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Solar / Battery location recording
Since it is the season, i’ll share my Christmas album here – this was recorded with batteries / solar in a lakeside Quebec cabin. I was unexpectedly stuck in Canada for 3 months in 2021 trying to sort out my wife’s K1 VISA – I put the time to use by arranging and recording this project. I sourced a pair of DPA 4011 mics and a Bryston mic pre on Reverb in Montreal, hooked it up through my Apollo and an Ego inverter.
The album:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5Avfi4qQ8FxNLT4ce2EOAA?si=T_4SADrkRbCLnGDG0Nwr9gAnd a behind the scenes video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPQaZK4F4ZA
It was really inspiring listening to the Endless Field tracks just now, shared by @jlew !! I am hoping to do more location recording like this. If anyone has solar / battery hacks I would love to know them!
Take care and it was so nice joining the Zoom last week!
Joe -
13 Replies
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Hey Joe,
I love Xmas music, so your solo guitar post got my attention, especially knowing what a gunslinger player you are. I was two songs into it when the YouTube-suggested backstory of the recording started speaking to me. I diverted thatta way, then got pulled into the rabbit/whole K1/Visa/pandemic/U-Haul/road-trip adventure and never got back to enjoying the music. Perhaps tonight, definitely before Xmas. 🎅
PT
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Ah cheers Paul! The algorithm will likely keep serving you videos – sorry about that!! You likely know more about me than most having watched those videos!! Best for the new year and cheers, Joe
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Joe! Man – even tho I forgot to reply to this until just now, I did read it when you posted and added to my holiday queue and me and my fam listened to the whole album prob 5 or 6 times over the break via Spotify on our Sonos system while decorating and cooking. What a wonderful album, sonically and shredding-ly! And loved the youtube vid too, man! Thanks so much for sharing!
Re battery & solar, for the Endless Field album we used a Goal Zero battery with an additional solar panel that hooks up to the battery with a long cord, which allowed us to hide with our equipment in a least a little bit of shade while the solar panel cooked out in the direct sunlight. @jlew still has the battery and panel as far as I know and he and @horse continue to get use out of it I think!
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Thanks so much Dana!! That’s so nice to know you listened to the album! Hope you are having a nice holiday season!! Appreciate the info RE the Goal Zero battery!! Take care and best for the new year!
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Heck yeah, man! Same to you, brother!
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Joe! I LOVE this! Just watched the video and checking out the album now. Glorious!!! That Silent Night is breaking my heart man! The sounds you captured are exactly how an acoustic guitar should sound, imo! Your playing — NEXT LEVEL!!!
I’m two weeks late to this post- but will be rocking this hard next year for the holidays!
❤❤️❤
Jesse
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Thanks so much, Jesse!!
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ps – i’ve had a lot of success w/ goal zero and actually have a smaller one that I’m using now. I can send details if you’re interested…
JLew
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Thanks Jesse, would love to know which size system you are using for location recording!
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Hey Joe!
The battery that they are selling now that most closely resembles the one we used for Endless Field stuff is the Yeti 500, I believe. And we have a solar panel that attaches to it (it folds up and can be attached to a backpack) We used it in Utah and ran an 8 channel UA interface, laptop, etc off of it without any issues. I’ve used it to power live remote concerts in off grid places too It’s pretty sweet. I think it’s about 15 lbs so if you put it at the bottom of a backpack its doable. We also used it two summers ago when recording in Alaska and powered even more stuff on that adventure (music hopefully coming soon!)
Sadly, that battery isn’t in use any more. It gave all it could haha
However, for my personal smaller remote recording sessions I’ve actually been using an even smaller goal zero battery. It’s the YETI 200x. It’s very small and lightweight but I did a recording session recently using an eight channel focusrite interface plus my laptop, etc. We only recorded for about an hour but it worked perfectly and still had some juice left, without even using solar. I really like that little battery and take it everywhere. It’s so small that it’s a good option and I’m pretty sure it was far less than $200.
If you ever make it up to New York, definitely hit me up! I have a little rowboat that I like to go out and play music on, and the little battery allows me to power a speaker and all my pedals, and I can play ambient soundscapes across the reservoir as the birds fly over. Pretty sweet! You’ve got an open invitation and a place to stay!
Best,
JLew
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Thanks for sharing @jlew ! I’ve seen a couple of IG clips of you going out on the rowboat, so cool you do that! I’d love to connect next time i’m in New York. Look forward to hearing the tracks from Alaska.
I’ve been thinking about Dana a lot this past week during the fires, sure hope they are safe. Hard to imagine what it is like there at the moment.
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💜 Thanks, @joerobinson – been a devastating time for so many here in L.A. My home thankfully was not in danger, but so many dear friends here have been really affected and/or lost their entire homes and studios. Just heartbreaking. Thanks for your care and concern, brother.
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Thanks for the update Dana, so glad you and your home are not in the fire path.
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