Delia Derbyshire was a sculptress of sound and musical concrete, operating with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and pioneer of numerous electronic experiments in audio for programs, such as Doctor Who. She was born in Coventry in 1937.
Derbyshire will go down in history for helping to produce the first electronic signature tune on television. Ron Grainer’s score for Dr Who, a ground breaking science fiction series in the 1960s, was realised thanks to Derbyshire. She used concrete sources and sine-and square-wave oscillators to produce seamless sounds on tape recorders. It makes her a true pioneer of electronica. For more on Derbyshire, go to WT’s Europe section here and scroll down to the short documentary about her work and read more about her fascinating life in sound.
The piece below features recordings of people talking about their dreams and a Derbyshire soundscape. It’s eerie as anything you’ll hear. Techno/acid/electronic space-jazz DJ and producer Hieroglyphic Being uses this piece in his sets. The composition, among others, has been reissued on Mississippi Records – it won’t be around for long.
