The BBC Radiophonic Workshop has opened its archive
The archive of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop – the avant-garde enclave inside the BBC’s sound effects department – will be made available for the first time for use by musical artists and producers, passing on one of the most singular legacies in the UK’s music history.
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The archive includes samples of sounds and music made for a vast range of BBC shows from Doctor Who to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, all of which were created by electronic music pioneers Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram, Brian Hodgson and other luminaries.
Using unconventional methods ranging from musique concrète techniques and loop manipulation to creating sounds by scraping piano wires or hitting lampshades, their work has had far-reaching influence. Paul McCartney once approached Derbyshire to remake “Yesterday“, while more recent admirers include Spacemen 3‘s Pete Kember, who worked with her shortly before her death in 2001.
In collaboration with Spitfire Audio and BBC Studios, a library of samples will be released featuring sounds from the Workshop’s archive as well as new recordings and experiments by Workshop members and associates, including Mark Ayres, Kieron Pepper, Bob Earland, Dick Mills, Paddy Kingsland, Roger Limb, Glynis Jones and Peter Howell.
Mark Ayres said: “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 Spitfire Audio BBC Radiophonic Workshop VST will be available for £149/€179/$199 from February 19, 2025 at www.spitfireaudio.com. An introductory price of £119/€143/$159 is available until March 6, 2025.
