A Radiophonic Weekend - Bristol

Update: The event is in April, not March.

Two day event via Cube Cinema, Saturday April the 2nd and Sunday the 3rd.

"Day one of a weekend of special events, performances, screenings and more - dedicated to the output and legacy of the one and only BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

With their often primitive hand built devices, tape loops and early synth explorations, the workshop brought the sound of electronic weirdness out of the realms of academia and into the home, re-adjusting the ears and minds of an entire generation in the process. As interest in their oddly British, and often somewhat crackpot approach to electronic experimentation grows, and as many of their key instigators finally begin to gain the worldwide recognition their pioneering efforts deserve, we spend a special one-off weekend looking back on some of the characters, stories, sounds and inventions that shaped an era.

On day one (Saturday), we’re delighted to welcome very special guests - Radiophonic boffins, David Cain and Dick Mills - who will be presenting a history of the workshop, discussing their work, and presenting a wealth of material unheard for decades.

There will also be screenings of the very rarely seen 1969 BBC documentary ‘The Same Trade as Mozart’, Kara Blake’s new documentary on Delia Derbyshire, ‘The Delian Mode’, and the beautiful 1972 Delia soundtracked short ‘Circle of Light’.

Live performances by VI and Ekoplekz; each coaxing a raw, modern take on the shadowy world of tape manipulation and primitive analogue tone generators, as well as specially commissioned Radiophonic inspired interludes all weekend, and a few other treats.

Day two (Sunday) focuses on various developments that took place outside of the workshop, examining how new processes and inventions shaped and influenced its development into the 1970s. Along with those who forged their own idiosyncratic paths throughout the era, several contemporary artists bring a fresh approach through a reconfiguration of old technology.

Workshop founder Daphne Oram will be the focus of guest speaker Mick Grierson, who curates her archive at Goldsmiths. He will discuss and present some of her work, as well as highlighting the ‘Oramics’ machine she pioneered. Filmmaker, musician and artist Ian Helliwell will be performing with the Megatherm machine, which converts a specially made abstract Super 8 film into electronic sound. He will also present a rough cut of his forthcoming documentary on little known UK electronic music pioneer and all round fascinating figure Fred Judd.

Alexander Thomas will bring us a taste of his spooked theremin tones, and Stephen Cornford will be performing live with his adapted reel to reel tape machines and spectral tape delays. Further film screenings will include Matthew Bate’s ‘What the Future Sounded Like’, focusing on the work of Peter Zinovieff and Tristram Cary, and the formation of Electronic Music Studios (EMS). Also an extremely rare 16mm screening of the Tristram Cary soundtracked film from EXPO 67, ‘Shaped for Living’, amongst other surprises."