Ardennes recording #1

For my upcoming album, 'Pangea', I've been looking for cool places to record.
One day while browsing google maps, I found an abandoned station called 'Gare Royale d'Ardenne' (royal station of the Ardennes) located in Herhet, close to Houyet.
The station looked awesome (I've included pictures later in this blogpost) and I knew I had to check the acoustics there.
I documented the whole day with text and pictures for you to enjoy:

​7:31 hopped on the bus with my big protective guitar bag and a backpack filled with sandwiches and recording gear.
After this, I'm catching a train to Houyet.

​7:52 managed to get on an earlier train.
It was one o' them shitty ones though.
​There was also a woman watching meme videos with the sound on in my wagon.
I recognized the 'look at this dood' meme.

​9:30 almost there. Can't believe the nostalgic and amazing views from the ardennes.

​10:00 I arrived in Houyet! After walking around for a bit, I already found a little place with great acoustics. But man, I can't believe how quiet it is here! Amazing natural sounds!

​10:13 it seems that the road I planned to take doesn't bring me to my destination. I have to make a detour over this massive hill. The sky cleared up and the sun is shining. I couldn't be more excited to climb over it!

​10:36 the old station is actually pretty close to the new train station.
​Ooooff so close! Gotta climb!

10:55 I got to my destination only to see that it's illegal to trespass and there were already some people sleeping there in tents.. So I'm gonna take a break here on the side of the hill.

​​11:10 I decided to find a good spot in nature instead and started climbing the hill to the top.
​It still goes on??? (At least there's stairs...)

​11:14 alright, I guess this is the top. I'll see if I get some good sound here

​11:19 nah, the sound here's terrible.
​I'm also sweatin' A LOT. Time to tie my hair.
​Nobody said it was going to be this hot today!
Maybe I'd better go back to the first spot. But I'm going to take a detour over the hill to see if I can find another spot.

​11:36 I ended up in a pretty nice spot!
​I can see the trains from here. This probably means I'm going back to Houyet.

​11:41 this is where I'll be having lunch!
​I'm gonna record a little here I think.

12:11 gettin' that breeeaad. The place here was too small to set everything up correctly and there were a lot of people passing by. So I gotta continue my quest!

12:45 I ended up circling around the hill back to the old station.
The campers were awake and I joined them for a beer and played some music.
​The acoustics of the place were pretty dissappointing actually.

​13:32 the search continues! Now I'm aiming for a nice isolated place in nature.
It's getting harder to walk, definitely because of the beer.
I also probably inhaled some of the weedsmoke of the campers through my big-ass nostrils,
​but I just gotta get through it for a bit!

​
14:15 I found a great great spot!!
I recorded 1 song there and figured that if I was going to record very seriously that I would need some help.
I couldn't see the levels of audio input and if the wind was clipping the audio.
I forgot to put my windscreen on the xy mics and therefore the recording might be messed up.
​Next time I'm definitely getting my gang together to help me record!
​But for today, onward to new recording spots!

​
​14:34 great view of the town!
I'm still going up for a bit to see if I can find some more places.
​But now I know I can get back pretty quickly.

​14:50 it has been a while since I've taken a rest.
So I'm sitting down on some logs next to a golf course.
Yes, there is a golf course on top of the hill.
​My big toes and the soles of my feet are telling me that these ain't hiking shoes...

15:13 there's actually nothing to see after the golf course.
It doesn't feel like nature as much. I can even hear cars pretty close by.
​So I'm turning back.

16:01 back in Houyet, back at the station.
I'm catching a train in 20 minutes.
I listened to my recording and the recording sounds amazing!
But like I feared, the xy mics clipped because of the wind...
I should've put the windscreen on it and recorded the whole album there.
​But now I know what to do for next time: Bring the gang & NEVER FORGET THE WINDSCREEN.

15/05/2021 I've mixed the audio and synced it with the video. Here's a demo of ​'Κατάβαση'!