Monday 4 June 2012

The New Sound of Music

In 1979 the BBC produced this documentry, presented by Michael (Screen Test) Rodd which was about the rise of new technology in music. From Barrel Organs Pianolas and Phonograph to the VCS 3, The Yamaha CS-80. Many faces from the BBC Radiophonic workshop. Malcolm Clarke demostrates the Synthi 100, Dick Mills works on sound effects for Doctor Who using a VCS3 unit, and Elizabeth Parker uses bubble sounds to create music for an academic film on particle physics. The presenter Michael Rodd tinkers with some tape splicing and creates some Musique ConcretePeter Zinovieff of EMS fame (VCS3 Synthi A) is featured using his computer music studio to create some electronic variations on classic vintage scores. 
I personally loved this program, because many many years ago I was in a position where I had to create sounds from nothing and work with Reel to Reels Tape Splicing and some very old analogue equipment (some of which is still around) All good fun really. In fact I recently converted quite a few of these sounds to digital files. Should do something with them one day.

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