Bob Hamilton's Old Crow Recording Studios is now home to a piece of musical history.

The Juno Award-winning producer recently acquired a recording console that was used in legendary musician and producer Allen Toussaint's Sea-Saint Studios from about 1974 to about 1994.

"That means all of the music from New Orleans from that era was recorded through this console,” Hamilton explained in an interview last week.

Some of the voices that have been etched into history through the console include Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, John Cocker and Little Feat.

"It's fairly historic,” Hamilton said.

When R&B singer Wilson Williams mentioned to Hamilton that he had the console and wasn't using it, Hamilton traded him for a microphone.

However, getting the epic piece of machinery to Old Crow Recording Studios, just outside of Whitehorse, was quite a feat.

Hamilton and his son first flew to Calgary, where they bought a large van to lug the console home in. Next, they drove on to New Orleans and then southern Florida, where the prize was being housed.

"It was a long way,” Hamilton said of the cross-continent trek.

The duo did schedule some downtime into the 3 1/2-week endeavour, however, stopping in New Orleans to take in some of city's jazz festival.

Now the vast landscape of colourful buttons, slides and lights has a new home in Hamilton's studio.

He currently has sound running through it, but hasn't moved it into its permanent location nor integrated it with the studio's other equipment. Hamilton hopes to have the new piece set up within a month.

When he does, the new console will add character from the era (not to mention an historic element) to the music is recorded through it.

"I know it sounds great because all the records made through it sound great,” said Hamilton.

Currently, Old Crow Recording Studios has a 32-channel console. The new acquisition will add another 32, for a total of 64 channels.

The addition will make for more options when recording, said Hamilton.

"In the production of music, you're dealing with multiple, multiple tracks,” he explained.

"It doesn't mean the music's any better. It just depends what the creative process is for the people making the record, if they want to have lots and lots of tracks blended or if they want to have it more raw, to the bone.”

While Hamilton is looking forward to seeing how the equipment works together, he's not sure the new console will have a significant impact on his business.

"I don't think it will make much difference to people in Whitehorse, as far as whether they would record here or not,” he said.

He doesn't work solely with local artists, however. Musicians come from all over to record with Hamilton. And although Hamilton says a lot of the music he loves comes from New Orleans, he works with artists of all different stripes, from singer/songwriters to bands and beyond.

"My own musical interests are fairly diverse,” he said.

The history of the console will influence his own music, however, Hamilton said.

He's currently in the middle of recording an album with one of his bands, Small Town Hoods, a soul outfit featuring Hamilton, his son Patrick and Ed White.

He is excited to see how the console affects the sound of the record.

"There's a history and a kind of weight,” Hamilton said, comparing his use of the console to a writer using Ernest Hemingway's typewriter.

”And it's not even really like a typewriter because a typewriter doesn't influence the quality of the product.... You've got a combination of the history and the quality of the tool itself (with the console).”