Tape Music soundtrack for your retro-futuristic travels 💫 You never know what planet you will land on…but you know it’s going to be an unforgettable journey…"

Friday, May 13, 2022

Silhoutte Eins Optical Synthesizer at Superbooth 2022


video upload by ound On Sound magazine

"Silhoutte Eins Optical Synthesizer at Superbooth 2022

Objects placed on the light table create the source audio waveforms in real time.

The user interface consists of an on-monitor plexiglas hardware controller which addresses 4 software pages. 20 potentiometers and 21 buttons give you quick access to the functions. All values are shown directly behind and around the controlling potentiometer or button.

SOS says ... this is not unlike Daphne Oram's famous Oramics machine reinterpreted for the 21st Century.

More info here. http://www.silhouette-synthesizer.de/"

See the Przygodda label for additional posts.

Friday, May 07, 2021

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS from Monoduo Films on Vimeo.

VIRTUAL THEATRICAL - ONE WEEK ONLY!

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS is the remarkable untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers, composers who embraced machines and their liberating technologies to utterly transform how we produce and listen to music today. Theremins, synthesizers and feedback machines abound in this glorious ode to the women who helped shape, not just electronic music but the contemporary soundscape as we know it.

Avant-garde composer Laurie Anderson narration accompanies fascinating archival footage to trace the history of the technological experimentation of sound, the deconstruction of its parts and the manipulation into something altogether other. While traversing a range of musical approaches and personalities, from academia to outsider art to television commercials, we meet Clara Rockmore, Bebe Barron, Suzanne Ciani, Laurie Spiegel, Daphne Oram, Pauline Oliveros, Delia Derbyshire and Eliane Radigue, fascinating and enigmatic musical geniuses and their peculiar way of hearing the world.

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/sisterswithtransistors/534043397

https://sisterswithtransistors.com

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

The Noise Floor of the Universe


MAKEN0ISE

"I love to make noise, and I am also keen to learn about the many ways in which noise makes me.

The observations in this video are not really anything new. If they strike any chord with you, here is some recommended further reading:

Pauline Oliveros, “Some Sound Observations” - perhaps the piece that kick-started my interest in the removal of boundaries between music and sound, sound and silence, listening and playing.

John Cage, Silence - among much other material this includes the famous story of a visit to an anechoic chamber where Cage was unable to hear “silence” because he could always hear the sounds of his own body.

Joe Allen, “Academic Archive Vol XII: The Soul of Hank Shocklee” - Shocklee discusses the unfound sounds and rhythms that emerge, consciously and otherwise, when multiple recordings are sampled and mixed together.

Eliane Radigue with Julia Eckhardt, Intermediary Spaces - Radigue discusses how underlying tones are a necessary bed for the harmonic explorations in her music to be heard, or even to exist.

Daphne Oram, An Individual Note - Oram spends the better part of her book using electronic music concepts as a sometimes clunky but always interesting extended metaphor for the human body.

George Lewis, "Improvising Tomorrow's Bodies: The Politics of Transduction" - Lewis argues for improvisation as key to "the foreshortening of distance between art and life."

http://www.makenoisemusic.com"

Friday, May 01, 2020

The Latest From The Galaxy Electric - Buchla, Tape, Pauline Oliveros, and Karlheinz Stockhausen

Buchla Cosmic Drone - Session 15 - Modular Drone Music Performance

Premiered Apr 4, 2020 The Galaxy Electric

New from supporting members, The Galaxy Electric. Also see The Galaxy Electric - Improvised Electroacoustic Music - Daphne Oram Theme

"Thanks for listening! Come on a musical voyage with us where we'll send you a new song every day, a cosmic story, and a chance to earn space treasure:

Relax and tune into our live weekly improvised Drone Sessions. This fifteenth session involves a drone featuring two independent Buchla style complex and modulation oscillators starting in tune a couple octaves apart. As the oscillator frequencies drift apart by way of manual control, beating ensues. Listening to droning oscillators can serve as mindfulness sounds as there is no sudden changes in sound. Just smooth drifts in pitch and the resulting beat frequencies. Drones can also serve as an ambient track to have on while doing tasks that require intense focus. Drones are also great for a Sci-fi film soundtrack. The slow yet progressive nature of a drone performance can help one focus on tasks without distraction. The fact that we are manipulating these oscillators live and in collaboration helps the drone meander ever so smoothly in an evolving fashion as we are always reacting to one another's subtle movements. These movements are improvised so there is an unrehearsed and reactive ebb and flow to the tones generated. Engage in the practice deep listening with us.

The electronic music instruments used in this performance of modular drone music are the Buchla Music Easel, and a small system involving a Buchla clone model 259 Programmable Complex Waveform Generator, Buchla 292h Dual Lowpass Gate, and 281h Dual Function Generator in the Buchla LEM Powered 3 Boat.

The Galaxy Electric - https://www.thegalaxyelectric.com"

Patch and Tell: Tape Loops Sound on Sound tutorial

Published on Apr 29, 2020 The Galaxy Electric

"Get your tape loops at: https://thegalaxyelectricshop.com/col...

Here we show you how to disable your erase head for sound on sound recording using pretty much any cassette recorder.

The horizontal 4 track cassette machines were easy to do this with but the technique can be applied to most.

This tutorial demonstrates the process of using a small piece of tin foil to disable the erase head of your cassette tape recorder to allow gapless Sound on Sound recording of tape loops.

The cassette 4 track pictured is the Tascam Porta02 mkII."

Cosmic Tape Music Club - Exploring Pauline Oliveros

Premiered Apr 6, 2020 The Galaxy Electric

"This week’s conversation centers around the life & work of Pauline Oliveros.

She is best known for coining the term “Deep Listening,” and being a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center. Her curiosity about sound started at the age of 2 and blossomed at age 21 when she got her first tape machine.

With friends and collaborators like Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Morton Subotnick, she has left an indelible mark in the world of tape music, sonic experimentation, and listening as a spiritual practice."

Cosmic Tape Music Club - Exploring Karlheinz Stockhausen

Premiered Mar 30, 2020 The Galaxy Electric

"For a strict academic German composer, he was one seriously cosmic dude! As he became more prolific in his career, he started telling people he was raised on a distant planet called Sirius…and talking all about music as a cosmic tone that humans were simply interpreting. Oh, and did we mention he was on the cover of Sgt. Peppers? Yeah, the Beatles were super into his out-there ideas!"

Friday, April 03, 2020

The Galaxy Electric - Improvised Electroacoustic Music - Daphne Oram Theme


Published on Apr 3, 2020 The Galaxy Electric

"Thanks for listening! Come on a musical voyage with us where we'll send you a new song every day, a cosmic story, and a chance to earn space treasure: https://thegalaxyelectric.lpages.co/5...

Radiophonic Sci-Fi Sonics Inspired by Daphne Oram

Utilizing analog tape delay (unfortunately out of frame of this video) - we set out to improvise in the style of the early work of Daphne Oram, whose first radio program was an extended poem set to eery radiophonic tape experimentation.

In this video, we created an improvised soundtrack to a poem by Edgar Allen Poe.
Join us every Wednesday for a ride on The Galaxy Electric Express 🚀

We perform a LIVE (improvised) Cosmic Tape Music soundtrack for your retro-futuristic travels 💫 You never know what planet you will land on…but you know it’s going to be an unforgettable journey…"

Cosmic Tape Music Club - Exploring Daphne Oram

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Daphne Oram


Published on Oct 26, 2013 wtfbollos

"Daphne Oram (31 December 1925 -- 5 January 2003) was a British composer and electronic musician. She was the creator of the "Oramics" technique for creating electronic sounds."

This one was sent my way via brian comnes.

You can find additional posts featuring Daphne Oram here.

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Dennis Verschoor WRC_WORM


Dennis Verschoor WRC_WORM from hellviss on Vimeo.

"I first met Dennis whilst I was in the WORM studio on an artist residency in 2017. The WORM studio is like a geological trip through electronic music's history but I was about to travel even further back. Strange ghostly tones emanated from the old vocal booth next door, it was this space that Dennis had filled with mid 20th century audio test equipment, going back to the roots of audio electronic experiments before commercially available instruments from Moog or Roland, before keyboards, back to Stockhausen, Else Marie Pade, Daphne Oram, Raymond Scott and the like. Why now? is this the logical conclusion of Mark Fisher's cultural hauntology? do we end up back at the source? the sound of past futures? For Dennis it seemed more a way to dodge the hipsters, and invite collaboration.

Dennis and I had a friend in common Steve Grimley-Taylor, a lover of all things electronic and sound related (founder of Thonk.co.uk). When I expressed the idea of making a film about Dennis, Richard Foster from WORM kindly agreed to let us. This is a short film about Dennis, his journey and his installation.

Steve Guy Hellier 2018"

Vintage oscillators, filters, and other lab equipment.  Some classic synths come in after the six minute mark.

Monday, August 01, 2016

Radionics Radio - An Album of Musical Radionic Thought Frequencies - Delawarr Multi-Oscillator (c.1962)


Published on Aug 1, 2016 ashford daisyak

This one in via Daniel Wilson: the album "draws attention to one of the strangest sound-making devices ever made - the under-researched Delawarr Multi-Oscillator (c.1962), which was designed to convert thoughts into clusters of frequencies. My research into this oddity has culminated in this release."

Video Description:
"Advert for the new release: Radionics Radio - 'An Album of Musical Radionic Thought Frequencies' on Sub Rosa (due August 5th 2016).

Radionics Radio is an electroacoustic and musical exposition of alternative tuning systems derived from frequencies submitted via the Radionics Radio app. All the sounds strictly originate from respective thought-frequency submissions and octaves thereof.

Further background info on this research-based project can be viewed here: [embedded below]

From press release:
'Daniel Wilson's Radionics Radio draws upon the fringe-science of radionics, with its invisible forces and psychic resonances, to spawn electroacoustic and electronic compositions employing very alternative tuning systems. Radionics' idea that thoughts can be represented as frequencies is vigorously explored on this new release through microtonal compositions which range from mutating drones to electronic sambas, with nods to Raymond Scott and Daphne Oram along the way.'

Radionics Radio was made possible through Sound and Music's Embedded programme and Resonance 104.4FM.

www.miraculousagitations.com
www.subrosa.net
www.resonancefm.com
www.soundandmusic.org

RADIONICS RADIO
Sub Rosa CD SR423 digipack + 20 page booklet
File under: Electroacoustic Experimentation
Release date: Aug 5th 2016"

Radionics Radio - Radionics in Relation to Sound (Part One)

Radionics Radio - Radionics in Relation to Sound (Part One) from Sound and Music on Vimeo.

"Radionics Radio is a project by Resonance FM's Sound and Music Embedded Composer in Residence Daniel Wilson. It draws on the radionic idea that thoughts can be intuitively linked to clusters of frequencies. From this, it is possible to explore unusual alternative tuning systems supposedly embodying certain thoughts. The Radionics Radio EP will be released by Sub Rosa in the summer of 2016."

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Tom Richard's Mini-Oramics Machine Based on Daphne Orams


Mini-Oramics Medley from Tom Richards on Vimeo.

"Early experiments with Mini-Oramics from composers Ain Bailey, James Bulley and Jo Thomas"

The video above should give you an idea of what it does. In short it reads what is drawn on the transparent sheet and generates audio through hardware. You can see an image of the hardware further below. The implementation reminds me of the ANS.

I spotted this one on the BBC website which has the following to say:

"An electronic sequencer and synthesizer has been built based on designs produced over 40 years ago by electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram.

Daphne Oram who died in 2003, co-founded the BBC Radiophonic workshop and developed a system of creating sounds and compositions using drawings.

The 'Mini Oramics' machine is thought to have remained unfinished in Daphne Oram's own lifetime, but experts argue that its approach to composition and performance would have been influential.

Tom Richards, the researcher who finally constructed the Mini Oramics, told The World At One it helped answer the question "what if this had come to pass in 1973?"

There has been quite a bit posted on Daphne Oram and Oramics here on MATRIXSYNTH over the years, so click through either link to dig deeper. Now would also be a good time to post a reminder on the Kickstarter Campaign to Republish Daphne Oram's "An Individual Note: of Music, Sound and Electronics".


The following images are from John Lely's website, posted on April 8, 2016.

"First full day working with Tom Richards’ Mini-Oramics machine, a device for drawing sound, based on the work of Daphne Oram. Here is a link to Tom’s videos of construction and early trials."

Note the hardware synth engine that is driven by the optical reader.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Kickstarter Campaign to Republish Daphne Oram's "An Individual Note: of Music, Sound and Electronics"



You'll find the Kickstarter campaign here.

"A pioneer and little-known visionary whose work has been a major influence on the development of British experimental electronic music.

By republishing her seminal book "An Individual Note: of Music, Sound and Electronics" we want to write Daphne Oram back into music history; sharing her vision with new generations of musicians, composers, musicologists and contemporary music lovers.

We want to establish Daphne Oram as one of the UK’s leading modern composers, but we can't make this happen without your support.

Daphne Oram (1925-2003) was ahead of her time. She was a remarkable and inspirational woman who should be recognised and remembered as one of Britain’s leading cultural and historically significant figures.

She was the first Director of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which she co-founded in 1958, after years of persuasion and perseverance. She predicted that computers and electronics would revolutionise music decades before they became popular, and invented a new form of sound synthesis – Oramics – which was a significant step towards this revolution.

She was truly passionate and dedicated to her work. She composed a number of radical pieces such as Still Point. She lectured on electronic music throughout her career and, in 1972, she wrote her seminal book, “An Individual Note: of Music, Sound and Electronics”, which was a pioneering explanation of electronics in relation to music and sound.

When Daphne Oram first wrote and published the book, electronic music was still in its infancy. The book’s depth and its exploration was unprecedented, and her ideas and theories radical. Now that electronic music is an established and popular field, it is important that the book is redistributed to allow more people to learn and benefit from reading it.

In 2017 it will be 45 years since Daphne Oram’s book was first published. There are only a handful of copies available to access, and we want to share her story far and wide with future composers, producers and fans..."

Friday, May 13, 2016

Upcoming Hyve Touch Synthesizer ElectroSound Exhibit in Paris


The Hyve Touch Synthesizer will be at the ElectroSound Exhibit in Paris May 25 to 2 October 2016. You'll find the ElectroSound site in French here and Googlish here.

via Skot Weidmann, creator of the Hyve Touch Synthesizer and the man behind Motus Mavis:

"I am so excited to be a part of the ElectroSound exhibit in Paris.

The Hyve Touch Synthesizer will be included in the Future section of the show, and visitors will get to play it!"

We have Skot to thank for bringing the event to our attention!


Exhibits will also include (apologies for the translations via Google):

Pictured: Daphne Oram

"Jean-Yves Leloup and NoDesign, the commissioners Electrosound, chose a unique perspective to talk about, with the red wire machines and technological innovation. They plunge us into an immersive, interactive experience scanning a wide spectrum of musical productions, from 1945 to today, pioneers and scientists from 1950 to 1970 (Pierre Schaeffer, Robert Moog, Peter Zinoviev, Brian Eno, Jean-Michel Jarre ...) to the current and popular triumph electro. Electrosound, the lab at the dancefloor going back in time, over the 20th century that saw the electricity and electronics invest the musical field, until emergence of a major cultural movement, which is called 'electro', 'house' or 'techno'."


"Electrosound, the lab at the dancefloor, is an exhibition aimed at a wide audience, the curious beginner to the connoisseur. It is divided into six chapters decrypting the major stages of this musical revolution. Around a timeline, she meets machines and period instruments (synthesizers, drum machines, and other strange machines), popular objects of broadcasting and listening to music, archives (from the GRM, EMS studios and many international sources) and artistic photographs by Jean-Jacques or Jacob Ader Khrist, showing changes since search studios 1950s until the DJ culture."

Friday, December 04, 2015

Previously Unreleased Video of BBC Radiophonic Workshop Founder Daphne Oram

Sound Of The Future | The Archivist Presents # 22

Published on Dec 1, 2015 British Movietone

Great find via @AtomicShadow

"This week's Archivist Presents slot features a genius of electronic music, Daphne Oram.

This converted oast-house in Kent is really a kind of studio where Miss Daphne Oram is engaged in scientific research into electronic music. Thanks to a Gulbenkian Foundation grant, she's surrounded by very expensive equipment. With it, she can compose the sound and music of the future.

GV house. GV building (converted oast house). LAS top of house. MCU (sign) "Tower Folly". Zoom through one door out of another. MCU woman. CU ditto. MS woman at controls. MS tape recorder. MS controls. MS bell (2 shots) woman mends tape. MS tape recorder. CU woman. MS tape recorder. MCU woman. MS woman at controls. MS tape recorder. Pan to woman. MS trees. LAS top of house. MS tape recorder. CU woman. MS trees (at night). MS tape recorder. LAS top of house. MS trees.

You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
Find out more about AP Archive: http://tinyurl.com/qjfu7wx"

Click here for all posts on Daphne Oram

Saturday, May 31, 2014

RIP Stephen Howell of Hollow Sun

We lost another. Some sad news in via Atomic Shadow:

"I learned this morning of the passing of my best friend, Stephen Howell. Many of you know of his work as Hollow Sun. He was a well respected sound designer who had worked for Peter Gabriel and many others. He was a long time fixture at Akai Professional where he designed the UI for many of their top products as well as producing the sample content.

Stephen was my mentor and gave me the nudge to take my music in to a totally abstract direction. Without him there would have been no Atomic Shadow project. I plan to write a bit more about him when I can think more clearly. I am closing down yesterday's world of tomorrow, at least for now.

We only produced one piece of music together. I always tried to get him to do more of his own music, but he said that making music did not pay the bills. He was correct of course. I cut together a video to go with it at the time. Please enjoy it and share it with anyone that you know who may have known Stephen, or had their musical experience made more alive by using one of his instruments."


Mid Century Electronica from Atomic Shadow on Vimeo.

"A short piece featuring my vintage, tube HP sine wave generators, tape loops and ring modulators with a photographic homage to the early pioneers of electronica.... Daphne Oram in twin set, the impish Delia Derbyshire of the early BBC Radiophonic Workshop, several tweedy boffins in their music labs, Karlheinz Stockhausen and so many others. A different age when innovation and ingenuity triumphed over the many technical limitations of the age.

Abstract music soundtrack re-mixed and produced by Stephen Howell of Hollow Sun using traditional techniques in a digital age."


You can find an interview with Stephen Howell on SoundBytes here.

"I was always huge fan of early electronica and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (Dr Who, Delia Derbyshire and all that as a six-year-old), Louis and Bebe Barron (who did the ‘electronic tonalities’ for the classic sci-fi movie ‘Forbidden Planet’) and loved the weird old gear they used to make/use, so Mario and I were able to design and create, using Kontakt, weird and wonderful things that flew in the face of, shall we say, more ‘conventional’ modern synths and sampler instruments..."

Indeed. Click here for all posts featuring Hollow Sun on MATRIXSYNTH. Each post is a tribute to his spirit. He will be sorely missed.

Update: Failed Muso has set up a condolence page here.

And on KVR here.

Update2:


Stephen Howell and the Subharchord from Ina Pillat on Vimeo.

"December 2011 at the Museum of Technology (Deutsches Technikmuseum) in Berlin. Stephen Howell takes recordings of the instrument. Per Platou, founder and leader of www.pnek.org, has invited him to create a sound library and helps him with the recordings. Inventor Gerd Steinke in conversation with Stephen Howell.

Photography: Jenny Barth
Sound: Johannes Schmelzer-Ziringer
Director: Ina Pillat
Production: Norwegian Arts Council // Per Platou, Ina Pillat"

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The BBC Radiophonic Workshop Gallery


This one in via Ununseptium warehouse. You'll find the full gallery with captions here.

The top left in the pic above almost looks like old stoves and dish/sink cabinets.  It's an interesting design choice for tape and audio mangling at the time.  The woman to the left and is Daphne Oram and below is Delyia Derbishire.

Left: "Caption: Daphne Oram demonstrating Radiophonic techniques on television by means of Brenell tape recorders and Jason oscillator."  It almost looks like something from Dewanatron.

Below: "Caption: Delia at the southern end of room 12, where she sits in front of the twelve Jason oscillators, an electromechanical frequency counter and the keying unit, as used to create the 'Doctor Who' theme. The dual gramophone turntable unit to her left is a BBC RP2/1."

After checking out the pics be sure to check out the labels below or use the top left search box to search on Daphne Oram, Oramics, Delia Derbyshire, and/or BBC for more posts featuring them here on MATRIXSYNTH.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

An Interview with Paddy Kingsland of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop


You'll find the full interview on Astronauta Pinguim, including mentions of Delia Derbyshire & Daphne Oram.

BTW, today is Paddy Kingsland's birthday.  Happy Birthday Mr. Kingsland!  :)

Pictured: Paddy Kingsland and the EMS Synthi 100 (the Delaware)

"Patrick 'Paddy' Kingsland was born in Hampshire (England) on January 30th, 1947. He took piano lessons in his youth and got his first guitar when he was 15. By this time he also built his own valve amplifier and began to play in a band in his school days. After attending Eggars Grammar School in Alton, Hampshire, Paddy joined the BBC. He was a technician there until, in 1970, he had the chance to join the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the famous department that was responsible for providing the soundtrack and sound effects to BBC radio and TV shows. Paddy worked there for 11 years and created the music for many programs, including "The Changes", "The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and several episodes of 'Doctor Who'!

"In 1973, BBC Records released the album 'Fourth Dimenson'. Although it was credited to The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, "Fourth Dimension" is the first solo album released by Paddy Kingsland and includes tracks that he recorded from 1970 to 1973, using mainly the EMS synthesizers VCS3 and Synthi 100 (the Delaware)..."

You can still find the release on Amazon and eBay.

The first synth to enter the BBC? "The first synthesizer arrived in 1970 - an EMS VCS3. It was great for learning about voltage control and making sounds, but no good for playing tunes on. The Arp Odyssey which came a bit later was much better for that."

via Fabricio Carvalho aka Astronauta Pinguim on the MATRIXSYNTH Lounge. You can find interviews with other synth legends on his site or via the Interviews label below.
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