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62-602: BBC Radiophonic Music is the first compilation of music released by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop . It featured music by three of the Workshop's most prominent composers, John Baker , David Cain , and Delia Derbyshire . The album was originally released by BBC Radio Enterprises in 1968 to coincide with the Workshop's tenth anniversary and later re-released in 1971 on the BBC Records label. In 2002,

124-446: A comprehensive approach to soundscape design. The National Park Service Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division actively protects the soundscapes and acoustic environments in national parks across the country. Acoustic resources are physical sound sources, including both natural sounds (wind, water, wildlife, vegetation) and cultural and historic sounds (battle reenactments, tribal ceremonies, quiet reverence). The acoustic environment

186-402: A computerized acoustic device with a camera may also offer synthetic vision to the blind, utilizing human echolocation , as is the goal of the seeing with sound project. Papers on noise pollution are increasingly taking a holistic, soundscape approach to noise control. Whereas acoustics tends to rely on lab measurements and individual acoustic characteristics of cars and so on, soundscape takes

248-586: A former student of Kevin Lynch, led a project in Boston in the 1960s, and reported the findings in a paper entitled "The Sonic Environment of Cities" in 1969, where the term is used. Around the same time as Southworth's project in Boston, Schafer initiated the World Soundscape Project together with colleagues Barry Truax and Hildegard Westerkamp. Schafer subsequently collected the findings from

310-627: A new recording project set for release in Autumn of 2014. This involved collaborations with contemporary electronic musicians, video artists, DJs, remixers, poets, writers and singers. Live appearances in 2013 included Festival Number 6 at Portmeirion, Wales in September and The London Electronic Arts Festival in November. The shows featured archive TV and visuals from many of the TV and film soundtracks that

372-476: A secretary (Maxine) as well as the composers, proved too much and so they failed. Dick Mills, who had worked on Doctor Who since the very beginning, left in 1993, along with Ray White, Senior Engineer, and his assistant, Ray Riley, with the Maida Vale technical team taking on their role, and engineer Fiona Sleigh smoothing the transition. In 1995, despite being asked to continue, organiser Brian Hodgson left

434-581: A small brass section and a live drummer, performed a large number of their BBC-commissioned musical works including sections of incidental music from The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy and Doctor Who (including a medley of Mark Ayres's work) as well as some collaborative compositions written specifically for the Roundhouse concert. The live performances were mixed in surround sound and interspersed with musical video montage tributes of deceased members of

496-570: A sound's pitch), reversed, cut and joined, or processed using reverb or equalisation. The most famous of the Workshop's creations using 'radiophonic' techniques include the Doctor Who theme music, which Delia Derbyshire created using a plucked string, 12 oscillators and a lot of tape manipulation; and the sound of the TARDIS ( the Doctor's time machine ) materialising and dematerialising, which

558-399: A theme tune for the upcoming BBC television series Doctor Who . Presented with the task of "realising" Grainer's score, complete with its descriptions of "sweeps", "swoops", "wind clouds" and "wind bubbles", Delia Derbyshire created a piece of electronic music which has become one of television's most recognisable themes. Over the next quarter-century the Workshop contributed greatly to

620-546: A top-down approach. Drawing on John Cage 's ideas of the whole world as composition, soundscape researchers investigate people's attitudes to soundscapes as a whole rather than individual aspects – and look at how the entire environment can be changed to be more pleasing to the ear. This body of knowledge approaches the sonic environment subjectively as well, as in how some sounds are tolerated while others disdained, with still others preferred, as seen in Fong's 2016 research comparing

682-560: A year from all departments of the BBC and had long since expanded from its early two-room setup. Its contributions included material for programmes such as The Body in Question , Blue Peter and Tomorrow's World as well as sound effects for popular science fiction programmes Blake's 7 and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (in both its radio and television forms) by Richard Yeoman-Clark and Paddy Kingsland respectively. By

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744-720: Is an early soundscape composition. Soundscape composer Petri Kuljuntausta has created soundscape compositions from the sounds of sky dome and Aurora Borealis and deep sea underwater recordings, and a work entitled " Charm of Sound " to be performed at the extreme environment of Saturn 's moon Titan . The work landed on the ground of Titan in 2005 after traveling inside the spacecraft Huygens over seven years and four billion kilometers through space. Irv Teibel 's Environments series (1969–79) consisted of 30-minute, uninterrupted environmental soundscapes and synthesized or processed versions of natural sound. Music soundscapes can also be generated by automated software methods, such as

806-431: Is lost within the broad-band of noises. In lo-fi soundscapes everything is very close and compact. A person can only listen to immediate encounters; in most cases even ordinary sounds have to be exuberantly amplified in order to be heard. All sounds are unique in nature. They occur at one time in one place and cannot be replicated. In fact, it is physically impossible for nature to reproduce any phoneme twice in exactly

868-428: Is the combination of all the acoustic resources within a given area – natural sounds and human-caused sounds – as modified by the environment. The acoustic environment includes sound vibrations made by geological processes, biological activity, and even sounds that are inaudible to most humans, such as bat echolocation calls. Soundscape is the component of the acoustic environment that can be perceived and comprehended by

930-594: The Record Store Day exclusive 6-CD box set Four Albums 1968 - 1978 . 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 electronic music and music technology , as well as its popular scores for programmes such as Doctor Who and Quatermass and

992-482: The electronic dance music magazine Mixmag described the Workshop as, "the unsung heroes of British electronica ". Their work has been sampled extensively by contemporary electronic artists. The Doctor Who theme music was provided by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 1963 to 1985. From 1986 to the programme's demise the theme was provided by freelance musicians. Between 1980 and 1985

1054-417: The BBC to use its equipment, which was some of the most advanced in the country at that time not only because of its nature, but also because of the unique combinations and workflows which the Workshop afforded its composers. In later years this would become less important as more electronic equipment became readily available to a wider audience. In 1963 they were approached by composer Ron Grainer to record

1116-423: The BBC" in November 1963, listing all equipment used in their two workshops, diagrams of several systems, and a number of anecdotes. The Radiophonic Workshop also contributed articles to magazines of its experiments, complete with instructions and wiring diagrams. British psychedelic rock group Pink Floyd made a memorable trip to the workshop in 1967. They had employed tape loops, sound effects, found sounds and

1178-613: The Doctor Who Medley and a new composition – Electricity Language and Me (by American poet Peter Adam Salomon), featuring DJ Andrew Weatherall as the narrative voice for this classic piece of Radiophonic sound design. There were a number of radio, online and print interviews done at the time to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. The Workshop's early archive recordings were also reissued on vinyl in November 2013 to accompany this renewed activity. In 2014, "The Radiophonic Workshop" appeared at festivals including End of

1240-628: The Pit during the 1950s and 1960s. The original Radiophonic Workshop was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware Road, Maida Vale , London. The Workshop was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. Its members included Daphne Oram , Delia Derbyshire , David Cain , John Baker , Paddy Kingsland , Glynis Jones , Maddalena Fagandini , Richard Yeoman-Clark and Elizabeth Parker ,

1302-711: The Radiophonic Workshop contributed to between 1958 and 1998 when the unit was deactivated. The Radiophonic Workshop appeared on BBC television's The One Show on 20 November 2013 playing a unique version of the Doctor Who Theme that combined Delia Derbyshire's original source tapes and Peter Howell's 1980 realisation of the Ron Grainer composition. Radio 6 Music's Marc Riley played host to a Radiophonic Workshop session where they delivered live versions of Roger Limb's Incubus, Paddy Kingsland's Vespucci,

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1364-545: The Radiophonic Workshop with Desmond Briscoe, who was appointed the Senior Studio Manager with Dick Mills employed as a technical assistant. Much of The Radiophonic Workshop's early work was in effects for radio, in particular experimental drama and "radiophonic poems". Their significant early output included creating effects for the popular science-fiction serial Quatermass and the Pit and memorable comedy sounds for The Goon Show . In 1959, Daphne Oram left

1426-454: The Radiophonic Workshop, was broadcast on BBC Four . The Magnetic Fields titled the first track of their album Holiday , after the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. In May 2009, Dick Mills reunited with former BBC Radiophonic Workshop composers Roger Limb , Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell with archivist Mark Ayres for a live concert at The Roundhouse , Chalk Farm, London, performing as "The Radiophonic Workshop". The composers, backed by

1488-485: The Road Festival , and the reissue programme of earlier work from their extensive catalogue continues along with a planned exploration of previously unheard or rare archive recordings. In September 2012 Arts Council England and the BBC announced a joint venture whereby the concept of the Radiophonic Workshop would be revived as an online venture, with seven new, non-original composers and musicians. The new Workshop

1550-472: The Workshop including Daphne Oram , Delia Derbyshire and John Baker . The two and a half-hour event climaxed with live performances of the Derbyshire and Peter Howell arrangements of Doctor Who , segueing into a new Radiophonic version of the theme tune. Celebrated attendees included actor/writer/composer Peter Serafinowicz and satirist/writer/broadcaster Victor Lewis-Smith . Multiple cameras recorded

1612-413: The Workshop, and his role was carried out remotely from Broadcasting House by people with other priorities and little enthusiasm. Malcolm Clarke and Roger Limb left. By the end, only one composer, Elizabeth Parker , remained. The Workshop officially closed in March 1998, but Elizabeth stayed on for a couple of months to complete her last job. John Hunt, (who took over much of the specialist editing side of

1674-438: The Workshop. In 1977, Workshop co-founder Desmond Briscoe retired from organisational duties with Brian Hodgson, returning after a five-year gap away from the Workshop, taking over. By this point the output of the Workshop was vast with high demand for complete scores for programmes as well as the themes and sound effects for which it had made its name. By the end of the decade the workshop was contributing to over 300 programmes

1736-622: The compilation was remastered by Mark Ayres , and re-released with two bonus Derbyshire songs; the original composition "Time to Go" and her version of " Happy Birthday ". For the 2003 release of Music from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop , the 2002 remasters of this compilation were combined with Ayres' 2002 remasters of the 1975 compilation The Radiophonic Workshop , and the entire set was resequenced. The music on BBC Radiophonic Music varied between incidental music and signature tunes, which had been used by various BBC programmes, as well as some radio jingles . The selection demonstrated many of

1798-453: The complete incidental scores for the programme were provided in-house by the Workshop. Below is a complete list of incidental music provided by the Radiophonic Workshop for the programme. Soundscape A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment . The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic ecology or soundscape ecology . The idea of soundscape refers to both

1860-557: The dramatic output of the BBC Third Programme . Often the sounds required for the atmosphere that programme makers wished to create were unavailable or non-existent through traditional sources and so some, such as the musically trained Oram, would look to new techniques to produce effects and music for their pieces. Much of this interest drew them to musique concrète and tape manipulation techniques, since using these methods could allow them to create soundscapes suitable for

1922-418: The ear and its mechanisms". The origin of the term soundscape is somewhat ambiguous. It is often miscredited as having been coined by Canadian composer and naturalist, R. Murray Schafer , who led much of the groundbreaking work on the subject from the 1960s and onwards. According to an interview with Schafer published in 2013, Schafer himself attributes the term to city planner Michael Southworth. Southworth,

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1984-399: The early 1990s, BBC Director General John Birt decided that departments were to charge each other and bid against each other for services and to close those that couldn't make enough revenue to cover their costs. In 1991 the Workshop was given five years in which to break even but the cost of keeping the department, which required two dedicated engineers, a software developer (Tony Morton) and

2046-679: The ecological quality of urban green spaces through targeted planning and design and that in turn has psychological benefits. Soundscaping as a method to reduce noise pollution incorporates natural elements rather than just man made elements. Soundscapes can be designed by urban planners and landscape architects. By incorporating knowledge of soundscapes in their work, certain sounds can be enhanced, while others can be reduced or controlled. It has been argued that there are three main ways in which soundscapes can be designed: localization of functions, reduction of unwanted sounds and introduction of wanted sounds, each of which should be considered to ensure

2108-468: The environment. A hi-fi system possesses a positive signal-to-noise ratio . These settings make it possible for discrete sounds to be heard clearly since there is no background noise to obstruct even the smallest disturbance. A rural landscape offers more hi-fi frequencies than a city because the natural landscape creates an opportunity to hear incidences from near and afar. In a lo-fi soundscape, signals are obscured by too many sounds, and perspective

2170-438: The event but it has yet to be broadcast or released in any form, although amateur footage of the event can be seen on YouTube. In 2013 the original members of the Workshop regrouped again for a more concerted programme of live appearances. Performing as 'The Radiophonic Workshop' (dropping the BBC prefix) they were joined by drummer Kieron Pepper (The Prodigy, Dead Kids, OutPatient) and Bob Earland from Clor. They also embarked on

2232-491: The experimental TAPESTREA application, a framework for sound design and soundscape composition, and others. The soundscape is often the subject of mimicry in timbre-centered music such as Tuvan throat singing . The process of Timbral Listening is used to interpret the timbre of the soundscape. This timbre is mimicked and reproduced using the voice or rich harmonic producing instruments. In Schafer's analysis, there are two distinct soundscapes, "hi-fi" and "lo-fi", created by

2294-426: The experimental nature of the late 50s dramas to theme tunes was noticeable enough for one radio presenter to have to remind listeners that the purpose of the Workshop was not pop music. In fact, in 1962 one of Fagandini's interval signals "Time Beat" was reworked with assistance from George Martin (in his pre- Beatles days) and commercially released as a single using the pseudonym Ray Cathode. During this early period

2356-466: The growing range of unconventional programming. When the BBC noticed the rising popularity of this method they established a Radiophonic Effects Committee, setting up the Workshop in rooms 13 & 14 of the BBC's Maida Vale studios with a budget of £2,000. The Workshop contributed articles on their findings to magazines, leading to some of their techniques being borrowed by sixties producers and engineers such as Eddie Kramer . In 1957, Daphne Oram set up

2418-473: The humans. The character and quality of the soundscape influence human perceptions of an area, providing a sense of place that differentiates it from other regions. Noise refers to sound which is unwanted, either because of its effects on humans and wildlife, or its interference with the perception or detection of other sounds. Cultural soundscapes include opportunities for appropriate transmission of cultural and historic sounds that are fundamental components of

2480-449: The innovative electronic approaches to music in the Workshop began to attract some significant young talent including Delia Derbyshire , Brian Hodgson and John Baker , who was in fact a jazz pianist with an interest in reverse tape effects. Later, in 1967. they were joined by David Cain , a jazz bass player and mathematician. In these early days, one criticism the Workshop attracted was its policy of not allowing musicians from outside

2542-418: The last to leave. The Workshop was set up to satisfy the growing demand in the late 1950s for "radiophonic" sounds from a group of producers and studio managers at the BBC , including Desmond Briscoe , Daphne Oram , Donald McWhinnie , and Frederick Bradnum . For some time there had been much interest in producing innovative music and sounds to go with the pioneering programming of the era, in particular

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2604-408: The methods used by the composers at the Radiophonic Workshop, including musique concrète tape editing and their use of primitive early electronic oscillators . It featured mostly original compositions, except for Baker's arrangements of the traditional "Boys and Girls" and "The Frogs Wooing", and Derbyshire's version of Johann Sebastian Bach 's " Air ". It was reissued on 29 August 2020 as part of

2666-572: The natural acoustic environment, consisting of natural sounds , including animal vocalizations, the collective habitat expression of which is now referred to as the biophony , and, for instance, the sounds of weather and other natural elements, now referred to as the geophony ; and environmental sounds created by humans, the anthropophony . The anthropophony comprises a sub-set called controlled sound, such as musical composition , sound design , and language, work, and sounds of mechanical origin resulting from use of industrial technology. Crucially,

2728-442: The negative effects of sound has been widely acknowledged by organizations like EU ( END 2002/49 ) and WHO (Burden of noise disease), the positive effects have as yet received less attention. The positive effects of nature sounds can be acknowledged in everyday planning of urban and rural environments, as well as in specific health treatment situations, like nature-based sound therapy and nature-based rehabilitation. Soundscapes from

2790-481: The principles of musique concrete on their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn from that same year. Other fans of the Radiophonic Workshop included The Rolling Stones ' Brian Jones – who visited in 1968 – and Roger Mayer , who supplied guitar pedals to Jeff Beck , Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix . Phil Manzanera has also cited the Workshop as an influence on the sound of his group Roxy Music . In 1997

2852-536: The programme providing its vast range of unusual sound-effects, from the TARDIS dematerialisation to the Sonic screwdriver , as well as much of the programme's distinctive electronic incidental music , including every score from 1980 to 1985. In 2018 Matthew Herbert , creative director of The New Radiophonic Workshop, composed the sting used alongside the reveal of the new Doctor Who logo debuting later that year. As

2914-846: The same manner. According to Schafer there are three main elements of the soundscape: The elements have been further defined as to essential sources: Bernie Krause , naturalist and soundscape ecologist, redefined the sources of sound in terms of their three main components: geophony, biophony, and anthropophony. Research has traditionally focused mostly on the negative effects of sound on human beings, as in exposure to environmental noise . Noise has been shown to correlate with health-related problems like stress, reduced sleep and cardiovascular disease. More recently however, it has also been shown that some sounds, like sounds of nature and music, can have positive effects on health, some of which might be explained by natural sounds increasing cognitive restoration and feelings of calm, for example. While

2976-446: The sensation of experiencing a particular acoustic environment, or compositions created using the found sounds (sounds derived from objects not standardly used for music) of an acoustic environment, either exclusively or in conjunction with musical performances. Pauline Oliveros , composer of post- World War II electronic art music , defined the term "soundscape" as "All of the waveforms faithfully transmitted to our audio cortex by

3038-409: The sixties drew to a close, many of the techniques used by the Workshop changed as more electronic music began to be produced by synthesisers. Many of the old members of the Workshop were reluctant to use the new instruments, often because of the limitations and unreliable nature of many of the early synthesisers but also, for some, because of a dislike of the sounds they created. This led to many leaving

3100-409: The soundscapes of Bangkok, Thailand and Los Angeles, California. To respond to unwanted sounds, however, a typical application of this is the use of masking strategies, as in the use of water features to cover unwanted white noise from traffic. It has been shown that masking can work in some cases, but that the successful outcome is dependent on several factors, like sound pressure levels, orientation of

3162-465: The sources, and character of the water sound. Research has shown that variation is an important factor to consider, as a varied soundscape give people the possibility to seek out their favorite environment depending on preference, mood and other factors. One way to ensure variation is to work with " quiet areas " in urban situations. It has been suggested that people's opportunity to access quiet, natural places in urban areas can be enhanced by improving

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3224-404: The term soundscape also includes the listener's perception of sounds heard as an environment, which Truax describes as "how that environment is understood by those living within it" and therefore mediates their relations. The disruption of these acoustic environments results in noise pollution . The term "soundscape" can also refer to an audio recording or performance of sounds that create

3286-408: The website – from theater performances to poetry readings, creating a "curious murmur of activity". It can be heard by clicking on a button labeled "listen to The Space" at the top of any page on the website. The New Radiophonic Workshop , not to be confused with the reactivated Radiophonic Workshop whose members are original BBC personnel, an entirely separate entity from the original unit,

3348-511: The workshop making way for a new generation of musicians in the early 1970s including Malcolm Clarke , Paddy Kingsland , Roger Limb and Peter Howell . From the early days of a studio full of tape reels and electronic oscillators , the Workshop now found itself in possession of various synthesisers including the EMS VCS 3 and the EMS Synthi 100 nicknamed the "Delaware" by the members of

3410-487: The workshop previously done by Dick Mills) continued working in Studio E, now called "Radiophonics" until well into 2000, occasionally managing to fit in a bit of traditional Radiophonics work. Mark Ayres recalls the Workshop's tape archive being collected on 1 April, exactly 40 years after the department had opened. Following the decision to close the Radiophonic Workshop, the studios were cleared and most remaining equipment

3472-475: The workshop to set up her own studio, the Oramics Studios for Electronic Composition , where she eventually developed her " Oramics " technique of electronic sound creation. That year Maddalena Fagandini joined the workshop from the BBC's Italian Service. From the early sixties the Workshop began creating television theme tunes and jingles, particularly for low budget schools programmes. The shift from

3534-591: The world soundscape project and fleshed out the soundscape concept in more detail in his seminal work about the sound environment, "Tuning of the World". Schafer has also used the concept in music education. One of Soundscape's co-founders is Nezar Kadhem. In music, soundscape compositions are often a form of electronic music or electroacoustic music . Composers who use soundscapes include real-time granular synthesis pioneer Barry Truax , Hildegard Westerkamp , and Luc Ferrari , whose Presque rien, numéro 1 (1970)

3596-462: Was assembled by Mathew Herbert as an online collective of composers for The Space arts project. The techniques initially used by the Radiophonic Workshop were closely related to those used in musique concrète ; new sounds for programmes were created by using recordings of everyday sounds such as voices, bells or gravel as raw material for "radiophonic" manipulations. In these manipulations, audio tape could be played back at different speeds (altering

3658-456: Was based online at The Space , a joint venture between the BBC and Arts Council England . Composer Matthew Herbert was appointed the new Creative Director, and worked alongside Micachu , Yann Seznec, Max de Wardener , Patrick Bergel, James Mather, theatre director Lyndsey Turner and broadcast technologist Tony Churnside. Composer Matthew Herbert's first work for The New Radiophonic Workshop takes audio from 25 previous projects featured on

3720-407: Was created by Brian Hodgson running his keys along the rusty bass strings of a broken piano, with the recording slowed down to make an even lower sound. Much of the equipment used by the Workshop in the earlier years of its operation in the late 1950s was semi-professional and was passed down from other departments, though two giant professional tape-recorders made an early centrepiece. Reverberation

3782-553: Was disposed of, with some of it being sold to the composers. The tape library was largely forgotten until the room was ordered to be "cleared". Fortunately the Maida Vale studios technical team became aware of this and were able to hide the tapes away in various dark corners of the building before they could be thrown away. Eventually Mark Ayres and Brian Hodgson were commissioned to catalogue its extensive library of recordings with help from other composers. In October 2003, Alchemists of Sound , an hour-long television documentary about

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3844-400: Was obtained using an echo chamber , a basement room with bare painted walls empty except for loudspeakers and microphones. Due to the considerable technical challenges faced by the Workshop and BBC traditions, staff initially worked in pairs with one person assigned to the technical aspects of the work and the other to the artistic direction. The Radiophonic Workshop published "Radiophonics in

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