S
sr71rules
Member
Excellent idea Miro. Looks great!
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
I was hopping to get done in time to make this year's Mix Magazine "Class of 2020"...
... where they showcase some of the newest studio builds of the year or the latest studio remodels....but I didn't get done in time, the June 2020 issue just came out with the "Class of 2020". 
Well, since they said this year's class wasn't all current due to the COVID-19 restrictions that prevented then from going around taking photos, and I think they just filled some of it in with previous/older studio shots...I can shoot for next year's "Class of 2021"!!!
Man...every year when that issue comes out, I always drool at some of the studios pictured. I'm not crazy about all of them...I don't like the ones that have a very clinical look, or some that have that all-gray, futuristic look...I prefer the ones that have some nice color and wood appointments, with a touch of some retro vibe...
...but then, we all have different tastes.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
Some of you may be wondering (or not) what happened with this studio project...well, TBH, I'm kinda wondering too!
Actually...the project is still active, though I haven't done much inside the studio because as I mentioned 3 weeks ago, I was dealing with the outside around the new construction, since the original excavation and grading was just a rough job, and I really needed to get down to some actual landscaping and the building of rock walls.
As I mentioned a couple of posts back, either I couldn't get anyone or the people I did get wanted crazy money to do basic regarding and moving of stones...which I knew would end up with me still having to do a lot of the finish work.
So...I took on the project myself...rented some earth moving equipment...and got to work.
These first two pictures kinda show how messy it was after the construction...and there was a lot to be done to make it presentable.
The large boulders were delivered by the guy who did the original excavation for the construction...he only charged me $100 for the load.
This is the equipment I rented...the small skid steer I had for a whole week, but the excavator was mine for only one 8-hour day, though I was able to split that across the weekend, and managed to use it to move some earth and prep the ground for the rock walls, and also to place the several huge boulders at the corners to anchor the wall yet to be constructed. I was thinking to keep the excavator for one more day, but it wasn't cheap, and all I would end up using it for on the second day was to move the smaller boulders...which really weren't all that "small"...but they were workable.
So instead I opted to do them by hand and muscle, and with the help of a regular little hand-truck, which allowed me to scoop/move the bigger rocks from point to point without carrying them or rolling them...but I still had to lift them up into position, or drop them down.
There was a lot of grunting...and I managed to pinch a couple of fingers when a couple of the bigger rocks rolled on me as I was placing them...but nothing real serious...just pain and bruises.
This is what was left that I had to move by hand...plus another pile around the corner for the second wall.
Besides the grading and the building of the rock walls...I also took advantaged of having the small skid steer for a whole week to put down fresh driveway stone...but it's a big driveway, and it actually has another leg that circles around...so that alone took a couple of days.
This is the finished grading, landscaping...and the two rock walls...but that pile under the white tarp that you can just barely see in the last picture, is 10 yards of screened dirt-n-mulc, that I still have that to spread out down in the area below the bigger rock wall, and then some grass seed and some straw...and finally the yard will be done...apart from some planting of a few shrubs that I may get to later on, maybe in the fall.
So I hope at some point this week to finally get back to working inside the studio, and moving audio gear in there slowly. I've got a nice second drum kit that I'm looking at...a smaller Gretsch 5-piece...because I decided it would be nice to have two drum kits, set up differently...rather than just the one kit.
If the Gretsch thing falls through...I'll just break up my huge Pearl kit into two smaller ones, and still do the two kits...but that story is for the next couple of chapters, boys and girls.
Actually...the project is still active, though I haven't done much inside the studio because as I mentioned 3 weeks ago, I was dealing with the outside around the new construction, since the original excavation and grading was just a rough job, and I really needed to get down to some actual landscaping and the building of rock walls.
As I mentioned a couple of posts back, either I couldn't get anyone or the people I did get wanted crazy money to do basic regarding and moving of stones...which I knew would end up with me still having to do a lot of the finish work.
So...I took on the project myself...rented some earth moving equipment...and got to work.
These first two pictures kinda show how messy it was after the construction...and there was a lot to be done to make it presentable.
The large boulders were delivered by the guy who did the original excavation for the construction...he only charged me $100 for the load.
This is the equipment I rented...the small skid steer I had for a whole week, but the excavator was mine for only one 8-hour day, though I was able to split that across the weekend, and managed to use it to move some earth and prep the ground for the rock walls, and also to place the several huge boulders at the corners to anchor the wall yet to be constructed. I was thinking to keep the excavator for one more day, but it wasn't cheap, and all I would end up using it for on the second day was to move the smaller boulders...which really weren't all that "small"...but they were workable.
So instead I opted to do them by hand and muscle, and with the help of a regular little hand-truck, which allowed me to scoop/move the bigger rocks from point to point without carrying them or rolling them...but I still had to lift them up into position, or drop them down.
There was a lot of grunting...and I managed to pinch a couple of fingers when a couple of the bigger rocks rolled on me as I was placing them...but nothing real serious...just pain and bruises.
This is what was left that I had to move by hand...plus another pile around the corner for the second wall.
Besides the grading and the building of the rock walls...I also took advantaged of having the small skid steer for a whole week to put down fresh driveway stone...but it's a big driveway, and it actually has another leg that circles around...so that alone took a couple of days.
This is the finished grading, landscaping...and the two rock walls...but that pile under the white tarp that you can just barely see in the last picture, is 10 yards of screened dirt-n-mulc, that I still have that to spread out down in the area below the bigger rock wall, and then some grass seed and some straw...and finally the yard will be done...apart from some planting of a few shrubs that I may get to later on, maybe in the fall.
So I hope at some point this week to finally get back to working inside the studio, and moving audio gear in there slowly. I've got a nice second drum kit that I'm looking at...a smaller Gretsch 5-piece...because I decided it would be nice to have two drum kits, set up differently...rather than just the one kit.
If the Gretsch thing falls through...I'll just break up my huge Pearl kit into two smaller ones, and still do the two kits...but that story is for the next couple of chapters, boys and girls.
S
sr71rules
Member
Not the most glamorous of tasks, but it needed to be done!
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
My problem is I have way too many of those...can't seem to get past them to the fun stuff!
S
sr71rules
Member
I'm sure it feels never-ending
Either way, winter will return and you've have no choice but to hibernate in that beautiful new studio space!
Either way, winter will return and you've have no choice but to hibernate in that beautiful new studio space!
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
My new target date for completing everything around the house and getting the studio set up, is now Oct 1...and I am looking forward to the wintertime so I can just hibernate in the studio. 
I took on a lot with this project...much more than just the obvious studio construction portion, plus things were added as time went by...but the idea was that if I have to live with a mess, I might as well get it all done, rather than constantly go from finishing some smaller project, and then back to another project and another mess.
So it's really become a full house remodeling/upgrade thing...plus the studio...but I do keep looking forward to finally realizing that...there's nothing left to do!
I ended up adding quite a bit of stuff to my initial plans, with the goal of not having anything much to do for the next 15-20 years WRT the house and the infrastructure. I've been living here for 20 years now, and when I first moved in, I did a lot of upgrades...bathrooms, kitchen, installed central AC...etc....and after 20 years, it needed to be "refreshed", so I could enjoy the comfort.
Plus, my ass is getting old...and while I can still "hump it" when it comes to physical labor, and I pretty much know how to do just about anything that needs fixing...it's getting more and more painful and harder to recover from a few days of hard labor...and it won't be any easier 5-10-15 years down the road.
I figure all this that I'm doing will hold me for quite awhile...and I truly CAN just hibernate in the studio.
OK...I gotta get my lazy ass back outside and finish up with the dirt and grass seeding...I've been sitting here all day, but TBH...I was just tired from the last couple of days, I still have about 5 hours daylight for today...gotta keep chipping away at it.
I took on a lot with this project...much more than just the obvious studio construction portion, plus things were added as time went by...but the idea was that if I have to live with a mess, I might as well get it all done, rather than constantly go from finishing some smaller project, and then back to another project and another mess.
So it's really become a full house remodeling/upgrade thing...plus the studio...but I do keep looking forward to finally realizing that...there's nothing left to do!
I ended up adding quite a bit of stuff to my initial plans, with the goal of not having anything much to do for the next 15-20 years WRT the house and the infrastructure. I've been living here for 20 years now, and when I first moved in, I did a lot of upgrades...bathrooms, kitchen, installed central AC...etc....and after 20 years, it needed to be "refreshed", so I could enjoy the comfort.
Plus, my ass is getting old...and while I can still "hump it" when it comes to physical labor, and I pretty much know how to do just about anything that needs fixing...it's getting more and more painful and harder to recover from a few days of hard labor...and it won't be any easier 5-10-15 years down the road.
I figure all this that I'm doing will hold me for quite awhile...and I truly CAN just hibernate in the studio.
OK...I gotta get my lazy ass back outside and finish up with the dirt and grass seeding...I've been sitting here all day, but TBH...I was just tired from the last couple of days, I still have about 5 hours daylight for today...gotta keep chipping away at it.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
Been tearing down the old studio the last few days...finally...I needed to get the room empty since I'm going to be re-carpeting the room along with my entire downstairs, and that room will become a new master bedroom, as I reconfigure my downstairs spaces now that I have a new studio.
I've got almost all the stuff out of there...breaking down the last bit of rack gear...and then all that will be left to move are 4-5 of the big items that I can't move by myself without hurting something...console, 2" tape deck, Hammond organ w/Leslie and the Ampex 1/4". I've got someone that will help me with those pieces...hopefully tomorrow...and then the next day the carpet guys are coming to measure the rooms for the installation, which probably won't be for 3-4 weeks afterward, depending how soon they can get the carpet from the manufacturer.
The carpet installation will be a of fun..NOT!
Really looking forward to jockeying furniture from one room to the other as they work they way through the entire downstairs...but that is pretty much the last big portion of the year-long studio build and house remodel/upgrade project...though I still have a lot of odds-n-ends to finish myself...not counting the new studio setup and wiring.
I'm also about ready to order the material for my acoustic panels. I held off so as not to have too many things piled up...but now I'm looking at the calendar, and I need to get those panels made, along with a few other tasks that are best done outside where sawdust and staining/painting can happen without worry of any mess. I've got two months of outside weather left...and it sounds like a long time, but man...the weeks have just been flying by!
So this weekend it's been kinds sad in some ways...I use to love my old studio space, it was very comfy for me working mostly solo, but way too small whenever I had people over. Still...I've got some good memories of the time I spent there, and all the little changes that occurred over the 20 years I was in that space.
Well...now I have to get the new studio going...make some new memories.
I've got almost all the stuff out of there...breaking down the last bit of rack gear...and then all that will be left to move are 4-5 of the big items that I can't move by myself without hurting something...console, 2" tape deck, Hammond organ w/Leslie and the Ampex 1/4". I've got someone that will help me with those pieces...hopefully tomorrow...and then the next day the carpet guys are coming to measure the rooms for the installation, which probably won't be for 3-4 weeks afterward, depending how soon they can get the carpet from the manufacturer.
The carpet installation will be a of fun..NOT!
Really looking forward to jockeying furniture from one room to the other as they work they way through the entire downstairs...but that is pretty much the last big portion of the year-long studio build and house remodel/upgrade project...though I still have a lot of odds-n-ends to finish myself...not counting the new studio setup and wiring.
I'm also about ready to order the material for my acoustic panels. I held off so as not to have too many things piled up...but now I'm looking at the calendar, and I need to get those panels made, along with a few other tasks that are best done outside where sawdust and staining/painting can happen without worry of any mess. I've got two months of outside weather left...and it sounds like a long time, but man...the weeks have just been flying by!
So this weekend it's been kinds sad in some ways...I use to love my old studio space, it was very comfy for me working mostly solo, but way too small whenever I had people over. Still...I've got some good memories of the time I spent there, and all the little changes that occurred over the 20 years I was in that space.
Well...now I have to get the new studio going...make some new memories.
einstein magoo
Member
Leslies usually sound really good in a corner. Kind of emphasizes the lower frequencies and I like the way the rotating treble horn sounds with things bouncing around. I have my 145 on a carpet dolly with nice heavy rubber wheels. Hardly ever move it but handy for swinging it around for service, etc. Like many people, I have upper and lower back covers removed so I can see the horn and drum spin, just looks cool! Mine is in really good condition cosmetically so it looks really nice with the pretty side facing out too.
On a wood floor like you have, I would consider setting the L100? on a piece of carpet remnant, faced upside down so the usually top finished side is to the floor to protect you flooring. And cut a little over-sized so you can grab it and just pull the monster around to where you want it without scratching up that flooring.
Of course, you already have a set-up in mind, just throwing in my 2 cents.
Have fun!
On a wood floor like you have, I would consider setting the L100? on a piece of carpet remnant, faced upside down so the usually top finished side is to the floor to protect you flooring. And cut a little over-sized so you can grab it and just pull the monster around to where you want it without scratching up that flooring.
Of course, you already have a set-up in mind, just throwing in my 2 cents.
Have fun!
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
Well to day was the nut busting day....I'm still looking for one of mine...
...had a guy come help me move the 5 big/heavy items - 2" tape deck, console, Hammond, Leslie and the 1/4" Ampex tape deck w/cart.The 2" tape deck went fist, and man...I didn't think we were going to make it up the steps at one point...but we managed to get it up one step at a time. The console was an all at once deal...but I barely managed to keep a hold on into the new studio. Everything got moved without any damage to the gear or our fingers...but I'm still looking for one of my nuts!
So yeah, the Hammond and Leslie were already slated for a corner spot. I already have the grand piano somewhat in on corner...and was planning to put my synth/electric piano against the wall on one side the piano...and the Hammond would go almost opposite the grand...keys facing key, but kinda offset from each other, with the Leslie tucked toward the corner. Of course, I will have some rather large bass traps actually straddling the corners...but the Leslie will be close, and yeah, I have a dolly for it.
Oh...on my Leslie...I too can remove the back panel to expose the drum and horns...is that what you mean...?...the top half and bottom covers.
So then do you face the back of the Leslie out from the corner walls so you can see the drum and horns?
I also have a several boxes of 24" x 24" carpet squares...the stuff that has the vinyl/rubber backing and the hard woven carpet, like you see in offices...and I was already planning to use that all around the studio for putting under amps and other gear, so as not to mark up the floor...plus I'm going to make like a drum platform "sandwich", with the carpet squares first then a sheet of plywood, then another layer of the carpet squares....and I'll either glue the squares to both sides, or just use some double-sided tape.
That way, the drums will have a solid, secure surface, and I don't have to worry about the hardwood floor getting gouged.
I've got a lot of that stuff...been sitting in boxes for years...always figuring one day I would find a good use for it...and now I have.
Boy...I am SO GLAD that we got those big items moved into the new studio...I was really concerned it would be a bigger PITA than it was. Moving the stuff into the old studio was a lot easier...it was down the steps, and I was able to basically tip and slide everything down the steps...but coming back up, much more work.
I still have a console upright left in the old studio space...but I'm going to leave it there. The room will become a master bedroom, with a piano in it....which I actually like, because there will be a small couch there on the one end, and table...that way, if I want to just work on some songwriting, I can do it there too...plus there are many times when I wake up or come out of the shower...and I got a song idea in my head...so having a piano there also will be good.
R
RFR
Well-known member
Damn, working with those rocks is quite a task. Looks good though. 
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
Damn, working with those rocks is quite a task. Looks good though.
Compared to the 2" tape deck and the console, and Hammond...the rocks were easier!
Only thing...the rocks took a few days to complete, so I was worn down for a long time...but the audio stuff today we moved in about 45 min...but oh my poor back!
This is it...I'm never moving again...not to another house, or to any other studio...unless I can pay someone to do all the moving.
My body is just barely handling all this work now...so I doubt I will be up to the task again somewhere down the road.
No...I'm here for the long haul (well, I hope it's a real long haul). This new studio is going to be hard to top, and the house overhaul is coming along really great...so I won't have a reason to move. Once it's all done...I'll probably do something stupid and go find a new woman to come annoy me...
...I've been riding solo the last couple of years now...between taking care of my mother before she died...and then all this work with the house and the studio...I just wasn't interested in adding any relationship headache to the pile...but when I'm done, it would be nice to have some woman making a little noise around the house......as long as she doesn't ask me "Are you going to be in the studio all day again?"...or other dumb questions like that!
grimtraveller
If only for a moment.....
That's exactly how I've been feeling since 2003 and at the time I was only 40 ! Between 1981 when I first started living on my own and 1999, I moved home 6 times and I enjoyed each one. I always enjoyed putting a new place together, working out where things would go. It started off as me just renting a room in a house {3 occasions '81~'83} then apartments {either alone or once I was married}. But I always enjoyed it. I didn't mind moving all the stuff either.
But 2003 just did it for me. We moved to the place we're in now and it took such a long time to get everything together. It was over a year before everywhere was done and dusted and I disliked the entire process. I thought I'd enjoy it as I always had. But I really didn't. It does cross my mind to move out of London one day....but not enough to actually do something about it ! But if I do move, none of my muscles are going to be employed in the action.
That was partly why I gave up delivery work after 20 years. And I have to say that bodily, I have definitely noticed the difference. I have seen the difference in my hands and I don't get those tweaks that I was getting with unexpected movements anymore. I also used to help friends move house quite a bit. They were so unfit, huffing and puffing all over the place. But I used to feel it more and more in my body and there does come a point where one just has to say no more, no more ! I'll exercise for maintenance and keeping generally fit and supple~ish but those big moves are beyond me now. I'm deliberately past my sell by date in order to keep a 'best before' date !
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
The last few days I had to empty out the old studio space...had the carpet measuring folks over, and the new carpet is on order for my entire downstairs area, including the old studio space...so it was time to finally break down the old and move it all into the new.
The last pieces of the old studio...
And this is what the new space looks like now...it's going to take some time to get this all set up and wired.
The last pieces of the old studio...
And this is what the new space looks like now...it's going to take some time to get this all set up and wired.
E
ecc83
Well-known member
Holy crap on a cracker!!
You have a LOT of work there chap! Braver than me.
Dave.
You have a LOT of work there chap! Braver than me.
Dave.
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
You don't know the half of it.
Considering that the basic construction was done back at the end of March...you would think, "should have had the studio up and running by now"...but man, I've just been endlessly swamped with all kinds of work I needed to get done before I got to the studio gear setup.
I'm actually glad I bit the bullet and went ahead with the carpet ordering for my house lower floor, as it forced me to empty the old studio before the installers show up in a few weeks...but it's not that I've been procrastinating with the studio...I just took on a lot more with my house overhaul than I originally planned t to last year when it all started, and much of it involved outside work the last few months...and even though I've been going at it all spring and summer...I'm just now close to finishing, which I need to since the weather will only be favorable for a few more weeks.
You really don't want to be painting/staining or some other outside stuff once the night temps start to drop into the 40's(F)...and that's just around the corner...not to mention, when it rains, there's only so much you can do outside.
Today I'm finishing the painting of my two outside doors...and after that, I only have a couple of more small outside projects connected with my house overhaul...after that, it's all inside work...but I still have to build some acoustic panels, and that I will prefer to do outside...so I'm actually under the gun to finish all that in the next 4-5 weeks...after that it's going to be to late, unless we have an extended Indian summer in October, but I can't count on it.
OK...I'll stop whining now and get back to work... (I was on a snack break from the painting).
spantini
COO of me, inc.
Hey! ... I found that buzzing sound 
miroslav
Cosmic Cowboy
Hey! ... I found that buzzing sound
As messy as that looks....and fraught with potential buzz/hum issues...
...this is how it was before I tore it apart, and pretty much buzz-free.Well OK...I get a buzz when I need to.
Believe it or not...all my studio wiring was actually very "quiet", considering the miles and miles of cable, and the number of connectors and connection points involved, and I was pretty impressed that I managed to only have a few miswired and a couple of minor buzz issues that were sorted out during the process....but it took a LOT of planning...many diagrams...everything color-coded and numbered...and then testing each connection to make sure the soldered joints were solid and no reversed polarity or poor grounding with any connection...which took many, many hours, and days and weeks to complete.
Now I gotta do it all over again.
Well...I'm probably going to retain some of the existing patchbay configurations...but there will still be multiple 48-channel snakes that I have to rewire, since the old ones were too short for the new studio...and frankly, the cabling was just old. I've got much better stuff this time around.
I'll be sucking solder smoke for a month or more...
...and my sinuses are going to love it. 
R
RFR
Well-known member
Very clean wiring
But yeah , you got some work on your hands. But with no woman to nag or distract you (my apologies to any females) it will go fast.
And..... it will be great when done!
But yeah , you got some work on your hands. But with no woman to nag or distract you (my apologies to any females) it will go fast.
And..... it will be great when done!
E
ecc83
Well-known member
Miroslav, you 'seem' to have a fairly predictable climate?
Over here we have had two or three weeks of 30C+ and zero rain then temps around 20C and perpetual rain!. Today the sun is shining, last night it pissed down...Here (northants NN5 5PF) but go 200miles north or west (well you would be in the Irish sea but ykwim!) and the reverse could be true.
Cannot plan ANY fekkin thing here that is precipitation sensitive!
Dave.
Over here we have had two or three weeks of 30C+ and zero rain then temps around 20C and perpetual rain!. Today the sun is shining, last night it pissed down...Here (northants NN5 5PF) but go 200miles north or west (well you would be in the Irish sea but ykwim!) and the reverse could be true.
Cannot plan ANY fekkin thing here that is precipitation sensitive!
Dave.
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