The archive of the pioneering BBC Radiophonic Workshop is being made available for the first time for use by musical artists and producers in a move set to continue a legacy of helping invent and develop electronic music and sampling. The Workshop created legendary sounds and music for radio and TV series, such as Doctor Who, including its famous theme, Tomorrow’s World, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, giving, as the BBC noted, “the TARDIS an engine and the Daleks a voice.”
The move comes thanks to a licensing deal and collaboration between Spitfire Audio, a London-based technology company that creates virtual instrument sample libraries used for music production, and BBC Studios. The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was launched in 1958, rose to prominence at its Maida Vale Studios in London, and closed in March 1998.
Spitfire touted that under the partnership “an unprecedented package of samples” will be available from Wednesday, which will be priced at £149/€179/$199 at www.spitfireaudio.com, with an introductory price of £119/€143/$159 available until March 6.
“For 40 years, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop was the place to go for the sound of the impossible – the unruly engine behind the music and effects of Doctor Who, The Goon Show, Blake’s 7, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Living Planet and countless other productions from the BBC,” the partners said. “It was a place of other worlds and of other sounds. From scraping pianos and hitting lampshades to manipulating tape loops with milk bottles, the Workshop’s unconventional methods produced a distinctive sonic signature that continues to inspire artists.”
And they highlighted: “Its work paved the way for much of the popular music of the 21st century and has been cited as an influence by everyone from Brian Eno to Orbital to Hans Zimmer. The sample library will now be available to musicians and producers, preserving an important musical heritage for generations to come.”
BBC Radiophonic Workshop (Courtesy of BBC Studios)
The Doctor Who theme is one of its famous creations. Ron Grainer wrote it, and Delia Derbyshire, who has been called “the unsung heroine of British electronic music,” recorded and arranged its first version at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
“As a kid born in the 1960s, I realized there was a department at the BBC that was purely for making bonkers noises,” said composer, sound designer, and Radiophonic Workshop archivist Mark Ayres. “It blew my mind! I’m the youngest member of the core Radiophonic Workshop – and I’m 64! We’re not going to be around forever. It was really important to leave a creative tool, inspired by our work, for other people to use going forward. I hope we’ve made an instrument that will inspire future generations.”
The Workshop library being offered by Spitfire features sounds from original tapes, as well as new recordings and experiments by Workshop members and associates, including Mark, Kieron Pepper, Bob Earland, Dick Mills, Paddy Kingsland, Roger Limb, Glynis Jones, and Peter Howell.
“We’re not just looking back at what the members were doing way back when,” explained Harry Wilson, Spitfire Audio’s head of recording. “We’re projecting a strand of their work into the future and saying: if the Workshop was engaged with a similar process now, what would it sound like?”
Said Dominic Walker, global business director for BBC Studios: “We are thrilled to be collaborating … with Spitfire Audio in bringing the legendary sounds of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to a new generation of musicians and composers with this valuable online library.”
Check out a trailer for the new offering here.
