VOID // Live @ Erica Synths Garage

Published on Aug 2, 2017 Erica Synths

"VOID performs live creating sound with Doepfer A100 basic system with added Erica Synths and Doepfer modules, Korg SQ-1 sequencer and Zoom ms70cdr effects pedal. Visuals are created beforehand using Pure Data and then modified with an analogue synthesizer and other low-resolution video devices. Live performance was played on VDMX.

VOID is a project of Reinis Naļivaiko (sound) and Artūrs Kalvāns (video), it’s an experimental audiovisual performance duo born in Liepāja back in 2012. Their sound comprises both dark and deeply atmospheric soundscapes and rhythmic noise compositions, aiming to create a diverse emotion gamma to the audience. In the creation process VOID uses field recordings & sound synthesis and their performances are always improvised. The visual aspect of the project is driven not by particular aesthetic principles but rather defined by methods used in the picture creation, such as manipulations with the signal through mixing it with other video sources, interfering with the video chain and digitizing of an analogue signal. The frame sequence and composition is controlled by the sound, and the visual rhythm either illustrates or breaks the sonic one. Works of VOID are influenced by the GAS project of Wolfgang Voigt, Pan Sonic & Delia Derbyshire."

$199.99 EMS "Synthi and the Composer" Album

This one is not an April Fools joke. You can actually find this album for sale behind the counter at Silver Platters Seattle. Call them if interested.

From the back cover
(note Peter Zinovieff is the man behind EMS):

"Synth and the Composer

Extracts of music realized with EMS Synths equipment.

SIDE A

Concert Music by:

Harrison Birtwistle
Peter Zinovieff
Tristram Cary
Delia Derbyshire
George Whitman

SIDE B

Television, Radio and Computer Music by:

Dudley Simpson
Delia Derbyshire
Malcom Clarke
David Vorhaus
Peter Zinovieff
Brian Hodgson

Demonstration record - Not to be sold or performed in public.

Stereo 33 1/3 rpm"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Delia Derbyshire to Have Road Named After Her in Coventry

via BBC Local Live:

"The composer who helped craft the Doctor Who theme tune is set to be honoured by having a road named after her.

Delia Derbyshire, a music pioneer from Coventry, became the uncredited creator of the famous theme while working in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Her contribution to popular culture will be marked by Derbyshire Way in her native city.

Pete Chambers BEM, director of The Coventry Music Museum, was among those to campaign for the recognition. He said: 'Originally it was to be named Derbyshire Road, but I suggested 'Way' instead, so it gave a double meaning, as Delia was a genius and strong personality and really did do things in her own way.'"

How cool is that?

The First EMS VCS3 - SN 001

Apparently, you are looking at the very first EMS VCS3 aka The Putney and sibling to the EMS SYNTHI. Red Bull Music Academy has an excellent post up on White Noise with the history of this particular synth.

"Perched on top of a speaker in another corner sits the synthesizer used on the early White Noise albums, The EMS VCS3, serial number 001.

'That was the very first one he ever made,' Vorhaus says. 'He turned up with a bottle of Dom Pérignon, which cost probably more than the synthesizer.” The ‘he’ in question is Peter Zinovieff, who created the VCS3 with Tristram Cary and David Cockerell in 1969. If it wasn’t for Zinovieff, Vorhaus might never have met his two principal collaborators on An Electric Storm, Brian Hodgson and Delia Derbyshire, of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. 'Delia Derbyshire was my girlfriend. She showed me everything that was known about electronic music in a couple of weeks,' Vorhaus explains, adding, 'There wasn’t much more to know than that then.'"

On a separate note, one of my biggest regrets was missing the opportunity to purchase Delia Derbyshires' VCS3 several years back. Sonic Boom of Spectrum was selling it along with a Synton Syrinx. Two dream synths I would have loved to own.

Sonic Boom talks about Patchblocks

Published on Sep 23, 2015 Patchblocks

"The awesome Pete Kember (Spacemen 3 / E.A.R. / Sonic Boom) was up for a nice interview and demo session with Patchblocks. Special thanks to Peter and Gus for this cool piece of footage ;-)"

Side note: I remember when Sonic Boom was selling his Synton Syrinx and Delia Derbyshire's EMS VSC3. I was so tempted to pick them up at the time, but I couldn't afford either. They've gone up in price considerably since then.

PRIME MOVER (Korg es2 and iMovieHD)

Uploaded on Apr 8, 2015 mista bishi

"All audio played unedited from Korg Electribe2 sampler
Ends with patterns on the theme of William Basinski's D|P 3 and Delia Derbyshire's Dr. Who"

via discchord

Electronic Music Studios (EMS) VCS 3, The "Putney" SN 2601

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Yes, this is /that/ VCS-3, the instrument used by Delia Derbyshire, Pink Floyd (e.g., "On the Run"), Jean Michel Jarre, Todd Rundgren, Hawkwind, Roxy Music, King Crimson, and The Who--just to name a few.

If you're interested in bidding on an instrument this pricey, then it is because you know what it truly is: /priceless/.

This particular VCS-3 (see pictures) has the following cosmetic problems: some of the knobs are missing their brass covers and one of the matrix pegs is missing. The fool who owned it before me added some kind of portamento button to the keyboard, so I'm just writing the keyboard off (i.e., not really factoring it into the price). The keyboard /does/ work, however, and I'll include my homemade Jones connector in with the lot...

The VCS itself works fine, v/oct control of each VCO, envelope trigger, etc., using the connectors in the back. I've only been able to explore this instrument a little: sufficed to say, every parameter sounded to be working (the reverb is especially interesting, very "Radiophonic workshop" sounding).

The thing is too special for words, but I just can't afford to sit on it now, supposing their may be someone out there willing to pay top dollar for a rare piece of musical history...

wikipedia.org/wiki/EMS_VCS_3"

CLICK FOR MORE »

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"

Sightseers' Alice Lowe with EMS VCS3 & Elka SYNTHEX

This one in via Pablo:

"In the Studio with our friend @alicelowe

Delia derbyshire-ing it up in the toydrum studios as we score her new film - watch this space

Toydrumproductions

If you have not seen Alice's last film which she wrote and stars in - you need to

its BRILLIANT!

Sightseers - directed Ben Wheatley"

Trailer below (note there are some NSFW bits in it).


NSFW bits in this one.

Sightseers Trailer Published on Aug 30, 2012

"Jet-black comedy from Ben Wheatley - writer-director of Kill List - about a dark and bloody journey through the British Isles in a caravan."

A Petition to Publish Delia Derbyshire's music from the BBC Sound Archive

Sign the petition here.

"Most of electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire's music exists in a single copy in the archives of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Many dozens, if not hundreds, of pieces of her beautiful work are mouldering unheard.

Delia's music broke new ground on several fronts: technological as she pushed what was possible with the equipment of her time, rhythmical as she experimented 11- and 13-note bars, and tonal as she freed herself from the 12-tone scale and voyaged into soundscapes and pure sound. Of Delia's work, only a tiny percentage is known to the public, whereas by far the majority of it is on tape in the Archive of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the custody of Mark Ayres.

We petition the BBC Trust to apply pressure to the BBC so that these recordings be swiftly published on traditional audio media (CD, DVD) so that the public, and in particular the British public who paid for it to be produced, be able to learn from and develop this woman's amazing musical visionary style.

The petition's closing date, the 5th of May 2014, is Delia's 77th birthday."

Sorrell Hays is Doris Hays in Scared Trip [1971], Not Delia Derbyshire

See the update in this post.

Sorrell Hays, Doris Hays & Delia Derbyshire

Update3 8/27/13: We have confirmation from Sorrell Hays herself.  It indeed was her that composed Doris Hays - Scared Trip [1971] in the video below and not Delia Derbyshire.  It was composed using the Buchla 101 keyboard pictured below. I'll see if I can get the WikiDelia article mentioning Delia updated. As a side note, for those on Facebook there's some conversation going on regarding this post here. Laurie Spiegel chimed in as well.

Start of original post before we had confirmation from Sorrell Hays:

This post can be a little confusing, so I thought I'd try and clear it up front.  I spotted this post on It's Full of Stars on Sorell Hays, an electronic artist that used a Buchla keyboard.  I clicked through the link in the post and found that the video directly below wasn't actually by Sorrell Hays, but by Delia Derbyshire.  Apparently Delia produced the tracks under the pseudonym Doris Hays.  The real Doris Hays went by Sorrell Hays and is pictured further below.  I have no idea if there was a connection between the two or if it was all just coincidence, but there you have it.

Update1 via eben in the comments: "hi Matrix thanks for reposting. it is quite a confusing situation! did you see the original post over on toys&techniques from a while back? it seems to suggest that the tracks on the Southern LP 'electronic music' might actually be sorrel and NOT delia - see also the comments to the post:

http://toysandtechniques.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/sorrel-hays.html

to me it sounds more buchla than ems!

its all very intriguing..."

Doris Hays - Scared Trip [1971]

Uploaded on May 21, 2011 TheCoffeeShopShop·2,525 videos
Re-Published on Nov 21, 2014 Doris Hays - Topic

I'm guessing this is a mix of tape and EMS based on the year.  Click here for more posts featuring Delia and EMS at the time.

via WikiDelia: "It is claimed that in 1971 Delia produced 14 tracks of electronic music for the British record label Southern Library of Recorded Music, published as Electronic Music with catalogue number MQ/LP 38[1] under the pseudonym Doris Hays.[2] The other four track on the album are credited to John Matthews, claimed to be John Baker[1] and included on the album 'The John Baker Tapes'."

There is a real Doris Hays who is also a electronic and musique concrète composer, also active in 1971, born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1941.[3]"

Pictured here is Doris Hays [not Delia] who went by Sorrel Hays.  Via her last.fm site: "Sorrel Hays was born Doris Hays in Memphis, Tennessee, but being a “sound” person she decided that “Sorrel” sings (her maternal grandmother’s family name was Sorrels) so in 1985 she adopted the name Sorrel.

In 1971 Hays won first prize at the Gaudeamus Competition for Interpreters of New Music in Rotterdam, and began her international career as a performer of contemporary music. She performed concerts at broadcasting stations in Germany, Holland, Italy and Yugoslavia, appeared at the Como Festival and Pro Musica Nova Bremen, and was invited to celebrate John Cage’s 60th birthday by performing his Concerto for Prepared Piano and Orchestra with the Orchestra at the Hague. She gave the first performance in Europe of her own music at the Gaudeamus Composers Week in Holland in 1972, a composition called Hands and Lights for piano strings with photocell activated switches and flashlights beamed across the interior of a grand piano, a composition which she later performed for the Chattanooga Debutante Cotton Ball.

During 1989-1990 Sorrel Hays was a resident artist at the Yamaha Communications and Research Center in New York City, commissioned to create music for the Yamaha MIDI Grand Piano. These pieces, 90’s, A Calendar Bracelet , for MIDI Grand and tone generator, are recorded by Loretta Goldberg on the CD “Soundbridge” from Opus One."

Buchla at 1:13: Update2: the Buchla is the 200 101 keyboard as seen in this video.

Southern Voices: A Composer's Exploration - PREVIEW

Uploaded on Jun 4, 2009 docued·648 videos

"Purchase: http://www.der.org/films/southern-voi... and on Amazon.

This documentary traces the development and premiere performance of an avant-garde symphonic work by Southern composer Sorrel Doris Hays. Commissioned by the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Hays' piece is based on the sounds and rhythms of Southern speech and musical traditions. It is a journey into childhood memories via the melodies and rhythms of Southern dialect. Stoney combines analysis of her work with interviews in which Hays discusses her struggle with racism and paternalism of Southern culture.

a film by George Stoney with Sorrel Doris Hays
distributed by Documentary Educational Resources"

I did a quick search on YouTube to see if I could find anything else and found the following:

Invasion of the Love Drones (1977)

Uploaded on Sep 19, 2009
Invasion of the Love Drones, 1977 sci-fi movie from Jerome Hamlin. Soundtrack by Sorrel Hays, Mike Michaels, Richard Lavsky's Music House and Barry Forgie (uncredited). Additional dialogue by Charles Flowers (uncredited).

Review & more information:
http://atagong.com/archives/2009/09/e..."

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.

Atomic Shadow - Birthday On Mars

Birthday On Mars from Atomic Shadow on Vimeo.

"This semi-improvised piece is recorded live, in one take, and features the MU format synth and the EMW200/300 cross-patched. The new DotCom S/H module is playing the cello like sound from the DDVCO. The EMW is providing filter filter modulation and some counter melodies from the sequencer and S/H section. I must also point out the new STG Soundlabs mixer and say that Eric's claims about the sound are absolutely true. Everything I feed through it sounds better coming out than going in. Off camera there are some effects units that are being controlled by hand (and foot) to process the sine wave from the small Eico signal generator."

via Rod Mitchell (Atomic Shadow) on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

Update via Rod: "I probably should have mentioned that it's Delia Derbyshire"s birthday today and Mrs. Shadow's birthday tomorrow. That was part of the inspiration for the title."

The Sound of Tomorrow: How Electronic Music Was Smuggled into the Mainstream

This one comes in recommended by Ununseptium Warehouse

"I was given it for Christmas and found it a very absorbing and well written historical overview of the uses of synths and other electronic devices in popular culture."

via Amazon:

"London, 1966: Paul McCartney met a group of three electronic musicians called Unit Delta Plus. McCartney was there because he had become fascinated by electronic music, and wanted to know how it was made. He was one of the first rock musicians to grasp its potential, but even he was notably late to the party. For years, composers and technicians had been making electronic music for film and TV. Hitchcock had commissioned a theremin soundtrack for Spellbound (1945); The Forbidden Planet (1956) featured an entirely electronic score; Delia Derbyshire had created the Dr Who theme in 1963; and by the early 1960s, all you had to do was watch commercial TV for a few hours to hear the weird and wonderful sounds of the new world. The Sound of Tomorrow tells the compelling story of the sonic adventurers who first introduced electronic music to the masses. A network of composers, producers, technicians and inventors, they took emerging technology and with it made sound and music that was bracingly new..."

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.

Delia Derbyshire EMS Synthi Brochure, Mods, Audio Demos & More

You'll find them at thesynthi.de

Direct links to the posts featuring the brochures:

Delia Derbyshire's Dopesheets
1971 Synthi VCS3 Brochure

The Return of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop as Virtual Institution

Doctor Who (1963) - Original Theme music video

YouTube Uploaded by unstrungzero on Mar 30, 2009

via Atomic Shadow spotted on Wired

"According to the Workshop's site: 'in 2012 as part of thespace.org, an innovative new digital arts media service created in joint partnership between the BBC and the arts council the radiophonic workshop is being reborn'.

It continues: 'Instead of being confined to rooms full of equipment in Maida Vale studios in London, the new Radiophonic Workshop will instead be a virtual institution, visibly manifested as an online portal and forum for discussion around the challenges of creating new sounds in a world saturated in innovative music technology but lacklustre in terms of actual original output. We will primarily bring together two key disciplines: music composition and software design, and as such its members will be drawn from the cutting edge of both.'"

Dr. Who video above:
"From "Doctor Who - The Beginning Collection (1963)" Disc 1

The original full-length theme music, with original 1963 title sequence visual elements.

Composed by Ron Grainer, realized by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop."

Delia Derbyshire - Dance from 'Noah'

YouTube Uploaded by rainbreeder on Jul 8, 2011

"won't sound out of place in today's UK dance scene, except it was made decades ago."

via Richard Issitt on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

Daphne Oram documentary - Wee Have Also Sound-Houses & Early BBC radiophonics: Private Dreams and Public Nightmares (1957)

Daphne Oram documentary - Wee Have Also Sound-Houses

YouTube Uploaded by straypixel on Jan 6, 2012

"To mark the 50th anniversary in 2008 of 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.

As a child in the 1930s, Oram dreamed of a way to turn drawn shapes into sound, and she dedicated her life to realising that goal. Her Oramics machine anticipated the synthesiser by more than a decade, and with it she produced a number of internationally-performed works for the cinema, concert hall and theatre.

Daphne Oram was among the very first composers of electronic music in Britain and her legacy is the dominance of that soundworld in our culture today.

Introduced by Robert Moreby
Produced by Ian Chambers
TX BBC Radio 3, Sun 3 Aug 2008 21:45"


Early BBC radiophonics: Private Dreams and Public Nightmares (1957)

YouTube Uploaded by straypixel on Jan 8, 2012

"An early BBC experiment in radiophonic sound, predating the establishment of the Radiophonic Workshop, created by Frederick Bradnum and Daphne Oram (pictured) and produced by Donald McWhinnie.
TX BBC Third Programme, 07/10/1957.

McWhinnie's spoken introduction (the work starts at 4:20):

"This programme is an experiment. An exploration. It's been put together with enormous enthusiasm and equipment designed for other purposes. The basis of it is an unlimited supply of magnetic tape, recording machine, razor blade, and some thing to stick the bits together with. And a group of technicians who think that nothing is too much trouble - provided that it works.

"You take a sound. Any sound. Record it and then change its nature by a multiplicity of operations. Record it at different speeds. Play it backwards. Add it to itself over and over again. You adjust filters, echos, acoustic qualities. You combine segments of magnetic tape. By these means and many others you can create sounds which no one has ever heard before. Sounds which have indefinable and unique qualities of their own. A vast and subtle symphony can be composed from the noise of a pin dropping. In fact one of the most vibrant and elemental sounding noises in tonight's programme started life as an extremely tinny cowbell.

"It's a sort of modern magic. Many of you may be familiar with it. They've been exploiting it on the continent for years. But strangely enough we've held aloof. Partly from distrust. Is it simply a new toy? Partly through complacency. Ignorance too. We're saying at last that we think there's some thing in it. But we aren't calling it 'musique concrète'. In fact we've decided not to use the word music at all. Some musicians believe that it can become an art form itself. Others are sceptical. That's not our immediate concern. We're interested in its application to radio writing - dramatic or poetic - adding a new dimension. A form that is essentially radio.

'Properly used, radiophonic effects have no relationship with any existing sound. They're free of irrelevent associations. They have an emotional life of their own. And they could be a new and invaluable strand in the texture of radio and theatre and cinema and television.'"

Also see:
Delia Derbyshire - Sculptress of Sound documentary 1 - 7