Studio Build Documentation

Trouble is some things need two people and that's going too be difficult.

I built my room totally on my own. The key to achieving that was buying a plasterboard hoist which could be used to hold all kinds of things in place. I also had a board trolley to move boards around. Neither of those are expensive in the grand scheme of things.
 
It's those things that takes ridiculous extra time that get me. on me renovation/repair job in my studio I was pulling in cables through the flooring - I'd sit on the floor, and tug, and it would bind. I'd get up go into the computer cupboard and untwist, then go back and sit down and tug again. Repeat ad nauseam. Two people - ten minutes, me on my own - nearly four hours!
 
It's those things that takes ridiculous extra time that get me. on me renovation/repair job in my studio I was pulling in cables through the flooring - I'd sit on the floor, and tug, and it would bind. I'd get up go into the computer cupboard and untwist, then go back and sit down and tug again. Repeat ad nauseam. Two people - ten minutes, me on my own - nearly four hours!

Yeah some stuff is easier with even a youngster helping. "Hold this here until I tell you" . Stuff like that.
 
It's those things that takes ridiculous extra time that get me. on me renovation/repair job in my studio I was pulling in cables through the flooring - I'd sit on the floor, and tug, and it would bind. I'd get up go into the computer cupboard and untwist, then go back and sit down and tug again. Repeat ad nauseam. Two people - ten minutes, me on my own - nearly four hours!

Ah! Two workmates anda broom handle for the cable drums. Done this for LNE lektrik. DONT forget to pull a blue rope through as well.

Dave.
 
I am so grateful that you took the time to do this write up, Miroslav! I just joined today looking for as much information as I can devour about designing / building my first studio for the wife and I. Thank you for posting all the info and pictures. I read all 29 pages today of this thread and even shared it with a producer friend.

Beautiful space and I really want to pick your brain some!
 
I am so grateful that you took the time to do this write up, Miroslav! I just joined today looking for as much information as I can devour about designing / building my first studio for the wife and I. Thank you for posting all the info and pictures. I read all 29 pages today of this thread and even shared it with a producer friend.

Beautiful space and I really want to pick your brain some!

Thanks for the comments...and I think you PM'd me, and I wrote you back.

I haven't been keeping up with recent updates...but that's mainly because right now, the room itself hasn't been changing much from the last update and pictures.
I've been doing some other stuff, and have slowly begun moving things into the room...some rugs, some shelving...but mostly I've had other aspects of my construction not directly connected to the studio, that I'm trying to wrap up.

The other thing...I was trying not to fill up the room just yet, because of the hardwood floor. The wood is a Brazilian Cherry, which tends to darken/deepen in color quite a bit from exposure to UV light...even if it's relatively indirect, but certainly with direct light at the windows.
If I have a bunch of stuff on the floor for too long in one spot before that transition at least begins to take place...when I go to move those things, I will have lighter colored areas.
I did the same hardwood flooring on the top floor of my house...and it's quite amazing how much deeper the colors have become...and if I lift a carpet, I can see the lines. It's not a big deal in general, because in most cases, we place much of our house furniture and studio gear in generally permanent spots...and the stuff that gets moved, will keep getting moved. Plus, its easy to get the lighter sections to also darken...just leave them uncovered for a couple of months, and it all blends...but I figured right now the new studio is basically empty still...so I wanted to five it a few weeks while I tend to other things.

That said...I'm on the verge of buying a grand piano, plus I have a bunch of gobos/traps that I may pick up soon...so I'm going to have to start filling up the room.
:)

Once I get some furniture and some audio gear in it, and thing are set up...I'll post some final pictures of how it all turned out.
 
one of the people looking at our house turned it down because they didn't have room for their grand piano. I'll admit, that's a huge swath of real estate you have to surrender to own one of those. Plus I'm sure a larger room allows a piano to sound better. This house is just too small for that.
 
DAY 184

I guess it's not that important for me to keep the day number going, since the construction is done...but I'll keep up with the tally just so I have a final number when I'm actually sitting in a completely outfitted studio with nothing left to do by use it.

So today, somewhat unexpectedly, a piano showed up. :D
Yesterday I went to look at a 1959 Knabe Concert Grand piano that someone was looking to sell at a really reasonable price, considering that these pianos, while not a $150k Steinway or Fazioli, the Knabe pianos are still well regarded for their clear tone, and are the official concert piano of the Metropolitan Opera since 1926, among other places...and many notable people have owned Knabe pianos...so they are one of the classic American made pianos, though these days, they are owned by Samick, and I believe now made in S. Korea.

This one was made in the USA in 1959 and has some interesting connections. The guy I bought it from use to play with Janis Joplin for a brief stint in the Kosmic Blues Band. He's 80 now, and really wasn't playing anymore, so the piano was just not getting used...and I think he needed some cash, so he let it go.

It needs a good cleaning, and of course a tuning when it settles a bit...other than that, some minor nicks and rubs, but otherwise in quite decent shape for a 60 year old piano. The mover, who also is a tuner and does piano rebuilds, said it was in very good shape and didn't really need any kind of reconditioning work, and at most some tweaks when it comes time to tune it.

So I got my grand piano for the studio. I thought it wouldn't be for a few days, but the mover said this afternoon we had some dry weather, so 1-2-3 and here it is. I have to get some caster cups for the legs so they don't gouge my floor...so for now the plywood is there.

KnabeConcertGrandPiano.jpg
 
There are days when I wish I could play piano JUST to get a nice grand. I love the sound of a nice grand piano. Nice snag, Miroslav.
 
Shit! That’s awesome. Can I come move in with you?
I promise to behave, and I’ll bring plenty of guitars and amps! :)
 
Shit! That’s awesome. Can I come move in with you?
I promise to behave, and I’ll bring plenty of guitars and amps! :)

Oooo...you're making me think. That could be a tempting offer! :)

So right now I have the keyboard and action pulled out of the piano...doing a lot of cleaning with it.
I can't deny that the previous owner allowed a lot of dust to accumulate...but it's OK, doing this kind of stuff allows me to learn about the piano and how/what goes where...plus there is a bonding that also occurs when you put some love and care into instruments.
Also need to polish the strings...there's some light oxidation and 60 years worth of tarnish, but nothing serious, and nice rub with typical scrub pad will leave them nice and shiny.
I'm also going to have to do some light buffing in some of the wood finish, because you can see where the piano probably had more direct sunlight hitting it over the years, so there some fade...but I'm not looking to recondition it back to new, I just want to take some of the aging off it and mostly give it a deep cleaning inside and out with as little messing around with the guts.
 
So after considering getting some used traps and gobos and those "Stackers" I was asking about in the other thread I posted...
...I decided that as much as I wasn't looking forward to another project, I'm going to go the DIY route because I can make better traps than anything that I was looking at used...and less expensive than anything I looked at ready-made, though TBH, my traps will be better than those too.
Material-wise they will be beefier, all made with 703, which I prefer to Roxul....and framed as I need to get the desired mounting preference and also to incorporate air gaps at the back.

As nice as some of the ready-made traps are from a few makers...there's aspects of all them that I just don't particularly like, and I know I can build a better trap.
Not counting the ready-made ones that incorporate limp-mass barriers or some kind of combi diffuser/absorber designs...the bulk of ready-made are just basic 2"-4" insulation, wrapped in some cloth, and with a light frame for mounting...so there's nothing special or magical about them...it's just the easy way to go if you don't want to do DIY.

Considering I want at least 3 different types of traps for the walls/ceiling, plus some more LF traps, and a few gobo panels...with maybe a few different colors for the wrap...it just makes more sense to custom build them, and it will save me quite a bit of cost, considering I'm looking at 30-40 2'x4' traps, plus the gobos.
You can now buy high-quality Guildford of Main acoustic cloth by the yard direct from GoM...which I don't think was possible in the past for smaller quantities...or they just didn't have an online shop...but now they do, and buying direct they are at least $4 cheaper per yard than the best bulk deals I saw from suppliers of acoustic materials. You can get their classic FR701 for $17/yard...which is pretty decent...but still, I'm looking at about 50-60 yards, so it's going to cost.
That said, I could save $2000+ on that many traps/gobos doing them DIY compared to ready-made.

I was really looking for another time consuming project to put on my plate... :facepalm: ...but at least the warmer weather is coming, so I will be able to have my table saw outside on my deck, and I'll just assembly-line the process, like I did a 3 years ago when I made my big bass traps.
I don't plan to have solid framing all around, with exposed, stained wood, like I did with those big bass traps. For all my wall/ceiling stuff, the wood frames will be light, and just at the back probably, so I have something to staple the cloth to, and also to hang from...but the front/sides will be just the wrapped 703, and I'll simply stiffen the corners so that the traps hold shape and have clean lines.
The gobos and maybe the few addition bass traps that I make...those will have more sturdy frames, and probably with the wood on outside, and just the faces covered in cloth, since they will be getting moved around.

When I start that DIY process...I'll do another documentation tread most likely, in case anyone needs some ideas about also doing their own.
 
When I start that DIY process...I'll do another documentation tread most likely, in case anyone needs some ideas about also doing their own.

Will it be in this section? I look forward to seeing it as someday I will be wanting to do the same, albeit on a smaller scale once we get back into a single family style building again. Thanks in advance for doing this.
 
"....Build better traps...." And the World will beat a path to your door! (Tho', not at the moment)

Dave.
 
Will it be in this section?

Mmm...I think maybe a separate thread would be better.


"....Build better traps...." And the World will beat a path to your door! (Tho', not at the moment)


Well...they will be better for my purpose, because I will tweak them to fit both my needs and my esthetics (I may do more than one color with the cloth).

Otherwise, in many ways they will not be different in overall substance than many of the ready-made. I mean, there are so many makers of acoustic panels these days, and if you take any of their typical broadband or bass traps and dissect them...it's just some form of typical insulation with some kind of frame and cloth.
 
OK...so I haven't yet begun the building of traps for the new studio...just too many other house things I've been working on.
Like in the upcoming week I'll be renting some earth moving equipment and doing the final grading of my yard and driveway post-construction, since the contractor just left me with a rough grade, and the couple of landscapers I talked to, want some ridiculous amount of money...like $7k for what they say is a 2-day job...:laughings:...just to move some dirt around and place a bunch of large stones in set positions so I can build a natural retaining wall off of them.

Anyway...it's going to cost me about a 1/3 of that to do it myself...and all I need is a small skid steer and some time, plus a few loads of driveway stones, etc.
I was hoping to get someone else to do it so I can do other work myself...but I guess post-CPVID-19 shutdowns...everyone is now looking to make up for lost income...or they are just SO busy, that they can afford to give crazy price quotes. :rolleyes:

In the meantime, I was doing some work in the new studio the last few days...nothing major, but something I had planned to do when I acquired about 30 large 2'x3' black & white posters of big-name musicians from the classic rock years, which is the stuff I grew up with.
The plan was to put them up on the walls/ceiling...but I didn't have a set plan...or I should say, the original placement was changed a couple of times due to the wood panels going up on the walls...and more importantly, after giving some serious consideration where exactly all my acoustic traps might end up going.
So I had to avoid the potential acoustic treatment spots, as I didn't want to put up all the posters...and then end up with traps covering most of them...and this is what I came up with...though you don't really get the full effect unless you're standing in the room. :)

It was a real PITA hanging these on the angled ceiling...and keeping the lines straight the entire 34' length of the room.
My back was all twisted up. :facepalm:

Oh...and no point in doing anymore "DAY XXX" numbering of the pictures I post from now on, since the construction is over.


CeilingPosters1.jpg



CeilingPosters2.jpg


I hope to start moving in the studio gear once I finish the outside re-grading of the yard and my driveway...and at that point I'll probably be ready to start on the building of acoustic traps.
 
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