Studio Update:
Yesterday, I began sealing the concrete floor in preparation of installing the sub floor… (to reduce dust)
It’s not complete yet…
(no photos)…
A materials list has been assembled for power distribution and all…
I’m toying with the idea of under-floor channeling for audio wiring and power…
Otherwise it’ll have to come from the rafters or lay on top of the floor…
I don’t see any other alternative…
Now, I playing around with the thought of building a Gazebo to act as an audio/vocal booth…
AND…
not connected to in any way with the studio…
It would be mostly glass with an open truss structure…
How big cubic feet/square feet would an idea like that have to be.
?
The MIND takes on a Mind-of-It’s Own…
Bill…
Great idea - just vocals would probably be a 5 foot circle inside diameter minimum. Room for distance with a mic stand just a guess though.
If it’s roundish and mostly glass then it may need a lot of acoustic treatment. Think of it as standing in a shower stall, and what it would take to make that sound acceptable.
You must be in a really quiet area for that to be a possiblity.
Hi phoo:
I was hoping you might give some input into this idea…
and thanks Poppa Willis and anyone who might contribute to this idea, I fell upon…
The guy I work with every day is a Bar Room Drummer for as long as I’ve been a bass player…
It so happened that as he played on the stages he worked with I played on the stages I worked with we only met over the years on a few recording sessions…
When you time is payed you can only do what is called for in studio environment…
and that’s it…
You can’t even chin-wag…
This idea woke me out of my sleep this morning at 3am…
I’d like it to be put to rest if it doesn’t show any possibilities…
First-of-all…
it should be a place where you could just relax
and ponder the work-a-day-world passing you by…
However, being in close proximity to the studio I imagined that it might have some use as an acoustic room that might have some use for
Tracking Sessions…
This Gazebo could have a Mean Diameter of some 10-12 feet…
I originally had in mind of it being an 8-sided (octagon) room…
then hexagon…
but those rooms have parallel sides…
BUT…
a Five-sided Room has no parallel walls… The Gazebo idea is a second level to a Deck I have that needs to be rebuilt…
as it’s some 40 years old now…
The deck being some 5 ft. off ground level…
SO…
the gazebo would be say 2.5 feet above ground level…
Again…
it would have a high ceiling…
some 10-12 feet…
extending into the rafters…
The walls would be mostly glass and any other part of the room would be treated for acoustic reflections…
Well…
and lit-and-heated…
for use…
The only thing that I see is missing is “Eye Contact” with the “SessionMan”…
Anyway…
Who wants to see someone belting their Soul out to a Mic Hanging From the Roof…
Input is quite welcomed on this idea…
Bill…
[EDIT] The room might be called an extension to the studio enviroment and get me back on-track in completing the R-and-D of the MK 1 Stereo Mic I began designing back in '96 - '97… Who knows…?
As the number of side increases, so does how close it becomes to being a tube if all sides are of nearly equal width and the angles are the same-ish. Since it’s a relatively small room, 4, 5, 6 or 8 will probably not make that much difference…maybe. What I mean is that square is probably just as bad is 5-6-7-8 sides. Rectangle is different.
I suggest exploring ways to make the sides not parallel from the vertical standpoint.
The rule of thumb for parallel being acceptable for audio is an inch a foot, so a 12 foot wall would need to be angled so that the opposite wall is a foot closer at one end than at the other (or top to bottom).
Try to sick to the 3-4-5 rule, where the dimensions are close to being a 3:4:5 ratio.
H * W * L
30’ * 40’ * 50’
15’ * 20’ * 25’
7.5’ * 10’ 12.5’
Thank you phoo:
It’s a dose of reality that puts perspective on this project…
I have photos taken today of the work that was completed…
The walkway was poured and tomorrow the forms will come down… the floor has the first coat of sealer on it…
A second coat should be applied tomorrow…
We’ll see…
I’ll be working on posting a photo update this evening…
One of the photos shows where a gazebo could be built… I could estimate the area and dimensions that are available… I estimate that a cube of 12 feet-or-less could be built… or any dimensions (on a side) of less then that…
Bill…
Studio Construction Update:
The plan this weekend is to begin the sub-floor installation…
I have a series of new photos uploaded…
The walkway is now complete…
I’m waiting for the concrete to cure…
It’s too GREEN yet…
But I have more sealer to do the walkway…
As the temperature and ground cools off it’ll take longer for the walkway to complete the curing process…
Anyway, this weekend is gonna be mild and dry…
But with the clear sky it cools of overnight…
Clear skies…
frost…
and all…
Mid-day temperatures are in the upper teens…
I need a channel in the sub floor to run audio and power to the audio console and electronics… Some of the dedicated strip electronics may end up overhead in the rafters…
We’ll see…
Hopefully, that’ll leave more floor space…
I still need to come up with an idea to close off the rafter soffits…
I’m considering wrapping apolstry fome in plastic sheating and cut-to-fit…
We’ll see…
They’ll be removed to suit the ventalation at-the-time…
for humidity and temperature…
We’ll see…
phoo. I’m still considering-and-thinking about some external tracking booth…
I’m not sure that I can answer the why question…
though…
Bill…
Hi Gents:
I’ve been working on the sub-floor…
I am toying with the idea of a channel to permit under floor wiring to the console from various places in the room-and-rafters…
and all…
Here’s a link
to the updated photos…
Bill…
Lookin’ good Bill!
Thanks Poppa Willis:
This weekend is Thanksgiving Long Weekend over here… Today is DinnerDay…
well, for me…
I had Ham and scalloped potatoes and veggies… I ate tooooo
much…
I promise…
I wouldnt do that again…
I ordered material and began to lay the sub-floor…
I didn’t anticipate that it would go as quickly as it did.
I need a “Make-up” Order…
I worked myself right out of material…
The photo update shows that there is this area over by the roll-up door that is not complete…
Now, I’m toying with the idea of not completing the sub floor over there… I am thinking that that area will be covered by some kind of neutral/dead/non-reflective material (of the same thickness as the rest of the floor)… AND…
the roll-up door should have a similar material attached to the surface…
Now that the concrete floor is covered, it appears the the room is taking on some acoustic character…
I really need to get out there and do a spectrum of some sort to see if there are peaks-and-valleys that will be present and need some major attention as the room takes shape…
I thinking about gearing up my Zoom H2 Portable Recorder and walk around the room with it and then find the “Center” of the space and then walk around the room to “SEE”
so-to-speak…
BoY…
I want to get back at the MK-1 Microphone I’m developing and Pin it out there…
I want to find the center of the room and be able to raise-and-lower it from a maximum height of 2 ft. from the rafters to 2 ft. above floor level…
The only outstanding item that remains to get the mic up-and-running is an acceptable power supply…
It needs to be as smooth as the “Floor” with No Ripple at 52 volts DC. and be able to supply about
35 ma. of current at idle…
I can get it from 4 12 volt batteries… or 5 x 9 volt cells
BUT…
?
and they don’t last…
However, batteries are the smoothest source of electromotive force…
Bill…
I guess it’s too late to have the studio spin around
the mic, for a leslie effect.
That’s pretty neat stuff Bill.
If I ever did something like that, I would probably
have concrete poored , and put one of those pre-fab sheds
on it. You can get a nice big one delivered, and just plop
it down. We bought an 8x10 as a storage shed from the Amish outfit
down here. If it wasn’t full of junk, it would make a nice
little room studio.
If I hadn’t procrastinated for so many years I could have built a building twice the size at half the price… Building materials have gone into the ozone layer… My original idea was to build a building with a higher roof structure…
When I went looking for a permit, I was told by the Desk-Girl what I could build and what I couldn’t…
as her employer, I was tempted to dismiss her and tell her to Take-Off…
EH…?
When I settled down I just turned and left…
BUT…
she still needs to go back to school and take some sensitivity education… I can’t afford to pay Telephone Girls like her…
This Permit-S**t allows you to build anything you don’t want…
Anyway, the building is getting pretty close to Wiring Time…
Do you know what distribution panels and boxes and wire is worth today ?
MmAaNn…
Bill…
I know what you mean. Had to get a permit just for an
8x10. Won’t need one when I go after them with a 2x4 though.
I worked on a stage with a front man who built a garage on his property…
A guy (from the City Office) knocked on his door to ask him what he was doing with all the lumber in his driveway…
Anyway, he threatened him and told him to get off his property…
He never came back…
Bill…
I’m working on getting the studio insulated…
However, it requires all the money I can get my hands on…
Updated photos…
I was hoping I’d have it wired by now…
BUT the cost of copper wire is very high…
As-It-Goes…
Bill…
Comin’ along nicely Bill - so when’s the n-Track user’s session/grand opening/party ?
Thank you Poppa Willis:
The neighbourhood is keeping a close watch on the goings-on…
They are beginning to ask what the building is gonna be named…
A building like this has to have a name…
so-they-say…
It’s funny…
Walkers up-and-down the sidewalk stand and look at it…
AND all the dogs want to leave their “Mark” on it…
their walkers have to tug on their leashes to keep them in line…
It’s funny…
Some of my close neighbours are asking for the real story…
"What’s it really gonna be… ?
I told the retired school teacher around the corner that I needed a good camera man…
BUT I could only pay minimum wage…
He told me NO-WAY…
He wants to be the “STAR”…
The girls down at the Chrome Pole Bar wants to know when I’ll be posting applications…
I’m not so sure that I’m gonna have enough amperage to cover all the lighting I’m gonna need…
The audio and camera chains don’t take a whole lot of power…
All the trades down at the coffee shop wants to know when the completion date is…
I told them they’ll know when the DVD’s hit the video shops…
hehe…
Bill…
[EDIT]
I’m still comtemplating/playing around with the external vocal booth/idea that has an appearence of a Gazeebo… I have four audio lines run out underground to where the building might be located on the property…
There’ll be a Wine-and-Cheese Party and I’ll be sending out the Plane Tickets and Hotel Room Passes and I’ll expect RSVP’s from all the guys that promise to bring their Instruments, Amps, and Drum Kits and All…
And Their best Girlfriends…
No wives… please…
Well…
if yea have to…
lol…
We’ll have a party to end all parties…
How’bout’that…
No ToonTown Dwellers for the Big One… Later for them…
Don’t get me goin’’…
Bill…
how 'bout the "n-track shack out back?"
track shack for short
I’m waiting for you to get back in the telescope building (whatever-it’s-called)… and post some photos of the part of space your interested in viewing…
That is so fascinating…
Bill…
My electrician guy promised me a Breaker/Distribution panel… It should have 12 circuit/spaces… I may not use them all but the capability for that many circuits will be there…
I needed 80 ft. of 3-wire # 8 mains cable… It was 7.22 a mitre… With taxes it was just over $200.00 That’s a lot of loonies for a piece of wire…