Shyte or alright? Helen Stead has been experimenting with those synthesisers that reckon they translate plant vibes into music

Shyte or alright? Helen Stead has been experimenting with those synthesisers that reckon they translate plant vibes into music – she’ll be demonstrating them to show if they’re gimmicky shyte, or if they’re actually alright!

Workshops are free and are women and underrepresented gender exclusive

Funded through Yorkshire Sound Women Network

Wired headphones would be useful and if you want to take sounds away a DAW

Experiment and create with the unique sounds of an electronic music trailblazer, in this free workshop for women and gender-diverse people.

YSWN Huddersfield Makers and the Daphne Oram Trust invite you to make music using the recorded legacy of pioneering electronic composer Daphne Oram (1925-2003).

To celebrate last year’s centenary of her birth, the Daphne Oram Trust have curated a special sample pack of sounds taken from archive tapes in her own collection.

Recorded between 1956-1974, these recordings of Daphne’s music, sound design and own spoken words come from a period of great innovation, in which she co-founded the BBC Radiophonic Workshop before leaving in frustration to set up Tower Folly, the first electronic music studio founded by a woman. There, she created music for films and adverts and worked on bringing to life her Oramics machine, a groundbreaking optical synthesiser. The samples were recently reimagined by artists including Cosey Fanni Tutti, Nwando Ebizie and Lola de la Mata for the album var/iations: Ode to Oram – and now it’s your turn!

Join artist and musician Sophie Cooper as we explore the sample pack and experiment with its sounds to improvise a new collective piece. Open to music-makers of any experience level or none, this workshop is a friendly and fun session where the unique sounds from Daphne’s imagination will open doors to your own creativity.

The workshop takes place in room RS G/01 in the Richard Steinitz Building at the University of Huddersfield. All equipment will be provided, but if you do have any electronic music-making kit (such as samplers, controllers or effects pedals) of your own, feel free to bring it along.

This workshop is hosted by the YSWN Huddersfield Makers group and so is aimed at an audience of women (cis and trans) and gender-diverse people aged 16+.

There are limited spaces available, so book now to guarantee your place.

Access info: The workshop takes place in a ground-floor room with level access and accessible toilets. Floor plans with access information can be viewed here. Please get in touch by emailing hudds.yswn@gmail.com if you have any additional access requirements that would make it easier for you to enjoy this event.

Part of the Daphne Oram Trust’s Daphne Oram at 100 project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Photo: Daphne Oram and the Oramics Machine by Fred Wood © Daphne Oram Trust. Image provided by Special Collections & Archives, Goldsmiths University of London with permission from the Daphne Oram Trust.