The Sisters Pushing the Buttons, and Gender Boundaries, of Electronic Music
“Sisters with Transistors” is available online on Sheffield Doc/Fest Selects from Saturday 31 October until Thursday 12 November as part of Sheffield Doc/Fest 2020, watch it here.
The world of music has long been considered an old boys club. They call the shots, they push the knobs and little is known about the female force behind the synth. In this poetic, archival feature documentary narrated by Laurie Anderson, Lisa Rovner uncovers the untold story of the formidable women that helped shape electronic music.
‘Sisters with Transistors’ hones in on a number of influential women in the electronic music space. We’re introduced to Clara Rockmore, a professional violinist-turned-pioneering-force behind the popularity of the theremin. We learn how Rockmore gracefully wowed her audiences through her artful ability to make sounds with the air. Whilst the women featured have undoubtedly influenced the electronic music scene in their own way, what is striking is that for many, their raison d'être was not necessarily to revolutionise. Instead, what binds them together is that their fascination with sound was triggered by their environment.
To illustrate, the piercing pitch of air raid sirens in 1940s Britain permeating the eardrums of Delia Derbeyshire served as her inspiration for the Dr Who Theme arrangement. Similarly, for Eliane Radigue it was the constant drone of airplanes flying over her hometown in Nice, France that was digested into her psyche to create, inspiring her to work with synthesisers and looped tape recordings.
Rovler taps into expert contributors such as Aura Satz, Jo Hutton and Barry Schrader to successfully convey the many obstacles that stood in the way of these remarkable women leaving their mark in the industry. There’s the obvious underestimation of women, driven by the 20th century backdrop. But they also had to redefine the ways in which music itself was understood by challenging the establishment that only valued classical instrumentation and proving that electronic music was a credible genre. For these women, technology acted as a tool for transgression, enabling them to mould and enter a new world of sonic possibilities and freedom.
Daphne Oram, one of the earliest pioneers of electronic music.
The film concludes by featuring some of the surviving women in present day for the very first time. We see Eliane Radigue awaken from her sonically induced trance, demonstrating the orgasmic effect of electronic music and its ability to understand beings and cultures.
Sadly, today’s music scene continues to be fronted by men with Pitchfork reporting that festival lineups only include 19% women. Yes, it is true that execs are starting to take heed of the lack of diversity in the music industry, but frankly we’re not quite there yet. Whilst Rovner’s use of archive and complementary cinematic sound is powerfully beautiful, my worry is that the message is lost amongst that very same poetic artistry that courses through her film.
We might just need a more literal and direct electric shock to get us to a point where the women’s genius is heard and their influence is truly seen.
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