Peter Howell

A defective unit was used for the "end explosion" in the 1980 Doctor Who theme, as demonstrated in this excerpt of the February 2, 1982 episode of The Music Arcade at 5:22. An ARP Odyssey MKIII was run through it to produce the sound.

Tim Whitnall: Peter, what's this over here? It looks very old-fashioned to me.

Peter Howell: Well, it is rather, but it's a very useful little box. It's a phase unit that I used for the end explosion. Let's just turn it on. [Turns on the 968, which rings twice. Switches to the ARP Odyssey.] Let's get a sound out of this... That was the old sound we had... [Plays an explosion sound on the ARP Odyssey.] Well, that's a fairly normal explode that's coming out of there. If we put it through this box, we'll see that it's got a sort of fireworks sound with it. [Plays the "end explosion" sound on the ARP Odyssey.] And although this box actually isn't working very well—in fact, it's gone wrong—I think it makes a very good noise anyway, and we never throw anything away at the Workshop.

Used for the 1980 Doctor Who theme, as is visible in this video at 1:44 and as reported by Mark Ayres here.

The bass line was created in a manner not totally removed from the original, with the sound, performed on Peter's beloved Yamaha CS80 synthesiser, assembled across two tracks of multitrack tape. This finished part was then run off onto quarter-inch tape, flipped over, and rerecorded through effects onto another reel to give each note a subtle pre-echo. The final effect was dubbed back to the multitrack.

Other instruments employed included the ARP Odyssey (used for the opening line of the melody), the EMS Vocoder (used to build the complex texture voicing the answering phrase in the main melody), and the Roland Jupiter 4 (set to auto-arpeggiate in octaves, it provided the sound for the middle eight). The chordal parts were created by layering the Jupiter 4 with the CS80.

Used for the lead synth on the 1980 Doctor Who theme, as is visible in this video at 3:33 and as reported by Mark Ayres here.

The bass line was created in a manner not totally removed from the original, with the sound, performed on Peter's beloved Yamaha CS80 synthesiser, assembled across two tracks of multitrack tape. This finished part was then run off onto quarter-inch tape, flipped over, and rerecorded through effects onto another reel to give each note a subtle pre-echo. The final effect was dubbed back to the multitrack.

Other instruments employed included the ARP Odyssey (used for the opening line of the melody), the EMS Vocoder (used to build the complex texture voicing the answering phrase in the main melody), and the Roland Jupiter 4 (set to auto-arpeggiate in octaves, it provided the sound for the middle eight). The chordal parts were created by layering the Jupiter 4 with the CS80.

Used for the 1980 Doctor Who theme, as reported by Mark Ayres.

The bass line was created in a manner not totally removed from the original, with the sound, performed on Peter's beloved Yamaha CS80 synthesiser, assembled across two tracks of multitrack tape. This finished part was then run off onto quarter-inch tape, flipped over, and rerecorded through effects onto another reel to give each note a subtle pre-echo. The final effect was dubbed back to the multitrack.

Other instruments employed included the ARP Odyssey (used for the opening line of the melody), the EMS Vocoder (used to build the complex texture voicing the answering phrase in the main melody), and the Roland Jupiter 4 (set to auto-arpeggiate in octaves, it provided the sound for the middle eight). The chordal parts were created by layering the Jupiter 4 with the CS80.

Used for the 1980 Doctor Who theme, as demonstrated in this video at 4:39.

The next phrase was done using this box here, which is the vocoder, and this gives out an electronic, but voice-like, sort of quality and I'll show you what I mean.

Peter Howell can be seen in Maida Vale studios at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop with his own setup. A list of synths in here are the Elka Synthex, Yamaha DX7, Fairlight CMI.

Peter Howell can be seen in Maida Vale studios at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop with his own setup. A list of synths in here are the Elka Synthex, Yamaha DX7, Fairlight CMI.

Peter Howell can be seen in Maida Vale studios at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop with his own setup. A list of synths in here are the Elka Synthex, Yamaha DX7, Fairlight CMI.

"Then polyphonic synths appeared. I tried the Polymoog and really didn't like it; I liked the Prophet V, but my favourite was the Yamaha CS80."

Peter Howell could been seen in his studio at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during 1985 with the gear listed.

Arp Odyssey Mark 1, Elka Synthex, Yamaha DX7.

In an interview with MusicTech, Peter Howell of the Radiophonic Workshop is noted for using the Novation Remote SL25 MK2 as part of his stage setup, alongside other gear like the Yamaha DX7 MkII and AKAI EWI wind controller.

RWS Stage Gear Peter Howell Yamaha DX7 MkII; Novation SL25 MkII controller; AKAI EWI wind controller; Roland VG-99 guitar modeller and MIDI controller; Ibanez guitar with MIDI bridge; MacBook Pro and MainStage.

RWS Stage Gear Peter Howell Yamaha DX7 MkII; Novation SL25 MkII controller; AKAI EWI wind controller; Roland VG-99 guitar modeller and MIDI controller; Ibanez guitar with MIDI bridge; MacBook Pro and MainStage.

RWS Stage Gear Peter Howell Yamaha DX7 MkII; Novation SL25 MkII controller; AKAI EWI wind controller; Roland VG-99 guitar modeller and MIDI controller; Ibanez guitar with MIDI bridge; MacBook Pro and MainStage.

In a video titled "Peter Howell in his new studio at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1989" by BL MT on YouTube, the Roland D-550 can be seen on Peter Howell's computer screen during a demonstration of his studio.

In a video titled "peter howell in his new studio at the bbc radiophonic workshop in 1989," Peter Howell can be seen using a Yamaha TX816 synthesizer, confirmed at the timestamp 0:04. The source is a YouTube video uploaded by BL MT.

In a video titled "peter howell in his new studio at the bbc radiophonic workshop in 1989," uploaded by BL MT on YouTube, the Roland S-550 Sampler can be seen and mentioned on Peter Howell's computer monitor during his time at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

In a video from 1989, Peter Howell can be seen using a Roland S-50 in his studio at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, as documented by YouTube user BL MT.

Peter Howell can be seen using the Yamaha KX76 Synthesizer in a video from 1989, captured in his studio at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. This is verified by footage from a YouTube video titled "peter howell in his new studio at the bbc radiophonic workshop in 1989," uploaded by BL MT.

In the white files via 1987 The Computer & The Sound House which showcase Peter Howell's studio, there is evidence of his use of the Yamaha DX7-IID, as shown in the image from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

So the Workshop bought one, complete with Mark Of The Unicorn's Professional Composer and Performer software, and put it into Peter Howell's studio. Peter started working with it right away, "unlike the Yamaha QX-1," says Brian, "which you almost needed brain surgery to be able to operate!" Within days he was producing music on the system, including the series Children Of The Green Knowe.

"Peter Howell in Studio B. A pair of S550 samplers, a Proteus and a pair of DAT recorders can be seen in the rack to the rear. There's an Arp Odyssey on top of the left-hand rack, which also contains a CD player, D550, TX802 and a pair of TG55s."

"Peter Howell in Studio B. A pair of S550 samplers, a Proteus and a pair of DAT recorders can be seen in the rack to the rear. There's an Arp Odyssey on top of the left-hand rack, which also contains a CD player, D550, TX802 and a pair of TG55s."

"Peter Howell in Studio B. A pair of S550 samplers, a Proteus and a pair of DAT recorders can be seen in the rack to the rear. There's an Arp Odyssey on top of the left-hand rack, which also contains a CD player, D550, TX802 and a pair of TG55s."

August 1986 New multitrack cables for C and E. Old XLR cables and Varicon conversion boxes to be used for Soundcraft 8-track and noise reduction in new Studio H. ‘Drilled out’ headphone sockets to convert to ‘Igranic’. Using 300 baud modem. TX816 and more QX1’s ordered. Peter using Yamaha DX1 keyboard and Yamaha MEP4 MIDI Processor. Hi-fi VHS machines (with timecode on one channel) to be rented. Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument (CMI) modified: removed transformers box. Phone system costing almost £4000 a year: £8000 Thorn-Ericson ‘Earl’ system considered. Mac Plus computer arrives with large screen and adaptor card: has internal Micahdrive HDD?

Studio F: Procussion and old RX5 drum machine (for cliks) on same MIDI circuit. Peter says assign RX5 to top note and set Procussion to ignore top note. Then in Vision you set metronome to top key on ‘drum machine’ channel.