Oramics
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Oramics is a technique used in some electronic music to produce synthetic sounds. It was developed, in 1958, by musician Daphne Oram during her short stay at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The technique, similar to Yevgeny Sholpo's "Variophone", involves drawing on 35mm film strips to control the sound produced.
Oram's synthesiser was created using a large rectangular metal frame, which gives the user a table like surface, upon which ten synchronised strips of clear sprocketed 35mm optical film pass through. Upon the film the musician can draw shapes that create a mask which affects the amount of light received by photocells, thus different shapes perform modulation on the synthesiser. Although the output from the machine was monophonic, the sounds could be added to multitrack tapes to provide more texture.
The technique is also similar to one used by Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren in some of his films, who created sounds by drawing a row of varying shapes (such as triangles, circles, etc.) along the optical soundtrack area of the film.
