Years ago, in a post about original pioneering composers doctor who On this topic, we wrote: “In the early days of experimental electronic music, Delia Derbyshire” Derbyshire almost gave Paul McCartney a version of “Yesterday” with electronic backing instead of strings. radiophonic workshopBBC Sound Effects Laboratory. She went on to form one of the decade’s most influential, albeit largely unknown, electronic acts. white noise. Still, it would be an exaggeration to call the early days of electronic music her own. Of course, her many collaborators also deserve mention, as well as musicians such as Bruce Herc, Pierre Henry, Kraftwerk and Brian Eno. But what is almost completely left out of much of electronic music’s history, like so much other history, is the prominent role that so many women outside of Derbyshire played in the development of the sounds we now hear all around us.
Recognizing this fact, musician, DJ, and “runaway housewife and schoolteacher” Barbara Golden dedicated two of her episodes. KPFA radio program “Crack o’ Dawn” She shares each broadcast with co-host John Lydecker (“Wobbly”), and during each segment, the two banter in casual radio show style and provide history and background on each musician and composer. The first show, “Women in Electronic Music 1938-1982 Part 1” (above), highlighted in Ubu’s previous Twitter stream, is a Derbyshire-worthy show that includes three of her songs. doctor who theme.
It also includes music by 21 other composers, including Clara Rockmore, the inventor and popularizer of the theremin, a strange instrument designed to simulate the high, trembling human voice. Wendy Carlos’ original work “Timesteps” is also featured. clockwork orange Score.
The second show, above, fills in some of the gaps in the original broadcast and “could easily be six hours long,” said co-host Lydecker, given the vast amount of electronic music written and recorded by women over the past 70 years. The show includes “Melody Sumner Carnahan,” one of host Golden’s own compositions; Laurie Anderson and composer of musique concrète doris haze. These two broadcasts alone cover a huge range of stylistic and technical ground, but for a history of women’s discography in electronic music, check out the playlist below. “Nerdgirl” Edited by Antye Greie-Ripatti. Commissioned by Club Transmediale Berlin, this mix includes well-known artists such as Yoko Ono, Björk and MIA, as well as pioneers Derbyshire, Carlos and dozens of others.
Instead of Golden and Lydecker’s radio show chatter, Greie-Ripatti’s post details Each artist’s era, country of origin, and contribution to the history of electronic music. Many of the composers represented here went on to work for major radio and film studios, scoring feature films (like 1956). forbidden planet), invented and innovated new instruments and techniques, composed for orchestras, and passed on his knowledge as an educator and producer. Gray Lipatti’s page To quote a Danish electronic producer and performer: “There are a lot of women in electronic music… invisible women.” Thanks to efforts like hers and Golden’s, these pioneering creators no longer have to go unnoticed and, more importantly, unheard.
Note: An earlier version of this post appeared on our site in 2015.
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“Mister Rogers Introduces Children to Experimental Electronic Music” (1968) by Bruce Hark and Esther Nelson
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Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, North Carolina.
Source: Open Culture – www.openculture.com
