Classic photos from the golden days of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

[andrewc]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/e71ca197-4808-4132-b1cc-0078d8066fee

[Kim]

Loops of open-reel tape.  Kids today wouldn't believe it.

My theatre tech days coincided with the rise of second-generation MiniDisc, which provided seamless looping and rendered such tactics obsolete overnight.  Strategically placed hooks and nails for looping tape were still a common feature in sound booths, and competently splicing 1/4" tape was one of the items on the training I did to be approved to use the kit in Brizzle Students' Union.  Never used tape on a production, tho, unless you count recording to DAT.

These days it's all computers, of course.

[Jakob W]

Have the improvements in tech made a difference to the numbers of people working on a show? AIUI the number of people working on a West End/Broadway show has gone up since the 70s; as the tech has improved, it's created new specialities (eg lighting designers). Whether that's still the case if you include stagehands, and in regional theatres run on a shoestring, I don't know.

[andrewc]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bcmbws


Groundbreaking British composer Anna Meredith presents this special Proms tribute to the godmothers of electronica, the pioneers of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The celebration kicks off with music by Delia Derbyshire - most famously remembered for bringing the world the Doctor Who theme in its full electronic glory - and finishes with the premiere of Daphne Oram's revolutionary Still Point, lovingly pieced together from recently discovered archive material and performed by Shiva Feshareki on turntables. Music by artists including Laurie Spiegel, CHAINES and Suzanne Ciani, performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra under conductor Robert Ames, emphasises the power of this legacy.