How Hans Zimmer and Thom Yorke Adapted an Existing Radiohead Song For BBC’s Blue Planet II

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, we may earn a small commission.

With the announcement of the BBC Blue Planet II prequel series, video producer Christophe Haubursin of Vox took a deep dive into the process by which composer Hans Zimmer, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood quite beautifully remixed an existing Radiohead song entitled “Bloom” into a gorgeously rich orchestral piece that worked perfectly with the series. Using the concept of a “tidal orchestra”, each musician only played when the person next to them wasn’t.

…it’s a musical effect created by instructing each player to play their notes only if the person next to them isn’t playing. The result is a randomly swelling and fading musical bed for the entire series that captures the feeling of ocean waves. It’s a captivating way to score a soundtrack for the ocean — but it also fits in with a long history of capturing randomness in music composition.

Here’s the full interview with Zimmer, Yorke and Greenwood at BBC Studios.

Lori Dorn

Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

Recent Posts