AJH Synth Radiophonic System revives BBC Workshop spirit for Hans Zimmer

AJH Synth’s Radiophonic System lands as a rare kind of modern modular release, one that points straight back to the BBC Radiophonic Workshop instead of borrowing its aura. Specially commissioned to take pride of place in the new workshop Hans Zimmer plans to recreate at Maida Vale Studio in London, it is described by AJH as an exclusive, one-of-a-kind analogue modular synthesiser. That matters because the reference point is not a vague “vintage” vibe, but the actual workshop culture that grew up at Maida Vale Studios, home to the Radiophonic Workshop for many years before it closed in 1998.

At Superbooth 2026 in FEZ-Berlin, AJH presented the system as a comprehensive analog modular synthesizer setup, which is exactly the right frame for something meant to revive a workshop tradition. The BBC marked the Radiophonic Workshop’s 50th anniversary in 2008, and that long tail is part of why the name still carries so much weight with synth collectors. This is not a rack of costume pieces. It is a full performance environment built around patching, exploration, and the old idea that electronic sound is made by hand, not recalled from presets.

Zimmer’s own comments make the intent even clearer. When BBC Maida Vale Studios came up for sale, he said it was the home of the original Radiophonic Workshop and added that electronic musicians “would be anywhere” without it. That is the language of someone treating the workshop as infrastructure, not ornament. AJH’s project follows that same line of thinking, turning the Radiophonic idea into a living studio platform rather than a museum display.

Allan J. Hall’s early influences, Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd, Vangelis, and Kraftwerk, sit naturally beside that ambition. They point to a designer who understands electronic music as a lineage of studio craft, not just a palette of sounds. For collectors, that is the difference between a tribute and a bridge. The Radiophonic System feels like the latter, a high-end modular built to carry forward a very specific British experimental tradition, with enough substance behind it to make the historical connection feel earned.