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TAKE YOUR SONG FURTHER
The Experience
The Highwater Recording Retreats are curated communal gatherings focused on taking songwriters and their songs through the recording process; from pre-production, through interacting with professional session players and engineers, to recording, and even on to understanding various means of marketing and distribution of a song.
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These retreats involve participant songwriters living together on site, sharing family style meals, sitting in on engaging panels and workshops, forging relationships with industry professionals, and experiencing classic Brill building style recording sessions for one another’s songs with a cadre of like-minded and committed creatives.
The Impetus
The current number of creative retreats focusing on songwriting is quite impressive; These experiences help up-and-coming writers learn a wide variety of professional tools to help them develop and craft original songs. They do not, however, give guidance on what to do once a song is completed. We wanted to create a retreat to meet that need.
Who is this Designed For?
The Highwater Recording Retreat is for up and coming songwriters who wish to take their compositions to the next level. No previous recording experience is necessary, but what we do here will also be appealing to songwriters who have familiarity with the recording process. The retreat has been designed to involve a wide range of experiences for both seasoned and newly emerging creatives alike.
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Each participant will have submitted a song with their application that will be approached individually by one of our production teams, and each session will undoubtedly provide a unique experience for the entire cadre of songwriters chosen to join us.
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In addition, the communal nature of the weekend will provide opportunities for discussions with the staff as well as our guest speakers which will help address participants’ individual questions and interests. Whether you want to learn more about arranging, producing, recording, or promoting your songs, there will be opportunities to expand your knowledge base at Highwater.
The Highwater Team
The Highwater team is led by world renown drummer/producer Jerry Marotta & award -winning educator, artist, & producer Rees Shad, who have a combined experience of studio production that spans not just decades, but close to a century of professional recording. They will oversee two separate cadres of songwriters at the retreat; working with hand selected first call musicians to record a song brought to the retreat by each songwriter.
Rees will be teaming up with audio engineer Shubham Mondal who has worked on projects with artists such as Post Malone & Norah Jones, while Jerry will be teaming up with Ariel Shafir, whose discography includes such artists as The Pixies, Lake Street Dive, & Regina Spektor.
Co-Director & Producer
Co-Director & Producer
Recording & Mix Engineer
Shubham Mondal
Recording & Mix Engineer
The Where
​The Highwater Recording Retreat (Woodstock) will take place at the world renown Dreamland Recording Studios, a residential recording studio built into a renovated 19th century church located minutes from historic Woodstock, NY.
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The studio features a wide array of vintage and modern microphones and outboard gear as well as an API discrete series console for world class digital and analog sessions. The church has spectacular acoustics and unique and inspiring vibe that has made it an attractive recording destination for such luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Lake Street Dive, Natalie Merchant, Fleet Foxes, The B-52s and countless others.​
The Takeaways
At the end of this four-day retreat, participant songwriters will return home...
With a well-produced recording of their original song performed by ‘A-list' studio musicians
With a greater understanding of publishing rights, music supervision, & distribution from a small group panel session.
Having had the opportunity to observe and learn recording processes from vetted professionals
Enjoying an expanded network of friends and professionals
Having gained a wider understanding of music marketing from a small group panel session
Having experienced the exhilarating “Highwater high” of communing with other creatives in a supportive and enlightening environment.
Woodstock Retreat Schedule
(Early Bird Pricing Good Until August 10th)
Retreat Duration
October 9-12
Check-in Time
3:00PM on October 9
Wrap-up Time
7:00PM on October 12
DAY 1
Day One will begin with an introductory gathering followed by production team pre-production meetings and an after dinner round table with the session musicians
DAY 2
Day two will involve song recording sessions in two-hour blocks, have publishing/distribution workshops, evening vocal sessions, and wrap up with late night song swaps
DAY 3
Day Three will resume song recording sessions, introduce marketing/promotion workshops, vocal sessions, and an after dinner concert by staff and session musicians.
DAY 4
Day Four will see us completing the remaining song recording and vocal sessions followed by an afternoon playback party of rough mixes (final mixes done by production team after retreat). The retreat will wrap up after an early dinner.
