When commissioned for a project, Barda asks what music will be played, since it is his understanding of the piece that will enable him to anticipate the decisive split second at which a good picture might be taken.
As he explained: "Music is constantly punctuated. (...)
There are narrative passages, there are peaks and troughs.
The pictures occur at the peaks, the climaxes.
Even if you don't know the music—though it helps if you do—you develop a sixth sense for these highs."

Vladimir Ashkenazy has stated that one of the secrets of Barda’s success "is his rare gift of being unnoticed, discreet and unobtrusive while doing his work."

The fact that I often spent hours with the artists and was perceived as a member of the recording team fed into my work in a number of ways (...) bolstering my sense of affinity with the musicians and their work.

— Clive Barda, Performance!
Musicians in Photographs, "An Interview with Clive Barda" by Graeme Kay
When commissioned for a project, Barda asks what music will be played, since it is his understanding of the piece that will enable him to anticipate the decisive split second at which a good picture might be taken. As he explained: "Music is constantly punctuated. (...) There are narrative passages, there are peaks and troughs. The pictures occur at the peaks, the climaxes. Even if you don't know the music—though it helps if you do—you develop a sixth sense for these highs."
Vladimir Ashkenazy has stated that one of the secrets of Barda’s success "is his rare gift of being unnoticed, discreet and unobtrusive while doing his work."
The fact that I often spent hours with the artists and was perceived as a member of the recording team fed into my work in a number of ways (...) bolstering my sense of affinity with the musicians and their work.
— Clive Barda, Performance! Musicians in Photographs, "An Interview with Clive Barda" by Graeme Kay
Clive Barda