Tag Archives: acoustic

Best of the #BCBsessions – Eclectic Mainline 23rd April 2014

During my 10 years presenting Eclectic Mainline on BCB I had the pleasure of recording live (largely) acoustic sessions with some wonderful artists.  As I am giving up the programme, I wanted to re-broadcast some of my favourite session tracks before leaving.

BCB sessions

So, this week I played some (but by no means all) of my favourite session tracks. You can hear the full programme (plus a bonus track taking the show past the hour mark) on my Mixcloud page:

My method of recording a live session evolved over time until I ended up with a process that got the best out of the available resources.  The microphones at BCB are only really suited for speech broadcasting, and the studios are not equipped for multitrack recording. But I managed to work round these restrictions.  The microphones issue was easy to overcome, as I would borrow some from Wilful Missing.

I was restriced to recording in stereo, but I would hard pan the inputs, recording the lead vocal in the left channel, and all other instruments in the right channel.  This effectively created a 2-track recording that I could later mix to ensure a good level on the lead vocal.  But I needed to get a good live mix of all the instruments, and this wasn’t always easy because I was in the same room as the musicians.  I couldn’t monitor what was being recorded without also hearing the ambient noise of the musicians in the room. Continue reading →

What’s on the radioooo?

Happy New Year folks!

Hope you’re having a good one…

It’s been great going through the archives and finding some of my favourite songs from 2010. Here’s the lineup from Wednesday’s show:

Wednesday 29th Dec 2010
Jonny – Candyfloss
Fujiya & Miyagi – Ventriloquizzing
Duke & the King – If you ever get famous (acoustic session recorded at BCB)
Flying Lotus – And the world laughs with you…feat. Thom Yorke
Walls – Cylopean remains
Flying Lotus – Do the astral plane (couldn’t just pick one song from the album!)
Sparrow & the Workshop – Devil song (acoustic session recorded at BCB)
Heads We Dance – Computer love (featured Leeds band in 2010)
The Kiara Elles – Odio
The Hush Now – On holiday
Mogwai – Mexican Grand Prix
Twin Shadow – Yellow balloon
The Horn The Hunt – Raptor (keep your eyes and ears on this duo from Leeds!)
The Superimposers – Christmas again

More of our favourites on next Wednesday’s show from 9pm.

Lx

The Birdman Rallies’ sesh!

Hi folks,

We’ve got The Birdman Rallies in session! Sounds great so really hope you can tune in. Here’s what’s on the playlist for Wed 10th March…

Disco Machine Gun – Under the blow torch
Dum Dum Girls – Jail La La
Stars and Sons – If it’s good for me
The Birdman Rallies (BCB Session) – Interview
The Birdman Rallies (BCB Session) – Lightening
Daedelus – Order of the golden dawn
Rex – My baby left me
Pifco – UK Adults
The Birdman Rallies (BCB Session) – You and I
Pavement – Cut your hair
Maika Makovski – Friends
XX – VCR
Fionn Regan – Catacombs
Au revoir simone – Another Likely Story
The Birdman Rallies (BCB Session) – Darkness

Sessions to come over the next month or so from Fionn Regan, Tim and Sam’s Tim and The Sam Band, Peter Von Poehl & The Wick Effect.

If you want to get on t’wireless for a session or to plug a gig then leave me a message or email: laura.rawlings@bcbradio.co.uk

Introducing The BCB Sessions

Hello, hello,

Laura from The BCB Sessions here…

All giddy and excited because this is my first post – am probably blogging on the wrong bit of the page but sure you’ll forgive me. 

Just in case you’ve not sampled the delights of The BCB Sessions let me tell you what it’s all about. Every Wednesday night at 9pm, I serve up an exclusive session from a band or artist based in or playing in West Yorks, plus a choice selection of new and alternative releases. We’ve had over 100 sessions – so too many to mention here but recent guests include King Creosote, Freyed Knot, Red Wire, My Latest Novel, Stricken City, The Lodger, vAndal supreMe, The Little Black Hearts, Ann Drury, justDEFY….

Our autumn sessions are shaping up rather nicely too with sessions on the way from Disco Machine Gun (next week Wed 2nd Sept), Willard Grant Conspiracy, Meet Me In Vegas, Brigada Mercy & others I can’t reveal quite yet - check out the blog in a few weeks.

So come and tune your ear into 106.6fm on Wednesday nights. If you’re outside of Bradford (or on the wrong side of a big hill) then listen in over the net. Might play you a request….