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gave Oram and Briscoe a budget to establish the
Daphne Blake Oram (31 December 1925 – 5 January 2003) was a British composer and
. One of her job responsibilities was "shadowing" live concerts with a pre-recorded version so the broadcast would go on if interrupted by "enemy action". Other job duties included creating sound effects for radio shows and mixing broadcast levels. During this period she became aware of developments in synthetic sound and began experimenting with tape recorders. Often staying after hours, she was known to experiment with tape recorders late into the night. She recorded sounds on to tape, and then cut, spliced and looped, slowed them down, sped up, and played them backwards.
She also dedicated time in the 1940s composing music, including an orchestral work entitled ''Still Point''. This was an innovative piece for turntables, "double orchestra" and five microphones. Many consider ''Still Point'' the first composition that combined acoustic orchestration with live electronic manipulation. Rejected by the BBC and never performed, ''Still Point'' remained unheard for 70 years, until on 24 June 2016 Shiva Feshareki and the London Contemporary Orchestra performed it for the first time. Following the discovery of the finalised score, the premiere of the revised version of ''Still Point'' was performed at ''electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
ian. She was one of the first British composers to produce electronic sound, and was an early practitioner of musique concrète in the UK. As a co-founder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...
, she was central to the development of British electronic music. Her uncredited scoring work on the 1961 film '' The Innocents'' helped to pioneer the electronic soundtrack.
Oram was the creator of the Oramics
__NOTOC__
Oramics is a drawn sound technique designed in 1957 by musician Daphne Oram. The machine was further developed in 1962 after receiving a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation. The technique involves drawing on 35mm film strips to c ...
technique for creating electronic sounds using drawn sound. Besides being a musical innovator, she was the first woman to independently direct and set up a personal electronic music studio, and the first woman to design and construct an electronic musical instrument. In her book ''An Individual Note of Music, Sound and Electronics'' (1971) she explored philosophical themes related to the physics of sound.
Early life and education
Oram was born to James and Ida Oram on 31 December 1925 in Wiltshire, England. Educated atSherborne School for Girls
Sherborne Girls, formally known as Sherborne School for Girls, is an independent day and boarding school for girls, located in Sherborne, North Dorset, England. There were 485 pupils attending in 2019–2020, with over 90 per cent of them livin ...
, she was, from an early age, taught piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
and organ as well as musical composition.
Her father was the President of the Wiltshire Archeological Society in the 1950s. Her childhood home was within 10 miles of the stone circles of Avebury
Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in ...
and 20 miles from Stonehenge.
Career
Work at the BBC
In 1942, Oram was offered a place at theRoyal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...
but instead took up a position as a Junior Studio Engineer and "music balancer" at the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...The Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
'' in London on 23 July 2018 by composers Shiva Feshareki and James Bulley - who realised the composition following Oram's notes - alongside the London Contemporary Orchestra.
In the 1950s, she was promoted to become a music studio manager. Following a trip to the RTF studios in Paris, she began to campaign for the BBC to provide electronic music facilities for composing sounds and music, using electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
and musique concrète techniques, for use in its programming. In 1957 she was commissioned to compose music for the play ''Amphitryon 38
''Amphitryon 38'' is a play written in 1929 by the French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, the number in the title being Giraudoux's whimsical approximation of how many times the story had been told on stage previously.
Original productions
''Amphitryon ...
.'' She created this piece using a sine wave oscillator, a tape recorder and some self-designed filters, thereby producing the first wholly electronic score in BBC history. Along with fellow electronic musician and BBC colleague Desmond Briscoe, she began to receive commissions for many other works, including a significant production of Samuel Beckett's '' All That Fall'' (1957). As demand grew for these electronic sounds, the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...
in early 1958, where she was the first Studio Manager. The workshop was focused on creating sound effects and theme music for all of the corporation's output, including the science fiction serial '' Quatermass and the Pit'' (1958–59) and "Major Bloodnok's Stomach" for the radio comedy series ''The Goon Show
''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...
''.
In October 1958, Oram was sent by the BBC to the "Journées Internationales de Musique Expérimentale" at the Brussels World's Fair
Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...
(where Edgard Varèse demonstrated his ''Poème électronique
''Poème électronique'' (English Translation: "Electronic Poem") is an 8-minute piece of electronic music by composer Edgard Varèse, written for the Philips Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. The Philips corporation commissioned L ...
''). After hearing some of the work produced by her contemporaries and being unhappy at the BBC music department's continued refusal to push electronic composition into the foreground of their activities, she decided to resign from the BBC less than one year after the workshop had opened, hoping to develop her techniques further on her own.
In 1965, Oram produced ''Pulse Persephone'' for the Treasures of the Commonwealth exhibition at the Royal Academy of the Arts.
Film
Oram provided the prominent electronic sounds for the soundtrack of '' Dr. No'' (1962) from her six-minute work ''Atoms in Space'', but she was not credited in the film. These sounds were used by the James Bond films up until '' Goldfinger'' (1964). Oram also added sounds to the soundtrack of ''Snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
'' (1963), a short documentary by Geoffrey Jones
Geoffrey Jones (27 November 1931 – 21 June 2005) was a British documentary film director and editor, noted for his contributions to the genre of the industrial film, and in particular British Transport Films.John Russell TaylorObituary: Geoffr ...
. After the success of ''Snow'', she worked with Jones again and is credited for the Electronic Treatment (of music) of ''Rail
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
'' (1967).
Oramics
Immediately after leaving the BBC in 1959, Oram began setting up her Oramics
__NOTOC__
Oramics is a drawn sound technique designed in 1957 by musician Daphne Oram. The machine was further developed in 1962 after receiving a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation. The technique involves drawing on 35mm film strips to c ...
Studios for Electronic Composition in Tower Folly, a converted oast house
An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. They can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas and are often good examples of vernacular architecture. Many re ...
at Fairseat, near Wrotham
Wrotham ( ) is a village on the Pilgrims' Way in Kent, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is north of Borough Green and approximately east of Sevenoaks. It is between the M20 and M26 motorways.
History
The name first occurs as ''U ...
, Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
.
Oramics is a drawn sound technique that involves drawing directly onto 35mm film stock. Shapes and designs etched into the film strips are read by photo-electric cells and transformed into sounds. According to Oram, "Every nuance, every subtlety of phrasing, every tone gradation or pitch inflection must be possible just by a change in the written form." The Oramics technique and the flexibility of control over the nuances of sound was an altogether new and innovative approach to music production. Financial pressures meant it was necessary to maintain her work as a commercial composer, and her work on the Oramics system covered a wider range than the Radiophonic Workshop. She produced music for not only radio and television but also theatre, short commercial films, sound installations and exhibitions. Other work from this studio included electronic sounds for Jack Clayton
Jack Isaac Clayton (1 March 1921 – 26 February 1995) was a British film director and producer who specialised in bringing literary works to the screen.
Overview
Starting out as a teenage studio "tea boy" in 1935, Clayton worked his way up ...
's horror film '' The Innocents'' (1961), concert works including ''Four Aspects'' (1960), and collaborations with opera composer Thea Musgrave
Thea Musgrave CBE (born 27 May 1928) is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972.
Biography
Born in Barnton, Edinburgh, Musgrave was educated at Moreton Hall School, a boarding independ ...
and Ivor Walsworth.
In February 1962, she was awarded a grant of £3,550 () from the Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One o ...
to support the development of the Oramics system. A second Gulbenkian grant of £1,000 was awarded in 1965. The first entirely drawn-sound composition using the machine, entitled "Contrasts Essonic", was recorded in 1963. As the Oramics research evolved, Oram's focus turned to the subtle nuances and interactions between sonic parameters. In this phase of Oramics, she applied her sound research to the non-linear behavior of the human ear and to perception of the brain's apprehension of the world. She used Oramics to study vibrational phenomena, divided into "commercial Oramics" and "mystical Oramics." In her notes, Oram defined Oramics as "the study of sound and its relationship to life."
In the 1980s Oram worked on the development of a software version of Oramics for the Acorn Archimedes
Acorn Archimedes is a family of personal computers designed by Acorn Computers of Cambridge, England. The systems are based on Acorn's own ARM architecture processors and the proprietary operating systems Arthur and RISC OS. The first mode ...
computer using grant money received from the RVW ( Ralph Vaughan Williams) Trust. She wished to continue her "Mystical Oramics" research, but a lack of funding prevented this project from being fully realized.
Written works
Throughout her career, Oram lectured on electronic music and studio techniques. Her book, ''An Individual Note of Music, Sound and Electronics'' (1971), investigates the physics of sound and the emergence of electronic music in a philosophical manner. A new edition was published in December 2016. In the late 1970s, Oram began a second book, which survives in manuscript, titled ''The Sound of the Past - A Resonating Speculation''. In this manuscript she speculates on archaeological acoustics, and presents a theory backed by research that suggests that Neolithic chambered mounds and ancient sites like Stonehenge and The Great Pyramid in Egypt were used as resonators. She said that her research suggested that the ancients may have possessed acute knowledge about the properties of sound in long-distance communication.Death
In the 1990s, Oram suffered two strokes and was forced to stop working, later moving to anursing home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...
. She died on 5 January 2003 at age 77.
Archive
After Oram's death a large archive relating to her life's work passed to the composer Hugh Davies. When he died in 2005, this material passed to theSonic Arts Network
Sonic Arts Network was a UK-based organisation, established in 1979, that aimed to enable both audiences and practitioners to engage with the art of sound through a programme of festivals, events, commissions and education projects. Its honorary ...
. In 2008 the archive went to Goldsmiths, University of London
Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wo ...
and is now held within Goldsmiths Special Collections & Archives in the library, where it is open for public access and ongoing research. The launch of the archive was celebrated with a symposium and a series of concerts at the Southbank Centre. This included a concert of newly reworked versions of material from the collection by music collage artist People Like Us.
In 2007, a compilation of her music, entitled ''Oramics'', was released.
In 2008, a BBC Radio 3 documentary on Oram's life was broadcast as part of the ''Sunday Feature'' strand, entitled ''Wee Have Also Sound-Houses''.
Legacy
Her work at the Radiophonic Workshop also helped pave the way forDelia Derbyshire
Delia Ann Derbyshire (5 May 1937 – 3 July 2001) was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She carried out notable work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, including her electronic arrangement of the theme ...
, who arrived at the BBC in 1960 and later co-created the original ''Doctor Who'' theme music.
She furthered music philosophy in her writings, and dedicated time to considering the human element in connection to sound and resonant frequencies. In her unfinished manuscript, ''The Sound of the Past, a Resonating Speculation'', she postulated that ancient civilizations might have done this to a highly evolved degree. In a letter to Sir George Trevelyan, Oram expressed hope that her wide-ranging work on Oramics would plant seeds that would mature in the 21st century.
The Daphne Oram Creative Arts Building at Canterbury Christ Church University was opened in 2019.
''Click'' tribute
In its first show of 2012, the BBC television technology programme, '' Click,'' featured a piece about Daphne Oram and her synthesiser, mainly prompted by the three-part Oramics Machine being on display at theScience Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...
, London, during a year-long exhibition on the history of electronic music. It showed the machine being installed in a large display cabinet, and described how it was no longer possible to play due to its fragile state. However, an interactive, virtual version of the machine has been created, which allows visitors to create their own compositions. The programme showed archive footage of Oram describing the process of what became Oramics, also showing her 'drawing' the music, then playing her machine. The piece was entirely positive and described her as an 'unsung hero' of electronic music.
''Daphne Oram's Wonderful World of Sound''
''Daphne Oram's Wonderful World of Sound'' is a play that detailed Oram's life and career. It was presented by Blood of the Young andTron Theatre
The Tron Theatre is located in the corner of Trongate and Chisholm Street, in what was formerly the Tron Kirk which had started as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St. Anne in the Trongate area of Glasgow, Scotland. The Tron Steeple still ...
. The play premiered in Glasgow on 9 May 2017 and toured around Scotland from May 2017 to June 2017. The play was written by Isobel McArthur and directed by Paul Brotherston. It was live-scored by Anneke Kampman, a Scottish electronic sound artist.
The Oram Awards
The Oram Awards was launched by the PRS Foundation and the New BBC Radiophonic Workshop to celebrate "emerging artists in the fields of music, sound and related technologies in honour of Daphne Oram, and other pioneering women in music and sound." The inaugural Oram Awards took place on 3 July 2017 at the Turner Contemporary in Margate, as a part of the Oscillate Festival of Experimental Music And Sound. Two female innovators received the highest reward of £1,000, while six other female innovators received £500.Discography
* "Electronic Sound Patterns" (1962), single, also included on ''Listen, Move and Dance Volume 1'' from same year with work from Vera Gray * ''Oramics'' (2007), compilation on Paradigm Discs * "Spaceship UK: The Untold Story of the British Space Programme" (2010), promotional 7" split single with Belbury Poly * ''Private Dreams and Public Nightmares'' (2011), remix album byAndrea Parker
Andrea N. Parker is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles on '' ER'', '' The Pretender'', ''Less than Perfect'', ''Desperate Housewives'', and ''Pretty Little Liars''.
Career
Her first documented film role was at ...
and Daz Quayle Daz or DAZ may refer to:
Business and Organizations
* D.Az., an abbreviation used for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
* Daz (detergent), a laundry detergent sold in the United Kingdom
* Daz 3D (formerly DAZ Productio ...
on Aperture
* ''The Oram Tapes: Volume 1'' (2011), compilation on Young Americans
* ''Sound Houses'' (2014), remix album by Walls
Walls may refer to:
*The plural of wall, a structure
*Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname
Places
* Walls, Louisiana, United States
* Walls, Mississippi, United States
* Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...
* ''Pop Tryouts'' (2015), mini album on cassette and download on Was Ist Das?
Publication
* ::Second edition, 2016, Anomie Publishing ::Third edition, 2020, The Daphne Oram Trust and Anomie PublishingNotes
References
External links
Daphne Oram archived website
Daphne Oram archived catalogue
*
Daphne Oram and "Oramics"
120years.net
"Daphne Oram: Portrait of an electronic music pioneer"
from ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
BBC News story: "Daphne Oram, the unsung pioneer of techno"
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oram, Daphne 1925 births 2003 deaths BBC Radiophonic Workshop English experimental musicians English electronic musicians English composers British women composers People from Devizes People educated at Sherborne Girls English women in electronic music Graphical sound 20th-century English women musicians Women audio engineers Early Recording Engineers (1930-1959) People from Wrotham Classical musicians associated with the BBC