Writing on the road

I played a one-off in Iowa City this past week. We’ve always had a good turnout at this specific club so we decided to bring a lite horn section with us to kind of cement us in there. Funny how adding horns to a guitar rock band makes a stereotypically wallflower indie-rock crowd markedly dancier.

Before and after the show, our trumpet player was working on charts for a different band (while we lazily enjoyed our pizza). His on-the-road setup really inspired me to get one together for myself.

USB KeyboardThough I’ve always been a huge fan of hand-written charts — something about the process of inking up paper with a pen has always helped me internalize what I was writing since it’s driven by what’s in my head rather than a synth — I’m going to get a new copy of Finale or Sibelius (which do you prefer?). And I’m going to get the little USB keyboard that trumpet player was using — the Akai LPK25 (in pic). It’s the exact width of the laptop so it’s able to fit in any bag. Seemed pretty sturdy, too.

For all you road warriors out there working on tunes in the van, on the train or plane, what’s your setup? Would like some more options before pulling the trigger.

Happy weekend.