Music Studio on Board

[hummingway]

I bought a boat in part because of a drummer I worked with for a number of years cruised in the winters. We played some gigs in Mexico, the bass player was another cruiser. We also jammed with other cruisers.

I thought initially I'd put the studio on the boat but in the end decided taking up the space, risking the gear and making enough, quiet, electricity meant it didn't make sense. Some of the gear's pretty expensive, some of it heavier but ultimately the problem is making 15 amps quietly. No problem if you're tied to shore power but then you have noise problems and who wants to stay tied to the dock.

I've rented a house the last couple of years just so I could record but am moving out and with a new record am splitting my time between the sail boat on Gabriola and a small float home (tiny actually) in Victoria. I think I'll put the studio in storage for a while.

It is one of those dilemmas, do you pursue the music or go cruising and I've decided to split my time for another year between promoting my most recent recording and sailing coastal BC. If I get to the point once again where I've had enough I'll sell off the big gear and just carry a minimal setup but for now I'm keeping a foot in both worlds.

I'm currently reworking my blog but if you go there you can follow a link and here the new record.

[david7]

Originally Posted by Waterway Guide

My only regret is that I always forget to record the beach jams when they happen. I always have my laptop with Logic Pro, a good mic and compact preamp, a guitar and several small accoustic instruments handy (harmonica, melodica, tamborines, drums/percussion, and, of course, my toy piano!)

I'm still dreaming of my sailboat...but I know for recording impromptu jams the Zoom H2 works really well. It has two mics and records in stereo so you have a surprising amount of control when mixing it down.

You can hear a sample of recording with it here...

www.macjams.com/song/49990

There was an old washing machine running in the background and the Rhodes Piano was across the room. All we did to enhance it in Garageband was play with the EQ until you could hear the piano.

You might hear the ocean in the background but that's just ambience

[rhr1956]

I checked out your website. Very nice tunes.

[gkrasnov]

very usefull stuff, guys, thank you!

@drew23 - thanks for the pointer on VRM, but i have a really hard time working in headphones for longer than an hour, so can't go without proper monitoring ((( yes, of course, it's about music, not gear, but for me non-headphone monitoring and non-mouse mixing are real important parts of the process... good point too on the sound absorption, you actually made me look online for moisture/mould resistant materials for that, it appears there are some, specifically for marine applications!

@msponer. excellent points on locktight hatches and waterproof keyboard too!! I guess given everyone's feedback on salt air and electronics, i need to think about either reducing the amount of kit, or at least of finding ways of keeping as much of the kit in de-humidifiable compartments as possible, should be an interesting challenge...

@hummingway. good points re electrics/space, i thought about this too, and this actually was one of the key factors that caused me to upsize the boat... now i think i will have the space and the electrics for what i want to do. basically, the whole thing would be set up as (and combined with) a large out-facing nav area, just a bit wider than usual, aft of the companionway, in a passage to aft cabin. closing doors on both sides, to keep the sound in and the family out i'm also planning a 1400A@24V house bank, an inverter, and a small secondary DC genset that will be very quiet... So, the batteries should keep me running for at least a few hours, and they'll recharge fast and quietly too...

@david7 - thanks, will definitely check out the Zoom H2, the jam you posted came out real nicely, congrats on that!

this forum is an amazing wealth of resource! guys, thank you all so much! I'll keep you posted as this concept continues to develop!

[Wireless1]

I would LOVE to have my studio on my boat! But alas...I'm stuck in my work-flow. I'd need a boat that would fit my studio---not a studio that could fit in my boat! And then...I'd need a cabin for my instruments... heh heh... So I think I'll just stick with my little Freedom 32 for now. Besides, I couldn't single-hand a boat that fit my studio! LOL!

[marshmat]

A full studio on board might be a bit much. (Wireless1, your guitar rack alone is the size of my living room....)

But there ought to be plenty of room on a 63-footer for a keyboard, a few other instruments, and a computer console.

Sure, the acoustics may not be as good as a "real" studio on shore. But it'll be fun. You might even find a way to make it useful. And it gives you a valid excuse to deck out the boat with gadgets. (You'll need a computer anyway for communications.... and it's nice to have an array of big LCDs for reviewing charts and weather data.... and the electric piano has to come anyway.... and the ADCs and such to add studio capability really aren't that big....)

[gkrasnov]

wow, wireless 1, that's a lot of guitars!!! nice stuff too!

your workstation is actually very similar to what i have at home - the key differences being that i have a slide-out shelf with an Axiom, and an MC Pro central right under the screens. sweet setup with the far-field monitors too, and the sound absorption at mirror spots.

the dilemma you mention is exactly the way i am looking at it - i need to bring boat size up and studio size down to make it work... i've decided that boat size up means 63 ft. beyond that i won't be able to single hand it, and even with the 63 there will be a fair amount of fancy electrics going around to make that possible. studio size down means - i'm giving up all outboard except the keyboard and very basic DAW control console, and limiting myself to 3-4 guitars.

[gkrasnov]

@marshmat - you got that right about having fun filling with gadgets. the builder was originally trying to convince me that i overspecified the battery bank, inverter, and genset heavily. but now that i've shared with him more detail on the proposed studio setup, he's totally shut up on that

[Wireless1]

Originally Posted by gkrasnov

wow, wireless 1, that's a lot of guitars!!! nice stuff too!

your workstation is actually very similar to what i have at home - the key differences being that i have a slide-out shelf with an Axiom, and an MC Pro central right under the screens. sweet setup with the far-field monitors too, and the sound absorption at mirror spots.

the dilemma you mention is exactly the way i am looking at it - i need to bring boat size up and studio size down to make it work... i've decided that boat size up means 63 ft. beyond that i won't be able to single hand it, and even with the 63 there will be a fair amount of fancy electrics going around to make that possible. studio size down means - i'm giving up all outboard except the keyboard and very basic DAW control console, and limiting myself to 3-4 guitars.

If I were more honest with myself and the OP I would have actually said that I mostly use my little Freedom 32 sailboat to get AWAY from the studio work. Now, that being said, I think a small "idea" recording setup would be cool---laptop based of course---but really all I need is to record ideas for later. So for that my "idea studio" on board is nothing more than a classical guitar (no batteries!) and a small voice recorder that is always ready to pick up and hit record. The recorder is not even a good digital one! It must be at least 20 years old and runs on micro-cassettes... I am notorious for getting ideas and thinking I will remember them---and then don't. I was talking about this idea of recording on board with my "artist" daughter a few days ago and she informed me that Bjork apparently has a boat (small ship) with a recording studio on it! I could only find a reference to her cruising in somewhere Guatemala and recording on her "boat"... Some "boat" I'll bet! LOL!

[gkrasnov]

Originally Posted by Wireless1

If I were more honest with myself and the OP I would have actually said that I mostly use my little Freedom 32 sailboat to get AWAY from the studio work. Now, that being said, I think a small "idea" recording setup would be cool---laptop based of course---but really all I need is to record ideas for later. So for that my "idea studio" on board is nothing more than a classical guitar (no batteries!) and a small voice recorder that is always ready to pick up and hit record. The recorder is not even a good digital one! It must be at least 20 years old and runs on micro-cassettes... I am notorious for getting ideas and thinking I will remember them---and then don't. I was talking about this idea of recording on board with my "artist" daughter a few days ago and she informed me that Bjork apparently has a boat (small ship) with a recording studio on it! I could only find a reference to her cruising in somewhere Guatemala and recording on her "boat"... Some "boat" I'll bet! LOL!

I totally know what u mean, it wouldnt even occur to me to put anything other then an old acoustic guitar on the 21 fter i own now - i just use it to get away from it all for a couple of days... But I guess i have a different motivation on this new build then what u describe - am preparing to sell my business and cast off for a few years. And focus on the things that i love but dont have time for right now - family, cruising, music.... Suppose if i was spending all my time in the studio now, i'd have moments when i just want to get away from it too (even though its really hard for me to imagine that, you know. ))) )

Appreciate the pointer on bjork, will try to google that, maybe it will give some more ideas!

Sounds like u do studio work for a living, what kind of stuff do you do?

[gkrasnov]

Originally Posted by Wireless1

I was talking about this idea of recording on board with my "artist" daughter a few days ago and she informed me that Bjork apparently has a boat (small ship) with a recording studio on it! I could only find a reference to her cruising in somewhere Guatemala and recording on her "boat"... Some "boat" I'll bet! LOL!

http://ny.curbed.com/uploads/2007_8_bjorkboat.jpg

Its a nordhavn 62 trawler big thing thats really more of a 70 footer not 62. A couple different levels too. She bought second hand and cruised for a few years. No interior photos, but she admits that a bunch of songs were done on the boat so studio set up must be good enough to do commercial grade stuff... That sounds encouraging... )))

[edbulmer]

I have a music studio on my boat. It can be done for sure. A good laptop some good recording software, some good mikes and monitors are all you need. Finding a quiet spot is doable also.
If Barbara Striesand can make great recordings in her bedroom it can be done on a boat.

[cheers234]

Hey Man,


Well have to keep in touch and rock our faces off sometime! Id put a whole drum kit on mine but Id have to take out the galley... You sound like your putting together a proper studio, do it man do it!

[Waterway Guide]

I also have MusicStudio2 iPhone app. It's no Logic Pro or Pro Tools, but it's pretty darn awesome...even has dual keyboards for jammin'. Like GarageBand in your pants.

[surfingminniwinni]

Dennis Wilson drummer & keyboard player of the Beach Boys, had a recording on his 62ft yacht Harmony in the 70's. No pro tools back then.