• About the Companion Website


• 1.: Radio Drama and the Birth of Electronic Music


• 2.: Ideological Struggles and Pragmatic Realities


• 3.: : The Golden Age of "Special Sound"


• 4.: The Coming of the Synthesizers


• 5.: The Second Golden Age


• 6.: The Price of Success


• Endnotes


• Appendix: Transcriptions


• Bibliography


• Index

Louis Niebur is Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Special Sound traces the fascinating creation and rich legacy of the BBC's electronic music studio, particularly in the context of other studios in Europe and America. From the ashes of highbrow BBC radio drama emerged an extremely influential kind of electronic music consisting of quirky tonal jingles, signature tunes, and incidental music for such popular programs as Doctor Who.