VOCOMOTION - A Cappella Studio - Construction Thread

[vocomotion]

Yes, the plans called for mass-loaded vinyl between the drywall layers. That's what WSDG uses and apparently they get good results with it. I haven't heard any experts say it's pretty useless. I can't see how adding mass to the wall would be useless (helps cut down low-frequency transmission). I've read one report that says that Green Glue performs better, but that report was written by the company that makes Green Glue!

--> freddie

[judah]

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear Freddie, I didn't mean to say it is useless and seeing that WSDG is one of the biggest expert around the world I'm not the one who will challenge their knowledge. I just heard on a few forums that MLV might not be the best products to put money at.

Thanks for clearing that up. And keep up the good work!

[vocomotion]

We got the soffits and platforms framed up today. There are two soffits in the Control Room, one that runs down either side of the room. There are also two platforms in the CR, one in the front (for display and monitors) and one in the back (Producer's Platform).

The electrician will be in this week to rough out the electrical in the soffits and platforms. Then we'll close them up!

--> freddie

[vocomotion]

More pics...

[vocomotion]

We’re chugging along towards the finish-line!

Here’s where things stand for the next couple of weeks:

Feb 25 (today) - 52″ LCD arrived! Priming walls and ceiling.

Feb 26 - Electrician comes to rough-out the soffits and platforms. Paint ceilings flat black.

Feb 27 - Electrician wires up outlets. Pull low voltage wiring through conduit. New Focal Twin6 monitors arrive!

Feb 28 - Install plywood on platforms and soffits. Paint walls.

Mar 3 - Install hardwood flooring. Custom-built rack/Producers Desk arrives.

Mar 4 - Install carpet on platforms. Acoustic panels, diffusor pieces, and isolation door arrive. MOVE GEAR IN FROM THE TEMPORARY STUDIO!!!

Mar 15 - John Storyk comes for site visit.

Mar 16 - Freddie's birthday!!

Of course, more photos of all these days to come!

--> freddie

[goldenlotus]

Great job! Looking forward to all the pics : )

[vocomotion]

The electrician was here today to install the recessed can lights in the soffits and the electrical boxes & conduit in the platforms. The front platform has some crazy conduit running through it now. We’ll be closing that up with two layers of 3/4″ plywood this weekend.

I primed the Iso-Booth last night too (ceiling and walls). Took about two hours for that small room. Now that the electrician is gone for the day, I’m going to prime the ceiling in the Control Room tonight.

The new Sound Anchors monitor stands arrived today. They’re friggin’ heavy! They’re letting us use an office next door to the studio to store construction “stuff” like the LCD, LCD stand, monitor stands, couch, HVAC units, all the hardwood flooring, and extra scrap wood. It’s getting seriously insane in that small room now and I can barely get into it!

--> freddie

[vocomotion]

The new Focal Twin6 monitors arrived today!! And...the color of the drivers don't match!! WHAT?!

I took these pics and called Mercenary right away. Austin was very cool and called Focal. Apparently, they just updated the look of their drivers and I got one old and one new! HA!

They're sending a replacement, PHEW!

--> freddie

[Clueless]

Originally Posted by vocomotion

The new Focal Twin6 monitors arrived today!! And...the color of the drivers don't match!! WHAT?!

Mix with your ears, young Jedi, not with your eyes.

[vocomotion]

HA! I do!

But if I'm building this new studio, spending the money, and clients are coming in...the speakers should both look like they're from the same pair.

--> freddie

[Clueless]

Originally Posted by vocomotion

HA! I do!

But if I'm building this new studio, spending the money, and clients are coming in...the speakers should both look like they're from the same pair.

--> freddie

I'd do the same. I was just lightly tugging your chain.

[mikahanau]

I`m impressed of the speed of your work.
i work all free time i have for my new studio and after 5 month i`m still getting up the new walls an celling.
hope to start acoustic treatment in month number 6.

It is nice to follow your build diary
cheers
Mika

[vocomotion]

We filled the platforms and soffits with insulation and got the plywood installed, 2 layers of 3/4″ on platforms and 1/4″ finish-grade plywood on the soffits. Then we finished priming the walls, ceiling, and soffits. Tomorrow, we’ll get the ceilings painted and start painting the walls.

--> freddie

[vocomotion]

The studio is all painted and it’s looking really awesome! My small console desk is arriving tomorrow and the flooring is now getting installed Wednesday.

--> freddie

[vocomotion]

As a follow-up to my Focal Twin6Be issue...Simon from Focal contacted me this morning and they're FedEx-ing me a new monitor tomorrow! Awesome!

--> freddie

[vocomotion]

They’re finishing up installing the bamboo hardwood flooring today. Just a little bit on the edges to finish. They’re also putting in the carpet on the platforms.

--> freddie

[vocomotion]

They finished up installing the bamboo hardwood flooring today. They also put the carpet on the platforms. I had them put a felt-padding under the carpet on the rear platform, since people will be sitting there on the couch. Will be a little more comfy. Didn’t put it on the front platform because that’s just holding the LCDs and monitors.

The HVAC guys put the indoor units in yesterday. They’re hooked up to the linesets, but not the electrical yet (will happen tomorrow). Good thing it’s a warm beautiful day here in Skokie (63-degrees F).

Tomorrow the big Isolation Door is getting installed. Also, the electricians are coming to trim out everything (put in the outlets, switches, etc). We still have no word from ComEd as to when we’ll get our electricity hooked up!

--> freddie

[vocomotion]

HUFF Company came today and installed the glass NoiseBarrier isolation door for the sound booth. The thing weighs almost 300lbs and it took three guys to maneuver and install this monster. It took them a couple hours to install and they filmed it for an instructional video explaining how to install this door.

Now, when you’re in the booth, it’s REALLY quiet (it better be!). The door has a magnetic seal (similar to how a refrigerator seals) and lifts up as you open it. It’s already primed grey, and I was thinking of just leaving it as is (matches the walls fairly well) but the door is scuffed in a bunch of places and I can’t leave it like that. So I’m going to have to paint it. Probably black to match the other doors.

One problem I found when I went to clean the glass is that there is dirt (schmutz!) on the inside of the two panes of glass! WHAT?!? The window has two panes of glass separated by like 1″ of space. There is dirt, spots, a hair/filament of some kind, and other streaks on the inside of these panes. Permanently dirty. Lovely. I’ve got an email in to the manufacturer to see what we can do about that.

--> freddie

[Gravity8058]

Nice door, I might be in the market == mind me asking how much that baby set ya back?

Originally Posted by vocomotion

HUFF Company came today and installed the glass NoiseBarrier isolation door for the sound booth. The thing weighs almost 300lbs and it took three guys to maneuver and install this monster. It took them a couple hours to install and they filmed it for an instructional video explaining how to install this door.

Now, when you’re in the booth, it’s REALLY quiet (it better be!). The door has a magnetic seal (similar to how a refrigerator seals) and lifts up as you open it. It’s already primed grey, and I was thinking of just leaving it as is (matches the walls fairly well) but the door is scuffed in a bunch of places and I can’t leave it like that. So I’m going to have to paint it. Probably black to match the other doors.

One problem I found when I went to clean the glass is that there is dirt (schmutz!) on the inside of the two panes of glass! WHAT?!? The window has two panes of glass separated by like 1″ of space. There is dirt, spots, a hair/filament of some kind, and other streaks on the inside of these panes. Permanently dirty. Lovely. I’ve got an email in to the manufacturer to see what we can do about that.

--> freddie

[vocomotion]

It was between $3000-$4000 (it's a bit more because of the full glass window). Installation is about $2000. You can install it yourself or have a regular contractor do it, but I would recommend having HUFF/NoiseBarriers install it for you. These guys knew what they were doing and it only took them a couple hours to install.

Info on the door: Sound Control Doors QuietSwingâ„¢ Series | Noise Barriers, LLC

Doug, they're made locally too (like Schaumburg, I think), so it doesn't take forever to get here like IAC doors can.

--> freddie

[Gravity8058]

Cool, thanks Freddie

[wilesto]

Hey Freddie

It was awesome to see you and the new studio this weekend - it's amazing how fast things have come together since we visited in January!

Can't wait to get in there and put it all to good use!

-Will

[vocomotion]

The custom-built rack arrived last week, but we had no place to put it until the flooring/carpet was installed. It had been sitting out in the kitchen until this weekend. The guys from Fundamentally Sound (client here recording all weekend) helped me move it into the studio. Thanks guys! (@wilesto)

It’s a 3-bay, 18RU rack/Producers Desk made by Sound Construction & Supply in Nashville. Now I need to move all the gear into the racks!

The electrican was in today doing the trim out (installing outlets, switches, can-light trim, pulling some audio wire). We’re supposed to get our electrical hookup tomorrow. We’ll see if ComEd comes through!

--> freddie

[Axiom Studio]

Greeting Freddie:

Hope this finds you well.

I have thoughly enjoyed your build, very very nice.

Is the clear desk that is in the last picture, the desk you are going to use in the finished studio? That is a very nice desk.

Thanks Again,

Stay Gold,

Ken

[vocomotion]

Yes! The clear desk is staying where it is in the pics. When I envisioned the finished control room, I pictured a desk with these exact proportions...not too big. Just enough to hold my bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and Avocet controller (on lower shelf). I wandered into a furniture store here and found it! I had to have it! I haven't seen anything else quite like it.

Thanks!!


--> freddie

[rockstar_josh]

What do you think of the bamboo flooring? Well, obviously I'm not necessarily referring to acoustic properties as you're not done building yet - and that's opening a huge can of worms around here - but does it seem nice and durable? It looks great, the whole place does, congratulations! I'm starting a new control room and I'm planning on using bamboo, so I'm just wondering if you have any real opinions of it yet.

[vocomotion]

The bamboo is reallly nice. Very pretty and not very expensive actually. I bought it from Lumber Liquidators and had a flooring guy I know install it (and the carpet on the platforms). It does have a couple dents in it already, which I'm not thrilled about. They're pretty small though. Apparently, bamboo takes time to fully harden...like two months in the space before it's there.

--> freddie

[vocomotion]

We finally got our ComEd electrical hookup today! I got to flip the big-ass circuit breaker outside beneath the meter. Pretty satisfying GA-THUNK! when I did it. Here are just a couple quick pics with the recessed-lighting turned on. You’ll notice the big LCD is still on the floor, but I’ve put the new Focal Twin monitors on the stands. Getting there!

--> freddie

[rockstar_josh]

Wow, two mos. to harden? Good to know, we'll have to take it easy! My tracking room will double as rehearsal space, so I'll have to give my clients a "looky-here" at first. The affordability of bamboo is especially attractive to me vs. engineered hardwood, and I'd prefer one of those to laminate.

Thanks for your time Freddie, good luck!

- Josh

[vocomotion]

NoiseBarriers sent a couple guys over yesterday to fix the issue with the dirt inside the glass door panes. They took the window frame off, took out one pane, and began cleaning furiously. They had to use a razor blade to remove some of the stuff. Looks like there was some sort of adhesive used, someone got it on their finger, and then touched the glass. Had to scrape the fingerprint off the glass, . The glass door looks awesome now!

The HVAC guys came back yesterday to turn on the heat/AC units too. It’s nice and toasty in here now. The friggin’ thing is SILENT. AC or heat, it’s reallllly quiet. Awesome!

I put the LCD on the floorstand and went to hook it up to the studio computer and….the cables are too short! I ordered extensions, should be here in a day or so.

I got a call from FedEx today that they are delivering the three Modex Plates tomorrow. Once again, a 250lb delivery! Each plate weighs like 75lbs. Not sure how I’m going to mount them on the ceiling yet. They come with mounting brackets, but will need some hands to hoist them up. HUFF tells me that my custom absorber panels should be delivered here tomorrow afternoon too.

…and John Storyk is coming by the studio on Sunday to see how it’s going.

--> freddie