''Mixing It'' was a radio programme showcasing experimental music. Its original remit was to showcase "crossover" music that blurred the established boundaries between genres. It was originally broadcast as a weekly radio programme on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

but was axed in 2007 when controller Roger Wright announced a revamped schedule. The programme has since been broadcast by experimental radio station

Resonance FM Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). The station is staffed by two permanent staff members, including Chief Executive Officer Peter Lance ...

, where it was first renamed as ''MIXINGIT''. However, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

objected as it had trademarked the title. The programme was then temporarily renamed as ''MyXINGIT''. The following week, its new permanent title was announced: ''Where's The Skill In That?'' This is a favourite catchphrase of the programme, humorously said by the presenters to be a common reaction at production meetings when one presenter plays music that doesn't go down well with the other.

History

''Mixing It'' was presented by journalist

Robert Sandall Robert Paul Sandall (9 June 1952 – 20 July 2010)
- accessed December 2010 was a British musician,

Mark Russell. It generally lasted around 75 minutes. The first programme was broadcast in 1990, when its regular running time was usually only 45 minutes. Its regular timeslot then was on Monday evenings, and since then it has been broadcast on Saturdays, Sundays, and most recently Fridays. It has been nominated twice for a

Sony Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

, winning Silver in 1992 for an edition featuring an extended interview with

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

. The show finished after 17 years on air on 9 February 2007 following Radio 3 controller Roger Wright's proposed schedule changes. A campaign by loyal listeners started in early 2007 to save the programme. The programme's return on Resonance FM was announced on a message board post by Mark Russell. The first Resonance FM edition was broadcast on 28 February 2007, lasting one hour. A series began later in March, running until mid-June. The next series was set to begin in September 2007, but was delayed due to both presenters' other professional commitments. Mark Russell and Robert Sandall were also considering setting up a website and looking into the potential of producing

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

s. On 16 April 2008, the programme returned to a regular Wednesday 9-10pm slot on Resonance FM. Robert Sandall died on 20 July 2010 following a long battle with prostate cancer.

Content and influences

The programme contains music based and concentrated on new and

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

. Most shows featured a session which was either a pre-recorded studio set or excerpts of gigs. The show sometimes went travelling and had visited

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Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

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and

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for specials. The show played a broad range of music including the type of music played by

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

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and

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as well as modern classical and

improv Improv may refer to: *Improvisation, an act of spontaneous invention **Improvisational theatre (includes improvisational comedy) **Musical improvisation Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of im ...

music. The two presenters have different musical tastes which made for a varied playlist. A variety of performers have performed or been interviewed on this show. They include: *

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...

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* The Fall * The Magnificents *

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* Zoviet*France * Wevie Stonder * An Pierle *

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* Vicki Bennett * Rechenzentrum *

A Hawk and A Hacksaw A Hawk and a Hacksaw is an American folk duo from Albuquerque, New Mexico, currently signed to L.M. Duplication. The band consists of accordionist Jeremy Barnes, who was previously the drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel and Bablicon, and violinist ...

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References

External links

Mixing It playlists
{{BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 programmes 1990 radio programme debuts 2007 radio programme endings