Sisters of synth ‘Delia’

A portrait of one of my heroes, Delia Derbyshire. The blitz-scape of her Coventry upbringing helped shape her fantastic sonic palette. A pioneer in electronic music during a period when ‘women don’t work for music studios’, Delia stuck to her guns (or magnetic tapes). Her enthusiasm for the theory and perception of sound; modes and tunings, and the communication of moods using purely electronic sources had her enjoying a golden age of creation as studio manager for the BBC radiophonic workshop. Her most famous composition was the Dr Who theme, which was credited solely to Ron Grainer, but recorded and realised by Delia. Any woman who can boast skill in the field of ‘Wobulators’ is bloomin’ well worth celebrating. This is one of a series of ‘synth sister’ portraits I’ve begun.