The Wire Salon at Cafe Oto

Exploring Oram and the sounds of the New Atlantis

The life and work of Daphne Oram will feature at a salon with UK music magazine The Wire. Venue: Cafe Oto, Thursday 7 April 2011.

Cafe Oto

E8 3DL, London

Thursday 7 April
at 8pm. £4 on the door

The programme for the evening will include:

• A presentation by Dan Wilson tracing the evolution of the philosophies behind Oramics, and Daphne Oram’s progress in reconciling the physical and metaphysical aspects of sound. Oramics made incursions into the mysteries surrounding occulted conceptions of sound: its alleged healing and restorative powers, its role in providing ‘inspiration’, its analogies in colour, form and number, and its archaeoacoustics.

• A biographical sketch in the form of a presentation by Jo Hutton, looking at Daphne Oram’s role at the BBC in developing electroacoustic music and radiophonic art in Britain, as well as her subsequent independent studio work and the development of her drawn sound technique which emerged in tandem with the design and build of Oramics.

• A joint presentation by Mick Grierson and Chris Weaver on the evolution of the Oramics machine, its potential significance as one of the first British computer music systems, and the plans for its future conservation.

• A video presentation by Graham Wrench, the former RAF radar engineer responsible for building the first prototype of the Oramics machine.

Plus Dr. Tim Boon, chief curator at the Science Mueseum will talk about the upcoming plans to display the Oramics machine later this June.

Interval entertainment will come from Fari B who will be spinning previously unheard material from the Daphne Oram Archive.

  1. Pulse Persephone Daphne Oram Buy 4:07
  2. Bird Of Parallax Daphne Oram Buy 13:03
  3. Contrasts Esconic Daphne Oram Buy 8:20
  4. Four Aspects Daphne Oram Buy 8:07
  5. Tumblewash Daphne Oram Buy 2:04
  6. Snow Daphne Oram Buy 7:46
  7. Rockets In Ursa Major Daphne Oram Buy 4:57
  8. Episode Metalic Daphne Oram Buy 5:33