[sdiy] AES Radiophonic Presentation

[Andy Wilson]

Hi All,

'Twas an interesting talk at the Royal Academy of Engineering, in 
London last night, given by Dick Mills who regaled us about his 
career at the BBCs Radiophonic Workshop. Here's a quick run-down of 
the evening. Sorry- no pictures :->(

Dick started out by saying that he used to dread going home at night 
because the lady who lived across the road from him was always out 
tending her garden, and would ask him about his work. 'How do you 
explain doing sound effects for 36 legged spiders?' She just wouldn't 
understand. He gave us a brief history of the Workshop, from it's 
beginnings in an ex skating rink in Maida Vale, London, in 1958. How 
they gathered old lab equipment and put them to uses for which they 
were never intended. Often spending Friday mornings down the 
Portobello market looking for more stuff.

Ingenuity was the key here, and solutions had to be found to enable 
them to successfully run long tape loops, often down corridors. There 
was reference to a tape tensioning device devised, I believe by Dave 
Young, which they labelled the 'don't fiddle with' because often the 
commissioning clients would come in, see this device and do just 
that!

The Workshop started off doing lots of tape editing, often cutting up 
minute pieces of tape, to then reassemble, in a collage of sound. 
There was the moment when one such editor could not find a piece of 
tape, only to find that a colleague had her foot on it; 'You're 
standing on my laugh' said the editor.

Dick also recounted the early days with Daphne Oram and Delia 
Derbyshire (who apparently had a penchant for 'Wacky Backy' and cider 
resulting in one occasion when Desmond Briscoe could not open the 
door to the studio because Delia was slumped asleep on the other 
side).

A bit further down the line, came the introduction of synthesisers to 
the Workshop. The EMS VCS3, and later, the massive Synthi 100, dubbed 
the Delaware. The latter was so big, that they couldn't get it 
through the studio door, so it was sent back to EMS until the BBC 
could get the carpenters in to install a double door.

Dick is mainly famed for his work on the sound effects on Doctor Who. 
The producers of the show wanted a voice for the Daleks, but whatever 
processing they did they used had to be able to be used in the 
television studio so Dick flashed up a circuit diagram of the passive 
diode ring modulator which was eventually employed. The actors 
microphone being fed into one side, and a 30Hz modulating signal in 
the other. The Tardis sound was Brian Hodgesons mothers' door key 
dragged along an old piano harp which was kicking around the studio. 
( I used to work at the Maida Vale studios 20 years ago, and that 
same piano harp was propped up against a wall behind Dicks' studio. I 
got my door key out and....well you have to, don't you.)

There was a musical interlude next which involved  some sampling and 
a ladys' tits (err... you had to be there ;->)) Also, a virtual tour 
around Dicks' studio filmed just before he left (at which point he 
was mainly involved in restoration of the BBCs archives employing 
Sonic Solutions No-Noise). There were also photos showing the 
refurbishment of Elizabeth Parkers' studio.

Finally there was an excerpt from an 80s episode of Doctor Who before 
the sound effects and music was added, then the same excerpt in all 
it's final glory after the Radiophonic fairy dust was added.

All in all, a very enjoyable evening. Dick is a great raconteur, is 
very witty and an all round bloody nice bloke. He is now enjoying 
retirement, accumulating grand children, travelling and writing books 
on fish keeping.

Oh, and he still attends the odd Doctor Who convention!

Cheers

Andy

---

Andy Wilson
http://www.techman.synth.net
andy at techman.synth.net