Eat Your Heart Out

Delia Derbyshire (1937-2001) is a name virtually unheard of in Germany yet in the UK she remains one of the true pioneers of electronic music.

Derbyshire was born in Coventry and studied mathematics and music at Cambridge. This curious combination no doubt influenced her work as an innovator in the field of bringing logical, scientific approaches to the field of electronic music to create something new and inspired.

Her developing interest in music led her to apply for a position as a sound engineer at Decca Records only to be turned down on the grounds that the company didn?t hire women in their studios. Derbyshire subsequently accepted a post to work for the UN in Geneva before returning to London to work at music publishers Boosey and Hawkes.

By 1960 Derbyshire was working at the then fledgling and massively influential BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The unit was established in the late 50s at the legendary Maida Vale studios under the guidance of Studio Head Desmond Briscoe to provide new sound effects and scores for radio and television. It was in this highly experimental environment that Derbyshire?s creativity was allowed to flourish, enabling her to create some of her best-remembered works.

Perhaps her best-known composition from her years at the Radiophonic Workshop was her interpretation of Ron Grainer?s theme for the then brand new children?s TV series Doctor Who, which first went on air in November 1963. Derbyshire created a swirling, hypnotic interpretation of Grainer?s music utilising reverse tape loops and electronic oscillators. The process took weeks; each note had to be individually treated, recorded onto one-inch magnetic tape, spliced and then edited back together again.

The composition is often credited as being the first every purely electronic theme tune used in a mainstream television broadcast and was a sensation at the time of its first airing. Grainer was so surprised with how Derbyshire had interpreted his sheet music that he asked her: ?Did I really write this?? to which Derbyshire neatly replied: ?Most of it.? Nevertheless, Grainer was so impressed with Derbyshire?s work he attempted to have her credited on-screen as co-composer, something which BBC bureaucracy at the time prevented.

She also collaborated with musical luminaries such as Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono and was a founder member of the short-lived Unit Delta Plus, a group of like-minded musicians whose intention was to promote electronic music to a wider audience. They presented some of their works at The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave and at the Royal College of Art before disbanding in 1967. Derbyshire remained at the BBC until 1973 and created sound effects and theme tunes for numerous television and radio productions.

After her BBC years, Derbyshire turned her back on music working at various times as a radio operator, in an art gallery and in a bookshop. Her passion for music was revived in the late 90s and she was busy at work on a new album of compositions when she died suddenly of renal failure whilst still recovering from breast cancer in 2001.

And there the story should end. BBC procedure at the time meant that the majority of Radiophonic Workshop staff were uncredited and therefore unappreciated for their work and Derbyshire may well have sunk into the depths of anonymity. However, her theme for Doctor Who ? which has subsequently become one of the world?s most recognisable theme tunes ? and her magnificently atmospheric Dreams project set her aside from her Workshop peers. Perhaps more interesting is the discovery of a box of 267 8? tapes which have remained unplayed for over 30 years.

They were stored in Derbyshire?s attic until her death when they were donated to Radiophonic Workshop Archivist Mark Ayres. Now they are in the hands of David Butler from Manchester University?s School of Arts, Histories and Cultures who is currently digitising the collection in its entirety with a view to making it accessible to the public. Perhaps the most outstanding find in the collection is a nameless, experimental dance track.

Derbyshire herself introduces the composition by saying, ?Forget about this, it?s for interest only.? What follows is a track which could easily have been recorded in the present day. Paul Hartnoll, former member of the group Orbital, heard the studio outtake and told the BBC, ?That could be coming out next week on Warp Records. It?s incredible when you think where it comes from.? Indeed, for a musical throwaway from the late 60s it?s an incredibly foresighted composition and ranks up there with the best of contemporary left-field dance.

The introduction of the synthesiser in the early 70s has been cited as the main reason Derbyshire quit the BBC; it made electronic music much easier to produce, too easy in fact. Part of Derbyshire?s enjoyment in her work was her ability and need to explore, to experiment. She was a sculptor, a creator ? not simply a programmer. Once an element of ease had been introduced to electronic music then the scope for experimentation narrowed and Derbyshire?s enthusiasm lessened.

In 2008 when electronic music across all genres is so popular, it?s especially important that we recognise the contribution Delia Derbyshire made to the development of its popularity, especially given the two sided problem of being a young, attractive woman working in a man?s world in the early 1960s and also having to create advanced, deeply atmospheric pieces from the most primitive of technology.

Delia we thank you.

For more information on Delia Derbyshire plus links to the BBC news site which features audio clips of the recently discovered attic archive, visit: www.delia-derbyshire.org
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NEALE LYTOLLIS

This entry was posted on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 12:03 pmand is filed under caught on film, did you know that ?, music articles, neale lytollis, studio gear, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.