Nathanial Morse

I know Nathanial Morse through Tyler De Caussin from Season 3.  I knew Tyler played in a band called Mint Skylark. When I was heading to New Mexico I reached out to see if he knew anyone else who might want to Tinyboatsession. 

Nathanial plays in Mint Skylark.   I was delighted when I found out he would be playing his saxophone.  I’ve never had a saxophone in tinyboatsession.  However, this entire project began because of one.  In March of 2020, I went for a row in Puget Sound to blow off steam and randomly passed a man playing his saxophone in a tinyboat.  Over two hundred artists later it was great to revisit that inspiration with Nathanial

Starting in Season 4 I started working with a pair of Rode Wireless II microphones and by now had gotten pretty good at figuring out where those mics needed to be for folks singing and playing guitar, but the sound of a saxophone was so much bigger, it was a whole new ballgame to contend with it. 

Most of the music I listened to before this project was something produced, finished in a studio, and listened to on a device.  Tinyboatsession is live music in a very intimate setting.  I can hear the scrape of the fingers on a guitar, the sound of the saxophone working, and the breath of the artist.  It's given me an appreciation for instruments as tools. Up close I loved seeing and hearing the balance of physical work, talent, and style.

Because of the big sound of the saxophone I had to place the mics further away.  Listening back to them I found out that in addition to capturing Nathanial playing it allowed the sound of the birds to play along with him. Instagram: @mintskylark