Welcome to
The Official Alan Dower Blumlein
website

The information on this website was last updated:
Friday, 25 May 2012
@ 12:07 GMT

Latest Features Included:
Latest News
TV Documentary nears completion!

Expect a very important and imminent announcement to be made regarding the long awaited TV Documentary about Alan Dower Blumlein and his colleagues at EMI. Based on the book by Robert Charles Alexander, filming for this documentary started as long ago as July 2000 and was completed in 2003, but funding has precluded any additional work... until now!

WATCH THIS SPACE...

7 June 2012 -
70th anniversary of Alan Dower Blumlein's death

The 7th June 2012 will be 70 years to the day since the dreadful crash of Halifax V9977 which resulted in the death of Alan Dower Blumlein and many of the expert team working on the then highly secretive H2S Radar system. At the time of the crash Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the loss of this team, of whom Blumlein was the leading light, a national tragedy the like of which it is hard to see how we can recover from.

In June 2007 a significant new amount of film footage was made of the crash site of Halifax V9977. On a sunny 7 June 2007, 65 years to the very hour from the moment when the aircraft tragically fell from the skies, SImon Blumlein recorded a series of additional interviews for the long-awaited Blumlein documentary programme. More on this to come...

Blumlein on BBC Radio 4 in 2008

On 2 August 2008, BBC Radio4 broadcast a one-hour programme as part of their 'Archive Hour' series. 'The Man Who Invented Stereo' was written & presented by Martin Shankleman from the BBC. Martin has been working closely with Robert Alexander and Simon Blumlein for a couple of years now, and has been instrumental in raising the profile of Alan Blumlein through broadcast media, firstly with the radio programme for BBC Radio4, and later the long-awaited Blumlein documentary

The entire episode of 'The Man Who Invented Stereo' broadcast on BBC Radio4 2 August 2008 can be heard or downloaded here:

EVENTS 2006 & 2007

In June 2007 a significant new amount of film footage was made of the crash site of Halifax V9977. On a sunny 7 June 2007, 65 years to the very hour from the moment when the aircraft tragically fell from the skies, SImon Blumlein recorded a series of additional interviews for the long-awaited Blumlein documentary programme. More on this to come...

The 2 November 2006 saw the 70th anniversary of first BBC Television broadcasts from Alexandra Palace ...which may just serve to highlight the current restoration project announced in 2005 - not the first, but hopefully the one that will see the redevelopment of one of London's most historic sites.

Alan Dower Blumlein
inducted into the
TECnology Hall of Fame

in October 2004

On Friday, 29th October 2004, Alan Dower Blumlein was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame, at the 1st Annual Awards Ceremony in San Francisco held at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel during the 117th Audio Engineering Society Convention.

Author Robert Charles Alexander collected the award on behalf of the Blumlein family who could not attend the ceremony. Full details of the ceremony and photography of this event can now be found HERE.

29 JUNE 1903 - 29 JUNE 2003
Alan Blumlein 100th birthday

Alan Dower Blumlein was born 100 years ago in Hampstead, London on 29 June 1903. To mark this event a series of images recording the life of Alan Blumlein will be posted on the website from 29 June 2003.

November 2002 - January 2003
Halifax V9977 Crash Photographs Found!!

An incredible new development! FOUND AT LAST! - the actual photographs of the crash of Halifax V9977 taken on 8 June 1942. These pictures were believed lost or destroyed 61 years ago, but have been found, mis-filed, in the Public Records Office at Kew, London. Considered to be among the most secret photographs taken during the entire war, they have been missing since July 1942. Full details can be found on the entirely updated crash page with details of their incredible discovery.

Welcome to The Official Alan Dower Blumlein website.

This website was launched in late July 1999, to coincide with the publication of my book 'The Inventor of Stereo: The Life and Works of Alan Dower Blumlein', ISBN 0-240-51628-1, Publ. Focal Press, 1999. Updated and greatly enlarged since then, in June 2005, the official number of hits passed the two million mark - thank you. I hope that you will find the many new and continually added to attractions of this website of interest.

GETTING AROUND THIS WEBSITE

Though at first glance, this website may seem deceptively simple, there are in fact more than 450 pages of information, much of it only available through this medium - and some never previously published. You can choose the large navigator buttons above for quick, easy access to the sixteen different main areas of the site, or alternatively, read on and use the hotlinks contained within this text In addition, you can use the site map button to help you navigate your way around.

If you require additional information on the book which accompanies this website, please take a moment to look through the list of 'Reviews' which can be found on the 'About This Book' page.

LATEST NEWS & EVENTS

The year 2006 saw the 70th anniversary of the first regular television broadcasts by the BBC from the transmitter at Alexandra Palace. Using the EMI/Marconi system developed by Alan Blumlein and his technical team at EMI in Hayes, this was the world's first regular television broadcasting system. The 405-line High Definition Television System developed at EMI had easily beaten off competition from the mechanical system developed by Baird which simply didn't work anywhere near well enough to provide a viable transmission system. The EMI 405-line system continued with regular broadcasts for the next forty years until finally being switched off in 1986, only replaced with the current 625-line system.

July 2005, saw the 70th anniversary of the world's first stereo filming sessions. Recorded betwen July and September 1935 in a field just across the way from the R&D Building at EMI in Hayes, Alan Blumlein and his technical team designed, developed, perfected and produced a stereo film camera. Nothing even remotely like this would be seen again until the filming of 'The Robe' in 1952, and stereo soundtracks did not become normal for the cinema until 'Ben-Hur' in 1959.

In 2004, we had the anniversary in January of the first binaural music recording sessions. Ray Noble's Dance Band was chosen for the experiment and the recordings were made at London's Abbey Road, in the same recording studio The Beatles would use some thirty years later . On 29th October 2004, Alan Dower Blumlein was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame, at a ceremony held at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel during the 117th Audio Engineering Soceity Convention. Author Robert Charles Alexander accepted the award on behalf of the Blumlein family who were unable to attend.

The year, 2003, saw the 100th anniversary of Blumlein's birth on Sunday, 29 June. Born in Hampstead, London on Monday, 29 June 1903, Alan Dower Blumlein would become the greatest British engineer of the 20th Century. To mark the event, a special commemorative page has been produced for this website.

In 2002, the 60th anniversary of the death of Alan Blumlein was marked on 7th June. Though there were no official celebrations to mark the anniversary for the first time in several decades, I have produced a page of details of all those who died as my own personal memorial. It transpires that the RAF Defford Reunion Association, who have been planning a memorial in Defford village for two years now, had also intended to have 7 June as the unveiling date for the memorial stone. Time constraints meant that this was an impossible date to keep however, the memorial stone was unveiled by Sir Bernard Lovell at Defford village on 10 September 2002. Full details of the Defford Memorial can now be found on my website, as well as photography of the official unveiling.

Additional information on anniversaries in 2003, 2004 & 2005.

TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY

When I began work on the documentary television programme associated with my book in the summer of 2000, I had in mind the month of June 2002 as a possible broadcast date. Unfortunately, and primarily due to time constraints as well as the inevitable financial restrictions a project of this nature imposes, this has not been possible. However, a large proportion of the material is now ready and is continually being worked on. I recently invested a considerable capital sum in state-of-the-art, computer-based digital video editing equipment, and this is now being used to produce broadcast-quality promotional material which will be available initially on DVD in Autumn 2002. Excerpts from the filming work were due to be placed on this website as streaming video files in September 2003. While the filming and editing work continues, I now have late 2006, in mind for the broadcast date. More details can be found on the updated 'TV Programmes' page.

The months of July, August and September 2000 were spent filming many of the central characters who feature in my book. I had originally interviewed these gentlemen during the four and half years of research that I carried out. More filming was carried out in April and May 2001, and the remaining film work was completed in early 2003.

I am happy to report that every one of the people who knew, or who had met Alan Dower Blumlein, has now been interviewed on film. An updated section has been added to this website, the 'TV Programmes' page, on which you find details of the progress made so far, as well as look at some of the magnificent still images taken during filming.

Author and producer Robert Alexander
during filming in summer 2000

Simon Blumlein, Alan Blumlein's elder son, was one of those interviewed for the television programmes. He has also contributed to this site for the first time in another new page 'Simon Blumlein' Please feel free to contact Simon Blumlein to talk about his father and discuss Alan Blumlein related matters.

Simon Blumlein is Alan Blumlein's elder son.

Continually updated details of the television programme progress will be posted on this site in the coming months.

AUDIO FILES & RADIO INTERVIEWS

Technology, especially that associated with the Internet, continues to alter and improve at a staggering rate. It has been my philosophy with this website over the past three years to ensure that while I try to keep pace with this new technology, it does not pervade the main viewing area of the site to the point of confusion or distraction. That is why this website contains no flashy moving graphics and unnecessary spinning logos and the like. However, within the 350 or so pages of this website, you will find all manner of up-to-date Internet technology for you to investigate. Among the new work which has been going on behind the scenes recently are the streaming audio and video files.

Additional streaming audio files have recently been edited and completed and I am happy to announce that these have been uploaded to the website. They are now available on the streaming audio files page. The Internet works quite well with low bandwidth transfers, and with more and more people having access to DSL and other fast transfer protocol, these audio files can now easily be played in real time. If you prefer however, they can be downloaded and listened to at your leisure.

In addition, I have conducted several radio interviews in recent months and these too have been uploaded to the website as files which can be listened to or downloaded. I think you will find these of some interest, and can be found on the Riverside FM page and the War & Peace Show page.

Streaming video however, is another thing altogether, and still represents the 'high ground' for Internet sites at the present time. I have experimented over Christmas and New year 2001/2002 with a couple of streaming video files available at several different bandwidths.

This will probably lead to an inevitable traffic increase with streaming files of this nature being accessed from all over the world 24 hours a day. Much thought has gone into how to deal with the bandwidth restrictions this places on websites, and for that reason I a m happy to announce that The Official Alan Dower Blumlein Website is now hosted from our very own server and any subsequent bandwidth restrictions placed on the site are controlled entirely by me. More details will follow in due course.

BLUMLEIN 128 PATENT FILES

Though most of Alan Blumlein's 128 Patent files have already been uploaded for the use of scholars, academics and the generally interested, the process continues, albeit slowly. A new descriptions page has been added to give general details of each patent before you look at it in close-up. Hopefully these patents will help improve your knowledge of the works of Alan Blumlein. At least you can now read Alan Blumlein's patents without having to trawl through dusty Patent Archives, as I had to do, during the years of research that went into my biography. I cannot thank Karen Newton enough for the hours of typing that have already gone into making this part of the website so effective.

I have also continued the process of uploading the image files associated with the patents. However, as there are well in excess of 400 of these, it will take some time to complete. The first batch of ten patents has now been completed.

READ EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK

During December 2001, I was most grateful to hear from the family of Eric Nind, who contacted me from Canada after seeing this website. Eric had worked very closely with Alan Blumlein from Alan's earliest days with Columbia in 1929, until his death in June 1942. Eric's family had come across an unpublished diary which outlined in fantastic detail the audio engineering experimental work carried out by Columbia in association with Nipponophone in Japan in 1928/29. This is covered in Chapter Three of my book, but during my research I had very little material from which to draw information other than that held in the EMI archive at Hayes. This important new material in Eric Nind's diary has thrown new light on a previously un-catalogued period of audio development, the importance of which cannot be understated. I have begun the process of disseminating the work done by Eric Nind and his colleagues at Columbia during this period, and I shall be reporting more on my findings at a later date in a special section on this website.

Sadly, Eric Nind died in 1979, but through his great documentary work, and the careful collection of his memoirs by his family, we are now privileged to add this important archive to the Blumlein and EMI story.

The whole of Chapter Three of my book has been made available to read here on the website or it can be downloaded as a Word file. In addition, to mark the 60th anniversary of the death of Alan Blumlein on 7 June 2002, extracts from Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 of my book have been made available. These chapters deal specifically with the crash of Halifax V9977 and the subsequent investigation. I hope that this introduction to Alan Blumlein will not only encourage you to consider purchasing the book to read more, but will serve as a vital resource for scholars of Blumlein's audio achievements.

THE PUBLISHERS & THE BOOK LAUNCH

I should like to take this opportunity to thank the many thousands of people all over the world who have purchased my book in the last twenty months. It was something of a gamble for Focal Press to publish a biography as they have no track record with this genre. Yet the massive interest has justified the vision of Margaret Riley, my publisher, whose belief in this project was critical to its success.

When my book was launched at CRL - Central Research Laboratories, in August 1999, an invited audience of VIPs from Audio, Television, Broadcasting, Publishing, Archives and Scientific institutions were present. I have now made available for the first time the photographic record of that day which can be found at the book launch page.

REFERENCES & LINKS

Several new sections have been added to the 'References' page on this website, in which I have included various links to other sites and organisations of interest. I hope you find these of use to you. In this section you will also find direct links to the three main areas of work carried out by Alan Blumlein: Stereo, Television & Radar. I hope that you will find this short, but informative guide of interest, and that it will go some way towards explaining just who Alan Blumlein was, and what he achieved.

Of particular interest is a fascinating look at the television studios of Alexandra Palace in their current state of decay. While we poured millions of pounds of lottery money at The Dome, Alexandra Palace - the heritage site which has been top of the needs list for over a decade now - continues to slowly fade away. This national heritage, where the world's first regular television broadcasts took place, has been shut away from public gaze for many years. Now you have the opportunity to see for yourself the incredible dilapidation of what was once the pride of the BBC.

Alexandra Palace, taken around 1937

AWARDS & THE BOOK CHARTS

On 29th October 2004, Alan Dower Blumlein was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame, at a ceremony held at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel during the 117th Audio Engineering Soceity Convention. Author Robert Charles Alexander accepted the award on behalf of the Blumlein family who were unable to attend.

Naturally I was delighted to hear in April 2000, that my book had been nominated for the 2000 ARSC (Association for Recorded Sound Collections) Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. When one writes a book of this nature, thoughts of such honours never cross the mind. It is however, wonderful to even consider that my first book should qualify for nomination, let alone be considered for the actual award.

The hardback edition has long since completely sold out, and the softback version is now on its second edition and continues to climb up the book sales charts. At one point, this book reached No.1,265 in the AMAZON charts, which may not mean much to you, but when you consider that the chart lists over 2,700,000 books, it rather puts this achievement into perspective. The book has sold out several times now, and I am ready to complete the third impression in the coming months. Should your interest get the better of you, then why not visit one of the options listed for buying the book:

PURCHASE THE BOOK

'The Inventor of Stereo: The Life and Works of Alan Dower Blumlein', by Robert Charles Alexander, ISBN 0-240-51628-1, Publ. Focal Press, 1999.

Just click on either the 'Focal Press' logo or the 'Purchase Book' button on the left.

IN MEMORIUM

William Francis Tedham 1903-2000

Sadly, William Francis Tedham, one of Alan Blumlein's colleagues and a pioneer of early television development, died in Watford on 4 March 2000, he was 97.

William Francis Tedham University graduation 1926

Mr Tedham, who was a physicist, had worked at EMI with James Dwyer McGee to perfect a Cathode Ray Tube for television in 1932. They had succeeded in producing a working tube nearly a year in advance of that patented by Vladimir Zworykin in 1933. This tube is now part of the television exhibits at the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, Bradford. I had interviewed Mr Tedham twice in 1997, and 1998. I attended his funeral on 16 March 2000, in the company of one of his colleagues, Maurice Harker.

Eric Lawrence Casling White 1909-2001

Once again , I have to report the sad news of the death of one of Alan Blumlein's colleagues, Dr Eric Lawrence Casling White. Dr White was one of the most senior members of the team of scientists and engineers who worked with Alan Blumlein on the high definition television system before the war and later radar systems, including H2S, during the war. Dr White died in Iver, Buckinghamshire on 7 May 2001. He would have been 92 on June 6th.

Dr Eric White during filming in July 2000

I had known Eric White for just over four years and in that time had grown to like him very much. He was a difficult man to get to know at first as he rarely offered an opinion on a subject without first giving it some careful thought and consideration. However, once taken into his trust, he showed what a charming intellect and gentleman he was.

A man of many talents and achievements in his own right - Dr White had some 180 patents or more in his name and with others - all during a working life spent at EMI from 1935 until his retirement in 1977. He had been inducted into the Hall of Fame by The Royal Television Society in 1991, and more recently been honoured at their annual Sir Isaac Shoenberg Lecture, an event that I was pleased and proud to have attended at the BAFTA Theatre, London.

Dr Eric White at about the time he joined EMI in 1935

His health had taken a sharp turn for the worse following a car accident earlier in the year, and while in good health otherwise until quite recently, undoubtedly the loss of his wife last year had a great effect. Yet he took the time to re-study his own work in preparation for the filming that I did with him in July and August 2000 and, typically, he wrote a extensive account of his life's work and experiences in time for his appearance before The Royal Television Society in November 1999. The funeral was held at The Parish Church, Iver on Friday, 11 May 2001. Maurice Harker and I attended.

Frank 'Felix' Runcorn Trott 1911-2002

I was deeply saddened just after New Year, to hear of the death of Felix Trott on the night of 13 December 2002, at the nursing home in Buckinghamshire where he had been living for the last nine months. Felix had been unwell in 2002, but had made quite a recovery during the Autumn months and it looked as if his dogged will and tenacity would see him through once again. His death has come as a particular shock to me for, though I only knew him for the last five years or so, I had become very close to him, visiting him in his little cottage in Marlow on many occasions after my book was completed.

He was a true gentleman, and a gentle man. He was godly and good, and his work, which spanned nearly forty years at EMI was contributory to the development of stereo sound, 405-line television and radar. After the war he worked on colour television development and even such vital equipment as modern day cat-scanning machines used throughout the world in hospitals. His funeral was held on 21 December 2002 in Marlow. I thank you Felix for giving me the pleasure of your stories over many visits and over many years. Your information was invaluable, but your time and your company were an honour for me to share. I shall miss you very much.

Felix Trott during filming in August 2000

Maurice Geoffrey Harker 1911-2005

On Tuesday, 14 June 2005, I was enormously upset by the news from his daughter Juliet Beweley, that Maurice Harker had passed away at 2am that morning following a short illness with pneumonia. On Sunday, 1 June 2005, Maurice Harker had celebrated his 94th birthday in hospital surrounded by his family and friends. Because Maurice lived in Pinner, and I was for the most part living in Watford during my research, I saw quite a lot of him, and grew to know and like him very much.

He was a gentle, if sometimes frail, and incredibly modest man, when one considers the magnitude of the work that he carried out over a working life that spanned so many amazing inventions. Maurice had been a truly invaluable help to me during my years of research, and never failed to come up with new and extraordinary tales of a life spent working with fascinating people and projects.

Maurice Harker taken during filming in August 2000

I feel greatly honoured to have known him for the past eight years. Perhaps more than any other member of the EMI team whom I have met during my work researching this book, I shall miss him the most. He was the last surviving member of the 1930s EMI team who had worked with and known Alan Blumlein.

On Friday, 24 June 2005, I attended the funeral of Maurice held at Ruislip Crematorium, with his two daughters Daphne & Juliet, his son-in-law John, his grandchildren Nick & Rosie, and family, friends and neighbours.

MY THANKS...

Finally, I should like to give a special thank you to my good friends Andy Bailey of Jayjaybee Ltd, and Nik Crosina of The Multimedia Workshop, for their help and time designing, constructing and hosting this website. Also, all of my friends, colleagues and of course my family who continue to support me in this great quest to bring the life and works of Alan Dower Blumlein to a wider audience. I know that the work will succeed, though at times it seems to take an age to progress.

I would like you to know that I could not have achieved any of this without you, and that together we will succeed in this venture yet further.

Many Thanks

Robert Charles Alexander
rob@doramusic.com

Monthly Statistics for April 2012
1,034,886 Hits - best month ever!
Thank you!
Total Hits since July 1999 - 108,097,945

Thank you for visiting my website.