Browse by Artist: ORAM, DAPHNE

Artist:	ORAM, DAPHNE
Title:	Oramics
Label:	PARADIGM (UK)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$23.00
Catalog #:	PD 021CD

"Daphne Oram is best known for the design of her Oramics system, and also for co-founding the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1957, but until now the only easily available piece of music by her on CD has been the 8-minute long 'Four Aspects.' There was also a 7" EP from 1962 on HMV, released as part of the Listen, Move and Dance series that was specifically designed to help children dance. Although the short pieces on this record are very basic, it could be argued that this is the first-ever electronic dance record! Now for the first time, is a survey of nearly all the major pieces that she produced since her departure from the BBC in January 1959 until her final tape piece in 1977. During this time she worked independently in her home studio, and thanks to a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation in 1962, she was able to pursue her interests. In Britain there were no state-funded studios other than the Radiophonic Workshop which mainly existed at the behest of the drama studio and was not generally seen as a place to develop personal artistic ideas. There were also no university studios at this time, so it was necessary for British electronic composers to be self-funded. Throughout this period, she devoted her attention to developing her Oramics 'drawn sound' system, which consisted of a large machine that enabled drawn patterns to be converted into sound. This system was eventually fully realized in the late '60s and several pieces here incorporate its use. The 2 and-a-half hours of music on this 2CD set covers the whole range of Oram's post-BBC output. All of the music is electronic with some occasional use of real instruments, especially small percussion and piano frame. There is also some use of musique concrète techniques. The works fall roughly into the following categories: works for TV and cinema advertising, film soundtracks, music for theatre productions, installations and exhibitions as well as concert pieces and several studio experiments. There are also a few short pieces that resulted from an experimental music course given by Oram at a high school in Yorkshire in 1967."

Artist:	ORAM, DAPHNE
Title:	The Daphne Oram Tapes: Volume One
Label:	YOUNG AMERICANS (UK)
Format:	4LP
Price:	$47.50
Catalog #:	YOUNGAM 003LP

Daphne Oram, founder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, died in 2003 leaving a colossal archive of reel-to-reel tapes and documents behind. This important collection of material eventually made its way to Goldsmiths College, London, who have been administering it on behalf of the Daphne Oram Trust for the last few years. The collection holds over 400 tapes made by Oram during her lifetime, and 211 of those have been archived and catalogued by the college so far. The Daphne Oram Tapes: Volume One is the result of almost two years spent trawling through the archive in an attempt to piece together a coherent document of one of the most pioneering and genuinely experimental characters in electronic music history. Although some of Oram's recordings have surfaced on the Oramics compilation (YOUNGAM 001LP), this compilation reveals a complex, dark and sometimes disturbing body of work which has, until now, been partially obscured by the more recognizable Radiophonic bleeps and whirrs the Workshop is best known for. This first volume focuses on Oram's love of experimental forms, of musique concrète, of the science and mystery of sound and composition. It comes at a time when her work is only just starting to gain wider acknowledgment in scholarly as well as popular circles. The "Oramics" machine (the first electronic musical instrument in history to be designed and built by a woman) has gone on display at the Science Museum in London, an important step in what will no doubt be a sustained effort to assert Oram's rightful position as one of the most important figures in modern music. Working through the archive has been a life-changing experience, revealing a wealth of musical treasures that include recordings and sound effects made for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Jack Clayton's The Innocents, all the way through to field recordings made in Africa. This first volume, put together with the help of Goldsmiths and Daphne's family, is the first in a planned series that will, for the first time, make Oram's most important and personal recordings available for public consumption. Deluxe quadruple vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve.

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