07 Nov Can you be a musician and sail?
The answer is: Yes you can!
We record and perform music on board as the rock duo The Shrines.
A couple years before moving on board we founded the rock band The Shrines. We have always been playing music so it feels natural to bring it with us out on the seas. We actually met in a rock band called Bias (but that’s another story, so let’s not go there yet).
We have decided to do a couple of simple versions of our songs and a couple covers, while we are sailing from Denmark to the Mediterranean. We call it The Boat Sessions – check it out here:
Who are The Shrines?
The Shrines is our rock duo where we play our own original music. We have just finished our debut album, it was released by the end of May 2022. We have toured in Denmark, Germany and Latvia. Oh and one show in London, which was actually our first and we hope to continue to play shows all over the world while sailing.
We write all the music and lyrics ourselves – it’s a great way to spend a rainy day inside on La Louve. When we think that we’ve recorded all elements for a song, we send it to our very good friend and amazing producer Anders Ruby, who does all of our mixing and mastering.
For the musicians and producers out there, here is some of the nerdy stuff:
– We use Ableton Live to compose, record and mix.
– We have two Genelec 8320 studio monitors stored away safely.
– Rasmus was allowed to bring (only!) two guitars on board. A custom Søvad Telecaster and a Martin Dreadnought Junior StreetMaster. And a LOT of pedals.
– Anne’s vocal is recorded with a Shure SM7B. The acoustics on a sailboat are actually pretty good for recording vocals. Lots of wood and no opposite right angles.
– Drums are composed and recorded on an Ableton Push with different drum plugins.
Tips on making music while living onboard
- Keep it small and simple. Don't bring all of your gear and equipment on board. I currently own 10 guitars, 4 guitar amps, countless pedals and a lot of recording equipment, but most of it is kept in a studio on land. Onboard La Louve, I've limited it to 2 guitars, an Ableton Push, a quality sound card, a couple of microphones and two small Genelec studio monitors.
- Make it easy to stowe away and retrieve. I keep everything in soft but padded bags - except the guitars, they are in hard cases and live in one of the guest cabins. I can't imagine that the guests don't love that. The Ableton Push and the rest is all safely stowed away, but in cabinets in the main saloon so very easy to retrieve when creativity arrives.
- Just record - don't worry The main saloon actually has great acoustics, especially for recording vocals - and with modern day sound cards and computers it's easy to get creative and achieve great sound. I used to be a real analogue geek - but now I absolutely love the flexibility and ease of work with a digital setup.
If you would like more content about music, how to record onboard or anything in that direction let us know in the comments!
The rookie captain
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