Bluish Green Studios in Amarillo TX 1930's warehouse transformation

[teelm05]

So i have been running a studio out of my home here in Amarillo, TX and much to my surprise business has made it impossible to continue to run this thing and keep my sanity out of my house. My dad and i found a space in downtown Amarillo and i know you all are thinking, "why amarillo????" Well for starters this one city that hasnt felt the hit of the messed up economy and the housing market has been sucked all the way down the crapper. We got ahold of a 3 story building known as the "old kathy fullingham hardware store" This building has been quite a few things, a care dealership, a bowling ally and then finally a hardware store. This place is amazing. 3 stories that totals about 25,000 square feet. The studio will only occupy the 3rd floor which is where the majority of work is going. The first issue was insulating the roof...would you believe there wasnt one piece of insulation in the entire roof? All of the original tin tiles were removed and dipped and restored. The roof was filled with God only knows how much insulation. The ducking had to be rerouted so that the 3rd floor actually had heating and air. Plumbing for mens and women restrooms had to be re-routed and re-done completely to meet code. Walls were built out for the control room, iso booth 1 and iso booth 2. Avery window in the 3rd story had to be replaced because every single one of them was single pane and very drafty. The floors are being restored as we speak. I wanted something unique, that when bands or artists saw it they would say, "yeah that makes me wanna write." This place is dripping with it. I have a modest setup and my gear is still be amassed but the heart of the building and what gives it its sound is the 50x100 live room that will be split up into a live tracking space and a rentable rehearsal space for bands. I like things raw and thats why i am not treating one inch of the live room. A. its far too much space to cover B. The amount of money it would cost in acoustic treatment would be more than the outboard gear i own. and C. I like the way it sounds, i dont want things perfect, i want a space that is unique. Sure you can spend gobs of money and go somewhere where what you tracked sound perfect and flawless but i think there are some folks out that like things slightly crooked or off beat. I am one of those people and cant wait to move in to this place. Plus at $45 an hour there isnt a space this unique for that money anywhere. So here are the pics. I will be posting more as the project comes along. Should be totally moved in around February.

Raw and untouched live room


gorgeous original 1940's tin tiles

original utility elevator (still works)

completely restored sky lights

in order, iso booth 2, mens bathroom, and part of the control room

before control room build out, kinda dark

vocal booth

control room

[greatgreatriver]

Wow looks like a lot of work! Beautiful space - Keep us updated on the process!

[Tonio Ruiz]

wow that place is huge... awesome...

[teelm05]

New progress has been made on the new studio space. Very excited about how this one will turn out. We are about a month from move in and I am getting so antsy to get in and see what she sounds like. Let me know what you think.


Nice new sky lights

+
all these walls were 2 inch plaster and had massive holes and the guys went through and plugged the holes and re-mudded every inch so now its nice and clean looking.

The west wall that will have all the bathrooms and iso-boths and the control room

[MrJulius]

The roof and floor of that place make me extremely jealous.

Great stuff! Keep us posted

[Darius van H]

What a space - Forget the studio, i'd just go and live there!

[bkbirge]

Why single frame on the control room? At least it looks that way in the initial pics, I'd think for a space that nice you'd want to do the isolation properly, at least some resonant channels on the walls before drywall or something. Also, everything looks very square, did you think of control room acoustics? Great looking space and I'm sure you'll track some great records there!

[inlinenl]

Originally Posted by Darius van H

What a space - Forget the studio, i'd just go and live there!

yep great space ... why not do both ... live & work there ...

that floor looks awesome .. just needs some care and oil .. shame it will be burried I guess ... once again, fantastic building ...

[Millo 3.1]

Very cool--best of luck! Do you do e-mail-based recording/production/mixing?

I'll be checking this thread, that's a really cool space. Regarding the ceiling not having insulation: Yes, I believe it, LOL! Do you think that treatment is going to be enough for isolation? I am really asking, I am a total acoustical newbie, and clueless about recording.

[99zulu]

February has come and gone...did you move in? Any updates? Would love to see how things have come along.

[teelm05]

Well I have a little bit of hair left after this but yes the move in should be this monh. We had a snag with refinishing the floors but we are set now. Iwill try to remember all the questions that were asked. On wall treatments and acoustic wok we tried not to totally make this a one function room in case me or my dad wanna get out of recording and sell the place it's al least not super modified. Plus we have Perdue acoustics right here in our home town and they are doing all th acoustic treatment so not too worried at this point. We will be doing email based tracking and mixing so if anyone is looking for that "massive" drum sound we got your place. On he ceiling we took down each tin tile and brushed them and dipped them to restore them to their former glory. Funny thing that about 15 years ago you would see tile like this in the trash and now it's crazy expensive. I am due for posting some new pics and will do so tomorrow so heck back soon and I will be posting he test sessions of getting used to the new space so you can all hear the rawness in it's purest form. Thanks for all the interest, I am very blessed to have the space. Keep my place in mind for any projects you have. Only $45 an hour for you slutz!!!

[RTR]

Looks nice!!!

PS. I think the best thing I have ever seen in my life was Amarillo in my rear view mirror, my family has lived there for ever!

[tazman]

...

[teelm05]

new pics!!!!! The floor is being finished as we speak. Ceiling fans will be hung next week and the delivery of a new baby grand will be the week after that. Please keep this studio in mind for your next project. $45 an hour and there is a brand new hotel within walking distance of the studio. Its a heck of a bargain. Website will be launched soon as well with a new name "Polk Street Studios"






and a video walk through of some of the space.

[nukmusic]

[indie]

I must give HUGE props to Teel. If you guys are anywhere near his area or looking for a great place to get away and record.... go to Teel's Bluish Green Studio.

I've worked with him a lot over the past few years - insanely talented guy.
Also - If I were to ever break my hand (God forbid) I'd get him to play all my guitars, yes he's that good.
And that's saying a lot coming from someone who is so awesome at guitar just kidding..had too much coffee!

[teelm05]

By the way folks, the studio will give discounts to gearslutz members and we also take gear as payment so if you need any work done please let us know and we can work something out. We are about a month out from opening for business so please book now for may if you are interested. Call me or email me for info on booking or discounts at teelmerrick@yahoo.com or call 806.420.0733

[Akoppenheffer]

Looks like it will be beautiful. Congrats, you must be excited. You don't realize what you were missing until you have a good live room, that's actually "alive".

[teelm05]

We have tossed "bluish green studios" and have take on the name Polk Street Studios. The studio is finally finished and open for business. Check out our website at Home - Polk Street Studios. We are happy to track your drums or string sections in our large 117x50 foot live room. Email us today for a special gearslutz price for the month of September.

[pathdoc]

Cool looking setup for sure.

[teelm05]

www.polksstreetstudios.com