White Noise (band)

Last updated

White Noise
OriginBillingham, UK
Genres
Years active1968–present
Labels
Members David Vorhaus
Mike Painter
Past membersAnnie Bird
Delia Derbyshire
Brian Hodgson
Mark Jenkins
Paul Lytton
Val Shaw
John Whitman

White Noise are an English experimental electronic music band formed in London in 1968, after American-born David Vorhaus, a classical bass player with a background in physics and electronic engineering, attended a lecture by Delia Derbyshire, a sound scientist at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. [2] Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson, then both former members of electronic music project Unit Delta Plus , joined Vorhaus to form the band. [3]

Contents

Biography

An Electric Storm

In June 1969 White Noise released the groundbreaking album An Electric Storm on Island Records. The album was created using a variety of tape manipulation techniques, and used the first British synthesizer, the EMS Synthi VCS3. Amongst many oddities, the first track on the album, Love Without Sound, employed sped-up tape edits of Vorhaus playing the double bass to create violin and cello sounds. Although not initially commercially successful for Island, the album is now considered an important and influential album in the development of electronic music, [4] namechecked by contemporary artists like The Orb and Julian Cope, influencing contemporary acts such as Broadcast, Add N to (X), and Secret Chiefs 3. [2] Peter Kember of Spacemen 3 included 'Firebird' on his 2004 curated compilation Spacelines.

White Noise 2-III-IV-V

Following the departure of Derbyshire and Hodgson, to pursue other projects, Vorhaus released a second album, the largely instrumental White Noise 2 - Concerto for Synthesizer on Virgin Records in 1974. It was recorded in his own studio in Camden, North London. The album further utilized the EMS VCS 3, as well as prototype sequencers. A third album, the single track 'space fantasy' White Noise III - Re-Entry was released by Pulse Records in 1980. A further two albums were released, the atmospheric White Noise IV - Inferno (AMP Music) (1990) incorporated the use of samples, and White Noise V - Sound Mind (AMP Music; 2000), an experiment in what Vorhaus called "dark ambient".

It means I won't be getting on Top Of The Pops, but I felt the category was broad enough that I could redefine it in ways that I couldn't redefine other genres, such as country and western - much as I'd like to! There's a lot of scope for experimentation and on one track, 'Dark Matter', anything that is recognisable is out - no harmony, no pitch, no rhythm. It's so dark, you can't even see the stars [5]

Painter Joins (2011 - present)

In 2011, Vorhaus enlisted Mike Painter and toured as White Noise. In a 2015 The Quietus interview, Vorhaus stated his continued interest in experimentation with modern technology, saying there are less limits than there used to be. [6]

To mark the fiftieth anniversary of An Electric Storm, a new album Lighting Strikes Twice was released in 2021. The album featured Vorhaus and Painter, both using MANIAC (Multiphasic ANalog Inter‑Active Cromataphonic, or software simulation of it), Vorhaus on the Kaleidophon (his string instrument invention using ribbon controllers) [7] and Painter using a Virtual Reality Glove. [8]

Side Projects

From 1980's Vorhaus has made electronic library music recordings for KPM Music, De Wolfe Music using Fairlight CMI. [9] Vorhaus has written music for TV and film and his music features on TV commercials and TV themes. [7] His recordings include:

Members

Current
Former

Discography

Albums

Related Research Articles

Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means. Pure electronic instruments depended entirely on circuitry-based sound generation, for instance using devices such as an electronic oscillator, theremin, or synthesizer. Electromechanical instruments can have mechanical parts such as strings, hammers, and electric elements including magnetic pickups, power amplifiers and loudspeakers. Such electromechanical devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, electric piano and the electric guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radiophonic Workshop</span> Produced sound effects and programme scores from 1958-1998

The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electronic music and music technology, as well as its popular scores for programmes such as Doctor Who and Quatermass and the Pit during the 1950s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delia Derbyshire</span> English musician and composer of electronic music (1937–2001)

Delia Ann Derbyshire was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She carried out notable work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, including her electronic arrangement of the theme music to the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. She has been referred to as "the unsung heroine of British electronic music", having influenced musicians including Aphex Twin, the Chemical Brothers and Paul Hartnoll of Orbital.

Krautrock is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electronic music, among other eclectic sources. Common elements included hypnotic rhythms, extended improvisation, musique concrète techniques, and early synthesizers, while the music generally moved away from the rhythm & blues roots and song structure found in traditional Anglo-American rock music. Prominent groups associated with the krautrock label included Neu!, Can, Faust, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Cluster, Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh, Amon Düül II and Harmonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noise rock</span> Experimental rock music mixed with noise

Noise rock is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extreme levels of distortion through the use of electric guitars and, less frequently, electronic instrumentation, either to provide percussive sounds or to contribute to the overall arrangement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMS VCS 3</span> Synthesizer model

The VCS 3 is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (EMS) in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver Apples</span> American psychedelic electronic music duo

Silver Apples were an American electronic rock group from New York, active between 1967 and 1970, before reforming in the mid-1990s. It was composed of Simeon, who performed on a primitive synthesizer of his own devising; and, until his death in 2005, drummer Danny Taylor. The duo were among the first to employ electronic music techniques outside of academia, applying them to 1960s rock and pop styles.

Electronic Music Studios (EMS) is a synthesizer company formed in Putney, London in 1969 by Peter Zinovieff, Tristram Cary and David Cockerell. It is now based in Ladock, Cornwall.

<i>Electronic Sound</i> 1969 studio album by George Harrison

Electronic Sound is the second studio album by English rock musician George Harrison. Released in May 1969, it was the last of two LPs issued on the Beatles' short-lived Zapple record label, a subsidiary of Apple Records that specialised in the avant-garde. The album is an experimental work comprising two lengthy pieces performed on a Moog 3-series synthesizer. It was one of the first electronic music albums by a rock musician, made at a time when the Moog was usually played by dedicated exponents of the technology. Harrison subsequently introduced the Moog to the Beatles' sound, and the band featured synthesizer for the first time on their 1969 album Abbey Road.

The Doctor Who theme music is a piece of music written by Australian composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Created in 1963, it was one of the first electronic music signature tunes for television. It is used as the theme for the science fiction programme Doctor Who, and has been adapted and covered many times.

Brian Hodgson is a British television composer and sound technician. Born in Liverpool in 1938, Hodgson joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1962 where he became the original sound effects creator for the science fiction programme Doctor Who. He devised the sound of the TARDIS and the voices of the Daleks, which he created by distorting the actors' voices and feeding them through a ring modulator. he also effectively scored four serials under the credit of "Special Sound". He continued to produce effects for the programme until 1972 when he left the Workshop, leaving Dick Mills to produce effects for the remainder of the show's run.

<i>Out of This World</i> (Radiophonic album) 1976 studio album by BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Out of This World is a 1976 British commercial LP release of atmospheric sounds and effects from the library of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The album was divided into four sections, each representing a different theme: "Outer Space", "Magic and Fantasy", "Suspense and the Supernatural" and "The Elements".

<i>Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 2: New Beginnings 1970–1980</i> 2000 compilation album by BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 2: New Beginnings 1970–1980 is the second in a series of compilations of BBC Radiophonic Workshop music from Doctor Who. The album collected various incidental music from the 1970s including, for the first time, the complete Malcolm Clarke score for the 1972 serial The Sea Devils, only the second scored completely by the Radiophonic Workshop. The compilation also featured a few of Dudley Simpson's compositions as realised by Brian Hodgson, some Delia Derbyshire music as featured in Inferno, two Peter Howell demos from 1979 and a selection of Dick Mills' sound effects from the era.

<i>An Electric Storm</i> 1969 studio album by White Noise

An Electric Storm is the debut album by electronic music group White Noise. The band recorded the first two tracks with the intention of producing a single only, but were then persuaded by Chris Blackwell of Island Records to create an entire album. At this point the group had established the Kaleidophon Studio in a flat in Camden Town, London, and spent a year creating the next four tracks. The last track was put together in one day when Island demanded the completion of the album. Although not very successful on its initial release, the album is now considered an important and influential album in the development of electronic music.

Peter Zinovieff was a British composer, musician and inventor. In the late 1960s, his company, Electronic Music Studios (EMS), made the VCS3, a synthesizer used by many early progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd and White Noise, and Krautrock groups as well as more pop-orientated artists, including Todd Rundgren and David Bowie. In later life, he worked primarily as a composer of electronic music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synthesizer</span> Electronic musical instrument

A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis. These sounds may be altered by components such as filters, which cut or boost frequencies; envelopes, which control articulation, or how notes begin and end; and low-frequency oscillators, which modulate parameters such as pitch, volume, or filter characteristics affecting timbre. Synthesizers are typically played with keyboards or controlled by sequencers, software or other instruments and may be synchronized to other equipment via MIDI.

<i>Silver Apples of the Moon</i> (Morton Subotnick album) 1967 studio album by Morton Subotnick

Silver Apples of the Moon is the debut album by American composer and musician Morton Subotnick, released by Nonesuch Records in July 1967. It contains the titular composition which is divided into two parts. A showcase for the Buchla 100 synthesizer, an early analogue synthesizer that the composer helped develop, it was the first piece of electronic music commissioned by a record company.

Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with some of the genre's distinguishing characteristics being improvisational performances, avant-garde influences, odd instrumentation, opaque lyrics, unorthodox structures and rhythms, and an underlying rejection of commercial aspirations.

"On the Run" is the third track from English rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. It is an instrumental piece performed on an EMS synthesizer. It deals with the pressures of travel, specifically air travel, which according to Richard Wright, would often bring fear of death.

<i>Forever Alien</i> Album by Spectrum

Forever Alien is the third studio album by British space rock band Spectrum, a project led by Peter Kember under the pseudonym Sonic Boom. It was released in August 1997 by Space Age Records. After the band's preceding EP Songs for Owsley (1996) moved them away from guitar-oriented music and towards electronic music, Forever Alien furthered this approach considerably, as Kember aimed to create a predominately electronic album that sounded organic and analogue in style. The record is dominated by vintage analogue synthesizers, including the EMS VCS 3 and EMS Synthi AKS. Kember had become fascinated by the synths as he felt they presented him with more musical possibilities than guitars.

References

  1. Reynolds, Simon (22 April 2007). "King of the Cosmos early progressive rock". The Guardian . Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 Pattison, Louis (2007). "White Noise - An Electric Storm". BBC.
  3. "Unit Delta Plus". delia-derbyshire.org. Retrieved 7 May 2017
  4. "The 50 Most Influential Dance Music Albums of All Time". mixmag.net. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  5. ""David Vorhaus", Sound on Sound magazine, February 2002, accessed 2010-0909]
  6. 1 2 "The Quietus | Features | A Quietus Interview | A Storm In Heaven: David Vorhaus Of White Noise Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  7. 1 2 White, Paul (1 February 2002). "David Vorhaus - Electronic Music Pioneer". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Lightning Strikes Twice, by White Noise". White Noise. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  9. https://www.discogs.com/artist/89322-David-Vorhaus