My Quasi-Recording/Mix Room Build

[Myriad_Rocker]

Started on the design on my front wall treatment. Below is the frame for it. The actual treatment itself will cover a bit of the LCD mount (only the 2x4's are shown) so you won't actually see any of the 2x4's at all. I'm going to do that by placing some smaller stock around that part where the depth of that stock isn't as deep. Or I may just paint the 2x4's black and call it good.

This is a 2-piece design. On side goes on and then the other side bumps up to meet it. All of it is mounted with a cleat at the top that will be put on the wall. I'll have a cut out in the treatment at the top to accommodate the single cleat running the length of the treatment. I'll also have a hole at the bottom of one side of the treatment that I'm going to drop wires (to the LCD) down into.

I still have to figure out the logistics of bracing and fabric coverage (with no "seam" lines shown). I figure I'll with that a bit once I see how the insulation is going to fit inside the frame.



Thoughts?

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

I made all the cuts, pocket holes, and most of the sanding for the front wall assembly yesterday. Now to stain it, let it dry, and start assembly. I may go ahead and get the material for the back wall so I can cut and stain it as well. That way both can be drying and I'm not wasting daylight. After that it's just the cloud and I have really decided how large I'm going to make that yet.

If I have any insulation left over, I'll likely make some gobos or even do some treatment for my home theater room. More likely just the gobos, though. I've had it with treatment building for a while.

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

The front wall is turning into a much larger task than I had anticipated. And it's all because of that damn LCD mount and having to build around it (the way I want to). I didn't add any support for the insulation...it's my hope (sanity) that the burlap and plastic will be support enough for it. If it's not and ends up looking like piss, you're likely to see me with a shotgun and lots of holes in my wall.

 

[moresound]

WoW ~ can't wait to see the final project with 360* photos!

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

This project is taking me way longer than I had anticipated. I hope I'm done soon.

EDIT: One thing I'm going to likely do down the road (next month or so maybe) is to take the closet door off and store it in the attic or something. Then I'll make a new door that has a wood frame so it can be mounted but the the center of it is all treatment. Figured that was a neat idea and didn't require me to F up the door by mounting stuff to it.

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

Sorta kinda finished one side of the front wall tonight. I just lack bracing and making the cleats, which is a fairly quick task (knock on wood).

Here's the cabinet after I put the burlap & plastic in.


And here it is with 6" of treatment and another layer of plastic.



I'm not particularly sure what I should start on tomorrow. I may go to Hobby Lobby and pick up some burlap for the back wall tomorrow on lunch and I may start work on the back wall after finishing up this one front wall piece.

I can't work on the other side of the front wall because I ran out of the special order burlap I was using. I ordered the 3 yards I needed to finish the front wall today.

 

[c7sus]

How's that diffusor coming along?

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

How's that diffusor coming along?

Honestly, I kinda forgot about it. There are some blocks on it that are pretty long. I'm not sure I can allow or afford that much invasion of my personal space.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

I'm not sure I can allow or afford that much invasion of my personal space.

How bout a Poly then? I mean, all the Studiotips guys recommend it. Afterall, Polys are even used in RPG's own labs to test THEIR own QRD's etc. Go figure.. Polys used to "diffuse" a lab testing....DIFFUSERS

Here's an even more bizarre picture. A MODEL of a lab, using model Poly's to DIFFUSE the space in the lab model, to test a MODEL of a DIFFUSER sample... Look at the size of the Mics/stands in comparison with the box.

I haven't got a clue if the model was actually being used for a test..or what. Sure is bizarre though.

 

[c7sus]

You could always wear a helmet to avoid head injuries from the diffusor.

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

I'm getting absolutely sick of working on this shit. Just a message from your friendly neighborhood garage treatment builder.

I won't go into the details of why I didn't get much done tonight but suffice it to say, I only attached three pieces of wood today.

 

[c7sus]

I spent about 4 months building gobos in my living room. Had to make jigs to cut ribs for the inner frames and to make square cuts and dadoes on plywood 6" wide and 90-inches long, along with another fullsize 42"x 90" reverse-cut jig so I could GLUE the 1/4" ply backs onto the 42-inch wide inner frames that are cut at 6-1/2 degree angles from the center to edge so the backs wouldn't be parallel. Lot of pucker factor cutting a full-length sheet of 1/4inch ply down the middle lengthwise with a 13-degree dovetail bit! But I got away with no nails or screws on the backsides, which look like bookmatched figure in oak. One of the gobos I built 8-inches deep and packed with 5 inches of Knauf and covered the bottom 5-feet of the front with a slot resonator tuned to 250Hz as the primary freq, and an octave each side of that for good measure. Took a week just to figure that out and lay it out and fab it up. Oh yeah, I used three different thicknesses of plywood for the slot resonators, and cut each piece consecutively out of the stock so the grain on the pieces would retain their original order on the gobo. So I have OCD. Wanna make something out of it?

Result is I have 4 panels 42-inches wide and 90-inches tall stuffed with 4-inches of Knauf soundboard, 2 on each side held together with door hinges. The way I have my desk set up they are at about 45-degree angles into the corners and end about a foot past the front edge of my desk. They create a very nice soundstage and the space behind them in the corners is filled with empty gear boxes.

I built a Frankenstein desk from part of a three-piece corner desk by adding a 6-foot/6-inch x 42-inch deep top to the bottom and adding a raised portion full-length across the back to mount speakers and the computer monitor. Looks like an aircraft carrier in here. Holds a ton of shit and somehow is always cluttered up with said ton of shit.

Hint: NEVER operate a router in your living room!

Second hint: you can never have enough canvas tarps!

Third hint: The shit you will do when you are unemployed!!!

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

I'm getting absolutely sick of working on this shit.

You don't know the half of it.

Myriad, I've been working on my shit for so long I think I've forgotten the original intent. Like my current project..modding my computers and the enclosure. This project has already consumed 6 freaking months of planning, sourcing, ordering, measuring, designing, moving, machining, building ...and I STILL ain't done.

Here's a few pics. This is the plan. Actually, I'm modding TWO identical computer cases, although different MOBO's but both i7 CPU's. One is for graphics/folding, the other music. Hence different mobo's and GPU's.

Here's the new aluminum Bezel for the computer fronts...learned some new tricks with aluminum extrusions.

and the modded case and HD cage

here's the back of the bezel. I happened to have a channel that fit the inside of the finish bezel parts exactly. I superglued them together. Worked great. Although you have to prep the aluminum correctly to make it stick.

and the new bezel on one of the case's

and aligning the new Optical to HD adapter cages..

and here's some of the work on the enclosure itself..what a fucking PITA!
these are the Exhaust duct Plenums. The also hold the Crossflow fans.

well, sorry to inject my shit here. Enough already. I won't even get into the enclosure itself. I'll post it on my own thread soon. Needless to say. I know what you are going through. But hang in there. Just be glad you're not building a Homebuilt AIRCRAFT. Took my dad 20 years. Although, it feels like I've been doing this shit for just as long.

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

HOLY..................FUCKING....................SHIT.......................FITZ....................You're insane.

That stuff looks awesome, though. Wow!

Anyway, what I'm about to post seems like child's play now. I was all happy about it but you just totally put me to shame!

Here's the back wall. Just finished it today. I WAS going to do two of these and then hang them length-wise. However, I figured since I'm going to be putting a couch at the back wall, it's no big deal and the couch will act as a bit of an absorber itself. So, I'm hanging it the other way so I can cover the wall and calling it good.

I decided to get a little different here and covered it with a lightish green burlap. Doesn't look too shabby.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

HOLY..................FUCKING....................SHIT.......................FITZ....................You're insane.

I think you are correct. Anyone who's spent as long as I have trying to finish a home studio should be locked up..for his own protection.

That stuff looks awesome, though. Wow!

Thanks Myriad. The only reason I spent this much time on the computer enclosure is it needs to WORK! Once this one is done, I can get on with finishing this damn studio.

Anyway, what I'm about to post seems like child's play now. I was all happy about it but you just totally put me to shame!

Not at all. In fact, I'd submit that you are one hell of a DIY'er..AND YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS ALMOST FINISHED! I'M JEALOUS AS HELL!

I decided to get a little different here and covered it with a lightish green burlap. Doesn't look too shabby.

You betcha! I LOVE that color and the color of your room! Might even do it in mine too!

Looks absolutely great Myriad. You should be proud of yourself. Not many people have the gumption to tackle all that you've done all by yourself. Here's to ya.

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

Thanks much, fitz.

Well, I spent the evening in the garage. I got the second frame done for the front wall and got it trimmed up. Tomorrow I'm going to tackle the task of covering it with fabric. With some luck, I'll get that done (it's not easy going around angles and cutting it right). Once that's done, it's off to hanging the front and back wall treatment. At that point, I'll start to bring it some of the furniture and figure out where my mix position is going to be. From there I can figure out where my cloud position will be (dictated slightly be where the studs are in the ceiling).

Cloud question...I was initially going to cover quite a bit of the ceiling with a cloud. But my desire to do that is dwindling and decent coverage over my mix position is probably plenty. So...how large should I make this cloud?

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

So...how large should I make this cloud?

You may need to establish your engineering position first. Once you do, and while sitting there, have someone move a small mirror around the ceiling, to find those points where you see the monitors reflection. At the point where you do NOT see the monitors, is the minimum perimeter edge. However, I would extend that perimeter out 6-12" just to be on the safe side. Ok, that's my NON expert opinion.

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

Fitz, that thing has some potential to be HUGE (the cloud). Kinda worries me a bit with something like that hanging over my head.



Got the second part of the front wall covered with the burlap. I ordered the same color burlap from the same company. I expected that it would have SOME color variation but it's pretty different. Hope it won't be noticeable. I'm a bit OCD and if I notice it, it'll drive me nuts. On another note, even though I tried not to, I made the same mistake on this side of the front wall treatment as I did on the other side. It's not square on the inside. I should have braced it differently but I really couldn't avoid what happened. I have a plan to fix it once I get it up on the wall, though. It involves some pieces of rough cut cedar. Should look nice and you won't even be able to tell it's not square. I'll post pictures when I hang both sides to illustrate. I'm beat right now.

Tomorrow I'm going to finish up the the second side of the front trap and move it into the house. If I have the energy or desire, I'll start on hanging them. We'll see.

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

On a randomly awesome note, I ordered my new interface today! I had sold my previous one (RME Fireface 800) when I moved with the intention of upgrading. I was going after the Lynx Aurora 16 initially. As great as it is, I kept hearing not so great things about the stability and such. RME then came out with the UFX and it blew me away in features. RME is SOLID with their drivers and such so I knew I couldn't go wrong there. So that's what I ordered today after waiting until they came in. Can't wait to get it hooked up!!

 

[Myriad_Rocker]

Here's a picture of the back wall treatment hung in place. It's hung with a cleat but it makes me really nervous because it's so heavy. I'm really afraid it's going to fall.



It was a little underwhelming when I got it up there. I didn't think it looked all that good. Not as good as I expected it to look, anyway. Maybe it'll be better once I get the couch there.