Would you listen to that lying little bastard? (OH I JUST TOOK RONS MUSIC) No you fucking didnt you took Delia Derbyshires Creation and fucked it up! ron grainer only put notes to paper! any fuckhead can do that! dont mean its going to sound good.....No that was up to Delia Derbyshire!........
@RedShadow61 Ron Grainer wrote the music, Derbyshire is credited with making the recording of it for the show. So no, he's not lying, he's being entirely accurate. And, in point of fact, while anyone who learns the piano can play Mozart, very few of them can "put notes to paper" and come up with actual music worth a damn, let alone in an iconic theme that has endured for decades.
"This is a very modern synthetizer, polyphonic!" whooah...how technology changes, damn...Jan Hammer was happy as hell when he could use a polyphonic synthetizer to record Birds of Fire, as their first album was recorded on a monophonic one....amazing.
@TheSRalston Yes, technology changes, but in the wrong direction. Nothing else again was -that- innovative like the Minimoog, Multimoog, CS80, Jupiter 8 and how they were all called, or the mighty GX-1. VST´s are great and all old Synthesizers will die sooner or later, but VSTs are in my ears not "alive", they are a means to an end, for mass production. "Nothing special", an "everybody´s darling"
I disagree mate. Using loads of old school synths is great if you've got the space and money... But for foke like me who live in military issue accommodation and have to keep moving.. vts are a lifesaver. Most of my hardware synths are locked away now. so all i need is monitors, a laptop and a keyboard
@MuseFromGallifrey And no matter that fact, they had excellent results. On another area of course, Meco Monardo didn´t got permission to use the robot sounds to create his discoed version of the Star Wars theme, and the sounds had to be painstakingly recreated on one of these primitive synthetizers. These composers were creative and patient, LOL...
wow gotta love that ancient technology and the stuff they could do even then. Amazing that it took them weeks to do what could probably be done in less than one now. I love this song :)
@jasoncummings2000 I guess not that it could be a lot faster today. The CS80 is still state of the Art in Synthesizer Terms and -absoultely no- virtual instrument can beat it. Nature is analog and electronic is logic. Nature is imperfect, that´s the reason why computers never ever, if they get bionic or not, can compete against the nature. The same goes to music - "perfect" Computer generated music sucks to me, because its not the human nature. Imperfect "analog" music is always new to me.
@TheMCMXXL2 "The CS80 is still state of the Art in Synthesizer Terms" No, it is not. It is outdated technology that was excellent for its day, but modern synths can do things the CS80 can't even approach. "and -absoultely no- virtual instrument can beat it" I see you're just prejudiced against digital. Well, if you looked into MAX, Csound, Pure Data etc. then you'd see that you are wrong. In fact the CS80 can be accurately modeled right down to the component level.
@ReaktorLeak No, i´m not against Digital, i build myself digital Synthesizers in Software. But it is wrong to believe that "analog Modelling" works as it should, because there are too many factors to conside, that even pd could not catch them all. Of course there are many other Synthesizers which are "better" than the CS80, but in fact the sound is important and not its complexity and neary -all- new Synths try to be more complex soundwise seen. Why inventing the wheel a 2nd time.
@deepfield23 Couldn't agree with you more, Delia was an absolutely underrated genius. Ron Grainer on the other hand is massively overrated. All he did was write a simple melody and bassline on a single piece of paper and send it to the BBC. Delia was the one person that really made this scribbling on paper come alive in the most iconic television tune ever!
I may not be a big doctor who fan, yet. But I can tell you straight up, that the theme song, especially the 1980s version is so damn catchy. And now to see how they put that version all together is just a freaking AWESOME thing to watch. Thanks for uploading this. XD
my mum grew up with the daverson doctor and i grew up with the tennant doctor. mum found an old vcr and showed me some episodes and i really like them.
5:15 Yes, Peter Frampton, I DO feel like you do. (I was on a mission to learn about ring oscillators and talk boxes and wound up here. I guess I'm easily distra... Ooh. Shiny.)
Lol, Completely blows off the vocoder. Guy does demonstration. "Hmph, Peter, what's this over here". Guess the world wasn't ready. Now I can't stand the over-use and abuse of this effect.
Now this guy, Peter Howell, could compose music for Doctor Who, and I personally thought his reworking of the theme was sublime. A million miles apart from the toss that wannabe film composer, Murray Gold, dumps out every year for New Who.
The guy alongside Peter Howell is a chap called Tim Whitnall, who went on to great things. He was narrator for the Teletubbies series. I kid ye not.
@dezzlok Indeed! The physical machines may be obsolete, but they still sounded great. What's cool is that those and many other analog machines of the past have been recreated virtually as software now that you can tinker with on your computer at home! Ah technology! :)
@dezzlok Fear not my friend there are still people who use that old equipment and in fact i could point out that Trent Reznor, BT and Brian Eno still use these old synths today. These old synths will still remain for sometime.
@dezzlok most of that equipment would have been obsolete a few years after that piece was shot, never mind 30 years later! But things like the Yamaha CS80 keyboard are now sought-after collectors' items, although they can be difficult to keep in working order.
It's a pity he couldn't have mentioned Delia Derbyshire alongside Ron Grainers name considering the contribution she made. As for modernising the theme, one day the show will be given to a cool new producer who'll want to change the theme again - and bring back Delias original. Find it here on Youtube, it's still better than any of the remakes.
@f114163 Peter does seem to take all the credit here. What Delia did took a lot of hard work and she modernised Ron Grainers composition long before Peter Howell. It's easy to record each part with a synth, try slicing bits of tape containing white noise and strings and oscillating the signals to create melodies.
@ElectricFarmerCh Why shouldn't he take the credit for this. He's explaining how he recorded HIS version. He's not trying to pretend that he composed the original melody. You say its easy to record each part with a synth but he said it took him just over 5 weeks to record a piece of music that lasts just under 3 minutes. Obviously a lot went into it. Some people seem to think that when it comes to synths you just press a couple of buttons and it does it all for you. It's not as easy as that
@flares Im studying synthesis at the moment, I know its a tricky business, but I do think what Delia did was much more complex, and during a time when synthesizers were unknown to the commercial market. Fair enough he's not taking credit but he could have at least mentioned Delia Derbyshire as it was she who composed this interpretation. I have not heard the original but I do know it was all played with acoustic instruments and wouldn't have sounded much like Delia's version at all.
@ElectricFarmerCh Delia's version was the very first one to be realised as a recording. There was never a recording of Ron Grainer's original manuscript using acoustic instruments. Grainer did assume that he would have to take Delia's recording and overdub it with some conventional instrumentation, but after he heard it he realised that it needed nothing more adding to it. Google Mark Ayres' history of the Doctor Who theme for the full detailed story.
Hey all- check out "DALEK GIRLFRIEND" on youtube; the terrifying true story of a friend of ours who began to suspect his girl was actually a controlling, megalomaniac, nothing's-good-enough evil cyborg from Skaro. That, or she was just an average girl in any relationship.
Set to music.
Cheers and roll on Christmas Day. Matt Smith and Katherine Jenkins? Does it get any better?
Its crazy how the proceses has stayed the same but the number of instruments and how easy it is has changed. i mean all you need is a mic a compter and a up to date keyboard.
Great clip, I've always admired Peters work with the Radiophonic, he knew how to get the best out of the sexy beast Yamaha CS80 and the EMS Vocoder. The remake of the theme and incidental music for the Leisure Hive, Meglos and Kinda are all superb. Please bring back the likes of Peter Howell and Paddy Kingsland to the new Dr Who series.
They need Howell back for the New series theme, the only good one Murray Gold did was the Eccleston season version, the rest have all be orchestral mixed garbage, and don't get me started on the butchered version of the theme of Season 4...
It's even worse than the Trial of a Timelord one, and atleast that one had an excuse to be bad...
I bet Ron Grainer would be spinning in his grave if he could hear how Gold butchered his original Doctor Who theme...
The CS-80 is still "state of the Art" in Synthesizer terms. People always think that only the "recreation" counts, no matter in which way and that the sound itself has no value.
That would be the same as like when I drive a car, where the carburetor is incorrectly set and isomeone asks me about the misfiring and i answer: "but it goes?" Technology is perhaps more efficient, but definitely not become better in all that years.
Could it sound as good though? Modern musical technology can't beat the soulfulness and physicalness of old school synthesis, and just the fact it forces you to make more mistakes.... the best creations are always partly accidental and `random'.)
Listen to the new Dr Who, it's bland and characterless compared to these earlier renditions.
I think studios of the future will be all be analogue but controlled digitally for ease of use....... Some mad kind of `perfect hybrid'
I agree. Was just making the point that in used to be so many seperate pieces of hardware necessary, nowerdays you can have the same functionality in one unit.
But analogue does sound much warmer and thicker.
Well there are analogue synths nowerdays with digital control, moog little phatty being the first example that comes to mind.
I really dislike how studios are becoming heavily computer and software based. Just isn't the same as having a really nice synth or hardware fx unit...
I agree! This new version is modern and brilliant. The Other versions up until 1985 are are brill. We want to be moving forwards. Not backwards. Change has to happen lol.
This is such an amazing video. I grew up watching Tom Baker as Dr Who. I'm also a musician and seeing how everything was composed and recorded back in the day really just made my day! Thank you very much for sharing this!
Delia was most instrumental in the creation of the Dr Who theme music.
There is actually a good documentary about the Radiophonic Workshop called Alchemists of Sound.
And if anyone reading this message wants to know what else some of the BBC sound alchemists came up with I recommend White Noise ( an electric storm). I think this masterpiece has been released again on CD.
It is surprising that Peter Howell failed to mention Delia Derbyshire. She was the young lady who realised the original Dr Who theme music from the score written by Ron Grainer.
For the bass line Delia Derbyshire manually used notes recored/re-recorded onto tape and the various peices spliced together to make the score.
The original written theme music sounds all the better in her "musique concrete" masterpeice!
This horrible bedroom bontempi version of the theme DOESN'T beat the part hand created part electronic part tape created version original Delia Derbyshire produced for the 60's and 70's Dr.Who!
How the hack goes this amazing baseline on 3:43? I just can't figure it out, even when i watch it :/ I can see the notes, but sequence is still unsolved puzzle to me...
It is great to see a video that credits humble audio technicians and song writers like Peter Howell for their awesome. Very educational and inspiring. Thanks for posting.
god...every synth in that room must be a synth head's holy grail... anyone know what the one at 3:42 is?
psplayer89 4 days ago
Dr Who, Star Trek, Thunderbirds and The Goodies were my childhood fare!
portantwas 1 week ago
I'm talkin' 'bout mountains y'all!
WiriamuFirippu 1 week ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Even in the 80's those guys were nerds. No one said "WICKET", no swatch watches and day-glo tee-shirts. I long for my philips roller lol.
Kalgoorlie10 1 month ago
Even in the 80's those guys were nerds. No one said "WICKET", no swatch watches and day-glo tee-shirts. I long for my philips roller lol.
Kalgoorlie10 1 month ago
Would you listen to that lying little bastard? (OH I JUST TOOK RONS MUSIC) No you fucking didnt you took Delia Derbyshires Creation and fucked it up! ron grainer only put notes to paper! any fuckhead can do that! dont mean its going to sound good.....No that was up to Delia Derbyshire!........
RedShadow61 1 month ago
@RedShadow61 Ron Grainer wrote the music, Derbyshire is credited with making the recording of it for the show. So no, he's not lying, he's being entirely accurate. And, in point of fact, while anyone who learns the piano can play Mozart, very few of them can "put notes to paper" and come up with actual music worth a damn, let alone in an iconic theme that has endured for decades.
DuvessaRaven 3 weeks ago
Never have I seen such a contrast of human beings. One polite, coherent, intelligent and fascinating, one a useless moron.
tacticlespasm 1 month ago
does anyone know where the video showing the dr who theme being made/played can be found? i know there is one as i've seen it and it's briiiant
rea1high 2 months ago
ITS THE YAMAHA CS-80!! OMG!!
EduardoGomezP 2 months ago 2
this is a really cool video
creativeprojects720 3 months ago
I love dr who.
creativeprojects720 3 months ago
Awsome vid, but laughed when he called the phase unit old fashioned.. Think this air early 80's ?
caloss2 3 months ago 2
multi tack tape machine lol
cvrmaniac 3 months ago
very cool technique
tonijn1969 4 months ago
Very dificulty,but...AMAZING!!!!
97minas 4 months ago
Synths are such great fun. I miss mine!!
mudman1881 4 months ago
i always think of the high pitched one, the 'DOOOWEEEEOOOO'
anthodwf 4 months ago 12
"This is a very modern synthetizer, polyphonic!" whooah...how technology changes, damn...Jan Hammer was happy as hell when he could use a polyphonic synthetizer to record Birds of Fire, as their first album was recorded on a monophonic one....amazing.
TheSRalston 4 months ago
@TheSRalston Yes, technology changes, but in the wrong direction. Nothing else again was -that- innovative like the Minimoog, Multimoog, CS80, Jupiter 8 and how they were all called, or the mighty GX-1. VST´s are great and all old Synthesizers will die sooner or later, but VSTs are in my ears not "alive", they are a means to an end, for mass production. "Nothing special", an "everybody´s darling"
TheMCMXXL2 3 months ago
@TheMCMXXL2
I disagree mate. Using loads of old school synths is great if you've got the space and money... But for foke like me who live in military issue accommodation and have to keep moving.. vts are a lifesaver. Most of my hardware synths are locked away now. so all i need is monitors, a laptop and a keyboard
TheTif105 3 months ago
omfg recording music is lightyears away from where it was in the 70's.
WTF this is like caveman technology. Its awesome how they used this to create the best sci-fi theme ever made. GENIUS!!!
MuseFromGallifrey 5 months ago
@MuseFromGallifrey And no matter that fact, they had excellent results. On another area of course, Meco Monardo didn´t got permission to use the robot sounds to create his discoed version of the Star Wars theme, and the sounds had to be painstakingly recreated on one of these primitive synthetizers. These composers were creative and patient, LOL...
TheSRalston 4 months ago
One of the best sci-fi themes of all time.
daddystabz 5 months ago
Just about brought a tear to my eye :) This is my favourite theme, so it was wonderful to see Howell work his magic.
thecosmichobo 6 months ago
the box at 4:43 is bloody cool. I want 1!
benlroberts2 7 months ago
Middle Eight FTW!!!!
Xtine66a 7 months ago
I prefer the 1980's version of the "Doctor Who" theme to the original 1963 version.
altfactor 8 months ago
Fascinating
Rallynumanair 8 months ago
wow gotta love that ancient technology and the stuff they could do even then. Amazing that it took them weeks to do what could probably be done in less than one now. I love this song :)
jasoncummings2000 8 months ago
@jasoncummings2000 I guess not that it could be a lot faster today. The CS80 is still state of the Art in Synthesizer Terms and -absoultely no- virtual instrument can beat it. Nature is analog and electronic is logic. Nature is imperfect, that´s the reason why computers never ever, if they get bionic or not, can compete against the nature. The same goes to music - "perfect" Computer generated music sucks to me, because its not the human nature. Imperfect "analog" music is always new to me.
TheMCMXXL2 8 months ago
@TheMCMXXL2 "The CS80 is still state of the Art in Synthesizer Terms" No, it is not. It is outdated technology that was excellent for its day, but modern synths can do things the CS80 can't even approach. "and -absoultely no- virtual instrument can beat it" I see you're just prejudiced against digital. Well, if you looked into MAX, Csound, Pure Data etc. then you'd see that you are wrong. In fact the CS80 can be accurately modeled right down to the component level.
ReaktorLeak 5 months ago
@ReaktorLeak No, i´m not against Digital, i build myself digital Synthesizers in Software. But it is wrong to believe that "analog Modelling" works as it should, because there are too many factors to conside, that even pd could not catch them all. Of course there are many other Synthesizers which are "better" than the CS80, but in fact the sound is important and not its complexity and neary -all- new Synths try to be more complex soundwise seen. Why inventing the wheel a 2nd time.
TheMCMXXL2 5 months ago
Wooow! I love the version he played at the end..!
Can I buy it from somewhere?
exerhlp 8 months ago
dooo weeee wooo
titanicicaproduction 8 months ago
Comment removed
paindoll 8 months ago
delia didnt need a synthesizer to create it.. =/
she was the real genious behind it.. it sucks they dont mention her!
the guy is skillful, but still..
deepfield23 9 months ago 18
@deepfield23 Couldn't agree with you more, Delia was an absolutely underrated genius. Ron Grainer on the other hand is massively overrated. All he did was write a simple melody and bassline on a single piece of paper and send it to the BBC. Delia was the one person that really made this scribbling on paper come alive in the most iconic television tune ever!
RuSc68 5 months ago
I may not be a big doctor who fan, yet. But I can tell you straight up, that the theme song, especially the 1980s version is so damn catchy. And now to see how they put that version all together is just a freaking AWESOME thing to watch. Thanks for uploading this. XD
FilmmakerJ 9 months ago
There should be a Daft Punk remix of this.
onexero1 9 months ago 3
my mum grew up with the daverson doctor and i grew up with the tennant doctor. mum found an old vcr and showed me some episodes and i really like them.
I FREAKIN LOVE DOCTOR WHO!!!!!!!!
ghoulia21 10 months ago
Frist class!!!!!!!
douglas1249 10 months ago
really great stuff guys, happy to read all the comments. :-)
rouncer81 10 months ago
5:15 Yes, Peter Frampton, I DO feel like you do. (I was on a mission to learn about ring oscillators and talk boxes and wound up here. I guess I'm easily distra... Ooh. Shiny.)
yonatan703 10 months ago
every season is different but the same do u get it
isabella5209999 11 months ago
This is a beautiful video. Love!
RaVe4EvR122 11 months ago
Lol, Completely blows off the vocoder. Guy does demonstration. "Hmph, Peter, what's this over here". Guess the world wasn't ready. Now I can't stand the over-use and abuse of this effect.
phobos2k2 11 months ago
this is fantastic, this shouldn't be taken for granted!!
yew2533 11 months ago
"these two sounds here- funky 1 & 2" Love it!
supergigatron 11 months ago
Now this guy, Peter Howell, could compose music for Doctor Who, and I personally thought his reworking of the theme was sublime. A million miles apart from the toss that wannabe film composer, Murray Gold, dumps out every year for New Who.
The guy alongside Peter Howell is a chap called Tim Whitnall, who went on to great things. He was narrator for the Teletubbies series. I kid ye not.
MrFindus 11 months ago
The part where the fellow play the whole tune at the end with the synthesiser at the end was pretty darn amazing. :O
The down part is how much of that "then" modern equipment is out of date nowadays?
dezzlok 11 months ago
@dezzlok Indeed! The physical machines may be obsolete, but they still sounded great. What's cool is that those and many other analog machines of the past have been recreated virtually as software now that you can tinker with on your computer at home! Ah technology! :)
phobos2k2 11 months ago
@dezzlok Fear not my friend there are still people who use that old equipment and in fact i could point out that Trent Reznor, BT and Brian Eno still use these old synths today. These old synths will still remain for sometime.
RaVe4EvR122 11 months ago
@dezzlok most of that equipment would have been obsolete a few years after that piece was shot, never mind 30 years later! But things like the Yamaha CS80 keyboard are now sought-after collectors' items, although they can be difficult to keep in working order.
dunebasher1971 9 months ago
It's a pity he couldn't have mentioned Delia Derbyshire alongside Ron Grainers name considering the contribution she made. As for modernising the theme, one day the show will be given to a cool new producer who'll want to change the theme again - and bring back Delias original. Find it here on Youtube, it's still better than any of the remakes.
f114163 11 months ago
@f114163 Peter does seem to take all the credit here. What Delia did took a lot of hard work and she modernised Ron Grainers composition long before Peter Howell. It's easy to record each part with a synth, try slicing bits of tape containing white noise and strings and oscillating the signals to create melodies.
ElectricFarmerCh 11 months ago
@ElectricFarmerCh Why shouldn't he take the credit for this. He's explaining how he recorded HIS version. He's not trying to pretend that he composed the original melody. You say its easy to record each part with a synth but he said it took him just over 5 weeks to record a piece of music that lasts just under 3 minutes. Obviously a lot went into it. Some people seem to think that when it comes to synths you just press a couple of buttons and it does it all for you. It's not as easy as that
flares 11 months ago 2
@flares Im studying synthesis at the moment, I know its a tricky business, but I do think what Delia did was much more complex, and during a time when synthesizers were unknown to the commercial market. Fair enough he's not taking credit but he could have at least mentioned Delia Derbyshire as it was she who composed this interpretation. I have not heard the original but I do know it was all played with acoustic instruments and wouldn't have sounded much like Delia's version at all.
ElectricFarmerCh 9 months ago
@ElectricFarmerCh Delia's version was the very first one to be realised as a recording. There was never a recording of Ron Grainer's original manuscript using acoustic instruments. Grainer did assume that he would have to take Delia's recording and overdub it with some conventional instrumentation, but after he heard it he realised that it needed nothing more adding to it. Google Mark Ayres' history of the Doctor Who theme for the full detailed story.
dunebasher1971 9 months ago
@dunebasher1971 Nice, thanks.
ElectricFarmerCh 9 months ago
@Morgethein
go get a £300 microkorg. It turns a novice into a maestro and is more fun than an xbox... but then any musical instrument is!
kerrzo1971 1 year ago
i was 5 in 1976 and this tune would have me shitting myself . brilliant tactic by bbc sadists. daleks. cybermen. time travel.
kerrzo1971 1 year ago
@kerrzo1971 hee hee, me too. dont forget that scary ass master! and the cybermat!
spadehatesscrewtube 1 year ago
The theme song and how it was made is what got me into the show :-D
dsandwhich00 1 year ago
How can one not hear that theme song and get goosebumps?
kolossol1 1 year ago
this is brill
thecameron1306 1 year ago
that guy had is applesauce but tehn gain who d blame???
:) englind
hiddendragonjpn 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Hey all- check out "DALEK GIRLFRIEND" on youtube; the terrifying true story of a friend of ours who began to suspect his girl was actually a controlling, megalomaniac, nothing's-good-enough evil cyborg from Skaro. That, or she was just an average girl in any relationship.
Set to music.
Cheers and roll on Christmas Day. Matt Smith and Katherine Jenkins? Does it get any better?
TheFederalDrugs 1 year ago
Excellent! Love it!
JonBrooksComposer 1 year ago
Ahh, back in the good old days when not wearing a collared shirt was daring and slightly edgy!
SvalbardJanMayen1976 1 year ago
he looks so happy at 7:58
gohanman09 1 year ago
that guy has no emotion either that or he hates this cuz all he can really say is hm, jerk dr. who is amazing
gohanman09 1 year ago
Where do get this theme?
douglas1249 1 year ago
Thumbs up if you love the original theme song.
BBC = don't mess or get asskicking.
Ibringthetruth1 1 year ago
This is so exciting to watch HAHA!! What is this from??
MustardLung 1 year ago
7 people who voted are f-ing idiots.
Ibringthetruth1 1 year ago 2
Brilliant Video.
LeShark75 1 year ago
I would pay so much money to get these synthesizers.
AylatheRaichu 1 year ago
Aweet
otfresh 1 year ago
the new theme doesn't sound as good.
Ibringthetruth1 1 year ago
@Ibringthetruth1 all that orchstral msuic on the dr who show nodays just dont work at all.. too much.. not what dr who is about at all.
BRm2008 1 year ago
@Ibringthetruth1 i agree
gohanman09 1 year ago
The legendary CS-80 is arguably the greatest synth ever made (by humans).
cliklab 1 year ago
Its crazy how the proceses has stayed the same but the number of instruments and how easy it is has changed. i mean all you need is a mic a compter and a up to date keyboard.
kfizz 1 year ago
do eee ooo - bloody idiot :)
Shonkyboi 1 year ago
hes not humble - wonderful
TheMistermies 1 year ago
Apparently, the only reason that this theme is a different pitch to the Derbyshire original is because Peter Howell ran out of keybard keys!
DarthJedi2005remixes 1 year ago
The best synthesisers ever were built in this period and still make the best sounds right up to the present day!
katakisLives 1 year ago
it's amazing what technology did back then and it's even more amazing how technology advanced through the years. It's an epic thing it is.
legendarywerewolf206 1 year ago
Now that's how you do it :)
Satak8 1 year ago
Could someone please tell me where you original got this video from? thanks
TheImperialElite73 1 year ago
@TheImperialElite73
try google and bbc theme song. bbc website.
Ibringthetruth1 1 year ago
Brilliant
MFledermaus 1 year ago
Brilliant.
MFledermaus 1 year ago
i never knew his voice was part of the theme
jampox101 1 year ago
If only Peter Howell had 2010 technology, his title themes would be ten times better!
LaserDarkDX 1 year ago
@LaserDarkDX
if he was using today's gear it'll sound stale/flat/uninspiring....
analogue synths sound much better than preset/sample/vst based poo..
cresshead 1 year ago
@cresshead Considering that the BBC had a strict budget back then, you would be absolutly right.
Peter Howell would be limited to cheap imports with lots of presets.
If money was not a limiting factor, and he had access to modern computer technology, his themes would be so much better today.
LaserDarkDX 1 year ago
lol a more modern sound
MageAtYou 1 year ago
es geht einfach nichts über einen geilen analogen syntesizer :)
ChrisVanOz79 1 year ago
Doooo Weeee Ooooooh!
vknong 1 year ago 69
@vknong "The bum-bu-bum sound" lol
Mr234Wtf 1 year ago
@vknong :D
protestifications 1 year ago
@vknong DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABOOM!!!
dbn300100 9 months ago
I would love to have all that equipment.
filrut 1 year ago
Comment removed
CorgyX 1 year ago
@CorgyX Yep. Vangelis used one as well.
Spermwhales93 1 year ago
Shove me in front of a synthesizer, give me sheet music, give me a few hours to work it out, I could probably play this!
BannedFromThisSite 1 year ago
The old theme craps on the new one. The 2010 theme is a joke.
GitarStu 1 year ago
5:16 eeeeeee, yeah, ooooooo, eeeeeeee, yeah-ooooo i can just hear the theme coming taking off from his voice right there
Mobiusonetwenty 1 year ago
"So the entire Doctor Who theme is done using synthesizers?"
Howell: "That's right."
....years later....
Murray Gold: #&@! synthesizers!!! I wanna be like John Williams!!
Sorry, but the DW theme will always sound better fully synthesized.
sixstanger00 1 year ago
The "interviewer" isn't terribly enthusiastic is he!? Listen to his reaction to the brilliance at 5:15 : 'hm'!
clivebull1 1 year ago 3
Ahhh....Techmology
GOLEAFS1967 1 year ago
vocoder: of course made (more) famous by Peter Frampton, from "Frampton Comes Alive" on his song: "Do You Feel"
andy5421 1 year ago
@andy5421. Peter Frampton popularized the talkbox, not the vocoder.
UndergroundGrooves 1 year ago
Great clip, I've always admired Peters work with the Radiophonic, he knew how to get the best out of the sexy beast Yamaha CS80 and the EMS Vocoder. The remake of the theme and incidental music for the Leisure Hive, Meglos and Kinda are all superb. Please bring back the likes of Peter Howell and Paddy Kingsland to the new Dr Who series.
JohnnyTheWolfLupino 1 year ago 2
We never throw anything away, except a few episodes here and there.
OhNoItsGojira 1 year ago 3
Thank you for the stems.I will reload them into Reasons 4 and make a 2010 Dr. Who beat.
meadowview15block 1 year ago
couldnt help but notice how gross his fingernails are
Jasey2007 1 year ago
really really cool
shnazzmeister 1 year ago
They need Howell back for the New series theme, the only good one Murray Gold did was the Eccleston season version, the rest have all be orchestral mixed garbage, and don't get me started on the butchered version of the theme of Season 4...
It's even worse than the Trial of a Timelord one, and atleast that one had an excuse to be bad...
I bet Ron Grainer would be spinning in his grave if he could hear how Gold butchered his original Doctor Who theme...
TheGlamazonFan 2 years ago
@TheGlamazonFan
I agree with your season 4 statement!
I just LOVE The Season 1 and 2 Theme but they just keep on adding MORE and MORE Guitar Thingy's and Stuff......
BTW What does The Trial of a Timelord one sound like??
TheJulianify 2 years ago
if series 5 will be a refresh of the classic series, they NEED synths or else it's just not like classic who
linuxlove4004 2 years ago
Aw, he looks so happy at 7:58 :)
teenageatheist 2 years ago 13
Yes, I liked that a lot, too, since I've first seen this :)
HUNDOLOS 2 years ago
@teenageatheist
who wouldnt
you were composing something like that you would be having an awsome time
Arzaker 7 months ago
Listen harder!!!!!!! =p
BondBauerBourneTheDr 2 years ago
If you listen at 4:28 you can hear the main melody before he plays it....
BondBauerBourneTheDr 2 years ago
It's magnetic print-through. The louder sounds get transferred over to the parts of the tape it's reeled up against.
musicmanfelipe 2 years ago
I wondered why that happened there. Thanks = ). That quite interesting.
BondBauerBourneTheDr 2 years ago
Oh, the beauty of analog tape. I wish more artists would record with that medium these days.
fatcatbuzz 2 years ago
@BondBauerBourneTheDr He was adding the "echo effect," which gives the melody line its distinctive sound.
PCCphoenix 2 years ago
This is so much like the Fry & Laurie sketches parodying these kind of programmes. This one wasn't funny, but it was interesting :)
HUNDOLOS 2 years ago
dude thinks he's soooooooo cool
fkylw 2 years ago 2
It reminds me Mike Oldfield, Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis
aureliosjc 2 years ago
They use a real analogue sound (especially Vangelis). The ARP Odyssey (which he uses to make the "dooeeoo") is an analogue synth.
SirDJMuziek 2 years ago
Doctor Who is amazing!!! This is pretty cool!!! I prefer David Tennent though.
TheDCmatrix 2 years ago
Any fan of Doctor who has got to love this
ROEJONO 2 years ago
Anyone know what he's saying/singing at 7:15?
AlexRGravlin 2 years ago
He's using a vocoder.
toxicweirdo 2 years ago
He's doing the "eee-aaah-ooorrr" that he was talking about earlier to create the effect for the second part of the main melody.
PCCphoenix 2 years ago
makes you realise how far technology has come on.
I've got one piece of gear that could recreate this theme. mental!!
kbbrarsonist 2 years ago
The CS-80 is still "state of the Art" in Synthesizer terms. People always think that only the "recreation" counts, no matter in which way and that the sound itself has no value.
That would be the same as like when I drive a car, where the carburetor is incorrectly set and isomeone asks me about the misfiring and i answer: "but it goes?" Technology is perhaps more efficient, but definitely not become better in all that years.
TheMCMXXL 2 years ago 2
Could it sound as good though? Modern musical technology can't beat the soulfulness and physicalness of old school synthesis, and just the fact it forces you to make more mistakes.... the best creations are always partly accidental and `random'.)
Listen to the new Dr Who, it's bland and characterless compared to these earlier renditions.
I think studios of the future will be all be analogue but controlled digitally for ease of use....... Some mad kind of `perfect hybrid'
themanamp 2 years ago 3
I agree. Was just making the point that in used to be so many seperate pieces of hardware necessary, nowerdays you can have the same functionality in one unit.
But analogue does sound much warmer and thicker.
Well there are analogue synths nowerdays with digital control, moog little phatty being the first example that comes to mind.
I really dislike how studios are becoming heavily computer and software based. Just isn't the same as having a really nice synth or hardware fx unit...
kbbrarsonist 2 years ago
Bull. The season 4 theme with the Middle Eight is truly epic. I think you're just afraid of change. Older does not necessarily mean better.
AlexRGravlin 2 years ago
I agree! This new version is modern and brilliant. The Other versions up until 1985 are are brill. We want to be moving forwards. Not backwards. Change has to happen lol.
BondBauerBourneTheDr 2 years ago
I laugh at 3:57 every time I see this. Hehehehehe
mrbuster123 2 years ago 4
This is such an amazing video. I grew up watching Tom Baker as Dr Who. I'm also a musician and seeing how everything was composed and recorded back in the day really just made my day! Thank you very much for sharing this!
Spawnnin 2 years ago 3
agreed! i always wanted to know how the intro theme for this was made (the low noise)
Darkspinethezolrace 2 years ago
I agree about not mentioning Delia Derbyshire.
Delia was most instrumental in the creation of the Dr Who theme music.
There is actually a good documentary about the Radiophonic Workshop called Alchemists of Sound.
And if anyone reading this message wants to know what else some of the BBC sound alchemists came up with I recommend White Noise ( an electric storm). I think this masterpiece has been released again on CD.
matrix834 2 years ago
Not mentioning Delia Derbyshire is BS.The original score was nothing more than a ditty until Derbyshire worked her magic on it.
creationmachine 2 years ago 2
LEGEND!
sanshuz 2 years ago 3
It is surprising that Peter Howell failed to mention Delia Derbyshire. She was the young lady who realised the original Dr Who theme music from the score written by Ron Grainer.
For the bass line Delia Derbyshire manually used notes recored/re-recorded onto tape and the various peices spliced together to make the score.
The original written theme music sounds all the better in her "musique concrete" masterpeice!
nixart 2 years ago 2
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cool cool cool..
benytesdom 2 years ago
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Who is that terribly earnest but dull presenter?
PluggyPoo 2 years ago
dunno but looks like he should be in a Head & Shoulders commercial
macdaddylorenzo 2 years ago 5
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This horrible bedroom bontempi version of the theme DOESN'T beat the part hand created part electronic part tape created version original Delia Derbyshire produced for the 60's and 70's Dr.Who!
AnthonyUK 2 years ago
Can someone help me? What was that box thing that he spoke through called? Like, Vacoda or something. Thx
Danielcory 3 years ago
How the hack goes this amazing baseline on 3:43? I just can't figure it out, even when i watch it :/ I can see the notes, but sequence is still unsolved puzzle to me...
oxiigen 3 years ago
As a famous science officer would say "Fascinating". =Stefan=
chengloki 3 years ago
It is great to see a video that credits humble audio technicians and song writers like Peter Howell for their awesome. Very educational and inspiring. Thanks for posting.
DrWhosit 3 years ago 26
SUPER!! great movie!
54spiritedwill54 3 years ago
Although it isn't mentioned, he used a Roland Jupiter-4 as well.
UncleFeedle 3 years ago 3
AWESOME.
megmonsterB2lovesGIR 3 years ago
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Crap. 12 track, looks like 2 inch tape, reel to reel!
hueymeister 3 years ago
This was 1980 BBC. What did you think he'd be using?
soundzok 3 years ago 5
Well it fits the time period. But I am just realizing that it's a great machine!
hueymeister 3 years ago
wow, now that was educational. I enjoyed that very much, thanks for posting it.
codini2000 3 years ago 7
this is the best version of the theme, but nowadays, even with a (hopefully) workign cs80 and arp oddessey, you could do it all in a day :-)
im usre there's a prophet 5 in there for those brassy stabs...
with a lappy and some virtual stuff (urgh), its even quicker.
armalyte 3 years ago
What TV show was this featured in?
JMR83 3 years ago
80's bbc schools programme the music arcade. Synths used a Yamaha CS-80 and an ARP odyssey III. THe explosion was done with an old phase box.
Hoddersrevenge 3 years ago
OMG THAT FUCKING GOOD
OTUFilms 3 years ago 2
Hurr durr durr, I speak gud intelijens
Rohedin 3 years ago
Absolute gold.
Thanks so much for posting this classic.
ind347 3 years ago 3
i like this on better
lovak123 3 years ago
i love peter davison ....his my 8th favorate doctor
docbreaknik 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
'the producer thought, we want to make it brighter and more modern sounding' = 'the producer decided to ruin doctor who'
ledwatch 3 years ago