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An Individual Note: Of Music, Sound And Electronics
Daphne Oram was educated at Sherborne School for Girls, and then, during the war, she joined the BBC in London as a Music Balancer. There she worked with most of the well known international musicians in the field of chamber music and opera. But, alongside the work, she was intrigued by the possibilities of manipulating magnetic tape sound, and as early as 1948 began to build special equipment for experiments. She was the first to compose an electronic sound track for a BBC television play (Amphitryon 38), all the composing being done in the middle of the night (using quickly assembled equipment) in the deserted Broadcasting House studios.
When the BBC eventually built an experimental studio, the Radiophonic Workshop, Daphne Oram helped to design it and then directed it. In 1959, she decided to leave the BBC to create her own studio in her converted oasthouse at Wrotham, Kent. Since then, she has become internationally known for her work in films, television, theatre and radio; she has presented successful concerts of electronic compositions at the Mermaid Theatre, London, and at the Edinburgh International Festival. She has lectured widely—at London University, Cambridge University Arts Society, The Institute of Physics, Harrow School, Wellington College, Roedean, and at many other Colleges, Schools and Music Festivals. She has also appeared a number of times on television and in films.
For her Oramics research work, at her Kent studio, she received two Gulbenkian Foundation Grants.
When the BBC eventually built an experimental studio, the Radiophonic Workshop, Daphne Oram helped to design it and then directed it. In 1959, she decided to leave the BBC to create her own studio in her converted oasthouse at Wrotham, Kent. Since then, she has become internationally known for her work in films, television, theatre and radio; she has presented successful concerts of electronic compositions at the Mermaid Theatre, London, and at the Edinburgh International Festival. She has lectured widely—at London University, Cambridge University Arts Society, The Institute of Physics, Harrow School, Wellington College, Roedean, and at many other Colleges, Schools and Music Festivals. She has also appeared a number of times on television and in films.
For her Oramics research work, at her Kent studio, she received two Gulbenkian Foundation Grants.
145 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 26, 2017
A philosophy based on a very stretched but intriguing analogy... a primer on synthesised sound and tape splicing... a waveform-based argument on why you shouldn't take drugs... there really is nothing like this book from a supremely original mind.
January 2, 2023
Oram is very passionate about the possibilities of electronic music and its� connection to metaphysics. While very interesting, the writing sometimes focuses on technicalities which may or may not be fully understood by the reader.
August 8, 2021
Such incredible incredible musings on music and electronic compositions.
March 3, 2017
Certainly an interesting read, but less about Oram's music and more about taking a musical (specifically in electronic music terms) approach to human thought processes, behaviour and interactions.
March 17, 2018
Review of Daphne Oram’s An Individual Note
I discovered this book on a trip to Moog in Asheville, NC. ÌýAfter the incredible tour, I was drooling in their gift shop with a small wallet. ÌýIt was this beautifully packaged book with a soft matte white hardcover that caught my attention. ÌýVaguely waveform-like shapes and a subtitle that paired music with electronics led me to skim the summary. ÌýFrom there it checked the final box: a book written by an audio pioneer who just happened to be female.
Daphne Oram was an electronic musician and sound designer when these terms were in their infancy. ÌýShe co-founded and was the first director of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, famous for the ethereal sounds of the television showÌýDr. WhoÌýand the radio dramaÌýHitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. ÌýThrough Oram’s vision, BBC Radiophonic Workshop was an incubator forÌýmusique concrete, experimental compositions that focus on sound manipulation. ÌýOram herself left BBC Radiophonic Workshop soon after its creation and pursued electronic sound synthesis in her facility and on her own terms.
There is a story behind the edition I acquired, and one can feel the love in its creation. ÌýThis publication was commissioned by the Daphne Oram Trust and funded through a Kickstarter campaign. ÌýThe manuscript was re-typed, the diagrams were digitally redrawn, and new photographs were added in addition to the originals. ÌýThe new outside cover is unique unfinished paper with abstract designs, and while reminiscent of a textbook it is smaller and gives a soothing feeling. ÌýInside the endpapers are dark green rastered photos. Daphne Oram’s portrait graces the front, and her studio is featured in the back. Each page is a thin cardstock that gives weight to the words printed. ÌýTopic guidelines are added to each chapter heading and reflect the style of writing within. A preface has been added that offers a fitting tribute to Daphne Oram, as well as preparing the reader for the mind from which the main text was created.
An Individual Note of Music, Sound and Electronicsis written as a guide to understanding the philosophy of sound and its creation. ÌýStarting from the definition of sound, Oram leads the reader through the path of that note as an individual to overtones, chords, and various ways of creation. ÌýThe final result is her Oramics Machine, a synthesizer that uses pictorial waveforms as the control interface. And like her device,ÌýAn Individual NoteÌýcombines different academic disciplines to reach the sonic goal.
Admittedly when I picked up this text, I had thought it would be filled with formulas and circuit diagrams. ÌýAnd while there is mention of Fourier and the basics of an oscillator, this is book favors humanities and art. ÌýEven Oram’s writing style is almost more poetry than prose with her use of alliteration, repetition, and metaphors. ÌýNearly every single chapter had a reference to her coined term “celeâ€� as a counterpoint to “elecâ€� (electricity). These flourishes are interspersed in a stream of consciousness that does not reveal its goal until the last few chapters. ÌýComplex formulas and jargon are set aside in favor of the nuances of emotion and thought experiments. And some of those thoughts stretch too far in the realm of speculative fiction. In comparing resonance to consciousness and manipulation of it as a form of signal processing drugs become white noise. Ìý“You will be using white noise to overwhelm yourself…â€� Up until the end, I was impatiently waiting for the secrets to proficient analog sound synthesis and methods for tape manipulation. Instead, I found a succession of somewhat restrained nonsequiturs leading towards a creative thought process.
One cannot build the illustrious Oramics Machine from this book unless one has a background in Electrical Engineering, butÌýAn Individual NoteÌýcan serve as a preface to experimentation with pre-made synthesizers. ÌýOften she refers to Francis Bacon’sÌýNew Atlantis, a text which feels anachronistic. Ìý“Wee also have diverse Strange and Artificial Eccho’s…â€� ÌýAnd Oram is not afraid to look into the past to find inspiration for the future. ÌýNothing is off limits to influence the creation of sound. Daphne Oram does not write a how-to book, but a why-to. ÌýThis is a text to inspire curiosity and to provoke new perspectives, as Daphne Oram did. And I guess I should co-opt a term from Oram herself and say that this book is a muse.
April 29, 2025
A-musings from Daphne Oram. Some interesting stuff (I did learn some) but a lot of personal views that were intriguing and occasionally quite off the mark. Still worth it. Read this through the blackout of April 28th.
November 25, 2017
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February 22, 2008
An amazing look into the workings of sound and music on a theoretical, spiritual and practical level, this book delves into more than what is on the surface and what we are taught (though reading from a sheet of paper with squiggles, crosses and lines is a little more difficult that sheet music!)...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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