My studio construction thread

[WhiteStrat]

Here's a thread I didn't think I'd be creating any time soon. A couple weeks ago I was going on about how I had completely re-wired my studio with a 32 input set up and now I could rule the world--or at least record whatever I wanted without switching up a bunch of crap.

What I didn't mention in that thread ('cuz it was too embarrassing) is that I did all that work in a completely unfinished studio. Just as backwards as it was, I was convinced that studio construction would get pushed back another year, and I couldn't wait for the functionality, so I rewired and created a complex but effective set-up in an unfinished basement.

Well, surprise, surprise Sgt. Carter! My son came home from school (studying Construction Management at Missouri State) and he's jonesing for cash. Now he just happens to be a helluva builder (thus the Cons. Mgmt major) and somewhere in my past I had apparently promised him that I'd pay him to build my studio--since I'll never get to it.

The kicker is that the studio is just one part of a much larger basement finishing project. I thought I was being "selfless" in not pressing to build my studio until we could do the whole basement--which is definitely not in the cards for this summer. (BTW--the selfless part of that was my for my wife.) Well it turns out that she's been thinking (though I swear she never said it out loud) that I should build out the studio first (since I'm always down there anyway) and we'll come back and do the rest of the basement next year. I had no idea...

So as difficult as it was, I tore down my entire "studio" in a single day--undoing all of the new set up that was less than two weeks old. I moved every instrument and every piece of gear out into the rest of the unfinished basement--in a single day. (Trust me--it was tons of work.) And that was after buying and unloading the lumber. My son was out Saturday, and I wanted to suprise him with a completely work ready job site!

That was Saturday. My son started framing Sunday. Today's Monday, and I'm stoked. He's still got some raised floor channeling to build, and then there's a ton of wiring (I'll pull the wire), then he starts on drywall. In a way, it's kind of sad--I have looked forward to doing this myself since we built the house 5 years ago. But guess what? Looking forward to something doesn't get it done. I never get to it with work and everything else, and he's the perfect candidate. He's good and he's broke.

Pics to follow...

 

[WhiteStrat]

This is sad...all my gear stacked everywhere in the basement. Mics and rack gear all boxed up, amps buried, keyboard strewn about (yeah, I know--I'm gonna cover 'em)

 

[WhiteStrat]

More crap all about...speakers and kitty kats, the guits are put to bed, drums and percussion, and my computer--in the workshop?? (okay that's going upstairs until we're done)

 

[WhiteStrat]

And now...the beginnings:

 

[true-eurt]

Looks like the two of you have been working your butts off...I just love these construction threads!

How long does your son have at home to work on the studio for you Strat?

 

[WhiteStrat]

Looks like the two of you have been working your butts off...I just love these construction threads!

How long does your son have at home to work on the studio for you Strat?

Hey True!

I was gonna PM you--but in the moving out process Saturday I broke our modem. (All the network and phone crap is in a little room right behind the studio, and while packing up my guitars in there, I somehow accidentally picked up the modem which has been pissing me off for weeks and smashed it against the concrete floor. Crazy accident, huh?) Got the new modem set up today. I've been looking in on my iPhone, but I can't type more than a word or two on that thing...

So how's all this for an unexpected surprise? He's home till the beginning of August--but there's no way this is taking that long. I guess the fact that I've been dreaming (and planning, and researching, and scheming) about this for 5 years means that I know where every last thing goes! He's actually going on a float trip on June 4--and I want all drywall and mudding done before he leaves!

While he's gone I'll build the custom mixing desk (he's more big construction, I'm more furniture and finish work, I guess) and when he gets back he can do the ceiling while I wire and load the console.

So he may be here till August--but I can't be without my rig that long. I'll commit to a goal of done by end of June--and you can be my accountability partner.

BTW--that doesn't include floors. That's the one concession I insisted on--I'm a stickler for continuity--so I'm not finishing the floor until we do the rest of the basement--I want them to flow seamlessly from one end to the other. For now, I'll paint with some of that garage/utility paint and treat with some area rugs. I've got a killer leopard print just rolled up and waiting...

 

[WhiteStrat]

BTW--notice the kitty supervising? How can we fail?

 

[true-eurt]

Hahaha..crazy accident!

I love surprizes myself! I think you do too, so I can just imagine how tweaked you are! It isn't my studio project and I'm tweaked!

Well, it looks like you both have gotten off to a great start!..that's great he's home from school til August! Gonna wave 100 dollar bills in front of him while he works to speed the process?


I can't imagine, you not having at least one of your axes and one of your amps out for the duration..

I'm really looking forward to witnessing the process as one of your dreams come to life...

Oh..can't wait to see that Leopard rug down either!..Leopards are jungle cats aren't they?...do you have a lava lamp Strat?

Kitties make great supervisors!

 

[WhiteStrat]

Funny you should mention lava lamp. I HAD a lava lamp. A nice yellow/amber one. You see those stainless steel shelf units in the pics up there? They're on wheels--and after I got the floor clear of wires, I figured I could ever so carefully wheel them out of the studio with out emptying them.

I almost succeeded. My lava lamp came crashing down and shattered on the floor right in the doorway.

I always assumed they were just blobs of wax in water. Nope. The "water" is some kind of oily substance. I was still moving junk--in an out, back and forth--for like 3 hours after I broke it. Tracked that oily substance all over the place. Gonna be a real pain to get off the floor before we paint.

 

[true-eurt]

Lots of breakin' going on in your basement lately...maybe you shouldn't be the one moving all that gear around..


Well, every studio should have a christianing *gift*...such as a Lava lamp...

 

[Chili]

Good luck and have fun with it. Yup, gotta get another lava lamp and don't forget the red Recording light....

 

[WhiteStrat]

Okay...it's been just over a week. All the framing is done and insulation is all in place (walls that is).

I ran new electrical circuits (including one just for the desk), and pulled midi cables and audio snakes through the walls. Even though it's a one room studio, I can't stand wires everywhere, so each wall will have a built in panel with an array of mic and instrument inputs, and monitor and headphone outs--so each wall needed a 16 channel snake run through it.

The desk end of the room will have an elevated floor (one step high) so all those cables can come down through the walls, under that floor and up into the desk--and remain invisible. That floor is built now too. Two of the four walls are completely sheetrocked.

Tomorrow--finish the sheetrock and start mudding and taping. And then some BBQ. Oh yeah--I took some pics--I'll post them tomorrow as well.

 

[true-eurt]

I'm like you..those wires drive me nuts..great way to solve that problem.

Can't wait to see the pics...it is going up very quickly! You guys take your building seriously!

Enjoy the BBQ!

 

[Weasel9992]

Nice, man. Can't wait to see how things turn out.

Frank

 

[Dogbreath]

Sweet! I dig these threads too.
Keep the pics comin man.

 

[WhiteStrat]

Nice, man. Can't wait to see how things turn out.

Frank

Stay tuned. We're moving as fast as we can! As much as I was looking forward to a sweet, long, drawn out 4-5 month building process, this sudden rush of activity isn't all bad.

I've been dreaming and planning all the details of this space for 4 years--so it's easy for me to make quick decisions (hell, they're already made!) and keep it moving.

 

[WhiteStrat]

Sweet! I dig these threads too.
Keep the pics comin man.

You asked for it. More pics coming.

 

[WhiteStrat]

Before I post more pics--here's a little general background on the room. I have tons of 3D elevation drawings that are all on my "big" computer, unplugged and sitting in the other room. Too bad I don't have 'em on this laptop.

Anyway, the room is 16' x 26', and it's in the basement. I've been using the space--completely unfinished--as my studio for about 4 years now.

The drawing below shows the layout (in 2D at least). The cool thing about using the unfinished space as a studio for as long as I have, is that the placement of all the "tools" has evolved to serve me. So nothing is guesswork. Everything on that drawing has been there for some time--just in an unfinished space. So I've been able to see what works for me and put things where I like them. As much as this has to sound good--it has to work well. I want to be productive when I've got an idea worth recording.

First, it's obviously a one room studio. This space is only a small part of the basement, and I could have a two, or even three, room studio--complete with a separate control room--but that doesn't work for me. I'm the first and most important "client" so I want to be right in the room with all the toys. So the control room idea was out of the picture from early on. When I am recording others--I've learned to sit quietly.

The drawing is fairly self-explanatory. Everything's there except for ceiling height. Unfortunately, it's only 8 feet. When I built this house a few years ago, I planned on finishing the basement. So I was careful in my design of the basement. The house is a big "L" and there's a main load bearing wall running down the spine of that "L."

In order to protect the look of the finished space of the basement, I designed all the systems so that everything unsightly fell on one side of that main wall. Everything that drops below the floor joists--plumbing, electrical, HVAC, central vac, RJ11, RJ45, CATV, is on the "to be unfinished" side, which takes it down to 8 feet. The "to be finished" side of that wall is 9 feet high. That means my finished basement will have a nice 9 foot sheet rock ceiling--and thus look a lot less like a finished basement.

The problem is, in a fit of selflessness, I designed it so that my studio goes on the "to be unfinished" side. Of course, I'm finishing the room, but that means I have to go with a drop ceiling. At the time, I was just happy to have a decent sized room--drop ceiling or not! Four years later--I'm feeling greedy and wishing I had taken the whole basement! After all, we've gotten by just fine without a finished basement so far, right?

Anyway, I'm sticking to the plan. And it's not too bad. The drop ceiling will start at 8 feet, the joists start at 9, and the floor is at 10 feet. I'm filling the entire gap between the drop ceiling and the floor above with insulation. According to my calculations, 24" of insulation is worth about 6" of 703 (not to mention my acoustic tiles), so in effect, my entire ceiling will be an acoustic panel cloud.

The only thing not spelled out on the drawing are the three red X's on the side and rear wall. Those mark where patch panels will be on the wall: 16 channels each; 10 mics in; 2 XLR out; and 4 TRS for instruments and/or headphones. This decision comes from using the space before finishing it. I can't stand the mess of wires and cables that accumulates in front of the desk!

So each wall will have it's own panel. Drum mics, guitar cab mics, vocal mics, you name it--they'll all go into side walls. Those panels will be connected via 16 channel snake cable (the blue cable in the following pics) through the walls, then from the walls they'll run right under an elevated floor section in the front of the room, and straight up into the bowels of my desk.

A pain in the ass to solder and connect it all up, but the more connections I have ready to go, and the less wires I see--the better!

Oh yeah electrical: a new 20 amp circuit for guitar amps on the walls, and a new dedicated circuit just for the desk. You'll see the yellow romex in the following pics.

 

[WhiteStrat]

My son working on drywall. Go AJ!!! He'll never read this, but I gotta say it--this wouldn't be happening without him. Thanks dude!

This pic shows another cool feature. Notice the "cross beams" between the studs in the wall that's not yet covered with drywall. All four wall have that running for their entire length. Between 703 panels and wall-mount guitar racks--there'll be something hanging most everywhere. So rather than mess with drywall anchors or looking for studs, we ran lumber horizontal throughout the whole room. (Again, base on where I had guitars and panels hanging in the "unfinished" space.)

 

[WhiteStrat]

One side just before drywall goes up. The blue wire (my son calls it an Avatar dick) is the audio snake for that wall. The black is MIDI (my main controller goes on this wall) and of course the yellow is electrical.

Notice the insulation: I'm not going for soundproof at all. I live on 25 acres in the middle of nowhere. Except for my wife, there's no one to piss off with loud music. I am however, filling all the walls (as well as the ceiling) will standard R13 batt insulation. It's cheap, and if it gives me even a smidge of broadband absorbtion--hell, I'll take it. (Helping manage the temperature wouldn't hurt either).