Not bad

The cable tidies have helped make it look a bit neater.

Everything is finished ready for the PC box and audio interface, which should arrive in a few days time.

Then, after testing all equipment and connections, it will finally be time to start familiarising myself with the new software, and playing around with music.

PC build

The PC is assembled, and is currently being configured and optimised by the chairman of the studio advisory committee.

                       

It made sense to go for a 64 bit operating system (32 bit windows OS can only utilise 3.5GB of RAM, whereas the 64 bit OS can access hundreds of GB), as many music software companies have released 64 bit versions of their software now.

The hardware is generally good mid-range; a quad core Intel® Core™ i5-2500 CPU, 8GB of RAM, three drives totalling 5.5TB (1xOS/software, 1xaudio, 1xbackup), a good graphics card (AMD Radeon™ HD 6790), a relatively quiet Antec P183 case, all powered by an 850w Corsair CMPSU-850HXUK PSU.

We decided to try Studio One as the main sequencer, as it is 64 bit, and appears to be fairly quick and intuitive.  I just really liked the look of it compared to the other main sequencers.  Studio One is quite new, and apparently was started by the former lead developer of Cubase.

The only potential problem I noticed is that for audio importing, if it doesn’t know the BPM of the source file, it isn’t yet able to automatically beat-match it.  As I (used to) work with a lot of samples, this might be a problem.  You can manually stretch samples to fit, so it isn’t as if it can’t be done.  It would just be tiresome to do the task that other sequencers do automatically.

Spaghetti junction

Everything is wired in now, with the audio leads above the table, and the mass of power leads and UPS’ underneath it.

Hopefully this will avoid the potential problems, noise and interference of a conglomeration.

It does mean that the desk is pretty messy, but a bit of careful re-routing and some cable tidies should make this much neater.

Power to the people

One 540W/800VA UPS for the PC and one display, and two 405W/700VA UPS’ for the rest of the equipment should ensure that when surges and momentary dips in the supply occur (it does happen regularly here), the studio should be unaffected.

A complete power cut during operation would allow around 3.5 minutes to automatically shut the PC down at full load.

The APC UPS’ look quite sturdy, and all of them have easily replaceable batteries.

The cabling seen here is for power, audio, video and data.

All the gear and no idea

Well, nearly all the gear!  With the table in place, I’ve been able to start roughly positioning the equipment.  It’s starting to feel like a studio.

As soon as everything is positioned, the design and lengths of the audio, data and power cable networks can be finalised.

Apart from that, the only other equipment not yet here is the PC and audio interface, which is currently being assembled.

Oh, and of course the throne.

LED strip light installed

The potentially troublesome fluorescent strip light has been replaced with a much more efficient LED version.

There certainly is no problem with the brightness of the light, but the LED version is different to the traditional fluorescent in that it only emits light downwards, around 120 degrees, whereas the fluorescent emits light 360 degrees.

The result is a much more directional light, resulting in more shadows towards the edges of the room.  It is certainly fine for this application though.

Fifth time lucky

The paint dried well and gave a good finish on all parts of the table, apart from the one side that was pre-treated on the OSB. It left permanent markings whenever it came into contact with something. These are the main worktops, so it would be a bit of an issue.

All the paint that had been applied so far was water based, so we thought perhaps an oil based paint would solve the problem.

Joe lightly sanded both surfaces before applying the paint (fifth coat), which thankfully has dried fine this time.

These doors are made for slidin’

The problem of installing acoustic treatment to the sliding doors has been solved for the moment, by movable strips of batten with acoustic foam tiles attached to them.  One that leans against the door (for the door that slides outside of the room, and one that is hooked to allow the door to slide behind it.  This one can be removed from the hook and leaned up against the wall when the door is not in use.

Studio lighting

Artist's impression

Whist inspecting the photos of the acoustic foam installation, chief studio advisor Sam Kompfner informed me that it’s generally not a good idea to have fluorescent lights in studios.



Apparently, apart from producing a slight audible buzz, they can also affect other equipment with hum.

I hadn’t even considered this, but after some research into the subject it appears that the honourable gentleman is correct. 



So, the fluorescent light will be replaced with a much more efficient LED version, which should not have a detrimental effect on acoustics or equipment in the room.



Foam party

Most of the acoustic foam is attached to the walls now.  I didn’t want to mess the walls up; it’s possible the studio could change or move in the medium term.  Mastic would have been the quickest, cheapest and easiest option, but it would have messed up the walls.

Some “no more nails” removable adhesive strips caught my eye at B&Q, so I trialled it on a few tiles and it has (so far) worked really well.  I also used some of the permanent strips on the heavier bass traps and the tiles on the ceiling.

They have held well so far, and should be fairly straight forward to remove.

The two sliding doors in the room are providing a challenge.  For the moment some foam tiles attached to movable vertical baton seems to be the best solution.

As I started to move some of the foam into the room, I noticed it had a really dramatic effect on the acoustics, so I didn’t cover as much of the walls as I had originally planned.  The plan isn’t to have an unnatural anechoic chamber (which would be tiresome to work in), but to eliminate the majority of the reverberations so that audio from the speakers is clearly heard and accurate mixes and editing can be performed.

Polishing a turd

The table is nearly finished now. There is just one more coat to do on all the parts before they can be joined together in the room.

Joe has been putting in a lot of time and effort this week, making the most of my inept carpentry skills, with the order of business roughly as follows:

• Sand down all pieces
• Fill holes/gaps
• Apply knotting solution to knots
• Sand down the filler
• Apply first primer/undercoat
• Fill again and sand filler
• Apply second primer/undercoat
• Sand down everything
• Apply first top coat
• Apply second top coat

Taking shape

The table is taking shape now, both surfaces and the base are sanded and ready to prime.

The OSB seems to be OK, but I would have preferred the thicker 25 mm MDF.  It will be screwed onto the base from the bottom, so it will mean turning it upside down to replace the surfaces in the future if I am not happy with it.

Not a single 25 mm sheet of MDF

Having enquired as to the availability of (the absent) 25 mm MDF at my local B&Q store, and having been told that the B&Q store at the other side of town stocks it (after the assistant called the other store in front of me to ask them if it was in stock), to my dismay there was not a single 25 mm sheet of MDF there upon my arrival.  Not one.

Whilst perusing their shelves of sheet timber, some wild 18 mm OSB appeared, which seemed pretty sturdy in comparison to the MDF.  Christopher Charles and I deemed this to be suitable for the table top, so two 8x4 foot sheets were purchased for the base and top layers and we were merrily on our way.

These will need to be sanded, primed and painted, along with the base, before finally being joined together in holy matrimony in the room.

Christopher Charles, House of Barber

Gussets

Thanks to those of you who expressed your concern regarding the sturdiness of the table base.

I can’t fit the base into the room if I attach supporting beams around the base of the legs at this point.

So, they will need to be added after I have got the base in the room.  If they are needed at all; the gussets are on now, and it is pretty sturdy.

It stood up to the test of my delicate 13 stone frame sitting on it anyway.

Build commence

After searching high and low for a suitable table, I decided that the best thing to do, at least initially, was to build my own.  I would like to base everything on a table that is 2 meters (W) x 1.2 meters (D) x 0.7 meters (H).  There are not many tables around of this size.  Some “boardroom table” options available, but mostly seemed to be either way too expensive or not really what I wanted.

At least if I build my own and I realise that my sizes are wrong, or I would like to make changes after a few months of use, it isn’t too much of a problem to hack it about a bit or dump it and purchase something else.

So, after a trip to B&Q, I returned with some 70 mm x 70 mm planed timber, some (very impressive) TURBODRIVE™ wood screws, and much enthusiasm.

Although some more support is needed, the basic structure of the base of the table is complete.

Empty spaces

Here’s the room that I plan to install the studio into.

It’s 10 ft wide, 9 ft deep and 7.5 ft high.


The whiteboard is no longer with us.

Main screen turn on

After quite a few years out of music, I seem to have caught the bug again.  I always loved working on music (even if people didn’t love listening to it!), but my life moved on and I just didn’t have the time to devote to it any more.

I aim to get back into making music as a hobby, just for the enjoyment.

For the last few weeks I have been planning a studio build, and over the coming weeks I’ll be attempting to put it all together.