Recording: The Studio On The Road

It’s getting to be about time for a musical post. We’ve been learning and practicing a particular song with an eye towards recording it to use as a joint “summer recital” piece for an online music school we’re both involved with, also as a recording we can share, as well as just to add the song to our repertoire.

This would be the most elaborate on-the-road recording we’ve done, and a first test of our latest traveling studio gear.

To get this party started, we found a rest area with a nice view just outside of Mary’s Harbour where a little noise wouldn’t disturb anyone and got to setting up and connecting the new gear. I did a few sound checks and recorded a scratch track with guitar and vocals inside “Studio 595” while Sue warmed up outside (a Green Room with a view) for the drum part.

We’d never set up the suitcase kit inside the truck before – it fit just fine with room to spare. Sue recorded the drum track, then I added bass guitar.

Next came Sue’s piano tracks, one for rhythm throughout then an additional track for a riff in the final chorus, and that was enough for day 1.

The next morning we found a trailhead parking area with a view near Red Bay where I added four acoustic guitar tracks and one more for the singing. The afternoon was devoted to mixing all these tracks into the complete song, and the audio part of our project was done!

We’d originally imagined ourselves doing a music video, videoing ourselves playing along to our song in various places along the coast with amazing views in the background. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortuitously, idk…), with a forecast for cold and rain for the coming several days – and first-hand evidence that the forecast was likely to be accurate – we decided on a slide show instead.

We settled in at the Pinware River Provincial Park on the Strait of Belle Isle, selected our favorite photos from our travels along the Labrador coast, arranged them and set them to our audio track. Much fun was had. Here’s how it came out: