The BBC radiophonic workshop and the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

Sound design in 'The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy' and the BBC radio phonic workshop. As a life time fan of the 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' I have listened to the radio series many a time and every time it becomes more and more apparent to me how important the sound is to the overall success if the Series. Its writer Douglas Adams intended the series 'to sound like a rock album'. I have talked about Hitchhikers in my blog last year in terms of its sound, but I wanted to go into more detail this year and deconstruct the use of sound and research more into the work of the BBC radio phonic workshop. The one this that always sticks out for me in the series is that it sounds so unearthly. There is something about the soundscape used that makes it seem alien, especially when taken into the context of when it was first released. The kind of sound effects used would have been revolutionary when it was first released in the 70s. One example of this is how the voice of the guide is designed. Whenever the guide is narrating there is a strange electronic undertone. This lifts it from being a man reading out a book, to it being an electronic talking book. It also helps to give an alien quality. This help to put the audience in the position of Arthur the main character, like him we are being exposed to all these new alien ideas, finding it strange, exiting and slightly disconcerting. By giving the book this strange unearthly quality, making it feel more alien the listener is also plunged into a new world along with Arthur. The Sound effects also help make the world believable. The whirring of spaceships and atmospheres of distant planets needed to all be created in order to make Adam's world a real one. My favourite example of sound editing to create a believable atmosphere is when the heart of gold lands inside a giant marble cave. There is a lot of reverb put on the voices. The effects that are put over the voice recording make the atmosphere seem vast, empty and cold. It enforces the idea that the characters are lost as they are alone in this vast space. It makes them seem small which adds to the idea that they have no idea where they are and are completely lost. The whole series has this strange, electronic futuristic character. I think that this help to make the series even more believable and reinforce the theme of how behind the human race (represented by Arthur) are, he is surrounded by these strange beeps and whirrs. It also makes the absurdity of the story seem believable and completes the brilliance of Adam's script. The sound on Hitchhikers was produced by the BBC radio phonic workshop. It was founded by Daphne Oram and Desmond Briscoe in April 1958. The workshop was pioneering in its use of electronic sound. It's most famous output is probably the theme tune to Doctor Who. They often made do with what they could find and had to be creative in how they made sounds for example The tardis. "I spent a long time in planning the Tardis sound," says Brian. "I wanted a sound that seemed to be travelling in two directions at once; coming and going at the same time." The sound was actually made from the bare strings of a piano that had been dismantled. Brian scraped along some bass strings with his mum's front-door key, then set about processing the recordings, as he describes it, "with a lot of reverse feedback". (Marshall, http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr08/articles/radiophonic.htm). The Workshops co-creator Daphne Oram is a great figure head for the pioneering work of the workshop, even designing her own synthesiser. The workshop, over the years has been home to many pioneering sound designers. MARSHALL, Steve, (2008), the story of the BBC radio phonic workshop, last accessed 30/10/12 at http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr08/articles/radiophonic.htm BOTTI Nicolas, (2009), the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy for beginners, last accessed 30/10/12 at http://www.douglasadams.eu/en_h2g2_notions.php MARSHALL, Steve, (2009), Graham Wrench: the story of Daphne Oram's optical synthesiser, last accessed 30/10/12 at http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb09/articles/oramics.htm WRENCH Nigel, (2008), Lost Tapes of Dr Who composer, last accessed 30/10/12 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7512072.stm