Building a Library - General Discussion

[oddoneout]

The fact that it is possible to have the morning schedules running much the same as usual, from the listener's point of view, does make me wonder why the difficulty with BAL. Having the two person format ditched in favour of the original single reviewer would enable new BALs to be produced much more easily, and would please many - might bring back some listeners, now there's a thought!. They must have had people lined up to do the reviews ahead of transmission date and, as noted in posts above, getting hold of the excerpts shouldn't be an obstacle. In fact I would have thought that the record companies would be happy to help since the resultant online traffic is in their business interest, whether for physical or virtual material?
I used to listen out of general interest, rather than with the intention of buying, but the 'twofer' stopped that - too much(often unnecessary) talk and not enough examples.

[LHC]

Indeed - but it just seems very recent. Also, is it not actually possible to do a BAL even in these strained circumstances? I've heard that the BBC SO has been putting together a performance of a piece using iPhones or similar - not sure when it'll be released. That must surely be a larger exercise than doing a BAL - even though that's quite a lot of work. Some small choirs have certainly managed to put recorded performances together, for example as noted in the Gramophone Gala a few nights ago.

Ingenious solutions and determination!

The Royal Opera House managed to produce a 360 degree socially distanced video of its orchestra and chorus, so a recording of a single person review of a piece of music really shouldn't be too hard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwOpNf8eHeY

[Dave2002]

The Royal Opera House managed to produce a 360 degree socially distanced video of its orchestra and chorus, so a recording of a single person review of a piece of music really shouldn't be too hard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwOpNf8eHeY

There are some good virtual choirs in this link too - https://blog.chorusconnection.com/vi...choirs-in-2020 - some very good - though very likely professional or top amateurs, but they will still have had to cope with the technology and someone would have had to put the end results together.

Here is a tutorial (good, IMO) about how to do it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gtazh8EoSA&t=2157s

[mathias broucek]

I don’t generally subscribe to the ‘private sector is always better” cliche. But if the Beeb needed to generate income it would find a way...

[DracoM]

As so MANY of us have said, BAL could easily be pre-recorded by a SOLO reviewer with later cueing in of takes from discs by studio engineers.
All the time b....y AMcG is part of the bloomin' and disastrous twofer format, it can't...............

I mean.................blimey............

Does no-one on RR know how to add 2+2?

[oddoneout]

As so MANY of us have said, BAL could easily be pre-recorded by a SOLO reviewer with later cueing in of takes from discs by studio engineers.
All the time b....y AMcG is part of the bloomin' and disastrous twofer format, it can't...............

I mean.................blimey............

Does no-one on RR know how to add 2+2?

I thought we were suggesting 2-1?

[Dave2002]

As so MANY of us have said, BAL could easily be pre-recorded by a SOLO reviewer with later cueing in of takes from discs by studio engineers.
All the time b....y AMcG is part of the bloomin' and disastrous twofer format, it can't...............

I mean.................blimey............

Does no-one on RR know how to add 2+2?

Not all musicians or music experts will necessarily be good at, or experts at sound or editing, but given that many of them are indeed very versatile and able, I would expect that many who might be asked to do a RR would be more than capable of learning how to do what is required to send to the programme studio engineers if they had the appropriate kit and material. It's not necessary for them to do it "live" while the programme is being broadcast, and even allowing for delays due to work flow etc., I would expect that since social distancing and lockdown or partial lockdown arrangements might be in place for some time, that many musicians might find it worth their while to learn how to do this kind of thing - if indeed individuals don't already know this stuff.

Most of us are having to learn new technology tricks - even if we knew quite a few before. Should be possible for many of the RR people.

[DracoM]

But BAL / RR has a whole raft of very experienced scholars / music critics etc on its books who have done countless reviews. They record at home or solo in a studio and the engineers insert clips designated.

I just do NOT see the prob?

[Dave2002]

But BAL / RR has a whole raft of very experienced scholars / music critics etc on its books who have done countless reviews. They record at home or solo in a studio and the engineers insert clips designated.

I just do NOT see the prob?

If that's how most of the regulars do it - and I'm just accepting your view on this - then there shouldn't be a problem at all.

For the "rest of us" some of us have knowledge of audio, and software etc., and specific problems with kit, but there are other experts in different fields who may not have the level of experience with audio etc. That would just reflect that the main thrust of their work and expertise is in other areas, and would not indicate a lack of general competence.

For the particular group of people who have the knowledge and skills to do RR, then I think your perception is very much the right one.

[DracoM]

For me, the prob looks like AMcG wishing to be part of everything. He sees it as 'his' show.

[hmvman]

Or is it a cost-cutting exercise?

I hear there's a possibility that BBC4 is going to be axed in order to save money and fund more yoof-oriented channels like BBC3.

[LMcD]

There's a thread entitled 'BBC4 to be cut by end of year' where this has been discussed. It includes a link to a petition you might wish to sign.

[hmvman]

There's a thread entitled 'BBC4 to be cut by end of year' where this has been discussed. It includes a link to a petition you might wish to sign.

Thanks, LMcD, a friend sent me a link to the petition and I've signed it.

[Sir Velo]

Didn’t we have the Gran Partita BAL not very long ago? I bought several CDs after that one.

Where've you been lately? On the moon?

[Dave2002]

Where've you been lately? On the moon?

The repeat issue was "explained" as far back as msg 4.