MUSC40110 Dissertation Candidate 71040190 Delia Derbyshire’s creative process Delia Derbyshire’s creative process 1 Delia Derbyshire’s creative process Preface Delia Derbyshire (b. Coventry, 5 May 1937; d. Northampton, 3 J ly !""1# is $idely re%arded as a pioneerin% &i% re in the early development o& ele'troni' m si'. (er posth mo s a''laim ($ith s 'h honori&i' titles as )the %odmother o& modern ele'troni' dan'e m si'*# ho$ever, rests pon a relatively small body o& 'ommer'ially released m si'.1 +he dis'overy o& a 'olle'tion o& lar%ely n,no$n $or, by Derbyshire, in the &orm o& !-7 reel.to.reel analo% e a dio tapes and aro nd 5"" items o& do' mentation and 'orresponden'e, &ollo$in% her death in !""1, prompts a 'riti'al re.assessment o& her 'ontribution to the &ield o& ele'troni' m si', and raises broader methodolo%i'al con'erns for the writin% o& the history o& the same. The &ollo$in% essay / broadly, an histori'ally.in&ormed analysis o& Derbyshire0s 'reative pro'ess, $or,in% methods and m si'al lan% a%e – builds on the wor, o& the writer0s previo s dissertation on her m si' in li%ht o& a detailed examination o& the 'ontents o& the 'olle'tion (here, in&ormally ,no$n as the )Derbyshire ar'hive*#, in addition to the re'ent se'ondary literat re on Derbyshire0s $or,, the o tp t o& the 22C 3adiophoni' 4or,shop, and a n mber o& tan%entially related areas on $hi'h her $or, to 'hes, in'l din% radio drama and the 'ontemporary arts s'ene and avant.%arde o& 19-"s 5ondon. 4hilst a limited sample o& the m si' &o nd in the Derbyshire ar'hive is 'onsidered 'riti'ally and te'hni'ally, the t$o do' ments provided as appendi'es present a list o& all ,no$n 'omposition pro6e'ts nderta,en by Derbyshire, and a 'omprehensive 'atalo% e o& all a dio materials &o nd in the 'olle'tion and their asso'iated pro%ramme 'onte1ts, respe'tively. Contents 7ntrod 'tion8 +e'hnolo%y, history, creativity ! 7. A context for British radiophoni's : 77. Presen'e<absen'e and the ar'hive 1" 777. Tape te'hni= es 1: 7>. Synthesis te'hni= es !9 Con'l sion 3- 2iblio%raphy 3: 9ppendi1 18 Delia Derbyshire8 Pro6e'ts, 19-!.!""1 9ppendi1 28 Audio in the Delia Derbyshire Ar'hive 1 The Times, July 2008, 'ited by 22C Ne$s @http8<<ne$s.bb'.'o. ,<1/hi<northernAireland<7513156.stm> Cac'essed !"<":<2012]. Delia Derbyshire’s creative process ! Introduction: Technology, history, creativity 2e'ause the essen'e o& te'hnology is nothin% te'hnologi'al, essential re&le'tion pon te'hnology and de'isive 'on&rontation $ith it must happen in a realm that is, on the one hand, a,in to the essen'e of te'hnology and, on the other, & ndamentally di&&erent &rom it. ? 'h a realm is art. ! C(eide%%erD +he story o& the 3adiophoni' 4or,shop and its machines is really the story o& people openin% the bac,s of those machines and doin% thin%s they $eren0t meant to do.3 C2rian (od%sonD 7n the present a%e, in $hi'h )the 'reation o& ele'troni' m si'* almost e1'l sively implies the se o& 'omp ter so&t$are environments, the te'hni'al, physi'al, and 'reative pro'esses asso'iated $ith the &irst de'ades o& the ele'troa'o sti' medi m appear as a distant vision o& an era o& te'hnolo%i'al primitivism, not$ithstandin% a postmodern, o''asionally &etishisti' trend to$ards the nostal%ia o& the retro (ne$ releases on vinyl and 'assette, va' m t be.based a dio e= ipment, so&t$are.modelled vinta%e synthesisers, et'.# E As ;eter Mannin% has noted, )+he birth o& ele'troa'o sti' m si' is asso'iated $ith an era o& 'reativity $hi'h is no$ &irmly embedded in the past.*5 Th s, $hilst the disseminated 'reative $or, o& s 'h a Fpioneer0 &i% re as Delia Derbyshire has dra$n $ide a''laim &or its visionary = alities, 'ontemporary 'omposers have also &o nd in this and other early ele'troni' $or, )a n mber o& &eat res that appear to have no parallels in the modern all. di%ital domain*.- The si%ni&i'ant a%en'y Derbyshire, Daphne Gram and other radiophoni' experimenters hold $ithin the estimation o& ' rrent pra'titioners in the field (espe'ially those o tside o& a'ademia# is d e in no small part to the &a't that their ,no$n m si' appears to soni'ally trans'end the simple, o&ten m ndane te'hnolo%ies o& its o$n creation. 7n a re'ent 'omposition &or strin% = artet and on.sta%e so nd e= ipment, The Golden Age of the Radiophonic Workshop (Fibre-Optic Flo!ers", Canadian 'omposer Ni'ole 5iHIe dire'tly en%a%es $ith a te'hno'entri' ima%inin% o& Derbyshire0s m si'8 7n the 1960s the 22C 3adiophoni' 4or,shop $as a place $here the role o& ele'troni' musi' in our sound. $orld be%an to take shape and, in many $ays, $as de&ined &or ens in% %enerations. 9 primordial aestheti' &ormed around the syntheti' te1t res that emer%ed &rom the mother(s# of invention. Ne$ sounds $ere needed J and &ound. CKD +he mer%in% of the real $ith the nreal (on reel.to-reel# imb ed this ne$ musi' $ith a ,ind o& pre.di%ital binary sheen8 positive and ne%ative, ali%nin% magneti'ally via &erri' oxide, 'apt rin% the visionary res lts &or positroni' posterity. CKD ?ittin% amon% the ele'troni' bri'.L.brac, 7 imagine the strin%s lyin% in $ait &or the moment $hen Delia mi%ht snea, in late at ni%ht and, in a moment of syner%y, meld the $ooden $ith the molten.7 ! (eide%%er, p. 35. 3 2ris'oe and C rtis.2ram$ell, p. 41. E ?ee ?imon 3eynolds, Retromania: Pop %&lt&re’s Addiction to its Own Past (5ondon8 Faber and Faber, 2011# 5 Mannin% (!""-#, p. 81. - 7bid. 7 5iHIe, programme note, pp. 11.12. Delia Derbyshire’s creative process 3 Mor 5iHIe, the 3adiophoni' 4or,shop te'hnolo%y $as not a passive a%ent in Delia0s 'reative pro'ess, but rather a de&inin% aspe't o& her astheti'. 7n the 'o rse o& The Golden Age of the Radiophonic Workshop, the m si'ians en%a%e $ith all manner o& so nd.prod 'in% ele'troni' Ftoys0 in a theatri'al manner; the Fnormal0 text re and timbre o& the = artet provides a stati' ba',drop to a fore%ro nd o& hi%h soni' novelty. Whilst the pie'e may be an e'le'ti', hi%hly stylised tribute to the so nd$orld and te'hni= es o& the 3adiophoni' 4or,shop ($e hear snippets o& s 'h &amo s so nds as the Doctor Who bass line#, 5iHIe0s ima%inative en%a%ement $ith Derbyshire0s tools and te'hni= es %ives rise to n mero s = estions abo t the role o& te'hnolo%y in the aestheti' o& the 4or,shop0s o tp t. +he politi's o& this sit ation are 'ompli'ated & rther %iven that Fthe radiophoni'0, in a stri'ter sense $hi'h $ill be de&ined here (N 7#, as nderstood by Derbyshire and her 'ontemporaries, has a hi%hly problemati'al ontolo%y whi'h poses uni= e 'hallen%es to m si'olo%i'al lines o& en= iry; these $ill be e1plored soon, but in short, they arise &rom the &a't that radiophoni' m si' 'annot readily be considered as a series o& a tonomo s art$or,s. 4hen Derbyshire &irst had opport nity to experiment in the 'reation o& ele'troni' so nd, the &ield o& m&siq&e concr(te $as not yet !" years old, and ma%neti' tape as a medi m had been %enerally available &or 6 st over a de'ade. 5iHIe points o t that the te'hnolo%y o& the 3adiophoni' 4or,shop in the early 19-"s $as )simple but ' ttin%.ed%e.*: No e= ipment spe'i&i'ally desi%ned &or the 'reation o& radiophoni's $as 'ommer'ially available, and there&ore the Fm si' te'hnolo%ies0, as s 'h, $ere lar%ely improvised. Commer'ially man &a't red standard e= ipment / parti' larly tape re'orders / $ere sed in non.standard $ays and spe'i&i' Fm si'al0 $or,in% pra'ti'es developed; bespo,e, 4or,shop.desi%ned e= ipment $as developed and built in.ho se to realise 'omposers0 spe'ial re= irements ('&. (od%son0s s %%estion o& non. pres'riptive approa'h, above#. To 'omprehend and analyse 3adiophoni' 4or,shop o tp t in any meanin%& l sense, there&ore, ne'essitates the 'onsideration o& aspe'ts in $hi'h the available te'hnolo%y mediated the relationship bet$een 'omposers0 and prod 'ers0 'reative vision and the pra%mati' realities o& the tape medi m. Gne s 'h approa'h, proposed by Oianmario 2orio, elaborated by 9%ostino Di ?'ipio, and & rthered by ;eter Mannin%, is to apprehend ele'troni' m si' in terms o& techn) (PQRST#.