36 hertz studio - complete studio rebuild

[vapour36hertz]

firstly id like to say hello

I have been browsing these forums for some time now and though i would register and make my first post a photo diary of my studio rebuild.

I have had a home studio for nearly 10 years now and have changed most of the set up since i began i think have have finally got the gear i wanted so thought i would splash out some cash on rebuilding my studio to create a more comfortable and more professional working enviroment.

This is not a major commercial studio but more my work space where i write drum n bass tracks for not only my label (36 hertz recordings) but for many other drum n bass record labels.

Aswell as rebuilding the studio I moved rooms to a slightly smaller room this was due to 2 things - 1 my kids needed more space so i thought i would let them have the bigger room and 2 i wanted a smaller room as I was getting alot of reflection around the room.

the main thing i wanted was a clean and comfortable work space rather than worry about acoustics as i have no problems with my tracks final masters and my vinyl mastering engineer could not find any problem areas in my masters

my old set up kit list is as follows:

pentium dual core 3.2gig + 2gig ram
m audio delta 10/10 + breakout box
2 x 19" moniters
behringer truths
soundcraft mixer
s com compresser
ab international eq
tascam cdr
alesis amp
roland jv80 as midi keyboard

what i wanted for the new set up was a new pc moniter as the dual moniter set up was annoying me and i brought some more hardware for mastering just to help me out a bit more

lg 37" lcd screen
dod spectrum analyzer
bbe sonic maximser
vu meter bridge ( 8 way )
tascam da20 dat machine
i also dug out my old alesis moniter 1's for dual monitering


As all of the old set up was just thrown together on old desks and empty beer crates (seriously) i wanted to buy a new studio desk / console to house it all in. After having a look at the various overpiced ready made bits of studio furniture i thought id have a word with a carpenter mate of mine and see if he would be able to build me something to my spec. He said he would be able to build me anything i wanted and to do him some sketches of what i was after and he would set a date to come and build it so i did. i took a series of photos throughout the complete build so here they are

here is a shot of the old set up :



as u can see it was a complete mess i had major problems reaching everything and it generally looks horrible - not a nice working enviroment

i started off by just knocking up a non scaled sketch of the kind of desk i wanted for the new studio all i did here was look at other pre made desks and took any ideas i like from them and adjusted them to my needs. another key factor here is that i am just under 7ft tall so wanted soemthing that was the right hieght for myself as another problem i had with the old set up was i kep hunching over the desk and my back is ruined form years of doing it so i had to make sure i was sitting correctly.

from this my carpenter mate came round and did all of the measurements and made sure everything was going to be at the right hieght for me we then booked 4 days to start the build and i got about dismantling the old set up

so on to the desk/ console build:

1 - initial quick measure up to make sure it will all fit


2 - the first screws for the main frame


3 - first part of the framework nearly finished


4 - finished first part of the main frame


5 - near finished 2nd part of main frame


6 - 2nd part of main frame in place


7 - main parts of farme in place but not secured


8 - main frame parts joined together


9 - first rack mount unit rougly placed for a height test

[vapour36hertz]

10 - all racks in place (not secured)


11 - first part of ply board going on


12 - base ply covered with rack frames added


13 - first rack finished


14 - hole cut out for mixer to sit and rack test


15 - main rack and first drawer fitted


16 - more ply added


17 - 2nd drawer added and cuboard (for pc) floor being fitted


18 - finished and varnished


19 - most of the equipment in place

[vapour36hertz]

20 - all equipment fitted and wired


21 - finished 1


22 - finished 2


23 - finished 3


24 - finished 4


25 - finished 5


26 - finishing touch from my artist girlfriend a nice painted canvas with the 36 hertz logo


final price for the custom console came in at just under £750 this included all the design, labour and materials i payed quite a bit extra for a nicer finish as the ply board cost more and the days extra work to do all the finishing and varnishing but as i am spending most of my time in there i thought i might aswell spend a bit more to get it looking nice.

im well happy with my new set up and the difference in acoustics in there is imense

My carpenter mate would be willing to give anyone a quote if they are interested in getting something built for thier studio. he is a dj and producer himself so knows exactly what is needed for a professional studio and would be more than willing to have an informal chat with anyone who might be interested in getting something built by him wheter its a complete console or just a rack or some bass traps. so if you would like to have a chat with him give sam steer a shout on sam_a_steer@yahoo.co.uk or contact him via his website - Untitled Document
and he will be happy to help you.

for more information on me and my music check my website - 36Hertz - Welcome

enjoy

[G4Jet]

Nice job.
My wif and I think you have made a serious impact on your studio. Very nice.

A51


Area51-studio.com

[Colonel Blues]

Well done, boy ! A real DIY user manual ! Awesome !

[Glenn Kuras]

Looks great!!! What is the plan for the room acoustics?

[vapour36hertz]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

Looks great!!! What is the plan for the room acoustics?

there is no room acoustics

i live in rented accomodation so i cannot fix things to the walls unfortunatly

im lucky that i dont really get any problems with my mixes

i did place the record racks and dj turntables against the back walls in the corners to act as temp sound diffusers of sorts and it seems to work

i dont really get any reflections but of course it could be better

i have turned my moniters on thier sides now though as the tweeters were a bit to high which has made abig difference

[Nolan Walker]

Very nice DIY. Turned out very well.

I swear, I think I've seen some of the finished pics somewhere before... Maybe DOA?

Again, though, nice looking desk, a definite improvement in ergonomics.

[wafflesomd]

That is one of the most impressive desk builds I've seen.

So, a dnb label. Considering that's the only genre that has existed to me for the past 10 years, I feel as though we should keep in touch lol.

How are you liking those berry monitors? They are currently what I use as well. The things are steal really. I had a friend purchase a pair simply to measure, and here's what he got (smoothed).

[wafflesomd]

Sorry for the double post.

Do you or your friend have any type of plan of render of the desk you built. I would be willing to pay for such a plan.

[vapour36hertz]

Originally Posted by wafflesomd

That is one of the most impressive desk builds I've seen.

So, a dnb label. Considering that's the only genre that has existed to me for the past 10 years, I feel as though we should keep in touch lol.

How are you liking those berry monitors? They are currently what I use as well. The things are steal really. I had a friend purchase a pair simply to measure, and here's what he got (smoothed).

tbh i love my truths they are the 3rd set of moniters i have brought

first was a set of spirit absoluet 2's which i liked but i blew a tweeter in 1 so sold them

2nd was the alesis moniter 1's i hated these and found them to have far to much bottom end which ment all of my mixes lacked bass i never got a good mix down on them in the whole time i used them. i have however got them wired up in the studio still as a 2nd reference point but to be honest as soon as i wired them up i remembered how shit they sound and have not used them i have them as sound feed from my dj turn tables now lol

3rd was the truths i brought these after i read a studio interview with pendulum and they said that they mixed most of thier first album on truths which to me was one of the cleanest sounding dnb albums i have ever heard so i invested in the truths as they were so cheap (£120) ive never looked back

i have recomended them to many opf my mates and quite a few of them have brought them now and not one of them has had any gripes about them and you could hear a noticeable difference in thier mix downs overnight when they brought them

i have had a few peeps telling me i should buy some mackies or krks but im happy with the truths so i wont be upgrading any time soon

also i do have a tendancy to destroy speakers so i dont want to spend mega money on moniters that ill probably blow up

[vapour36hertz]

Originally Posted by wafflesomd

Sorry for the double post.

Do you or your friend have any type of plan of render of the desk you built. I would be willing to pay for such a plan.

hi mate if you contact sam steer on the email address at the end of my first posts he will im sure be happy to sort something out with you as he has all the detailed drawings for the project

he basicly designed the whole thing and did it as seperate cabinets which then joined together this was so i could easily take the desk apart when i move house (it breaks down with just 8 screws!!)

[wafflesomd]

Thanks a bunch man!

I emailed him, I'll be waiting for a response.

Also, wanna give a listen to this?

Frankmusik - Three Little Words (Sunny Side Up Remix V2).mp3

[Rossome]

You could make some traps that you could lean up against the walls :D Totally worth it! I didn't think that acoustic treatment did much but when I actually did I was blown away!

[admench]

Yeah you really should put some acoustic treatment into the room.

Start with some floor standing corner bass traps. You seem to have good diy skills, so you could pick up some hi density mineral wool and create the frames with wood, choosing a nice material to cover them with in line with your girlfriend's artwork. Check my studio thread to see what my result looks like (in my sig).

admench

[ProFool]

When I saw the first few pic's I was like OMG WTH is this going to be, but scrolling down and seeing the end result I must admit you did a nice job and probably saved lots of $ ... nice work.

Cheers

[Tonio Ruiz]

It does look great, a huge improvement, it seems like you have been having fun in there mate... congrats

don't forget the treatment whenever you can, those walls are so close to each other that you will listen to a lot of phasing, and cancelations for sure, it looks great mate

[woodfoot]

Thought I recognised this room. I saw it on DOA.

For anybody who hasn't heard this guys music, do yourself a favour and check it out.

"Mr Mingus" comes highly recommended

[vapour36hertz]

desk is now for sale due to me moving house and not having enough space for it

please contact mike on djvapour@gmail.com for more info

[muziekschuur]

The desk looks lovely and you should keep it.