DIY build - garage studio ALMOST DONE!

[Tortuga]

Quick update - had a buddy come over so we can (ab)use the new studio this weekend. Was very happy with how well the sound was contained in the room. We tried blowing the roof off the place a couple of times, and it was better outside the building than I could have imagined. Still haven't tried out drums in there yet, but this was way encouraging. Haven't had a chance to pull pics from the camera yet - will try to do that by the weekend. There's quite a bit of gear in there now, and I did get my desk set up with dual screens, system speakers, recording monitors, and a fairly good PC. That desk is going to evolve into sort of a multi-purpose bench for recording, electronics, and guitar work.

My friend did bring over his old Boogie Mark II. From everything I can tell, it is a bone-stock Mark IIC+ dated June 1984. We did a quick tear-down to make sure the internals (that hadn't been used in 15 years or more) appeared to be functional - everything, including the filter caps, appeared to be in excellent condition. I took a few minutes to clean the tube contacts, pots, and jacks. Then we plugged it into the current limiter I had just built and gave it a go. After everything checked out, we connected it up and it sounded absolutely killer! Ran it for quite a while on both Saturday and Sunday with zero issues.

[Reverse Entropy]

I really think the bass traps are going a long way towards tightening the room, and I can only imagine what it'l be like when I get some better treatments on the walls.

You've grasped the crux of the biscuit. The amount of adverse EQ put into a space by uncontrolled bass reinforcement (corners) VASTLY out-shouts any corrective EQ you can put into the signal. Your agressive bass trapping is going to pay off, big time. I love your cutout for the AC drop - kewl.

Your wall treatment will take care of the flutter. Walls issues are high freq, and relatively high Q (narrow filter); corners effects are low freq and relatively broad Q.

Just be careful to use fire-safe treatments on your walls - as young kids we didn't do that on our studio. We later made musical friends with a fire services guy. He almost had a heart attack when he looked at our wall system. Whoops.

Really love what you've done with the project. So cool your son is involved in it ! Get him some foamies earplugs so he can stand being in there with you.

[Dickarms]

so ultimately badass, sir.

[Tortuga]

I really think the bass traps are going a long way towards tightening the room, and I can only imagine what it'l be like when I get some better treatments on the walls.

You've grasped the crux of the biscuit. The amount of adverse EQ put into a space by uncontrolled bass reinforcement (corners) VASTLY out-shouts any corrective EQ you can put into the signal. Your agressive bass trapping is going to pay off, big time. I love your cutout for the AC drop - kewl.

Your wall treatment will take care of the flutter. Walls issues are high freq, and relatively high Q (narrow filter); corners effects are low freq and relatively broad Q.

Just be careful to use fire-safe treatments on your walls - as young kids we didn't do that on our studio. We later made musical friends with a fire services guy. He almost had a heart attack when he looked at our wall system. Whoops.

Really love what you've done with the project. So cool your son is involved in it ! Get him some foamies earplugs so he can stand being in there with you.

Thanks for the feedback. Amazing how effective those bass traps have been, and I'm hoping to get time and $$$ to start building up the wall treatments in the next month or so.

The A/C cutout was a huge space-saver - it'd be killing a HUGE amount of space if it was in the room, and I'm using the platform on the other side of the wall as a place to stand when I'm moving stuff to the roof storage area.

I appreciate the tips about fire concerns. It's definitely factored into the design and construction, and I think we've got a pretty good handle on it. Not saying it's perfect (nothing ever really is), but we've covered the majority of potential ignition and fuel sources by using firesafe materials and construction methods, as well as killing power to the room whenever it's not being used. Will be installing a remote fire sensor soon, which will bring some additional piece of mind.

Having my kids see this happen and being able to use it with me will be the best part of the whole project!

so ultimately badass, sir.

Thanks man!

[nakedzen]

Not sure how much of use it'll be at this point, but I highly recommend this book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/143545717X/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[ibenhad]

Awesome thread and what a great job. One of if not the best build threads I have ever seen. Would love to hear something recorded in there. Keep up the good work. Love the way the kids were incorporated.

[RIFF]

Jeez Grime, I just noticed you were from IE over in HolyDivers thread. I thought I was the only IE guy here! Anyhow at the same time I noticed your sig about your studio build, & you did some GREAT work man!
Up till recently, Ive always had some kinda space for jamming or recording.. usually it wasnt sound proof; Id just throw up some absorption, diffusion & call it good. It usually got us by ok, but the work you did here is great! Have you done full band jams & whatnot? How do drums sound in there?

[Tortuga]

Thanks for the compliments on the room. Glad to know there's more than a couple of us in that 'other' SoCal, Riff. Gonna have to have you guys out for BBQ & jamming sometime.

I do get to spend time in there (jamming, recording, working on guitars / amps / effects boxes / other, and even for a nice quiet hideaway for doing homework or paid work. Absolutely love it! Have had others over to jam with, but no percussion yet. Volume is kept well north of bedroom levels most times, but not quite what would keep up with an energetic drummer. Hoping to remedy that sometime in the near future, for sure.

Still need to do some sound treatment to get rid of the last bits of flutter echo, but overall, the room sounds great to me. Will try to get some updated pics up in the near future.

[Sex Panther]

Looks awesome. Can't believe I just saw this. Could have come to check it out, I did a lot of work in the IE during the 2013/2014 winter. Flew in and stayed there I think 5 times.

[Tortuga]

Thanks!

Anytime you're out here, make sure to let me know. Would love to have you come check it out!

[itchyfingers]

The Sound Lab looks tight, brother!!!

[Ostinato Rubato]

Gonna have to have you guys out for BBQ & jamming sometime.

[Tortuga]

It's awesome getting new looks at the studio thread! I can't believe it's up to 8500 views now

Got some work planned this summer to get this project much further along. The room became somewhat of a homework hideaway while I was working on finishing my degree. It's amazing how well sound mitigation works both directions - they can't hear me, and I can't hear them .

Now that the school work is done, the room is almost more of an office than studio right now. Will be addressing that in the next couple weeks. Then I've got to get the outer walls cleaned up. The area with the doorway is pretty much the back wall to our laundry area, and there's a pretty substantial pile of boxes and other crap piled up, making moving equipment and even bodies in and out of the studio difficult.

Also still need to get some sound absorption panels put up. I've got a few ideas for making them up that may look really nice. More about that later when it happens. I do plan to sell / move some gear I'm not using so there's far less stuff in there, and would really like to get a drumset on a riser so we can commence the jammin'.

Once that's done (hopefully by mid- to late-summer), I'll post some better pics of the studio.

[ajaxlepinski]

...and there's a pretty substantial pile of boxes and other crap piled up, making moving bodies in and out of the studio difficult.

All righty then!!!

[Tortuga]

What? I never told you I was studying to be an embalmer?

[skybluegary]

That finished up awesome! Hope you're regularly rocking the fuck out in there!

[Tortuga]

As loud as I want, whenever I want, yes!

Thanks man!

[clipless bumper]

I notice in Bardaugh's thread that you have a 4" hole for exhaust from your A/C unit.
What did you do for air intake? Or does your unit pull/push from the same duct?

[Tortuga]

Ooohhhh.... You're a smart one, mamberg

The room is sealed so tight that when I'm running the unit, I have to keep the door open a bit. Otherwise, it's trying to draw through the gap around the door, which still needs to be sealed. If the door is shut, the gap is so small and the pull-pressure so great, that it literally feels like a fan blowing when I get near the doorway. It also causes the a/c unit to work harder, which obviously is bad. Opening the door at that point causes a decent pop, and the door opens with a good amount of force. Then, if you try to close the door, the pressure-draw makes it really difficult to latch. When you do, ears pop pretty good.

All that said, I rarely get loud enough to require the door to be shut - it's pretty good mitigation with the door mostly shut.

What I'm going to do (very soon) is cut a 4" vent in one of the walls, where I'll install a sound muffler on the outside, so I can draw air in, and keep most of the sound contained. I've seen a few good DIY articles on the interweb that look exactly what I need - basically, a wood square tube lined on the inside with Rockwool, in a sort of maze, such that there are no straight paths for sound to travel through.

[RIFF]

Perfect. & Im sure you know this, but if you can, place your return high, since thats where any hot air & moisture rises.

[clipless bumper]

Ooohhhh.... You're a smart one, mamberg ......

I only know this because I ran into the same thing in my music room - thought the A/C unit I bought (it was a cheap one) was a piece of crap.

Cracked the door a bit, and voila! Worked much, much, better!

[Tortuga]

When I start building the vent & muffler, Mamberg, I'll make sure to let you know.

Riff - the return is built into the self-contained A/C unit, so I don't think I can do much about it. I really don't seem to have any moisture issues, just heat. I'll dig up a picture of the A/C unit sitting in the niche to show what I'm talking about, if I hadn't posted something earlier.

[Tortuga]

Wow - first time I've seen this thread in a long time - which was well before photobucket killed the free hosting. Glad to see my pics back, if only temporary. Seriously considering paying the far more reasonable $20....

Anywho, this coincides perfectly with my latest project. I'm building broadband absorption panels (finally!) for the studio. Pics will follow this weekend

[Ostinato Rubato]

It was cool to see this again!

[ajaxlepinski]

We need to see some new pics... I'm curious to see what the room looks like full of gear!