The BBC Radiophonic Workshop: Classic or Dud?

great that the delia derbyshire website is back. nice to hear Moogies Bloogies again.

http://www.delia-derbyshire.org for the real thing.

The Alchemists of Sound

Thu 8 Feb, 11:20 pm - 12:20 am 60mins

BBC FOUR on BBC TWO

Alchemists of Sound traces the rise and fall of the Radiophonic Workshop, an in-house department established in 1958 to provide extraordinary sounds and music for the BBC's TV and radio services. Best known for its theme tunes to Blake's Seven, Blue Peter, Open University and The Body in Question and, of course, Doctor Who, this documentary reveals the complex techniques deployed by the Workshop long before synthesisers were invented.

The programme is narrated by Oliver Postgate, the voice behind the childrens TV classics Ivor the Engine, The Clangers and Bagpuss. [AD,S]

http://delia-derbyshire.cvol.net/

Not sure I approve of mp3s encoded from still-available CD releases but there you go.

He used to appear on Swap Shop showing you how to make a Vorgon Cruiser out of washing up bottles etc. Matt something IIRC.

He was a bizarre parallel of the RWS, with the same aesthetic of economically-restricted grandiose futurisism

Can anyone identify this snippet? Sounds Radiophonic to me.

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=181C446376667DE0

Does anyone have a copy of the BBC doc mentioned upthread they'd be willing to share? I can trade for something like my DVD-R of "The Changes"(w/ Paddy Kingsland music. Quite awesome.) Really wanna see this!

Alba - hi,
fairly certain your mystery tune is raymond scott- something off teh "manhattan research" 2cd set which is indeed very radiophonic

Fantastic, bob. Just checked the snippets on the Amazon page and it is indeed "Portofino" by Scott.

In the course of all that I found an ILM thread in which I noted that I really want to hear his stuff, about four years ago ...

Thanks.

Portofino 2, rather.

If the Radiophonic Workshop documentary is "Alchemists of Sound", the whole thing's on youtube in several chunks. (Not to discourage anyone from offering a better quality version or anything, but I watched it on there a while ago. Wonderful 60s footage of Delia Derbyshire in the studio speaking with one of those very precise/nervous accents that don't exist any more.)

I want this
http://www.discogs.com/release/212869

Can't they re-press/release it on CD?

And you'd think they might notice that this goes for £40 and keep it in print! Or does BBC Records even exist still?
http://www.discogs.com/release/173394

Did anyone hear BLUE VEILS AND GOLDEN SANDS, the Radio 4 play about Delia Derbyshire's life? I only heard about half of it at the time, but it was reallu good, as I remember. I wonder if you can listen to it anywhere still.

Well you can get it on this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-BBC-Plays-Audio/dp/1846070449

The other two plays sound dreadful, though!

there's a lot of overlap between the 4x10" and that cd. the vinyl is a couple of minutes too long to fit on a single cd, i ended up dropping the delia derbyshire bits because i had them on another cd somewhere.

i also have a copy of alchemists of sound but it's only a half-pal avi. must look out for a repeat and do it again properly.

the tomorrow people soundtrack is still available, the first white noise lp is just about to get a deluxe re-release and the first two doctor who at the bbc cds are still available, i think (yes, a tenner on amazon)

i recorded "alchemists" earlier this year -- february, in fact -- and have just got round to watching it today.

it's probably one of the best documentaries, if not pieces of television, i've ever seen. i don't know where to begin with it: the aesthetic, the research, the anecdotes, the sheer levels of mind-boggling genius contained within. o, and sonic boom, too!

there's a certain aesthetic that absolutely fascinates me yet is hard to quantify -- if anyone can explain what ties together my love (for example) of british modernist and brutalist architecture, public-information films from the 1950s to early 1980s and the mkI human league, feel free -- and so much of the workshop's output fits into that perfectly. i have to get hold of some of their stuff ... i assume there are collections out there?

as for the documentary itself ... it's stuck on my bloody humax and i need to work out a way of getting it off, 'cos that's a keeper.

wow. just ... awesome.

hmm! even despite mark ayres's re-releases in 2002, this stuff isn't exactly easy to get hold of :(

http://orpheusrecords.blogspot.com/2007/11/alchemists-of-sound-2003-documentary.html

fantastic. thank you. i shan't do anything with it right now because, er, my bandwidth is rather tied up with something else :)

http://waxidermy.com/2006/06/06/j-matthews-electronic-music/

http://www.mute.com/artists/publicArtistLoad.do?id=36105&forward=fullDiscography

release of 3 (2 reissues, 1 new compilation?) Workshop cds on 3rd nov.

no tracklistings given but the originals are here:
http://www.discogs.com/release/173394
http://www.discogs.com/release/173397

hmm. i devoted many hours to downloading as much of that stuff as i could find. it wasn't easy. this is pretty joyous news.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BBC-Radiophonic-Workshop-Retrospective/dp/B001GISONU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1224156834&sr=8-3

Assuming that tracklisting's good, that's going to be worth getting hold of. Plenty of tracks from '21', and a selection of stuff from 'The Changes'.

Hope it's right.

that's blindingly good. i managed to get hold of 21, but i'd certainly shell out for that.

AWESOME

Sorry its only up for another day....

I love the Mastered By Guy at the Exchange-type stuff.

New Tristram Cary lp out on trunk.
http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=281201

"new"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jetzY-W78gg

love this, needs more rapping tho.

...who?

http://www.mimaroglumusicsales.com/artists/frederick+charles+judd.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g15x3

Sat 14 Jul 2012 09:00 BBC Radio 4 Extra
Sat 14 Jul 2012 19:00 BBC Radio 4 Extra
(it's a repeat from 2008)

Richard Coles tells the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop's extraordinary story.

In 1958 an extraordinary musical laboratory opened at the BBC. It was called the Radiophonic Workshop and provided music and sound for a wealth of BBC programmes, from The Goons to Dr Who.

With contributions from Coldcut, Dick Mills and Mark Ayres, Richard Coles explores the achievements of the unit and presents a carefully chosen selection of programmes showcasing the department's work:

The Dreams (05/01/1964)
The Goons (02/02/1959)
Inferno Revisited (17/04/1983)
Relativity (1974)
Electric Tunesmiths (30/12/1971)
Bath Time (1976)

This is SUCH a tune:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ121_LBW0E

the Daphne Oram exhibit runs just a few more months at the Science Museum in London -

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ORAMICS

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/62842000/jpg/_62842046_matthewherbert.jpg

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19568120

The BBC's Radiophonic Workshop, which created theme tunes and sound effects for programmes including Doctor Who and Blake's 7, is to reopen after 14 years.

Composer Matthew Herbert, known for his use of "found sounds", has been appointed creative director.

One of his first commissions is a "sonic memorial" to the BBC's Bush House building which, until recently, was the home of the World Service.

The original workshop was known for its pioneering use of electronic sounds.

Founded in 1958, it was best-known for creating the eerie swoosh of the Doctor Who theme tune, but its compositions were also used in numerous radio dramas, The Goon Show and The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

As well as music, the workshop created sound effects - from champagne corks popping to the distorted, strangulated voices of the Daleks.

While the first workshop was based in the BBC's Maida Vale studios, the new incarnation will live online, at The Space, a new digital arts service developed by the Arts Council and the BBC.

Herbert will lead "seven fellow cutting-edge collaborators" in making new sounds and music

REPLACE MURRAY GOLD WITH THE SOUND OF A DEAD PIG

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/62842000/jpg/_62842046_matthewherbert.jpg
I imagine this is what Kraftwerk's accountant looks like.

Anyone going to this:
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/events/talks/electronic_music.aspx ?

Just for fun:
http://webaudio.prototyping.bbc.co.uk/

haha, there's a konami code on the ring modulator that lets you use a live input.

http://www.factmag.com/2014/02/18/the-radiophonic-workshop-announce-substantial-uk-tour/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA6Fb0nuAYw

1/7

Ugh, I just turned on BBC4 and this was on, why don't I pay more attention to the Proms (answer - 'cuz it's usually shite)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ebzcd4

It's very good.

The Proms usually throws up something worthwhile. Loved the Ravi Shankar / Philip Glass prom from 2017.

The songs of Scott Walker was a nice one last year, too

I just heard that David Cain passed away :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvAcUHSWEGw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WNLG7xZbeE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMZkRB1-5ek

Richard Yeoman-Clark just died as well.

"More sad news reaches us of the passing of another colleague, Richard Yeoman-Clark, who apparently left us on September 16th after a short illness. Richard spent seven years at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, starting in 1971. He (like Dick Mills) was more technician than composer but took to the EMS Synthi 100 like a duck to water, creating many memorable works such as 'Waltz Antipathy' and 'Mysterioso' – the latter created for the first season of Blake’s Seven, perhaps his greatest claim to fame, for which he created all the initial signature sounds before Elizabeth Parker took over part way through season two."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74qzbKBe5wA

that david cain lp is 50p for the download from trunk records website.

(they have a bunch of other radiophonic stuff of course, the tristram cary lp, the two john baker, the tomorrow people soundtrack, some delia things... website navigation not the best though)

Aired today, and up for download currently, a new radio feature about and interviewing Workshop members.

Live lockdown show using internet latency as a tape delay, coming up on November 22

Whoa!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjiSkR6di9k

Stumbled across Daphne Oram being featured on one of those Mr. Cholmondely-Warner style documentaries (from 1960) on Talking Pictures.