There was some good news to celebrate for the brass band movement in the UK on the weekend as the Whit Friday episode of the 2019 Sky Arts series 'Battle of the Brass Bands' won a BAFTA Television Craft Award.

Sound

The first episode of the four part series produced by Two Four Productions from Plymouth was nominated in the Sound: Factual category in the awards which honour the technical crafts of the television industry.

The team based in Plymouth beat off the imposing challenge of three fellow nominations from the BBC Studios and Netflix to take the award which was presented during the 'virtual' on-line ceremony.

'Battle of the Bands' was certainly in good company on the night, with other winners such as the acclaimed Sky Atlantic series 'Chernobyl', 'Peaky Blinders' and 'His Dark Materials'.

'Battle of the Bands' was certainly in good company on the night, with other winners such as the acclaimed Sky Atlantic series 'Chernobyl', 'Peaky Blinders' and 'His Dark Materials'4BR

Acclaim

The series received widespread acclaim for the way in which it provided an entertaining and informative insight into the brass band movement.

The series, which also featured the British Open, Albert Hall National Championships and Brass in Concert concentrated its narrative on the pursuit of musical excellence and competitive drive of both individuals and bands, rather than simply giving a lazy stereotype of brass banding a peculiar niche British musical hobby.

Thrilled

Speaking exclusively to 4BR, Series Director Neil Edwards said: "The entire team is utterly thrilled that BAFTA has recognised the sound work on Battle of the Brass Bands.

We all absolutely adored making the series and immersing ourselves in the wonderful music and are so grateful that Sky Arts wanted to celebrate this great British tradition."

He added: "We share this honour with all the brilliant musicians, bands and contests featured in the show. Our job was simply to try to capture and present the sound of those players as best we could, and we are delighted that the BAFTA judges must have been just as knocked out by the aural majesty of brass band music as we were."

Privilege

Meanwhile, Jeremy Lock, Head of Audio at Twofour added: "It was an absolute privilege to be involved and an honour to now be recognised in this way. I think I speak for the entire team when
I say that our work was very much inspired by the dedication and talent shown by the brass banding community.

The fact that Sky Arts provided this platform and allowed the music to shine through resulted in a true feast for the eyes and ears! This really is a BAFTA award shared by everyone involved."

Watch

To watch how Battle of the Bands, including how the sound engineering was created, 4BR was invited down to Plymouth in 2019 to see how it was all put together...

https://www.4barsrest.com/news/38289/the-making-of-battle-of-the-brass-bands