Artyness columnist and musician Liza Mulholland highlights an innovative recording project
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
If there’s one thing the pandemic has forced us to do over the last two years, it’s to learn new skills or enhance existing ones when it comes to technology.
Folk who would never have dreamed of appearing on a screen have taken to Zoom and Teams like ducks to water, and many have successfully grappled with complex internet platforms to enable working from home, teaching and learning remotely, performing music online with distant bandmates, and much more.
Ideas borne of Covid, and the need to find new ways of working, have been hugely inspirational and this week I’m incredibly excited to be taking part in an innovative project, Clàradh san Sgòth (Cloud Recording), dreamed up by Keith Morrison of Stornoway’s Wee Studio.
Keith invited Highland and Island folk musicians, who are keen to learn more about home recording, to apply by sending in a couple of original pieces of music and I was fortunate to be invited to participate.
Although I’ve done a fair bit of recording over the years, it’s always been in a professional studio with an engineer doing the tech side of things, but as I always enjoy learning, this presented an ideal opportunity to develop new skills that will further my work as a musician.
It involves being sent a flight case full of top-of-the-range tech goodies, laptop, high spec microphones, digital interface, software etc – everything needed to record music at home – and Keith then connects with each participant to guide us through the process of recording, mixing, and editing up to three tracks.
While I’m under no illusion that what takes years of studio experience to master will be at my fingertips, I’m hopeful of being equipped with some basics that will enable me to record songs and instrumental music.
Sadly, I must send the equipment back to the Wee Studio afterwards but, having recently invested in my own digital audio workstation and interface – not nearly as high spec as Keith’s – I’ll be ready to go!
Technology can be hugely daunting and, not being someone who enjoys reading manuals, getting one-to-one teaching and hands-on guidance like this is utterly invaluable. I take my hat off to Keith for coming up with the vision for the project and figuring out the logistics of making it work.
Keith has a wealth of experience having recorded Inverness’s own Fiona Mackenzie and Brian O h-Eadhra, Astrid, Tumbling Souls, Face The West and Peat & Diesel.
Funded by Creative Scotland, Clàradh san Sgòth exemplifies ingenious, out-of- the-box thinking that finds solutions to the challenges of geography and offers innovative opportunities to develop musicians’ creative practice.
As you read this, I’ll be up to the ears in virtual faders etc – can’t wait!
