Beckview Studios in NE Volume: Making records on the Yorkshire Coast
NE Volume has devoted two pages to Beckview Studios, with editor Lee Allcock asking us about the inspiration behind creating our residential recording studio in Scarborough, UK. His questions took us from the decision to build on the Yorkshire Coast to the arrival of our second analogue tape machine, and importantly about our work artists through our services as well as our well received and thriving Beckview Presents, The Lounge, and North Sea Soundcheck live recording series'.
Founded by editor Lee Allcock, NE Volume covers music and culture across the North East, both online and in a free monthly print magazine distributed throughout the region. Its pages give space to artists, promoters and the businesses behind the music.
For our co-founder and chief engineer, Chris Jones, who’s originally from South Shields, it was especially welcome to see Beckview featured in a magazine covering his home region. We already welcome musicians across the North East to our North Yorkshire studio, and we hope the interview gives more bands and solo artists a feel for what it’s like to make a record here, and why they should consider the short drive down the coast to do so.
A residential recording studio on the Yorkshire Coast
We built Beckview as a residential recording studio where artists from across the UK and overseas could stay on site and spend time making a record with our team. We also wanted musicians in Scarborough and the wider region to have professional recording facilities and experienced engineers and producers within easy reach.
Those two ambitions have shaped the studio. Artists have travelled here from Northumberland, Manchester, Norfolk, Brighton and Devon, and from as far afield as Germany and Australia. For a band coming to make an album, the accommodation means everyone can stay together for the sessions, with the coast and the North York Moors close by when they want a break. For a songwriter who lives locally, having that expertise nearby makes it easier to develop a project over time, without the cost of travelling to a major city each time they record.
When Lee asked what inspired us to build Beckview, we talked about how we wanted artists to feel from the moment they walked through the door. A warm welcome comes first. The wood panelling, the colours we chose and the lighting in the live room all help people feel at home. We wanted it to be a space where musicians feel comfortable enough to try an idea, and where there’s something to hand when inspiration strikes. Our instruments are there to be played, whether someone wants to try a different guitar or hear what our Hammond and selection of organs could bring to a song.
Artists should be able to take good equipment and experienced engineers for granted when they book a professional studio. Our job is to capture a great performance, and the room plays a part in that. Clear sightlines between the live room and the control room mean the musicians and engineer can catch each other’s eye during a take. A guitarist can stay with the band while their amp is mic’d up separately, so the players can respond to one another and we can control and isolate the sound reaching the other microphones.
We gave just as much thought to where people spend their time between takes. There are comfortable breakout spaces, a fully equipped kitchen, a garden for a breath of fresh air and a clean WC. When you’re spending long days making a record, it matters that someone has thought about your whole day, including the parts when the tape isn’t rolling.
Why we still record to tape
Lee asked what we hear in analogue tape that keeps us working with it. For us, the attraction begins with the way it responds to a voice or an instrument. There’s a warmth and depth to the sound that we particularly enjoy on the indie, jazz, rock, folk, country and singer-songwriter records we work on.
It also suits our approach to making records. We spend time with the artist on the arrangement and the sound of the instruments before committing a performance to tape. When musicians play together, the way they listen and respond to one another becomes part of the recording. Those details are what we mean when we talk about authenticity. We want someone who knows the artist’s music to recognise their playing and their voice in the finished record.
Our two MCI JH-24 two-inch, 24-track tape machines sit alongside our digital production tools. Lee picked up on the recent addition of the second machine and asked what it meant for artists. The answer is reliability. We use tape in everyday sessions, and vintage machines need specialist care. We sourced the second MCI from Mara Machines in the USA, whose ongoing support was an important part of that decision. If one machine needs attention, we can keep the session moving on the other.
From the recording session to the release
Recording, production, mixing, and mastering are the core of our work, whether an artist brings us one song, an EP or an album. Sometimes the most useful contribution our team can make comes early in the process. It might be helping a songwriter work through an arrangement or introducing them to a session musician whose playing would suit the track. Those introductions also create paid work for musicians we’ve come to know through the studio.
Recording and filming live performances has become a mainstay of our work at Beckview. With experienced recording engineers and videographers on the same in-house team, we can plan the sound and filming together around the way each artist performs.
Beckview Presents is one example. The musicians play their set in one continuous take while our engineers record to analogue tape and our video team films the performance. Artists have come to value how much they can take away from that session: a live EP ready for release, a full performance video to share with their audience, promotors, and venues, and shorter promotional clips to introduce individual songs to new listeners.
The Lounge, our live recording series with a studio audience, grew out of our own backgrounds in live sound and performance. We wanted to give artists the chance to play an intimate set inside a working recording studio and invite listeners into the live room to be part of the recording. Our team films, records, and livestreams each session, so people further afield can watch as it happens.
Sessions regularly sell out. For the audience, the appeal is being close enough to see the musicians catch one another’s eye during a song. For the artists, it’s the chance to capture a performance with listeners right there in the room.
Lee also asked about North Sea Soundcheck, the monthly music show we make in collaboration with Yorkshire Coast Gigs. We took our cue from the iconic music programmes of the 1990s, mixing live studio performances with conversations with artists, promoters, and others working in the music industry. There’s a regional gig guide, too, and a smattering of fun and games along the way.
The idea is that you can discover a band in the live room, hear the stories behind their songs and find out where to catch them next. You can watch North Sea Soundcheck on the Beckview Studios YouTube channel or listen weekly on Sine FM.
NE Volume Article Online Beckview Studios 
NE Volume Article Page 2, Beckview Studios
Our two-page feature in NE Volume
Our thanks to Lee Allcock for such a lovely feature and for giving an independent studio on the Yorkshire Coast a double page spread in NE Volume. Read the full interview with Beckview Studios in NE Volume online.
If you’ve come across Beckview through the magazine and you’re thinking about your next record, we’d love to hear what you have in mind. Whether you’re looking for a residential stay, want help producing a single or a professionally filmed live session, you can explore recording and production at Beckview Studios.
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