Library Organization

BBC Radiophonic Workshop

BBC department for electronic sound and music, founded 1958 at Maida Vale Studios.

Tape recorder, tape loop equipment, beat frequency oscillator, and an EMS VCS3 from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, 1958-98
Source
Type
Organization
Creators
Desmond Briscoe, Daphne Oram, Desmond Briscoe
Subjects
Sound Technology

Founded on 1 April 1958 in Room 13 of the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios by Desmond Briscoe and Daphne Oram, after the pair had spent 1957 producing electronic sound out-of-hours for BBC drama, the Radiophonic Workshop supplied theme music and sound effects across BBC radio and television for four decades. Oram left within a year to found her own studio; Briscoe ran the Workshop until 1983. Delia Derbyshire, who realized the Doctor Who theme there in 1963, was among its best-known composers.