‘BBC engineers are known for getting stuff down in a few minutes’

Huw Robinson, operations manager, Classical Music at BBC Radio has praised the skills of the BBC engineers working on the Proms series this year.

“If you look at the Proms scenario dealing with a full classical orchestra, you might sometimes get a 30 minute rehearsal,” he explained.

“It’s experience that means you’re still getting it right so that it sounds great on air. BBC engineers are known for getting stuff down in a few minutes really, because that’s the job.”

Robinson was interviewed along with senior studio manager Marvin Ware for a behind the scenes feature on the one-off Songs Of Scott Walker Late Night Prom in the latest issue of AMI.

The event at the Royal Albert Hall included performances by special guests Jarvis Cocker, John Grant, Richard Hawley and Susanne Sundfør.

He added that the Proms are not like any standard date on a tour “when a group is coming into a broadcast infrastructure,” and what they are able to achieve “in the Royal Albert Hall has taken several years to turn into a well-oiled machine”.

Read the full feature from the November issue of Audio Media International.