It might have been closed for almost 30 years, but the legend of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop – the corporation’s experimental sound effects and music unit – has only grown in that time, with names such as Daphne Oram and Delia Derbyshire becoming part of electronic music production folklore.
The BBC seems keen to keep the legacy of the Workshop alive, too, regularly posting bits of footage captured at its former base at Maida Vale Studios to remind us of what went on there.
The latest new-old clip dates from 1983, when the Radiophonic Workshop was celebrating its 25th anniversary. “Here they compose collywobbles and cacophonies to order,” we’re informed. “Countless sounds from jangle to jingle. Noises to tickle, to entertain, and even terrify.”
Article continues belowAfter some chat about the history of recorded sound, and how the arrival of magnetic tape revolutionised our ability to edit it, BBC Radiophonic Workshop Director Desmond Briscoe discusses some of the ‘funnier’ sounds they’ve been asked to create down the years.
“A chorus of glowworms,” he says, and “an Easter Egg factory run by rabbits”. He also mentions “all sorts of monsters, chomping their prey,” and “a halo of bees, for a religious program.”
We then get to see some of the latest technology in action, including a Fairlight CMI, which musician Roger Limb (as opposed to Linn) – a man who’s composed “scores of scores” – uses to play back some cuckoo samples.
“Where is it leading us? I have no idea where it’s leading us,” he says, with a refreshing degree of honesty.
Then things take a decidedly dark turn, as Desmond Briscoe returns to tell us about a new radio show that the Workshop is creating to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
“Out intention is, having used electronic sound, orchestral sound, choral music, that at the end of the program, the listener will find himself alone, in hell.”
This is said without even the merest hint of a smile, making it all rather chilling.
To give a little more context, we believe that the program Briscoe is referring to is Peter Howell’s Inferno Revisited, a modern interpretation of Dante’s poem that takes the listener on a journey through a contemporary version of Hell. Maybe now would be a good time for another update.
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