A few nice tummy exercises images I found:
sound effects that made TV history
Image by brizzle born and bred
image above: Two veterans of the Workshop recreate some of its famous sounds.
The BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, a pioneering force in sound effects, would have been 50 this month. Ten years after it was disbanded, what remains of its former glory?
Deep in the bowels of BBC Maida Vale studios, behind a door marked B11, is all that’s left of an institution in British television history.
A green lampshade, an immersion tank and half a guitar lie forlornly on a shelf, above a couple of old synthesisers in a room full of electrical bric-a-brac.
These are the sad remnants of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, set up 50 years ago to create innovative sound effects and incidental music for radio and television.
The corporation initially only offered its founders a six-month contract, because it feared any longer in the throes of such creative and experimental exercises might make them ill.
Using reel-to-reel tape machines, early heroines such as Daphne Oram and Delia Derbyshire recorded everyday or strange sounds and then manipulated these by speeding up, slowing down or cutting the tape with razor blades and piecing it back together.
The sound of the Tardis was one sound engineer’s front-door key scraped across the bass strings on a broken piano. Other impromptu props included a lampshade, champagne corks and assorted cutlery.
Ten years ago the workshop was disbanded due to costs but its reputation as a Heath Robinson-style, pioneering force in sound is as strong as ever, acknowledged by ambient DJs like Aphex Twin.
Although much of its equipment has long been sold off, every sound and musical theme it created has been preserved. To mark its 50 years, there are plans for a CD box-set.
Here Dick Mills and Mark Ayres, who both worked there, use the surviving equipment to revive four sounds from the past.
Green Lampshade
This was a stroke of genius from Delia Derbyshire, who died in 2001 and famously created the Doctor Who theme tune from Ron Grainer’s score.
The magic of Delia Derbyshire’s lampshade, recreated by Dick Mills and Mark Ayres
She would hit the tatty-looking aluminium lampshade to create a sound with a natural, pure frequency. After recording it on tape, she would play with it to make the desired sound effect.
For a documentary on the Tuareg people of the Sahara desert, she took the ringing part of the lampshade sound, faded it up and then reconstructed it using the workshop’s 12 oscillators to give a whooshing sound, allied to her own voice.
"So the camels rode off into the sunset with my voice in their hooves and a green lampshade on their backs," she once said.
The green lampshade has since gained near-mythical status and Peter Howell, who succeeded Derbyshire in the early 1970s and reworked the Doctor Who theme tune, can see why.
"It’s a useful thing to cling on to because everyone knows what a lampshade is because it symbolises the use of domestic objects to produce sounds."
The workshop fascinates his music students today because of all the kit used back then, he says, and its influence is still clearly seen – an advert for a VW Golf that uses only sounds of the car, for example.
"The sampling era we’re now in is the next generation of the same principle."
Dalek Voice
The sound that sent youngsters, and many adults, cowering behind sofas was co-created by Mills, a sound engineer who joined the workshop in its first year and left 35 years later.
Creating the voice of the Daleks
"We tried to give the impression that whenever a Dalek spoke, it wasn’t speaking like we do, it was accessing words from a memory bank, so they all sound the same – dispassionate, mechanical and retrievable."
He used a centre-tap transformer plugged into the microphone of an actor standing at the side of the set, and the threat in the voice was all in the performance.
Sometimes the tape got played at the wrong speed and the voice came out slightly differently, but the arrival of the EMS VCS3 synthesiser in the late 60s did not signal the end for this tried and tested method.
In other ways, however, the synthesisers changed the way the workshop operated and – despite some resistance by individuals – offered a bigger choice.
Workshop Highlights
Sound effects: Quatermass and the Pit, The Goon Show, Blake’s 7, The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who Music: Woman’s Hour, Tomorrow’s World, Blue Peter, John Craven’s Newsround, Doctor Who
"Synthesisers provided a wide open pallet of colours and sounds to play with, but you still had to choose what you wanted to do and learn the discipline of this new technological form," says Mills.
"So on the one hand, it was easy but you still had the original difficulty of thinking of the idea in the first place."
Sci-Fi Door Opening
Sci-fi fans will recognise the "swooshing" door from programmes such as Doctor Who and Blake’s 7, plus in the odd hotel scene in other programmes.
The workshop’s suitcase synth
The suitcase synthesiser was a portable version of the VCS3, useful for jobs out of the studio.
Recalling the early days and influences, Mills says: "We would take a pre-recorded sound effect from the BBC’s vast library but treated them to produce cerebral effects. If you wanted a character to appear to be thinking, you got him to read the line and put in a strange echo."
Similar techniques were already used in Europe in "musique concrete".
"They did it for their own investigation and research, but our way of life was we never did anything until a commission.
So all our experimentation and research was taking place in the context of that radio or television programme."
One of Mills’ proudest creations was the slimy monster sound, which was him spreading Swarfega cleaning gel on his hands and then slowing down the sound.
And he made the upset tummy of Major Bloodnok in The Goon Show, a colonial officer who liked curry, by using burp sounds and an oscillator to give a violent, explosive gastro-effect. Using contrasting sounds very quickly is a trick in audio comedy.
"We did our own thing in the name of artistic creation. Working here was a bit like surf riding. Every so often a creative wave of energy kept you going until the wave ran out."
Broken Guitar
One pluck of a guitar string became the famous Dr Who bass line. Derbyshire and Mills sped it up and slowed it down to get the different notes, and these were cut to give it an extra twang on the front of every note.
Demonstration of the Radiophonic Workshop’s guitar
"It slides up to the note every time if you listen carefully," says Mills. "Delia fabricated the baseline out of two or three lines of tape.
"You’d be scrabbling around the floor saying ‘Where’s that half-inch of tape I wanted to play on the front of that note?’"
Every sound generated by the workshop and used in radio or television is preserved, partly in thanks to archivist Mark Ayres, who worked there while a student.
He believes one of its greatest legacies is that it made listeners more used to hearing such sounds as part of everyday entertainment and education.
"It led to] the steady integration of experimental sound into popular culture and the placement of such sound into the mainstream rather than it being confined to various strictly academic studios.
"Certainly, much of this took place in parallel with developments elsewhere – The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon for example.
"Later on, the workshop housed a couple of the most advanced computer-based MIDI studios in the world, but by that time competition from the outside world was too great and, under [the BBC's policy] Producer Choice, the workshop could not compete on price and its demise was inevitable."
Daily Alexandra 4-20
Image by justplainhope
4 Months Old!!!
My Dear Sweet, Wonderful Alexandra-
Have I told you how much I love you? I don’t think you can comprehend just how much I love you! I am just overflowing with love for you and I am constantly overwhelmed by your wonderful-ness! You Daddy thinks so too! The other day we were marveling at the fact that just 4 short months ago, you didn’t exist in this world. Just a year ago, we were in an entirely different place (emotionally especially) and we were longing and wishing for you. How utterly and profoundly amazing it is that just a year later, you are here, now, right in from of us and we can touch you and hear your coos and giggles, and see your smiles You are a lifetime wishes and dreams manifest. You are everything that we wished for and SO SO much more! You have far surpassed our expectations of what parenthood would be like! We both agree that it has been the most amazing ride of our lives!
This month has brought so many wonderful things!
You are so much more aware and in possession of yourself and your body! You smile at us all the time and your beginning to giggle! We went out walking one evening and stopped by our neighbors front yard to talk to meet them and chat. Our neighbor was swinging her little girl in a swing in their porch. You watched intently and then startled giggling and squealing with delight! You thought it was so funny! You kept this up for a good 5 minutes! It’s so much fun to see you discovering the world and having your own thoughts and opinions about it! No doubt, you wanted to jump right in that swing yourself by your reaction! A good way to make you laugh now is to say the word "giggle" in a high pitched voice. You find it hilarious and it always produces a smile and often a laugh!! Your belly laughs are the best!
At the beginning of April, you started daycare. It was so hard to leave you, but I’m so glad that we are easing you into this-both for you and for me! We started with an hour on the first day (I cried once I left you!) and have been working our way up. You are getting better with the bottle, but mainly just fuss when you get tired, take a little milk with the bottle, and then fall asleep. This seems to be how you deal with being apart and not being able to nurse. Its making me very nervous for when I go back to work next month, but it’s definitely an improvement as you screamed the first time we tried to give you a bottle! I am so happy that we found the daycare provider that we did-Leticia is very sweet and you seem to like her and being there. You’ve never cried when I’ve left-you are all smiles when I drop you off and all smiles when I pick you up! I would much rather you stay with me, of course, but since you have to go to daycare, I’m so happy that it’s in a good environment! I hope that you grow to love Leticia and that you like going to daycare. I’m also happy that the group that she has is all girls! Hopefully you’ll make some good friends!
You are enjoying your baths in the Tummy Tub! I hesitated getting it because it just looks like a bucket, but it’s perfect for you! You like being in the warm water and splashing. It’s a nice winddown at the end of the day, and you go right to sleep after nursing after a bath!
You’ve definitely found your fingers and your thumb! Your hands go to your mouth more and more often and you use your thumb to self soothe sometimes! I’m very happy that you’ve found a way to soothe ourself-you don’t need to often as I always respond quickly (I won’t let you "cry it out" ever and I’m not planning on it). With sucking on your fingers comes lots of drool! It gets everywhere and sometimes I have you wear a bib to keep you from soaking the front of your outfit! I was wondering if you were teething, but you don’t seem to have any teeth coming in yet-(I hope they wait awhile! I’m not ready for that!) You have also started taking a pacifier-you don’t take it all the time, but seems to soothe you if you get tired and can’t seem to find your thumb. Rocking you in the glider with the pacifier seems to help you relax and go to sleep in the later afternoon.
You are a good sleeper so far at night! I nurse you around 9pm and you go right to sleep. If the lights are off and it’s quiet, you often sleep right through til 6:30am. If you’ve been at Leticia’s for a few hours and didn’t get to nurse (and wouldn’t take the bottle) then you are a bit clingy-er and wake up to eat once or twice in the night. Sometimes also you just wake up around midnight to eat again. I dont’ mind though-it’s just another chance for us to have our special time together. For the most part, I feel very lucky with your sleep habits and hope you keep it up!
While you are a great nighttime sleeper, you don’t sleep well during the day unless I’m holding you. Once I put you down, you wake up after a few minutes. I’ve been trying to read your patterns though and several times I’ve put you down in your crib for 2 or 3 minutes to use the bathroom or do something and I comeback and find that you are sleepy and are sucking your thumb or fingers and pretty soon have fallen asleep! These naps only last about 45 minutes, but I’m glad you are learning to put yourself to sleep! I’m not complaining though about your lack of daytime naps-if it leads to you sleeping well at night, I don’t want to change anything!
You are very vocal and you love "talking." Sometimes you squeal or yell to get our attention, and sometimes you just like to exercise your vocal cords! I love it and we like to have "conversations back and forth. You are a much more active participant now in these conversations than you used to be, using your voice at full volume, instead of just cooing! You usually only talk when we are at home, though-when we are out, you are usually just quietly taking it all in.
You had your first big trip in early April. We went to Santa Barbara to see Grandma Didi, Grandpa JohnJohn, and Auntie Gretchen (who hasn’t seen you since you were 7 days old!). They all loved seeing you! It was a bit of a tough trip for you as it was your first time in such a new environment, away from home for so long. We also went to Auntie Gretchen’s bridal shower, so you met lots of people and all the excitement was hard for you! You were great though, and were still smily by the end of the trip. It was clear that you were so glad to be home, though because you fell asleep into the most peaceful sleep immediately with Daddy when we got home that night!
You love to watch other babies and we always have fun at our Mom’s group! I pull you close to the other babies and you stare at them and look and stare some more! You are very attentive when you are interested in something and you can hold your attention for a long time! We don’t have any toys for you other than your baby gym which we use several times a week for tummy time. Other than that, you seem very content with just us and we try to make lots of eye contact and talk to you all the time!
You love looking at the picture of Eeyore on the wipes box. There are other Winnie-The-Pooh characters on the box, but you only have eyes for Eeyore. You smile at him, stare at him, and reach for him! I sometimes say "where’s Eeyore? Find your Eeyore" (yes, he is your Eeyore) and you smile and look over in his direction! When I say his name, you know what I’m talking about! You are so smart!
Towards the end of the month, you found your feet one day! Now when you are on your back, you often reach for your feet. You aren’t pulling them to your mouth, just reaching for them (Happy baby yoga pose!). Shortly after that, you started rolling from your back to your tummy! Without warning one day your just rolled! I was, of course, surprised, but you acted like you’d been doing it forever! Now, when we put you on your back, you immediate put your legs up and start rolling! It’s pretty funny! It also makes for a challenging changing time because you always want to roll over to your Eeyore!
Your 4 month appt went well. You got more shots, which you didn’t like, but you were very good and only cried for about 10 seconds until it was over and I picked you up! Then you were your old happy self again! Your growth has slowed down and you are about average on the growth charts, which the Dr said is normal for breast fed babies.
Your weight: 14lbs 1.5oz (55th %ile)
Your length:
Your head:
I really like your pediatrician, Dr Ball. He’s very laid back and easy going and gives great advice. He gave us the go ahead to start you on solid food if we want, but said it would be better to wait until you are 6 months since I’m breastfeeding you. This made me happy, because I’m not ready to give up any of our feedings yet! We’ll start you on solids after your 6 month appt in June.
Everyone always comments on what a beautiful baby you are (in fact Dr Ball even said that you could be a baby model!) People are alway saying how cute babies are, but people say you are beautiful! I have to agree! You are the most beautiful being, inside and out!
I love watching your grow and discover new things-each discovery is so amazing! You are amazing! I can’t believe how far you’ve come in just 4 short months!
I love you baby girl! You are the light of my life!
Love forever,
Mommy
