Richard Yeoman-Clark RIP
It is with great sadness that I convey news that Richard
Yeoman-Clark passed away on September 17th following a short illness, age
75.
Richard joined BBC Radio direct from school as a Technical Operator
at Broadcasting House, moving to the Experimental Stereo Unit as the Recording
Engineer a couple of years later. There he was involved with the integration of
Stereo Operations from just test transmissions into the regular output of Radio
3 in the late 1960s. As stereo proliferated across BBC Radio he transferred to
the Music Department as a Studio Manager. There his technical expertise was in
demand for the presentation of electronic music concerts working with
contemporary composers such as Stockhausen, Berio, Boulez etc. This experience
led him to join the BBC Radiophonic Workshop where he produced the special sound
for the science fiction series Blake’s Seven, amongst other programmes. Later he
became the Technical Coordinator for the Workshop when electronic synthesizers
started taking over from Musique Concrete.
Richard left the BBC in 1978 to become the Chief Technical
Engineer at Roundhouse Recording Studios and oversaw the installation and
operation of one of the first 3M Digital Multitrack Mastering System in the UK.
Leaving Roundhouse Studios in the early 1980s he joined F.W.O.Bauch as a field
service engineer, later becoming Service Manager for their Professional
Broadcast products.
In 2002, Richard was recruited to the BFI
National Archive where his vast knowledge and experience of sound and digital
techniques transformed the audio department’s capabilities to cater for sound
restoration of the optical soundtracks of films being restored by the BFI for
both theatrical and DVD release. Perhaps most notably, Richard led the sound
restoration project for a special David Lean Centenary collection of ten of the
best known Lean films which were re-released in 2008.
Since his retirement from the BFI in 2012, Richard has been
the technical powerhouse behind the Church Stretton Arts Festival, quietly
providing a dazzling array of skills, knowledge and equipment each year to
numerous artists and audiences.
There will be a service to remember Richard at the Silvester
Horne Institute in Church Stretton on October 14th 2019 at
10:30am.
Best wishes,
Charles Fairall
BFI National Archive