39 Comments

Joe

Delia Derbyshire was certainly a legend!

I’m sure you know about the BBC documentary on the Radiophonic workshop? Well worth a look… I’m sure this clip is taken from that.

March 19, 2007 @ 5:24 pm

Peter Kirn

I do know about the documentary, but I’m here in the US and it’s never been publicly released on DVD in either country.

Here’s the documentary page for people who aren’t aware of it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/music/features/alchemists.shtml

You can read people lamenting the lack of DVD availability, as well:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/9xn8/

And there’s quite a lot of additional footage, I would imagine, hanging about. The Radiophonic Workshop did a lot beyond Doctor Who, including working with many of the leading UK composers of the time.

BBC could have quite a DVD following, and I imagine this could also make a decent candidate for online distribution.

Ahem. Any BBC execs out there?

March 19, 2007 @ 5:41 pm

Stabilizer

The documentary is a very inspiring watch for sure.. Very well made and surprisingly funny and warm. Not something you’d expect from a doc about sound geeks :-)

This was my favourite bit of the doc and the best bit is the bit where she triggers the second loop a bit out of sync and corrects it with a button push or two. I’ve seen DJ’s take longer to get beats in time with vinyl.

March 19, 2007 @ 5:46 pm

Michael Pearson

Is it wrong that my first thought was “Wow, total babe”?

March 19, 2007 @ 7:03 pm

Michael Una

Mad skills.

March 19, 2007 @ 9:53 pm

meta-trans-mission » Blog Archive » Reel to reel beatmatching

[...] from CDM. [...]

March 19, 2007 @ 10:38 pm

Pete

The Discogs.com artist page for BBC Radiophonic Workshop shows that there have been a few CD reissues in recent years, both from the BBC and from the Mute Records sub-label, Grey Area. There’s also a slick looking one from Rephlex Records, but sadly it was a limited edition, vinyl-only release on 4×10″ vinyl.

March 19, 2007 @ 11:47 pm

slabman

Another unsung heroine was Daphne Oram who actually founded the Radiophonic Workshop. Google the name for any number of references including those to Oramics – a optically controlled sequencer/synthesizer that prefigured software like Metasynth. (One could probably completely emulate Oramics in Max/MSP…). Arguably the most important and under-rated woman in electronic music – ever.

March 20, 2007 @ 2:33 am

loops

Thanks Peter for this article. I never heard of Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram (thanks slabman!) before.
What inspiration!

March 20, 2007 @ 5:28 am

Chent

Delia Derbyshire was a massive influence on electronic music here in the UK. I think her influence is one of a number of reasons that techno/electronica/idm whatever took off in such a bigger way than it ever did in the US.

March 20, 2007 @ 7:27 am

bliss

Yeah, I have a handful of her tunes in my iTunes.

March 20, 2007 @ 8:06 am

bliss

Btw, beautiful clip!

March 20, 2007 @ 8:10 am

bliss

The Radiophonic documentary can be watched here in seven parts: BBC: Radiophonic-Alchemists of Sound.

March 20, 2007 @ 8:22 am

bliss

Erm, that link didn’t work. Here again: BBC: Radiophonic-Alchemists of Sound.

March 20, 2007 @ 8:24 am

bliss

Whatever, I guess you have to copy and paste. Sorry ’bout my lack of xhtml know-how. :-/

March 20, 2007 @ 8:26 am

Jaymis Loveday

Sorted :)

March 20, 2007 @ 8:39 am

Andrew Swihart

Yeah I thought she was pretty cute too, until I looked a little closer at her teeth, what a shame. Leave it to poor English oral hygiene to ruin a hot chick.

March 20, 2007 @ 9:17 am

recombinant

That is amazing (for 1968)! I’ve never heard of the Radiophonic Workshop before, so it looks like I have some research to do… Thanks!!! :)

March 20, 2007 @ 10:28 am

» Blog Archive » beatmatch anthropology

[...] link found at cdm (more info there too). [...]

March 20, 2007 @ 11:55 am

bliss

@Andrew Swihart

Her teeth?! You’re worried about her teeth?! C’mon, man, what has she done, what has she contributed? She’s beautiful in my eyes––well beyond cute. She’s total package material. You can’t pick and choose attributes with those kind of women Besides, if I knew her way back then and I was an American, then I’m sure I would’ve known a good dentist or two that I could’ve recommended––if she had shown interest in seeing one. Could have bribed her with the chance to record the sounds of a dentist’s office. She’s way more than the teeth, man.

March 20, 2007 @ 2:49 pm

Chent

Never trust people with good teeth.

March 20, 2007 @ 3:36 pm

Peter Kirn

Okay, if there are any women left out there, we definitely need you to speak out ASAP.

For what it’s worth, though, my girlfriend says her first thought when watching this video was “wow, total babe!”, too. And now she wants a few reel-to-reels.

Everyone loves Delia Derbyshire.

Daphne Oram = also truly an awesome force in the history of music and sound. And oram.max needs to happen. I’ll see what I can do. ;)

March 20, 2007 @ 3:40 pm

Arvin

Ok, seriously how is it that the same week I start on my story on Delia you beat me to the punch with this great video?!!

Totally made my week. Thank you so much for posting it! :D

March 20, 2007 @ 4:56 pm

Carl Lumma

*heart*

March 20, 2007 @ 10:40 pm

Roland Reinke

The percussion groove reminded my very much of Matthew Herbert…. wow!
Thanks for making me aware of Ms. Derbyshire!

Roland
http://www.rolandreinke.com

March 21, 2007 @ 6:52 am

Malte Steiner

I have seen the whole documentation and have 2 BBC Radiophonic Workshop CDs which I orderd from Amazon UK not so long ago.
What really amazes me besides from her skills and creativity, that some of her tracks EXACTLY sounds as they come from Residents’ Mark Of The Mole like the piece in the video POT AU FEU, just 10 years before. I guess they use simular techniques and gear, and/ or maybe they are big fans of her.

March 21, 2007 @ 8:14 am

Andrew Swihart

bliss, looking forward to your 10th post on this article.

Now that you mention it, yeah, I think her teeth are lovely, makes me wish I could suck on them.

March 21, 2007 @ 9:35 am

» Beatprogramming anno 1968 by Delia Derbyshire

[...] via Create Digital Music Tags: Delia Derbyshire [...]

March 21, 2007 @ 1:20 pm

alice

Cool. That looped plucked string sound is similar to the opening of Portland Oregon by Loretta Lynn from Van Lear Rose.
Who else is mining her work¿

March 21, 2007 @ 2:17 pm

Andrew Swihart

Hell, I think Brian Wilson based his whole Pet Sounds album on this demonstration by Ms. Derbyshire.

March 21, 2007 @ 10:14 pm

William G

You can download the Alchemists Of Sound documentary in all it’s full-resolution glory here:

http://fatbaron.com/alchemistsofsound.avi

Warning: 700MB file.

Peter: Please remove this link if it will get you into trouble!

March 25, 2007 @ 7:32 pm

richard

Is there anychance someone could send me a mpeg version of the alchemists of sound docu that i could play on my ipod? thanks! please email me if you can help! todayforever91@hotmail.com

March 30, 2007 @ 3:10 pm

bpmf

Delia be supa fly, she could tweek me all night long… wonky teeth and all, she rocks my world!
William G, props for the avi, this documentary is most cool. It has an interview with Maddalena Fagandini, which is niiice… sadly , although there’s a picture of her in passing, Daphne Oram is a bit slightled by this doc. Sad, she was radiophonic workshop original founding staff and an inventor to boot.

May 7, 2007 @ 6:25 pm

Dee

Well im current doing music production and watched Radiophonic-Alchemists, was totally amazed! Delia, shes a genius! gave me a real eye opener.

Shes the Lisa lashes of her days, if she was still alive im sure her music production would be non short of sheer top class prefection!!

October 1, 2007 @ 4:11 pm

Jo Lima

I’m a big fan of Isaac Isaiah’s electronic music. It reminds me of Delia’s compositions, but perhaps even more structured.

You can hear some of it here:

http://www.spectralmusic.com

October 16, 2007 @ 10:37 am

Create Digital Music » Embracing Simplicity: Bjork Hangs with Legendary Minimalists, Timbaland

[...] For more insanely talented and inspiring women in music as featured by BBC documentaries, see Delia Derbyshire and Alchemists of Sound, as discussed here on CDM last month. [...]

November 15, 2007 @ 7:09 pm

Create Digital Music » Maker Faire: Giant Bicycle-Part DJ Looping Reel-to-Reel Tape Deck

[...] Reel-to-Reel DJing: Because no one can beat-match on reel-to-reels like BBC Radiophonic Workshop wizard Delia Derbyshire. [...]

November 15, 2007 @ 11:48 pm

bobbi

i was born in ‘67 and brought up on Delia’s music, from the Dr Who theme, to the incidental music in educational programs made for schools. The thing that always impressed upon me was the emotional charge in many of her pieces, even entirely electronic compositions like “that” theme managed to transport me to other places, (kraftwerk had a similar effect on me when i first heard them) beyond the initial beeps and whoops is a depth of soul that seems lost in a lot of today’s music, it’s as though every sound was carefully considered not for it’s musical merit, but for it’s atmospheric values… Consider the serenity that is Blue Veils, the bad acid that is White Noise, the impending adventure of that theme… And on top of all this, she was as cute as a button and a true geek, apart from the drink problems she’d have been the ideal woman (or at least, that’s what i’d be thinking if i weren’t already involved (damage limitation mode disengaged))…

for anyone interested, our tribute to Delia’s genius can be found on our myspace page here <a href=”http://www.myspace.com/oddid”
we pale in comparison to Delia, but hope to have done her memory justice and helped people “discover” her…

I’d urge all of you to google John Cavanagh’s interview with Delia, recorded shortly before she passed

bobbi iddod
poppi iqqoq

January 27, 2008 @ 11:00 am

acremonious pigeon

idea, causing machinery to make music, rather tha, an atempt to create an idea using machinery.

January 9, 2009 @ 3:02 pm

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