Haydn Bendall Explained

Haydn Bendall
Landscape:yes
Birth Date:13 April 1951
Birth Place:Essex, england
Genre:Pop, rock, dance, classical cross-over, jazz, orchestral, film scores
Occupation:Record producer, audio engineer, mixer
Instrument:Keyboards
Years Active:1970–present
Associated Acts:Kate Bush, Tina Turner, Pet Shop Boys, Paul McCartney, Camel, XTC, Chris Botti, Katie Melua, Gary Moore, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Marc Almond, Massive Attack, A-ha, David Gilmour

Haydn Bendall (born 13 April 1951, Essex, England) is an English record producer, audio engineer and mixer. He was Chief Engineer at Abbey Road Studios for ten years[1] and was awarded the Audio Pro Industry Excellence Award for Best Studio Engineer in 2009.[2]

Career

Bendall started out at Orange Studios, moving on to Steinway & Sons as a piano tuner.[3] He joined Ken Townsend's Abbey Road team in 1973 as a part-time assistant, taking on a full-time position a year later.[3]

Initially partnering with Tony Clarke, Bendall worked on albums by Herbie Flowers, BeBop Deluxe, Steve Harley, Alan Parsons, Cliff Richard and Camel,[4] developing a close working relationship with Sky. In the 1980-90s, he worked with Kate Bush on five albums, including Hounds of Love in 1985. Further Abbey Road work included engineering or producing for XTC, Bonnie Tyler, Tina Turner and Massive Attack. Film soundtrack work included The Long Good Friday[5] and Ryuichi Sakamoto's pieces on the Oscar and Grammy Award-winning[6] soundtrack to The Last Emperor.[7]

Leaving Abbey Road in 1991, Bendall became an independent producer/engineer.[8] As an independent, Bendall has worked with Pet Shop Boys, Everything but the Girl, Pat Metheny, Chris Botti, Leona Lewis, The Priests, Mike Batt and Katie Melua.[9] [10] In 1992, Bendall engineered[11] the Grammy Award-winning album Secret Story[12] for Pat Metheny. He also worked with Eric Woolfson on the development of three musicals: Gaudi, Gambler and Poe.[13]

He is currently based in Strongroom Studios located in Shoreditch, London.[14]

Recently Bendall mixed and engineered La Voce for Russell Watson and Noël for The Priests. Other projects include engineering and mixing the Vatican album Alma Mater featuring the voice of Pope Benedict XVI,[15] recording orchestral tracks for Andrea Bocelli and mixing tracks for Siphiwo Ntshebe.[1]

In 2012, in collaboration with Walter Afanasieff, Bendall recorded the Grammy-Award-winning album Impressions for Chris Botti.[16] Bendall also recorded Secret Symphony for Katie Melua.[17]

In 2015 Bendall engineered and mixed Duets for Van Morrison which included collaborations with Bobby Womack, Natalie Cole, George Benson, Ginger Baker, Mark Knopfler, Mick Hucknall and Roger Daltrey.[18]

2016 saw Bendall credited with the mix for Tom Ford's film Nocturnal Animals.

Selected discography

1979 Cliff Richard – Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile

1981 Camel – Nude

1982 Sky –

1982 The Alan Parsons ProjectEye in the Sky

1982 Kate Bush – The Dreaming

1982 Camel - The Single Factor

1984 Camel - Stationary Traveller

1985 Kate Bush – Hounds of Love

1985 Alan Parsons – Vulture Culture

1986 Everything But the Girl – Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

1986 Paul McCartney – Press to Play

1987 Ryuichi Sakamoto – The Last Emperor – Grammy Award

1987 Marc Almond – Mother Fist and Her Five Daughters

1989 Kate Bush – The Sensual World

1990 a-ha – East of the Sun, West of the Moon

1990 Kate Bush –

1990 Gary Moore – Still Got the Blues

1990 Pet Shop Boys – Behaviour

1991 Camel – Dust and Dreams

1992 Pat Metheny – Secret Story – Grammy Award

1999 XTC - Apple Venus Volume 1

2002 Everything But the Girl – Like the Deserts Miss the Rain

2003 Pet Shop Boys – PopArt

2004 Chris Botti – When I Fall in Love

2005 Chris Botti –

2005 Katie Melua – Piece by Piece

2007 Leona Lewis – Spirit

2008 Il Divo – The Promise

2009 Andrea Bocelli – My Christmas

2010 Russell Watson – La Voce

2012 Chris Botti - Impressions - Grammy Award

2012 Katie Melua - Secret Symphony

2013 Sarah Brightman - Dreamchaser

2015 Van Morrison - Duets[19]

2020 Andrea Bocelli - Believe

Selected singles

1981 Elton John and Kiki Dee – "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"

1981 Olivia Newton-John – "Physical"

1986 Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush – "Don't Give Up"

1986 Freddie Mercury – "Time" and "In My Defence"

1991 Tina Turner – "Simply the Best"

1991 Massive Attack – "Unfinished Sympathy"

Soundtracks

Brazil (1985) – sound engineering

The Last Emperor (1987) – co-production. The soundtrack received an Oscar for the best sound-recording and a Grammy Award for the best album.

Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) – sound engineering.

Crusoe (1988) – sound engineering.

Scandal (1989) – sound-engineering for the theme song 'Nothing Has Been Proved' with Dusty Springfield and Pet Shop Boys.

Twin Peaks (1990) – sound engineering.

Strike It Rich (1990) – sound engineering.

White Squall (1996) – sound engineering.

Victory (2009) – sound engineering.

Touchback (2011) – sound engineering.

Nocturnal Animals (2016) - mixing.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Duncanmanagement.com - Haydn Bendall . 26 September 2011 . 29 April 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110429033610/http://www.duncanmanagement.com/haydnbendall.cfm . dead .
  2. Web site: Audio Pro Award winners announced | Pro Audio industry news | Audio Pro International. 16 December 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111216190447/http://www.audioprointernational.com/news/read/audio-pro-award-winners-announced. 13 August 2020. 16 December 2011.
  3. Web site: From Steinway to Abbey Road: Haydn Bendall. Polymathperspective.com. 13 August 2020.
  4. Case Study of Producer / Engineer – Haydn Bendall by Peter H A Jackson, SAE Institute
  5. Web site: The Long Good Friday Soundtrack . Allmusic . 26 January 2012.
  6. Web site: Abbey Road history . Abbeyroad.com . 26 January 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111006164214/http://www.abbeyroad.com/visit/history-of-abbey-road/1980s/ . 6 October 2011.
  7. Web site: Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne And Cong Su - The Last Emperor. Discogs.com. 13 August 2020.
  8. Web site: Alchemea Biography . Alchemea.com . 30 November 2011 . 26 January 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111201033235/http://www.alchemea.com/index.php/audio/engineering/haydn-bendall/ . 1 December 2011.
  9. Web site: Mike Batt Twitter'da: "Mixing orchestra tracks fir Katie album with Haydn Bendall CEAR., OMMB. (Chief Engineer Abbey Road. Old mate of Mike Batt.)" . 25 January 2016 . 9 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190509082923/https://twitter.com/Mike_Batt/status/117352285390123008 . dead .
  10. Web site: Haydn Bendall. Allmusic . 26 January 2012.
  11. Web site: Secret Story production. Riotsquadpublicity.com . 26 January 2012.
  12. Web site: Secret Story by Pat Metheny @ ARTISTdirect.com - Shop, Listen, Download . 3 October 2011 . 31 January 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100131063737/http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,130777,00.html . dead .
  13. Web site: Haydn Bendall: Freelance Lecturer. 1 December 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111201033235/http://www.alchemea.com/index.php/audio/engineering/haydn-bendall/. 13 August 2020. 1 December 2011.
  14. Web site: Haydn Bendall : Strongroom Resident . Blog.strongroom.com . 26 January 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120403000558/http://blog.strongroom.com/2010/03/22/strongroom-resident-haydn-bendall-in-focus/ . 3 April 2012 . dead .
  15. Web site: Haydn Bendall . AllMusic . 26 January 2012.
  16. Web site: Chris Botti Citation. Chrisbotti.com. 23 October 2013.
  17. Web site: Katie Melua : Secret Symphony. Discogs.com. 23 October 2013.
  18. Web site: Duets: Re-Working the Catalogue - Van Morrison | Credits | AllMusic. 13 August 2020. AllMusic.
  19. Web site: Haydn Bendall Credits. . 26 January 2012.