In February Level 2 students on the Practices of Listening module went to visit James Webb’s sound installations at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Here’s some photos of his work as well as other sound installations in the park.
http://www.ysp.co.uk/exhibitions/james-webb-we-listen-for-the-future
Elizabeth Parker and Paddy Kingsland from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1979 demonstrate the use of tape loops and tape-replay setups. We hear Elizabeth Parker’s “bubble music” and Paddy Kingsland on the electric guitar with twin Studer tape recorders.
This excerpt is from the BBC documentary The New Sound of Music produced in 1979.
Tape Loops BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Paddy Kingsland demonstrates twin Studer recorders in a delay-replay setup that some might refer to as “Frippertronics’ – named after Robert Fripp I believe. Fripp may have used twin Revox machines in a similar way for some of his compositions. It is an interesting setup, possibly described in some Workshop writings from the 1960s.
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC,
was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio.
It was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995.
The original Radiophonic Workshop was based in the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios
in Delaware Road, London.
We have more on the Radiophonic workshop elsewhere in this blog –
e.g.
free-thinking-bbc-radiophonic-workshop/
doctor-who-how-norfolk-man-created-dalek-and-tardis-sounds/
The techniques initially used by the Radiophonic Workshop were closely related to those used in musique concrète; new sounds for programs 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 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 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 (which appeared to lose all sound above 10 kHz) made an early centrepiece. Reverberation 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.
[source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Radiophonic_Workshop]
I heard about this on the way in to work this morning – but I didn’t know what the event was going to be until sitting down with the family at 8pm. It reminded me of the great ‘Perfect Day’ BBC promotional film. I have gathered these comments from various sources available online. The song was broadcast simultaneously on Tuesday 7th October 2014 on BBC One, Two, Three, Four and Radio 1, 2, 4, 6 and 5 Live.
The track, which will also be released in aid of Children in Need, features 27 artists across all musical genres. They include Sir Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Chris Martin, Sam Smith, Brian May, Jamie Cullum and Nicola Benedetti.
God Only Knows has reached almost mythical status in the pop canon. Written and produced by Brian Wilson with lyricist Tony Asher and younger brother Carl Wilson on vocals, it was released in 1966 as part of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds album. It reached Number 2 in the UK and Number 39 in the US Charts. It has become one of the most lauded tracks of all time. Rolling Stone placed it at 25 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and in 2006, Pitchfork magazine crowned God Only Knows as the best song of the 1960s.
BBC Music will encompass TV and radio programming, digital services and schemes to support emerging talent including the introduction of classical music to UK primary schools. The song’s original writer, Brian Wilson, also features on the track, along with the BBC Concert Orchestra. The collective group of musicians has been named the Impossible Orchestra. Bob Shennan, director of BBC Music, said: “This ‘impossible’ orchestra is a celebration of all the talent, diversity and musical passion found every single day throughout the BBC.”
The line by line breakdown of singers is as follows:
Martin James Bartlett – celeste
Pharrell Williams – I may not always love you
Emeli Sandé – But as long as there are stars above you
Elton John – You never need to doubt it
Lorde – I’ll make you so sure about it
Chris Martin – God only knows what I’d be without you
Brian Wilson – If you should ever leave me
Florence Welch – Well life would still go on believe me
Kylie Minogue – The world could show nothing to me
Stevie Wonder – So what good would living do me
Eliza Carthy – God only knows what I’d be without you
Nicola Benedetti – violin
Jools Holland – piano
Brian May – electric guitar
Jake Bugg – lalalala
Katie Derham – violin
Tees Valley Youth Choir – God only knows
Alison Balsom – piccolo trumpet
One Direction – God only knows what I’d be without you
Jaz Dhami – God only knows what I’d be without you
Paloma Faith – God only knows what I’d be without you
Chrissie Hynde – God only knows
Jamie Cullum – God only knows what I’d be without you
Baaba Maal – God only knows
Danielle de Niese – God only knows what I’d be without you
Dave Grohl – God only knows
Sam Smith – God only knows what I’d be without you
Brian Wilson – God only knows what I’d be without you
read:
THE TELEGRAPH: the Future of Music on BBC
THE GUARDIAN: BBC MUSIC LAUNCH
Sources: BBC Media Centre, BBC YOUTUBE Channel, BBC NEWS WEBSITE
(accessed 7th October 2014)
To my great shame as the Programme Leader of Audio Production, up to now I have not made one single contribution to our blog! It’s not that I have nothing to say, (I contribute to other blogs and usually have too much to say!!!). No, it is simply that I enjoy reading what others are doing and what they have to say about it.
However, I was born with perforated eardrums and suffered as a child with very painful ear problems. Worse still I stammered! Indeed it is with some irony, that through one such bout of illness aged 6 & 1/4, I was introduced to the world of radio drama courtesy of my grandma’s light blue and cream Bush Radio (with a big round dial on it). I moved it backwards and forwards and thought it looked like a face. Then I found something, some BBC announcer halfway through telling what, I the listener was about to hear! I didn’t move that dial again for over an hour. Oh and as you’re asking, the play was a dramatisation of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I was in that world, I was in the ‘world of the wireless’ and my imagination had been switched on. No gadgets, no fancy visuals, apps or wires, just a mono speaker emanating voices, music and sound effects. At that point, my world changed forever: a true epiphany! It became reinforced and reinvigorated as my love of music grew…pop and classical mainly! In the 1970s, like every teenager of the time, as a sort of ‘rite of passage’, I awaited the chart rundown on a Tuesday lunchtime, crowding, clutching my lunch token, and in all weathers, around a radio to hear my favourite records and finding out what position they had made it to in the chart! Getting a record player from my parents and collecting all those records, the singles, now on the shelves behind me where sit and write this piece, meant freedom. The space of my bedroom, became my listening world: the albums meant listening pleasure, they were a backdrop to history homework, and listening with friends. Listening to music made me want to be in a band – and I still do that to this day. And, of course, I moan about not getting the correct bass sound or piano sound or if my mic is not set right!
So, from what had been a source of misery for me, with constant hearing, nose and throat trouble, the simple act and enjoyment of being able to hear: to listen eventually allowed me to enter into a world of making sound for others to hear: to listen to. Later, I have encouraged others, students, my children, and friends to make sound for others to listen to! Not only did hearing and listening became a ‘taken for granted’ pleasure, it also of course become part of my career. The beauty of being to hear and listen is summed up for me in Madeleine L’Engle’s Sci-Fi novel the Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978) ” Part of doing something is listening. We are listening. To the sun. To the stars. To the wind”. We take hearing and listening for granted in many ways, and why shouldn’t we? We are audio/radio/music scholars! It is part of what we are about, our make-up, and why we are in the community of audio scholars.
Today, I saw a piece in the newspaper and then on the TV about a lady called Joanne Milne. She was born profoundly deaf, and now at the age of 39, through the marvels of technology, she has the power of hearing for the very first time. When I read and saw her story I was moved to tears. I ask you to click on the link and read and watch this too! Imagine living 39 years, indeed all of your life without knowing what sound is, and then being introduced to it for the first time? Despite my dodgy start, I realise how lucky I have been to experience the world/my world of sound and music. I hope you might be moved by it too…thank you for reading my first post!
Good wishes
Bryan
Richard Hastings-Hall visited Audio Production level 2 students today to talk about ‘dubbing mixing’, in particular mixing for medium budget daytime drama and the technical and creative constraints that working on shows like this can have. They are often handled very differently to other dramas, documentaries and television series etc.
For example the directors of these daytime dramas are not paid to be present at the final mixing session – it’s only the Exec Producer who signs off the mix.
Richard brought his Pyramix set-up (made by Emerging Technologies) with him which sadly did have some technical issues – but this was a good example of how ‘anything that can go wrong – will go wrong’. A thankyou must go to Luke Johnston who showed his skill in drive re-mapping!.
Some students found it reassuring that it wasn’t ‘just them’
Richard mentioned metering and loudness, and the need for good adherence to technical standards.
To find out more about the BBC delivery requirements look here
Richard revealed that often with quick turn around drama shows like Doctors – the sync sound recordings are not always perfect. the crew often doesn’t have time to go again. So very often
The dubbing team are left to ‘fix it in post’. Alternative lines of dialogue are hunted down from the rushes, smoothing techniques are used and generally the pressures are such that all this must be done in one 12 hour session. No foley ar ADR sessions are possible.
“In Doctors we don’t have time for foley sessions, so we have to be very resourceful when it comes to our use of time. Much of what we do is fixing problems”
Louise Wilcox, another dubbing mixer was featured in an article in the Institute of Professional Sound Website which may be of interest
On another occasion during a Jane Austin themed episode he went overboard on a fight scene and had to remix it due to a topical news event which happened close to transmission.
Richard also talked about Brinkburn Street for BBC, which presented some unusual sound dillemas, as it was set in both the present day and the 1930’s so sometimes there were horses and carts outside the houses and sometimes jet engines and traffic. See iPLayer
Richard has been a dubbing mixer for over 20 years and has mixed 717 episodes of Doctors. He is currently freelance, based in Nottingham.
Find out more about Pyramix here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03lnzxh
In an exclusive interview for Radio 4 David Attenborough talks to Chris Watson about his life in sound.
One of Sir David’s first jobs in natural history film making was as a wildlife sound recordist. Recorded in Qatar, David Attenborough is with wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, there to make a film about a group of birds he is passionate about, The Bird of Paradise. It is in Qatar where the worlds largest captive breeding population is and it is in this setting Chris Watson takes Sir David back to the 1950’s and his early recording escapades, right through to today where David Attenborough narrates a series of Tweet of the Day’s on Radio 4 across the Christmas and New Year period
The increasing use of folk instrumentation and driving bass drum beats has obviously come to the notice of the Ivor Novello winning Gary Barlow.
Recently Barlow has released a new song “Let me go”, and almost as quickly people started to make comparisons with Mumford and Sons, largely due to the instrumentation (banjos and bass drum pounding)
Of course they both share a similarity in musical style to Johnny Cash
I also thought the similarity with Mumford’s “I will wait” was uncanny – thought I’d put it to the test.
It’s true that neither of them are the first to use the 1,4,5 chord sequence (80% of all pop songs use this), but the combination of rhythm, percussion and build to the chorus are uncanny.
They’re both 4/4, with the bass drum on the 1 and 3 beat., around 126 bpm.
Gary’s song is exactly the same tempo as “I will wait”, but it’s in a higher key so it needs pitching down by a tone and a half – other than that its fairly convincing.
Click here for my side by side comparisson
According to Digital Spy, Gary has said:
“I’ve always liked folky, acoustic music but I’ve never fully explored it. I turned back time and was listening to Johnny Cash and early Elton John before I wrote ‘Let Me Go’,” Barlow told the Sun. “I’m 42, I don’t want to do urban or dance music.”
On claims his new single sounds similar to Mumford & Sons, he added:
“I love Mumford & Sons – it’s good, English music, but let’s be honest, they got it off Johnny Cash too.”
Since I Saw You Last also features a duet with Sir Elton John titled ‘Face to Face’ and is out on November 25, followed by a tour next year.
GARY BARLOW
MUMFORD AND SONS 
Other bass drum songs out at the moment might include Aveci’s “Wake me up” in the chorus.. Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida”, etc
Can you think of any more?
The Guardian had this to say:
“Disappointingly constructed using the Mumford & Sons’ formula of dusty “woah, woah, woah” backing vocals, plucked banjo and copious amounts of thigh slapping, it’s a far cry from the glorious Back For Good, or Rule The World or even Sing. Perhaps the worst part of it all is imagining the inevitable performance of it on The X Factor, complete with backing dancers dressed as Marcus Mumford.
Here’s my comparison uploaded to YouTube – it will be interesting to see if by pitch changing Gary’s track, and using a live version of Mumfod and Sons’ song, will the automatic copyright checker miss this.
And hopefully Dave McSherry won’t take this post down – ’cause I’m guessing he’s not a big Barlow fan 😉
Win an Abbey Road mix/mastering session and Pro Tools® system
The Beatles. Adele. U2. Lady Gaga. Ready to add your name to that list?
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they’re looking for one great song, chosen by a panel of industry heavyweights, to win an online mixing and mastering session at Abbey Road and a Pro Tools|HD Native system.
Enter now for your chance to win the industry’s respect, fan exposure, plus free gear from Avid and a mix/mastering session from Abbey Road, adding up to a value of over $7,000.
Get heard, get discovered, and break through.
Judge’s Choice
Three winners, as chosen by the judges, will receive:
Their song/track mixed and mastered by Abbey Road’s online services (worth $1,300)
A Pro Tools|HD Native system with Pro Tools HD 10 software and an HD OMNI interface (worth $5,999) each
Exposure across Avid’s website and social online channels
People’s Choice
The highest voted artist will receive:
An Mbox Pro audio interface with Pro Tools 10 software (worth $999)
Exposure across Avid’s website and social online channels
Get Involved
Submit by: March 13, 2013, 10 am PDT
Vote: March 14, 2013, – March 21, 2013,
Winners Announced: April 10, 2013
I came across this today (apologies to Dave McSherry who currently has this song as an ‘earworm’ in his head), but I was amazed at the psychological difference turning this song into a major key makes.
Recently produced by Major Scaled – a version of REM’s ‘Losing my religion’, remixed in Major Scale
https://www.facebook.com/MajorScaledTv
This artists work is being removed by major labels so you may not get to hear this for long….
this is from the vimeo post – http://vimeo.com/57685359
“Someone has gone to the trouble (I don’t know how but would suspect using Melodyne DNA or somesuch) of processing REM’s minor-scale downer hit ‘Losing My Religion’ so that all the minor notes are now major. When I followed the link I thought it’d be a cover, but no, it’s the original, processed. It’s uncanny – the song is just as familiar as always but the impact is utterly different. Kind of like finding a colour print of a film you’d only known in black and white, or seeing Garfield minus Garfield for the first time. I like it.”
Major Scaled #2 : REM – “Recovering My Religion” from major scaled on Vimeo.
you can read more here
