The BBC Radiophonic Workshop: Classic or Dud?

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Alchemists of Sound is a couple of years old now I think - it was one of the first things I ever downloaded from uknova. So I'd be surprised if it hasn't already aired on BBC2 at some point or other. It's very very good though.

JimD (JimD), Monday, 5 February 2007 17:33 (seventeen years ago) link

Can anyone remember the name of the bloke who did the "special effects" for Dr. Who/Blake's 7 etc?

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

Phil Knight (PhilK), Monday, 5 February 2007 21:51 (seventeen years ago) link

Mat Irvine
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0410203/

Koogy Bloogies (koogs), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 09:41 (seventeen years ago) link

Ah yes! Thanks Koogy, it's all coming back now........

Phil Knight (PhilK), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 17:23 (seventeen years ago) link

eight months pass...

Can anyone identify this snippet? Sounds Radiophonic to me.

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

Alba, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 18:37 (sixteen years ago) link

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!

Capitaine Jay Vee, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 18:45 (sixteen years ago) link

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

bob snoom, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 19:37 (sixteen years ago) link

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.

Alba, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 20:13 (sixteen years ago) link

Portofino 2, rather.

Alba, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 20:13 (sixteen years ago) link

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.)

a passing spacecadet, Thursday, 25 October 2007 09:33 (sixteen years ago) link

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.

Jamie T Smith, Thursday, 25 October 2007 10:25 (sixteen years ago) link

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!

Jamie T Smith, Thursday, 25 October 2007 10:39 (sixteen years ago) link

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)

koogs, Thursday, 25 October 2007 12:27 (sixteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...

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.

grimly fiendish, Wednesday, 21 November 2007 17:58 (sixteen years ago) link

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

grimly fiendish, Wednesday, 21 November 2007 18:16 (sixteen years ago) link

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

grimly fiendish, Wednesday, 21 November 2007 18:24 (sixteen years ago) link

four months pass...

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

Milton Parker, Monday, 7 April 2008 19:21 (sixteen years ago) link

five months pass...

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

koogs, Sunday, 5 October 2008 10:09 (fifteen years ago) link

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.

right, we all start when the drum machine starts, lads (grimly fiendish), Sunday, 5 October 2008 11:58 (fifteen years ago) link

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.

chad yellowhammer, Thursday, 16 October 2008 11:36 (fifteen years ago) link

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

easy, lionel (grimly fiendish), Thursday, 16 October 2008 21:36 (fifteen years ago) link

two months pass...

AWESOME

Sorry its only up for another day....

Plaxico (I know, right?), Friday, 26 December 2008 20:58 (fifteen years ago) link

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

Plaxico (I know, right?), Friday, 26 December 2008 21:21 (fifteen years ago) link

one year passes...

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

koogs, Friday, 26 March 2010 13:19 (fourteen years ago) link

"new"

koogs, Friday, 26 March 2010 13:19 (fourteen years ago) link

one year passes...

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

love this, needs more rapping tho.

Sir Chips Keswick (Merdeyeux), Saturday, 30 July 2011 23:09 (twelve years ago) link

five months pass...

...who?

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

Milton Parker, Wednesday, 25 January 2012 23:19 (twelve years ago) link

five months pass...

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)

koogs, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 23:35 (eleven years ago) link

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

I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 23:48 (eleven years ago) link

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

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

TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 00:17 (eleven years ago) link

two months pass...

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

Mark G, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 08:36 (eleven years ago) link

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

Mark G, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 08:37 (eleven years ago) link

REPLACE MURRAY GOLD WITH THE SOUND OF A DEAD PIG

┐(´ー`)┌ (sic), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:27 (eleven years ago) link

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

Emeritus Professor of LOLology (snoball), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 10:42 (eleven years ago) link

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

Jeff W, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 11:55 (eleven years ago) link

three months pass...

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

Zweitgeist (doo dah), Friday, 21 December 2012 01:49 (eleven years ago) link

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

wk, Friday, 21 December 2012 02:32 (eleven years ago) link

one year passes...

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

1/7

OutdoorFish, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 18:49 (ten years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N1I_03wPEE

OutdoorFish, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 18:50 (ten years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNaqvAH7R34

OutdoorFish, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 18:51 (ten years ago) link

one month passes...

http://theradiophonicworkshop.co.uk/file/do_come_in.html

was going to go to the Glasgow gig this evening - get well soon Dr Mills

Ward Fowler, Friday, 21 March 2014 12:15 (ten years ago) link

eleven months pass...

And why not

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

Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 14 March 2015 18:41 (nine years ago) link

one year passes...

that's fantastic

wish I were in london for this one:

http://www.lcorchestra.co.uk/events/deepminimalism/

In June the LCO will open the Southbank Centre’s DEEP∞MINIMALISM festival with a world premiere of Daphe Oram’s groundbreaking work Still Point.

The piece is brought to life by the LCO and composer Shiva Feshareki, who performs on turntables an electronic manipulation of the recorded orchestra, in duet with the live orchestra. Oram’s ambitious work of 1949 predates the work of an entire generation of composers and artists in its radical use of live electronics.

Milton Parker, Tuesday, 31 May 2016 18:01 (seven years ago) link

two years pass...

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

Father Ted in Forkhandles (Tom D.), Friday, 27 July 2018 22:52 (five years ago) link

It's very good.

Mark G, Monday, 30 July 2018 11:24 (five years ago) link

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

millmeister, Monday, 30 July 2018 12:52 (five years ago) link

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

lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 30 July 2018 12:54 (five years ago) link

Whoa!

Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 31 October 2020 00:09 (three years ago) link

three weeks pass...

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

huge rant (sic), Monday, 23 November 2020 23:37 (three years ago) link

two years pass...

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

Renaissance of the Celtic Trumpet (Tom D.), Friday, 16 June 2023 19:37 (ten months ago) link


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