The waiting is over! Eventhoug my family and me dreamt of this day for about 3 year now, I must say it is overwhelming. Not only getting there – doing the whole paperwork and much more – the long stretch finally is over! Right now I am literally sitting in my “studio / rehersal space / office / man cave”-to be and enjoy the crazy yet legendary record Reanimation by one of my all time favorites – Linkin Part.
Ready, set, go!
On the 23rd of August our house finally was handed over to us – still quite the construction site – yet “finished” on the inside (we will just put that in exclamation marks and I’llskip the explanation). Not an hour after the documents were singned we started packing the car. This kind of initiated an endless caravan of trips between our flat and the house – which we also needed to get ready for handover within the next 8 days (!) – while both working fulltime and taking care of the kids (!!) – OUCH!!!
Setteling in
While of course all our personal belongings – especally clothes, matraces, toiletries etc. were prio one, I must admit, that I was super excited to finally move my instruments and equipment. Especally the new drum set, for which took me two night shifts to assemble within the first days. Anyway – to be honest nothing was more moving then to arrange the furniture of the kids rooms and see them smile like a thousand suns.
This is Day 1 of my studio diary – one of many more to come
Studio Setup – the basics
On my recent day 0 post I shared some renders. I had some 2 – 3 versions of the room on my mind, yet plans are made to be changed. Seeing the table(s) and equipment in the room and having worked there for some days (day job – no music at all) I quickly figured out that the non-studio half of the room needed a revision. Instead of cramping my day-job-desk in the middle of both areas – like an invasive species – I decided to free that space and give the drum set some more room. The other desk will now be opposite the studio wall – which may also add some diffusion. A small sofa bed and an armchair from our flat in Frankfurt will go to one wall while the opposite wall may just be outfitted with a TV bench or a cupboard. I hope this will open up the space much more.
arrange – fail – re-arrange – tweak
As a scrum master and IT consultant I learned and also tought my teams that working in short iterations, failing early and learning in retrospective is as crucial as good planning. Here are some photos of earliest iterations. In the first week of September now it is a quiet rough canvas – but while writing this words I can already feel the potential of the room.
A first order at my preffered music supplier is placed to get some quick improvements done and fill the room – it has quiet the reverb! Beatiful with the accoustic guitar but deffinetly not my goal. Here is what I ordered and will do with it:
Acoustic Treatment – I am quiete affraid of this topic as it is a whole science on its own. So inspite of any recommendations of going for wall absorbers or bass traps I ordered a cloud absorber. Why that – you may wonder. Well it is the only thing I am 100% sure were I want to place it – just above my listening position.
Speaker Posts – An absolute must to get the full potential out of my HS-5s. I am opting in for the product line of Gravity Stands and hope they are great value for money products – I will need to write a quick review later I guess.
Guitar Multi Stand – Guitarists are strange creatures. We have a dozen arms and can play up to 5 guitars at the same time. In theory that would explain the average amount of guitars owned / bough by guitarists. I must admit I was a little shocked that the room looked like guitar store when I first put all the instruments in it. Now a 7-instrument multi-stand from Gravity will tame the chaos.
Notebook Stand – Let’s keep it paperless and practical. Opting in for Gravity Stands I more or less accidentally ordered this one too – quick hands while browsing my whislist. Anyway it may be a happy little accident and open up some options.
What’s next
We are waiting for a moving company to pack up and deliver the furniture from our Frankfurt flat (most importantly the good old gas barbecue!) – luckily we were able to store them in Bratislava for one year at a friends place for free.
Next Steps:
- Assembly and tweaking
- making addtional orders if the budget allows it (absorbers, diffusors)
- sound checks – when the initial assembly is done
Taking a break – regain energy – and just enjoy the place – then:
- planning of stage 2 (accoustic optimization, recording booth, gear upgrades, etc.)
- Recording and rehearsing