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https://theconversation.com/5-things-to-know-about-daphne-oram-the-visionary-pioneer-in-electronic-music-266591>
"Daphne Oram (1925–2003) was one of Britain’s most important early electronic
composers. Oram trained first as a pianist and composer and turned down a place
at the Royal College of Music to work at the BBC, where late-night tape
experiments and hands-on work with microphones and oscillators drew her from
conventional composition into pioneering electronic sound.
In 1958 she co-founded the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, a studio set up to create
sound effects and electronic scores for radio and TV. On the wall she pinned a
passage from Francis Bacon’s 17th-century utopia
New Atlantis about imaginary
sound-houses where scientists manipulate echoes, invent new instruments and
transmit sound “in strange lines and distances”.
Bacon’s sound houses are often read now as a prophetic sketch of the modern
electronic music studio.
The Workshop would famously go on to produce the
Doctor Who theme, but Oram’s
time there was brief. Less than a year after its opening she left, frustrated
by bureaucracy and the institution’s small, utilitarian vision for what
electronic sound could be.
Despite her key influence on electronic composition, Oram’s name still isn’t as
mainstream as some of the ideas and technologies she helped to normalise.
This December marks her centenary, and her archive is sparking new works,
releases and performances, proving her ideas are still alive and still
adventurous. Here are five things you should know about this visionary woman."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
