Spitfire Audio: The BBC Radiophonic Workshop

[Guy Rowland]

We're TSB. We're old. We're cynical. We've got everything.

But what we HAVEN'T got is something even older than us members - The BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The youngest member is 64, so we should be right at home.



As I'm sure most know, The Radiophonic Workshop was responsible for every odd noise coming out of the BBC from the 60s onwards, most famously The Tardis and the amazing original Dr Who theme.

While there are instruments in this library that are created from sampling the archival tapes of the Workshop, the human connection has been maintained. The found sounds and early synths that were deployed by the Workshop are realised here with new performances and patches from remaining members of the Workshop such as Dick Mills, Mark Ayres, Glynis Jones and new collaborators including Kieron Pepper (once live drummer for The Prodigy).

Preserving a unique period in the history of British electronic music (1958-1968), but offering an instrument for the future, BBC Radiophonic Workshop takes the early form of sampling pioneered by composers such as Delia Derbyshire, Desmond Briscoe, John Baker and Daphne Oram and brings it up to date with the cutting edge techniques of library creation Spitfire Audio is known for. Vintage synthesisers, treasure-trove tape archives, found objects and performances from Workshop members are now available under the hood of Spitfire Audio’s state-of-the-art Solar engine.

"It is so important to pass it on. That's the value. We are leaving behind something that will hopefully inspire future generations" - Mark Ayres.

Size 27.8gb, launch price £159 until March 17.
https://www.spitfireaudio.com/bbc-radiophonic-workshop

[Lawrence]

We're TSB. We're old. We're cynical. We've got everything.

But what we HAVEN'T got is something even older than us members - The BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The youngest member is 64, so we should be right at home.



As I'm sure most know, The Radiophonic Workshop was responsible for every odd noise coming out of the BBC from the 60s onwards, most famously The Tardis and the amazing original Dr Who theme.

While there are instruments in this library that are created from sampling the archival tapes of the Workshop, the human connection has been maintained. The found sounds and early synths that were deployed by the Workshop are realised here with new performances and patches from remaining members of the Workshop such as Dick Mills, Mark Ayres, Glynis Jones and new collaborators including Kieron Pepper (once live drummer for The Prodigy).

Preserving a unique period in the history of British electronic music (1958-1968), but offering an instrument for the future, BBC Radiophonic Workshop takes the early form of sampling pioneered by composers such as Delia Derbyshire, Desmond Briscoe, John Baker and Daphne Oram and brings it up to date with the cutting edge techniques of library creation Spitfire Audio is known for. Vintage synthesisers, treasure-trove tape archives, found objects and performances from Workshop members are now available under the hood of Spitfire Audio’s state-of-the-art Solar engine.

"It is so important to pass it on. That's the value. We are leaving behind something that will hopefully inspire future generations" - Mark Ayres.

Size 27.8gb, launch price £159 until March 17.
https://www.spitfireaudio.com/bbc-radiophonic-workshop

I actually didn’t know anything about this. Very interesting.

Unfortunately, when I dialed up the first three demos I thought ”Omnisphere, job done.”

[Geoff Grace]

I actually didn’t know anything about this. Very interesting.

Maybe it’s because Spitfire uncharacteristically released this library when most Americans were asleep, at 2:00 am on the east coast.

Perhaps they didn’t expect much enthusiasm for such a product on this side of the pond; and it’s true that the “British Invasion” of the sixties was a music one, not a television one. A little later, in the seventies, Monty Python hit big here; but Dr. Who barely gained any traction. The doctor’s 21st century reboot has had much more success in the US, at least as far as I’m aware.

That said, I’m glad there’s now a product that catalogs that point in history, especially while some of those who helped to create it are still alive. Good for Spitfire.

Best,

Geoff

[Lawrence]

I actually didn’t know anything about this. Very interesting.

Maybe it’s because Spitfire uncharacteristically released this library when most Americans were asleep, at 2:00 am on the east coast.

Perhaps they didn’t expect much enthusiasm for such a product on this side of the pond; and it’s true that the “British Invasion” of the sixties was a music one, not a television one. A little later, in the seventies, Monty Python hit big here; but Dr. Who barely gained any traction. The 21st century reboot has had much more success in the US, at least as far as I’m aware.

That said, I’m glad there’s now a product that catalogs that point in history, especially while some of those who helped to create it are still alive. Good for Spitfire.

Best,

Geoff

To what end?

Btw, I meant that I really hadn’t heard of the “Radiophonic Workshop” and haven’t ever checked into Dr Who etc.

Do you disagree that the sounds are easily recreatable with Omni or other more modern synths?

[Guy Rowland]

Do you disagree that the sounds are easily recreatable with Omni or other more modern synths?

Listening to the demos I reckon most of it can, but I think Omni could stand in for pretty much everything. In fact that Dr Who demo really does the library no favours at all because it sounds like a modern twist on the vintage sounds which could have been done using anything. What I think people want to hear is that janky piano sound put though analog tape and pitch shifted. I shared this recently in the "oddest TV themes" thread - viewtopic.php?t=6398



Perhaps this will be a bit like their unsuccessful Trevor Horn library which ended up sounding much like everything else and lacked what I consider his real sonic signature. The most appealing version of this is hundreds of samples from the 60s-80s, stuff that sounds genuinely old - I'm not sure if there's enough?

It's all very well saying that they're keeping the spirit alive, but the point really is that this spirit and the modern tech used is ubiquitous now. What is original is the old.

[Geoff Grace]

I could be wrong, but my impression is that these sounds were created between 1958 and 1968, before synthesizers became widely available. I’m not sure that I even knew what a synthesizer was when I started playing piano in 1965; they were rare oddities at the time. It took a lot of work and creativity to come up with these original sounds back then.

Most of these sound sources were created by other means than what we currently think of as synthesis today. To say that we can easily recreate many of these type of sounds is missing the point, I think. It’s kind of like disregarding early wax cylinder recordings because we can achieve a good likeness with our DAWs.

This library is a new way of archiving this historical work, and it goes a step further by making these sounds available for new forms of creation. It’s a niche product for sure, and I don’t know whether I’ll buy it; but I’m glad that Spitfire took the time to make it.

Best,

Geoff

[Guy Rowland]

You're right Geoff in the earliest days. There's a little of this in the Spitfire walkthrough in the OP. The Radiophonic Workshop had tone generators before synths. I'm not sure when they got their first true synth, I don't think they had one of the 60s modulars, but definitely had an AKS which is likely early 70s.

[Lawrence]

I guess I don’t think of sample libraries as archives of art. They’re products sampled and released for profit, and they have utility or they don’t.

I can see where someone would see them differently than I do, as labors of love. Horses for courses.

[wst3]

This is something I may pick up in the future. I do like these little snapshots of audio history, especially when I can play them.