Dr No soundtrack question

I've been fascinated by those little electrical signal sounds at the very beginning of this film since I was a kid. Those creepy little sounds and then the mallet roll up the xylophone as the picture opens up to reveal the gun barrel and Bond walking into shot.
My question is who wrote all of that. It was miles ahead of its time.
Where the hell did the idea for those sounds come from. Does anybody know?

Comments

  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Hope this helps-

    Maurice Binder, title designer: “I thought we should have computer sounds on the titles. I looked for where I could get the sound effects and they said there was this little old lady in Surrey who had been doing experiments with electronic sound. She sent me a couple of selections.”
    The “they” Binder referred to include Norman Wanstall, who was the movie’s sound man and won an Oscar for GF (before happily giving up the movies and going to work as a plumber), and did the editing of the sourced sounds to fit Binder's 17-second sequence.
  • thenoisydrumthenoisydrum Posts: 84MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    Hope this helps-

    Maurice Binder, title designer: “I thought we should have computer sounds on the titles. I looked for where I could get the sound effects and they said there was this little old lady in Surrey who had been doing experiments with electronic sound. She sent me a couple of selections.”
    The “they” Binder referred to include Norman Wanstall, who was the movie’s sound man and won an Oscar for GF (before happily giving up the movies and going to work as a plumber), and did the editing of the sourced sounds to fit Binder's 17-second sequence.

    Very interesting Barbel, thanks very much :)
  • The Domino EffectThe Domino Effect Posts: 3,631MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:

    this little old lady in Surrey who had been doing experiments with electronic sound.

    I can just picture an OAP standing in a zimmer, wearing a long slouch hat with her jeans around her thighs and big ear phones over her ears...the world's first elctro-pop guru.
  • OddjoblofeldraxorinOddjoblofeldraxorin CaliforniaPosts: 195MI6 Agent
    Does anyone know who wrote the track at the end when Dr No's base is in chaos? The one used in FRWL during the helicopter fight-was it Norman or Barry? Did Norman write the taurantula track?
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    They're both by Norman- have a listen to this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOXUbyh0Bio

    This is a reconstruction by Nic Raine & the City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, including both of those pieces plus a third- the original isn't available on LP or CD.
  • thenoisydrumthenoisydrum Posts: 84MI6 Agent
    I need to add that cd to my collection
  • OddjoblofeldraxorinOddjoblofeldraxorin CaliforniaPosts: 195MI6 Agent
    Thanks Barbel :)
    Barbel wrote:
    They're both by Norman- have a listen to this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOXUbyh0Bio

    This is a reconstruction by Nic Raine & the City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, including both of those pieces plus a third- the original isn't available on LP or CD.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    I need to add that cd to my collection

    It's on various compilations, and usually they can be found quite cheaply on Amazon.
  • RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent
    edited February 2016
    Barbel wrote:
    Maurice Binder, title designer: “I thought we should have computer sounds on the titles. I looked for where I could get the sound effects and they said there was this little old lady in Surrey who had been doing experiments with electronic sound. She sent me a couple of selections.”

    Hi, the description suggested Daphne Oram to me - a genuine mad scientist and one of the founding members of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, who was working solo at that time. So I had a quick Google and it looks like it was indeed her.

    The Dr No opening track appears to be called "Atoms in Space". It survives as a full edit of 6'28, dated July '62 (search for "DO160"):

    http://daphneoram.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/oramcollection.htm

    The tape archive is preserved as part of a collection at Goldsmiths College.

    YouTube links appear to be ok here, so here's my favourite Daphne track:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgpZi0ZnA5I

    And here's a piece about her bonkers "Oramics" machine, including footage of Dapphers herself in action:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3TE1z9BSH0

    Right, I have a Dr No soundtrack query of my own. Time for a new thread!
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,596MI6 Agent
    Rinberg wrote:
    Barbel wrote:
    Maurice Binder, title designer: “I thought we should have computer sounds on the titles. I looked for where I could get the sound effects and they said there was this little old lady in Surrey who had been doing experiments with electronic sound. She sent me a couple of selections.”

    Hi, the description suggested Daphne Oram to me - a genuine mad scientist and one of the founding members of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop who was working solo at that time. So I had a quick Google and it looks like it was indeed her.

    The Dr No opening track appears to be called "Atoms in Space". It survives as a full edit of 6'28, dated July '62 (search for "DO160"):

    http://daphneoram.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/oramcollection.htm

    The tape archive is preserved as part of a collection at Goldsmiths College.

    YouTube links appear to be ok here, so here's my favourite Daphne track:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgpZi0ZnA5I

    And here's a piece about her bonkers "Oramics" machine, including footage of Dapphers herself in action:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3TE1z9BSH0

    Right, I have a Dr No soundtrack query of my own. Time for a new thread!

    Thanks for sharing this. Really interesting! I'm very interested in early electronic music and how it's made.
    Visit my blog, Bond Suits
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Hi Rinberg, that is a very interesting post and many thanks!

    Welcome to AJB, by the way. Please, have a look at http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/45180/introduction-how-to-use-the-forum/ and feel free to introduce yourself to us at http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/34154/welcome-comings-goings/page/67/

    Now to have a listen to those links!
  • RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent
    Thanks for the welcomes. :)
    Matt S wrote:
    Thanks for sharing this. Really interesting! I'm very interested in early electronic music and how it's made.

    I love how laterally Daphne Oram's brain worked - most people who set out to invent a proto-synthesizer would have based it around a keyboard. Not Daphne - instead, she invented a machine that could play paintings! Bless her mad socks.
  • thenoisydrumthenoisydrum Posts: 84MI6 Agent
    Welcome on board Rinberg, a great contribution.
    Is Atoms in Space available to listen to anywhere? I can't see it as a track on any of her available cds or on youtube.
  • RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent
    Atoms in Space is not available commercially.

    A 007 fan needs to go and visit the Daphne Oram Archive.

    You need to google "Goldsmiths" and "special collections". Or "Goldsmiths" and "Daphne Oram". Probably phoning them would be best - the tape library is listenable-to, but it's not clear if access is for everyone or just students / academics.
  • thenoisydrumthenoisydrum Posts: 84MI6 Agent
    Rinberg wrote:
    Atoms in Space is not available commercially.

    A 007 fan needs to go and visit the Daphne Oram Archive.

    You need to google "Goldsmiths" and "special collections". Or "Goldsmiths" and "Daphne Oram". Probably phoning them would be best - the tape library is listenable-to, but it's not clear if access is for everyone or just students / academics.

    Ok, thanks
  • RinbergRinberg Posts: 11MI6 Agent

    Nice to see Daphne getting some recognition around the internet as a result of this!

    Some nice film of her here in 1960:

    https://twitter.com/Birmingham_81/status/1661054997956632578

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