Here is Echo Star Studio

sonusman

sonusman

Banned
My living room here practically! LOL Actually a couple of things are different now, but nothing really worth mentioning.

What you are looking at is from the passengers seat looking back in a 1986 Centurian by Winnebego. I haven't posted any outside shots yet because I think that the rig is a little shy about taking pictures of it's exterior beauty. It must have been a woman in a past life. :)

The console/monitor desk where made by me and a friend who is a union framer. The racks on the right where added in about a year after I got the rig with the help of a computer nerd buddy of mine who happens to work with wood fairly well. These racks actually bend forward for quick access to the back of the equipment. There is chain at the top that is attached to the wall so that I don't need to support the weight while working behind them. When they are in their upright position, they are secured with a link of chain that is fastened to the lower rack so that they may not move while in route anyway where.

Anyway, here it is.
rig.jpg


[This message has been edited by sonusman (edited 09-24-1999).]
 
D

Dragon

Large and Scaly Mixing Maniac
This is in a conversion van!?!?! That is about the coolest thing I've seen on this BBS, your own remote truck!!!

There's only one way to outdo you...I'm going to have to put some equipment on my boat!!!
 
drstawl

drstawl

Banned
Better make sure all your speakers have polypropylene cones and all your contacts are gold plated.
The sea is ruthless....
Even a lake takes its toll. :)
 
sonusman

sonusman

Banned
I am sorry Dragon, I thought you already knew that Echo Star Studio is a 24 track digital MOBILE recording studio. :)

And thank you for the nice compliment. I easily have about $30K into sweat equity into this rig between the conversion process, and making my own 48 channel, three split, transformer isolated audio snake complete with mil-spec multi-pin connectors on the trunk and fan tails, etc.....That baby took about 1 1/2 years to build.

Other cool things is that the rig also has it's own 110/220 AC transformer for great ground isolation, and can sit 5 people total without too much bumping elbows. Here is a picture of the outside. Excuse the bumper, someone actually sideswiped me when I was on a remote session. LOL, glad I wasn't burning a CDR when it happened!

Ed
MOBILEBLACK.jpg



[This message has been edited by Dragon (edited 09-24-1999).]
 
drstawl

drstawl

Banned
Ed: Well done! That really looks a lot bigger on the inside than the exterior view would suggest. For general information, for those with an extra 400 sq. ft. a used overseas shipping container can be had for ~$2K. The 20' long ones are even less. They usually come with hardwood floors. They are globally shippable and extremely burglar resistant. They are firm enough to use the roof as an upstairs outdoor studio with 360 additional square feet. You can even stack them for a studio on the first level with an office area on the second floor and a third story with a small residence. Roof studio on top of that. So 1440 square feet of real studio/office/residence space occupies less than 400 sq. ft. of land TOTAL! Three shipping containers. Even cooler if the bottom container is placed into a pit dug into the ground 8 - 10 feet, with a concrete foundation under that to anchor the upper containers in a sandwich configuration around the lower two containers by tying the upper container to the concrete foundation with steel cables like big guitar strings! Pretty much earthquake proof!
 
sonusman

sonusman

Banned
A fertile imagination for sure drstrawl! I like the idea of the modular building of a studio, kind of like an ADAT or something. LOL

Check out this shot of a recent remote I did. Took 5 years of training to get this gig. It was really cosmic! (photo compliments of NASA) :)

Ed

moon2.jpg


[This message has been edited by Dragon (edited 09-24-1999).]
 
reco

reco

New member
hey were can i get one of those over seas shipping containers? seriously! how wide are they if its 20 ft long it must be at least 10-15ft wide.. seriously i want one its cheeper than building a studio from ground up ..OH how high is it from bottom to top?
 
drstawl

drstawl

Banned
They're typically about 8 feet wide. and about 8 feet high in 20 and 40 foot lengths. But that varies with manufacturer.
And thank you to Dragon for that link.
I told you I wasn't completely nuts.... :)

[This message has been edited by drstawl (edited 09-30-1999).]
 
Eddie N

Eddie N

10 Inch Member
ed ,

i was looking over your site ( very nice by the way ) , and i noticed a typo.. i'd hate to nit pick..but i thought you would want to know...

"The quality of your finished product is a reflection of our service. We do out<--utmost to insure that our clients receive the best quality service within their budget."

- eddie - :D
 
Eddie N

Eddie N

10 Inch Member
ed ,

"You will find only the most professonal engineers and staff at Echo Star Studio. All of our staff members take great pride in what they do. Helpful, curteous, and knowledgeable. That is the Echo Star Studio Staff difference."

you left the " o " out of courteous...

...and missed the " i " in professional..

sincerely ,

the grammar police.... :D



[This message has been edited by Eddie N (edited 10-02-1999).]
 
sonusman

sonusman

Banned
I am sorry officer, I didn't know I was misspellin', I promise that I won't do it again.

Thanks, you are like the 10th person to point that out to me.....LOL If I wasn't so damn lazy, why I would actually take care of it. Actually, I just always forget to correct those two things when I update the page.

You like the studio though? :)

Ed
 
sonusman

sonusman

Banned
Okay Eddie N, the author in me could stand it no longer!!! Spellin' mistakes all taken care of. B4 you go check it out, thanx fer the ed it...... :)

audioforgery,

Thanks man. After all this time, and several clients who oh and ah in person over it, still nice to get a thumbs up on the rig. If only Siskle and Ebert would review it......... :)

I still like drstrawls idea of a modular house like described above. Why stop at just stacking three on top of each other? Why not 6 with two stacks of three side by side? A control room in one, a record room in the one beside it. Editing suite on top with adjoining office. A living room/bedroom with adjoining kitchen/bathroom. Still would fit even on a very small property. Of course you would have a much bigger penthouse deck too..... :)

Ed
 
A

audioforgery

New member
I can't stand it - I have to comment on the shipping container question. I don't dispute that they may be a good idea. I do, however question what kind of economy these would provide. I would feel bad if someone on this site went out and spent hard earned cash on these, only to be shocked by the ancillary costs.

Let's say that you purchased six shipping containers. From what I've seen over at the Port of Houston, these are box-frame corrugated steel (or aluminum) cargo containers. Transporting these behemoths from the point of entry to your site is probably going to be several hundred $$, bearing in mind cranes and flatbeds are required.

Next, before you can have them delivered, your going to have to design and contruct some type of foundation system, lest your boxes slowly sink into the ground. If soils are favorable (and loads are uniform) you might get away with a cost-efficient post-tensioned slab on grade with grade beams.

Next, you'd have to graple with how to secure your boxes to the slab to prevent uplift (the mobilehome meets tornado effect). Inset anchor bolt would require exact placement of the boxes on the slab. So coring and expansion bolts are necessary (known as "Hilti" bolting.)

However, before any of this could take place, you'd have to get permits from the city you live in for water, electrical and sewer services. My guess is, because it is non-traditional construction, they'd require a full set of construction drawings calling out location and capacity of plumbing and electrical services, before they'd give you a general permit to mobilize your site.

**Have I lost you yet zzzzzzzzz

All this blah blah blah, and I still haven't talked about HVAC (central plant or window units at each box), electrical distribution (those boxes are highly conductive, so you'd need a lightning arrestor and thorough grounding), cutting the openings for windows and doors (those steel boxes will most likely require an oxy-acetylene torch and a steady hand), and finally, structural systems (a whole 'nother three pages at least).

I didn't intend to be such a wet blanket, but I want my fellow audiophiles to know the facts before diving headlong into an idea :)
 
sonusman

sonusman

Banned
Gosh audioforgery, maybe we should just consider Dragons idea of putting the equipment in a boat.....LOL :)

I think the dream was kind of fun to pursue though. Wasn't it every boy's dream to have a hang out that was very different from a house?

Anyway, all these replies just keep my silly thread at the top of this forum, thus pushing out all those other great little set ups that are probably more to the point of homerecording.com than Echo Star Studio is.

You know, if you were to stack those puppies at the front of the yard with the windows facing the back, the city may never know......LOL And maybe it could be solar powered! And a well and a out house might make the whole thing a little more "rustic".
I live in Portland Oregon, no fear of hurricanes or tornado's here. And maybe those suckers sinking into the ground might take care of some sound isolation for me. LOL Just all in fun here of course.... :)

Ed
 
A

audioforgery

New member
Sorry about the rant, Ed - it's that dadgummed realist in me coming out again. I guess I just wanted anyone seriously considering building their studio from the ground up, to go in eyes wide open :)

There is a great idea there, though. Especially in that you could build it up slowly, starting with one container, and moving forward from there. If you kept it simple, I'm sure it could be done inexpensively.

Just like anything else, you've got to follow your heart (and your head)!!

Rog (aka "Grumpy old man")
 
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