Saturday evening saw the start of an incredibly exciting project from the team at York St John Music Production and BBC Introducing. After months of planning behind the scenes BBC Introducing in York and North Yorkshire aired the first in a series of exclusive live sessions recorded entirely by York St John Music Production students.
Firstly working alongside tutors Ben Burrows and Chris Johnson to get the initial ideas off the drawing board, students were then entirely responsible for every aspect of the organization, co-ordination and recording of these sessions. This included liaising with producers from BBC Radio York to work out every aspect of the way these sessions would be undertaken, how the sessions would run and what the content would be.
After weeks of preparation and planning the first three bands were all recorded in one day (an achievement in itself!) in the recital room within the creative center on campus in York. Logistically, this would mean all the equipment would need to be transported from the recording studios on campus to this new space and completely set up from scratch before the first band arrived. Running to a tight schedule there was little room for error, and the engineers managed this amazingly.
Those engineering the day had to anticipate the needs of each band on an individual basis. These bands ranged from a 3-piece metal outfit, 4-piece rock and 5-piece band all with unique instrumentation requiring the engineers to adapt to each recording session. This allowed them to use all the knowledge they have acquired in their 3 years of studying music production at York St John.
As well as recording, the engineers and producers had to act as artist liaison with the bands, making sure they felt comfortable and relaxed in the sessions to make sure the bands not only gave the best performance they could, but again so that the tight schedule was adhered to. This is an invaluable experience for any budding recording engineer. It highlights the versatile skillsets that are needed in these professional recording sessions to get the job done to a standard high enough for broadcast on BBC radio.
You can listen to the first of many upcoming Balcony Sessions at York St John University over at BBC Sounds now, we think it sounds amazing, and Sun King really did grace us with an amazing performance of two great original songs.
Sun King at The Balcony Sessions at York St John – Recorded on April 15th 2023: Broadcast on BBC Introducing for York and North Yorkshire 29th April 2023.
Special thanks to Delcan Vink and Jericho Keys at BBC Introducing York.
Chief recording engineer – Cameron Joseph
Engineers – Cameron Joseph, Craig Swallow, Isaac Radcliffe, John Ricketts
Post Production – Isaac Radcliffe, John Ricketts
Additional engineering and photography – Craig Swallow
