The Archers – Page 8 – What Was Pebble Mill?

The Archers Spot Effects – Kathryn Shuttleworth

Studio 3 Spot Effects

One of the most famous effects to do! This all gets very messy but whenever there is a calf being born in Ambridge we reach for the yoghurt, a wet towel and some old tape (we may not record on it these days but it is still of use!). Squelching noises from the yoghurt and the “plop” of a wet towel onto the tape is all it takes to create this masterpiece of an effect! This technique is still used in studio to this day – some things never change!

Kathryn Shuttleworth

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Peter Poole: ‘I remember recording the Archers in M3 before it all went digital. And the omnibus edit.’

Andy Foley: ‘How we suffer for our art – I once had to violently rip apart a chicken carcass in Studio 3 for someone being garrotted! Not in the Archers I hasten to add! A drama with Timothy West.’

Recording The Archers FX on a Mellotron

Gordon Astley worked on ‘The Archers’ in the 1960s, at the BBC studio in Broad Street, Birmingham, and remembers using one of the first Mellotrons to play in the sound effects. Apparently John Lennon had the other Mellotron which was used on ‘Strawberry Fields’.

The Mellotron looked like an electronic keyboard – it was an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard, which was developed and made in Birmingham. It was the first sample playback keyboard for music. Each key allowed the playing in of pre-recorded sounds. The Mellotron had a major impact on the rock music of the 1970s.

Gordon Astley went on to present on the final series of Tiswas in 1982, and on various local radio stations, including Radio WM.

Peter Poole remembers that the Mellotron was in the Dubbing Theatre at Pebble Mill in 1976. By then it was very unreliable and little used.

Martin from Streetly Electronics, who knows about Mellotrons has added the following information: ‘The mellotron used by the BBC was one of approx. 60 SFX versions of the instrument that were loaded with 1260 sound effects from the BBC library. Hissy owls and scratchy gunfire were the trademarks but in the mid 60s it was a miracle machine for dubbing to radio and tv productions including live broadcasts. John Lennon’s instrument can be seen on our website – mellotronics.com.’

Archers for Comic Relief – Kathryn Shuttleworth

Photo from Kathryn Shuttleworth, no reproduction without permission.

The Archers for Comic Relief (The Mailbox)

Of all the people I worked with this brief encounter with Victoria Wood has to go down as one of my favourites. She had written some special episodes of ‘The Archers’ for Comic Relief and came along for the recording. She was very hands on in studio helping with the effects. This was also the only time I have ever asked someone I have worked with for their autograph – well she is my all time comedy hero!

Kathryn Shuttleworth

Recording Sound Effects for the Archers

Photo from Gill Powell, no reproduction without permission.

The photo shows sound recordists Lee Harrigan and Rob Taylerson, in the Pebble Mill car park making a recording of Carl Dolan’s car engine for when Eddie Grundy went stock car racing in ‘The Archers’.

Gordon Astley adds the following comment on the Facebook Page: ‘recording Archers FX was my first job when I joined Broad Street in’69. I believe we played them in on one of the 1st Mellotrons. John Lennon had the first. Do I remember correctly? I have dined out on it ever since .’

Archers – Ruth & David’s Wedding Invitation – Stephen Martin

This invitation was given to Stephen Martin, who was then working creating sound effects on the Radio 4 drama series, ‘The Archers’. It dates from December 1988.

Thanks to Stephen Martin for making the invitation available.