In memory of wind softness

 

(Hailing from Birmingham, UK, Broadcast, formed of Trish Keenan (vocals), Roj Stevens (keyboards), James Cargill (bass), Tim Felton (guitar) and Steve Perkins (drums); Broadcast’s intimate experimental pop is fuelled with references to the work of the seminal BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Ennio Morricone or John Barry. Often associated with Stereolab in the early days, the sound of the band has developed considerably. Unfortunately, lead singer Trish Keenan died of pneumonia on 14 January 2011 at the age of 42).

 

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Bandcamp

Overtaking the frontiers of knowledge

Analog effervescence of microbes swarming the motherboard.

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 Blessed hands, lead us to the future...

The Great Delian Mode

More from the Workshop is on the air; early electronic oddities from british core.

Music From The BBC Radiophonic Workshop

The People of Today (Repost)

"The Tomorrow People" was a british children's science fiction TV series (not well known outside the UK), produced by the UK's Thames Television between 1973 and 1979; it was all about the next step in human evolution (officially called "Homo Superiors") who were born with special powers such as teleportation and telepathy. Whenever the was trouble, The Tomorrow People would step in and help sort it out.

A large portion of The Tomorrow People soundtrack was taken from the Standard Music Library's "ESL104" LP. In fact, all but four tracks from "ESL104" were used to score The Tomorrow People; the composers that contributed to "ESL104" were none other than BBC Radiophonic Workshop members and electronic music pioneers Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson (using the pseudonyms "Li De La Russe" and "Nikki St George" respectively) along with Dudley Simpson (Doctor Who, Blake's 7) and David Vorhaus (here's the 2006 remastered version)

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Meet the Pioneers (Repost)

BBC Radiophonic Music was the first compilation of music released by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. It featured music by three of the Workshop's most prominent composers, John Baker, David Cain and Delia Derbyshire. The music varied between incidental music and signature tunes, which had been used by various BBC programmes, as well as some radio jingles.

The selection demonstrated many of the methods used by the composers at the Radiophonic Workshop, including musique concrète tape editing and their use of primitive early electronic oscillators. It featured mostly original compositions, except for Baker's arrangements of the traditional "Boys and Girls" and "The Frogs Wooing", and Derbyshire's version of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Air".

In 2002 the compilation was remastered by Mark Ayres (the version included here), and re-released with two bonus Derbyshire songs; the original composition "Time to Go" and her version of "Happy Birthday". The album was originally released in 1968 for use as library music, but later given a commercial release in 1970 on the new BBC Records label.

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Rays and Sparks (Repost)

As request by my faithful reader (and brother) Gonzalo here's a great work from late 60's called "Electrical Storm", as said by specialists, a real must in the electronic music: White Noise is an experimental electronic music band formed in London in 1969 by American-born David Vorhaus, a classical bass player with a background in both physics and electronic engineering. He was initially joined by BBC Radiophonic Workshop composers Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson, both ex of electronic music project Unit Delta Plus.

The album was created using a variety of tape manipulation techniques, and is notable for its early use of the first British synthesizer, the EMS Synthi VCS3. Amongst many oddities, the first track on the album, Love Without Sound, employed sped-up tape edits of Vorhaus playing the double bass to create violin and cello sounds.

"I use voices a lot too, but not as conventional vocals. I always use a lot of voices, and if somebody having an orgasm in the background is used as part of one of the waveforms, it makes the sound more interesting, without the listener actually knowing what they're hearing." (David Vorhaus)

The band recorded the first two tracks with the intention of producing a single only, but were then persuaded by Chris Blackwell of Island Records to create an entire album. At this point the group set up the Kaleidophon Studio in a flat in Camden Town, London, and spent a year creating the next four tracks. The last track was put together in one day when Island demanded the completion of the album.

This album remains popular over 40 years after it was recorded, and many electronic musicians cite it as an influence. Delia Derbyshire has become a major cult hero after her death and many of her recordings have been released posthumously; although not initially commercially successful for Island, it has over the years proved to be a cult classic, going on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide, namechecked by such contemporary artists as The Orb and Julian Cope, influencing contemporary acts such as Broadcast, Add N to (X), and Secret Chiefs 3; by the way, a brief extract can be heard in the Hammer Film Productions film Dracula AD 1972.

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The Real Unsung Heroine [The British Pride] (Repost)

Delia Derbyshire was born in Coventry, England, in 1937. Educated at Coventry Grammar School and Girton College, Cambridge, where she was awarded a degree in mathematics and music. In 1960 Delia joined the BBC as a trainee studio manager. She excelled in this field, but when it became apparent that the fledgling Radiophonic Workshop was under the same operational umbrella, she asked for an attachment there - an unheard of request, but one which was, nonetheless, granted. Delia remained 'temporarily attached' for years, regularly deputising for the Head, and influencing many of her trainee colleagues.To begin with Delia thought she had found her own private paradise where she could combine her interests in the theory and perception of sound; modes and tunings, and the communication of moods using purely electronic sources.

Within a matter of months she had created her recording of Ron Grainer's Doctor Who theme, one of the most famous and instantly recognisable TV themes ever. Thus began what is still referred to as the Golden Age of the Radiophonic Workshop.

Derbyshire was the first person there with any higher music qualifications, but as she wasn't supposed to be doing music, much of her early work remained anonymous under the umbrella credit 'special sound by BBC Radiophonic Workshop; before long the Workshop's TV output had overtaken work produced specifically for radio broadcast. Derbyshire was called upon to do music for drama and documentary programmes set in the distant past, the unseen future or deep in the human psyche - in fact any area where an orchestra would be out of place. Science, arts and educational programmes also benefited from her abstract style. Her work with Barry Bermange on the four Inventions for Radio is perhaps the best illustration of Delia's intuitive way with soundscaping. Derbyshire soon gained a reputation for successfully tackling the impossible. When asked to "make some TV title music using only animal sounds" - much thought and ingenuity resulted in Great Zoos of the World. Delia always managed to soften her purist mathematical approach with a sensitive interpretative touch - 'very sexy' said Michael Bakewell on first hearing her electronic music for Cyprian Queen.

Derbyshire also worked with the composers Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Roberto Gerhard (on his 1965 Prix Italia winning 'Anger of Achilles'), and Ianni Christou, doing sound treatments of their orchestral music. She was also assistant to Luciano Berio at the 1962 Dartington summer school.

Delia's works from the 60s and 70s continue to be used on radio and TV some 30 years later, and her music has given her legendary status with releases in Sweden and Japan. Delia believed that the way the ear/brain perceives sound should have dominance over any basic mathematical theory, but as with most things in life it is important to know the rules in order to advantageously bend or break them. By the mid 1970s Derbyshire was disillusioned by the apparent future of electronic music and withdrew from the medium; after a bunch or works, she finally passed away in Northampton, England, on July 3rd 2001

She is constantly mentioned, credited and covered by bands from Add n to (x) and Sonic Boom to Aphex Twin and The Chemical Brothers, and of course, this humble homage goes for her.

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