March 15, 2007
On creation of a recording studion in an airstream trailer
This is my response to someone who has emailed me asking me for suggestions about creating a mobile recording studio housed in an airstream, like the StoryCorps project. I almost ought to write a paper on this…. (http://www.roadsideconversations.org)
Dear Juliette,
How exciting for you - it sounds like a most wonderful project. The biggest thing I can remember (and is still a problem) is that we spent a lot of money on a carpenter who made the most beautiful wordworking for inside the airstream - and built cabinets to hold computers - and the computers either almost didn’t fit, or fit “perfectly” which meant that if you wanted to pull something out or re-plug something back in, it was almost impossible. We would have to tear the cabinets out or saw holes in them. So make sure you have your carpenters talk to your computer engineers and work directly with them, because you can have the most beautiful cabinetry and then it’s all done, and then your computer engineers need to get in and fit stuff in and take stuff out constantly. Things constantly break and need to be replaced.
Also, in the summer, with lots of computers going, the airstream would get intensely hot, and the air conditioner didn’t quite cool it down enough.
Additionally, it was very important to remember to take down all the monitors and secure them before travelling with the airstream (one member of the team forgot this during a travel session.)
We had a wooden panel with foam on it to partition off the recording studio, but it was still open on the sides for traffic to flow through - but as a result, if anyone was in the other part of the airstream talking, it would affect the recording.
And lastly, it was actually quite hard to compel people to tell their stories, and also hard to get people to come into the airstream, if they just ‘happened’ across it at an outdoor event. I thought that was very interesting. Most people would sort of peek in and run away quickly; they thought it was maybe for workers or something… so make sure you have enough signage around the outside of the trailer, and I would recommend free-standing signs near the entrances.
I think that’s it - feel free to ask any questions!
I’d imagine the advent of flatscreen LCDs would greatly remove some fo the risk of giant 35-lb flying projectiles, these days..
as long as you strap them down. one of us forgot to do that at some point.