FM | RETROSPECTIVE
Oramics
From founding the Radiophonic Workshop at the BBC to her unique Oramics machine, Daphne Oram was a pioneer
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There are few movements in music named after a single person; even fewer are named after women.Daphne Oram’s work is one of the great contributions to music tech.
Born in 1925, Oram was a talented pianist and organ player as a child. Her professional career in music and recorded sound began during World War 2; in 1942, on leaving school, she turned down an offer of a place at the Royal College of Music in London to instead take up a role as a junior studio engineer at the BBC, where her responsibilities would include mixing live broadcasts and creating sound effects.