White Noise is an English

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

band formed in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1968, after American-born David Vorhaus, a classical bass player with a background in physics and electronic engineering, attended a lecture by

Delia Derbyshire Delia Ann Derbyshire (5 May 1937 – 3 July 2001) was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She carried out notable work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, including her electronic arrangement of the theme ...

, a sound scientist at the

BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...

. Derbyshire and

Brian Hodgson Brian Hodgson (born 1938) is a British television composer and sound technician. Born in Liverpool in 1938, Hodgson joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1962 where he became the original sound effects creator for the science fiction program ...

, then both former members of electronic music project ''

Unit Delta Plus Delia Ann Derbyshire (5 May 1937 – 3 July 2001) was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She carried out notable work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, including her electronic arrangement of the theme ...

'', joined Vorhaus to form the band.

Biography

''An Electric Storm''

In June 1969 White Noise released the groundbreaking album '' An Electric Storm'' on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

. The album was created using a variety of tape manipulation techniques, and used the first British synthesizer, the EMS Synthi VCS3. Amongst many oddities, the first track on the album, ''Love Without Sound'', employed sped-up tape edits of Vorhaus playing the

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

to create

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

sounds. Although not initially commercially successful for Island, the album is now considered an important and influential album in the development of electronic music, namechecked by contemporary artists like

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...

and

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

, influencing contemporary acts such as

Broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

Add N to (X) Add N to (X) were an English electronic music band formed in London in 1994. The original members were Andrew Aveling, Barry Smith (aka Barry 7) and Ann Shenton. Steven Claydon replaced Aveling in 1997. After several releases on small labels ...

, and

Secret Chiefs 3 Secret Chiefs 3 (or SC3) is an American avant-garde group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance (of Mr. Bungle and formerly, Faith No More). Their studio recordings and tours have featured different lineups, as the group performs a wide range ...

Peter Kember Peter Kember (born 19 November 1965), also known by his stage name Sonic Boom, is an English singer and record producer. He was a founding member, vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist of alternative rock band Spacemen 3, lasting from 1982 until ...

Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English neo-psychedelia space rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of " ...

included 'Firebird' on his 2004 curated compilation ''Spacelines''.

''White Noise 2-III-IV-V''

Following the departure of Derbyshire and Hodgson, to pursue other projects, Vorhaus released a second album, the largely instrumental ''White Noise 2 - Concerto for Synthesizer'' on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

in 1974. It was recorded in his own studio in Camden, North London. The album further utilized the

EMS VCS 3 The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. EMS released ...

, as well as prototype sequencers. A third album, the single track 'space fantasy' ''White Noise III - Re-Entry'' was released by Pulse Records in 1980. A further two albums were released, the atmospheric ''White Noise IV - Inferno'' (AMP Music) (1990) incorporated the use of samples, and ''White Noise V - Sound Mind'' (AMP Music; 2000), an experiment in what Vorhaus called " dark ambient".

Members

;Current *David Vorhaus (1968–present) *Mike Painter (2011–present) ;Former *

(1968–1969) *

Paul Lytton Paul Lytton (born 8 March 1947, London) is an English free jazz and free improvising percussionist. Lytton began on drums at age 16. He played jazz in London in the late 1960s while taking lessons on the tabla from P.R. Desai. In 1969 he began ...

(1968–1969) * John Whitman (1968–1969) * Annie Bird (1968–1969) * Val Shaw (1968–1969) * Mark Jenkins (2005–2011)

Discography

;Albums *'' An Electric Storm'' (1969) *''White Noise 2 - Concerto for Synthesizer'' (1974) *''White Noise 3 - Re-Entry'' (1980) *''White Noise 4 - Inferno'' (1990) *''White Noise 5 - Sound Mind'' (2000) *''White Noise 5.5 - White Label'' (2006)

References

External links

Head Heritage
- review of ''An Electric Storm''
Myspace site
of Mark Jenkins * {{DEFAULTSORT:White Noise British electronic music groups Island Records artists Virgin Records artists