After 4+ years, it's done!

Studio Dweller · 7th February 2010, 09:05 AM

It's been a long haul with construction being done on and off over the course of more than four years, but it's finally done! ...almost, but it's nearing the finish line.

My wife and I bought our house about five years ago and my father-in-law (a contractor) did the nicest thing anyone has done for me by generously helping me build a studio in the basement. I could not have done this without him and it pains me that he is not here today to see it finished. He died very unexpectedly at the age of 58 last year and I was only just able to get the remaining construction completed last month.

The space is divided between a control room, live room and a vocal booth. I don't have a wide enough lens to get a good shot of the vocal booth, but here are some photos of the other two rooms.

What I have left to do is get the rack wired and conceal the wiring as much as possible, wire up the panels in the live room and vocal booth and continue to tweak the acoustics with FuzzMeasure, but I'm very happy to finally be at this stage of the build.

This is the before picture. It's the basement just before we closed on the house (yikes). This view is looking at what is now the rear corner of the control room and I'm still not sure what that blue "mystery liquid" was on the table.

The after photos:

Control room

Live room

Many thanks to Glenn and Bryan at GiK Acoustics for their help with the acoustical treatments (that I purchased back in 2008), Rod Gervais for the wealth of great info in his book on building studios, the fine folks over at the johnlsayers.com forum and most of all to my father-in-law, Joe. Time to make some music!

phybeau · 7th February 2010, 09:21 AM

Sorry for your loss.

But congratulations on a beautiful studio!

inlinenl · 7th February 2010, 01:34 PM

I'm sorry for your loss, you'll only have a few real people close to you in your live .. it's a sad story when they die ... it's great of you mentioning him here ...

I hope you'll have many years of great music down there ... it looks very well detailed and made with love & care ..

beks · 7th February 2010, 01:43 PM

Just fantastic…

Maybe you should name one of the rooms after your late father in law (if not the whole studio).

temetrepo · 7th February 2010, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phybeau

Sorry for your loss.

But congratulations on a beautiful studio!

+1
looks great

Studio Dweller · 7th February 2010, 05:41 PM

Thanks very much for the nice comments. I really appreciate it.

Tonio Ruiz · 7th February 2010, 07:04 PM

beautiful space you have there, it looks very neat and warm and friendly

congrats. and I am happy for u that you finished your studio, I can relate to you cause my awesome father in law let me put my studio at some area in his house, and I can't thank him enough for helping me make my dream come true, I'm sorry for your loss

mike-661 · 7th February 2010, 07:51 PM

Wow!,

I really love the vibe of your studio. Very sad to hear about the loss....

Good job for pulling through and finishing! and BEST of luck in your new space!

iwobic · 7th February 2010, 10:52 PM

looking wonderful! very good job!

Jose Skertchly · 8th February 2010, 07:27 AM

That's a lovely space!

Studio Dweller · 8th February 2010, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tonio Ruiz

beautiful space you have there, it looks very neat and warm and friendly

congrats. and I am happy for u that you finished your studio, I can relate to you cause my awesome father in law let me put my studio at some area in his house, and I can't thank him enough for helping me make my dream come true, I'm sorry for your loss

Thanks very much, Tonio. Sounds you like have a great father-in-law there. I just checked out your photos and you have a really beautiful and classy looking studio. Great job. I see you have a similar air conditioning system (mine is a Mitsubishi). I remember cringing at the cost when I bought it, but I was so happy the first time I turned it on and heard how quiet is. I think it's supposed to be around 23 dB on the low setting. Money well spent and it's probably the only way I could have quiet heat and air conditioning down here without compromising the soundproofing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike-661

Wow!,

I really love the vibe of your studio. Very sad to hear about the loss....

Good job for pulling through and finishing! and BEST of luck in your new space!

Sincere thanks, Mike. I really appreciate your comment. Being in a basement, there's not a whole lot of outside light getting in so I wanted to keep the color scheme bright and lively. I just need to get some decorative things in there and who knows, maybe even the requisite lava lamp.

I checked out your your amazing studio and WOW is very much the word for it. Really nicely done. That's some fantastic studio you have there and you must be extremely proud. Just beautiful. I hope you have great success with it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iwobic

looking wonderful! very good job!

Thanks! Much appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jose Skertchly

That's a lovely space!

Thank you, Jose! Cheers!

scud133 · 8th February 2010, 06:50 PM

that's a hell of a transformation, great work!

Studio Dweller · 8th February 2010, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scud133

that's a hell of a transformation, great work!

And to think that I wasn't sure if anyone would be able to spot the differences between the before and after photos! Thanks!

glee · 8th February 2010, 10:12 PM

Very sorry for your loss. You guys did a great job! What are the dimensions of your space before and after?

dpalasini · 9th February 2010, 02:12 AM

Absolutely gorgeous.

I'm so jealous. Sure would love to see more pictures of the process.

Studio Dweller · 9th February 2010, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glee

Very sorry for your loss. You guys did a great job! What are the dimensions of your space before and after?

Thank you! Here's a floor plan - it's not entirely accurate, but it's close.

The wall that separates the control room from the live room and vocal booth is a double wall with two layers of Green Glued sheet rock on each side (not drawn to scale in the floor plan). The space is not that big, but considering that we live in a fairly small house, it's making pretty efficient use of the space. The area behind the wall near the couch is a workshop and there's a laundry room to the left at the base of the stairs. My wife is extremely cool, but there was no convincing her that we could do without the laundry room.

Studio Dweller · 9th February 2010, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpalasini

Absolutely gorgeous.

I'm so jealous. Sure would love to see more pictures of the process.

Thank you very much. I have a bunch of photos starting from day one in 2006. I just need to organize them a bit and add some of the more recent ones. I'll try to post them soon. Here are a couple of early ones (we hadn't added the second wall assembly yet):

cschuby · 9th February 2010, 04:59 AM

Beautiful job!! Sorry about your father-in-law; it's hard to lose those close to us. Best of luck and enjoy your creation!!

Colonel Blues · 9th February 2010, 08:15 PM

I know how you can feel today… something like a "bitter joy"…
But Joe's Room is a nice place, really ! Plenty of success for you…

idylldon · 10th February 2010, 03:08 AM

Nice job and I'm sorry about your loss. Perhaps a nice framed photo of Joe needs to be hung in that space somewhere.

Cheers,
--
Don

Glenn Kuras · 10th February 2010, 05:22 PM

Wow this looks great. Can you email me pictures? Would love to put them on the GIK site.

Guillermo · 10th February 2010, 07:06 PM

Awesome place, enjoy it!!!

Studio Dweller · 12th February 2010, 07:54 PM

Thanks very much for all of the nice comments! I really appreciate it.

Studio Dweller · 12th February 2010, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

Wow this looks great. Can you email me pictures? Would love to put them on the GIK site.

I will definitely do that, Glenn. Thanks again for your help and I'll be in touch.

Mr.Cheese · 12th February 2010, 08:32 PM

Sweet studio man!

exploded · 25th February 2010, 08:12 PM

It's a really nice looking place! I'm jealous. It doesn't look like a basement studio at all. I'm sure it feels nice to be done with it. Although, is it ever really done?

7th February 2010, 09:05 AM	#1
Studio Dweller Gear maniac Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Jersey, US and A. Niiice! Posts: 205	After 4+ years, it's done! It's been a long haul with construction being done on and off over the course of more than four years, but it's finally done! ...almost, but it's nearing the finish line. My wife and I bought our house about five years ago and my father-in-law (a contractor) did the nicest thing anyone has done for me by generously helping me build a studio in the basement. I could not have done this without him and it pains me that he is not here today to see it finished. He died very unexpectedly at the age of 58 last year and I was only just able to get the remaining construction completed last month. The space is divided between a control room, live room and a vocal booth. I don't have a wide enough lens to get a good shot of the vocal booth, but here are some photos of the other two rooms. What I have left to do is get the rack wired and conceal the wiring as much as possible, wire up the panels in the live room and vocal booth and continue to tweak the acoustics with FuzzMeasure, but I'm very happy to finally be at this stage of the build. This is the before picture. It's the basement just before we closed on the house (yikes). This view is looking at what is now the rear corner of the control room and I'm still not sure what that blue "mystery liquid" was on the table. The after photos: Control room Live room Many thanks to Glenn and Bryan at GiK Acoustics for their help with the acoustical treatments (that I purchased back in 2008), Rod Gervais for the wealth of great info in his book on building studios, the fine folks over at the johnlsayers.com forum and most of all to my father-in-law, Joe. Time to make some music! __________________ Larry Bentley Cellar Dweller Productions

7th February 2010, 01:34 PM	#3
inlinenl Lives for gear Join Date: May 2005 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,308	I'm sorry for your loss, you'll only have a few real people close to you in your live .. it's a sad story when they die ... it's great of you mentioning him here ... I hope you'll have many years of great music down there ... it looks very well detailed and made with love & care .. __________________ Greetings/Regards Wim Bult www.inlinemastering.com

7th February 2010, 01:43 PM	#4
beks Gear interested Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1	Just fantastic… Maybe you should name one of the rooms after your late father in law (if not the whole studio). __________________ This space for rent.

7th February 2010, 05:41 PM	#6
Studio Dweller Gear maniac Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Jersey, US and A. Niiice! Posts: 205	Thanks very much for the nice comments. I really appreciate it. __________________ Larry Bentley Cellar Dweller Productions

7th February 2010, 07:04 PM	#7
Tonio Ruiz Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Mexico City Posts: 538	beautiful space you have there, it looks very neat and warm and friendly congrats. and I am happy for u that you finished your studio, I can relate to you cause my awesome father in law let me put my studio at some area in his house, and I can't thank him enough for helping me make my dream come true, I'm sorry for your loss __________________ Regards http://www.gearslutz.com/board/photo...ll-studio.html Enjoy Life!! www.trmixroom.com www.myspace.com/tonioruiz www.myspace.com/trmixroom

7th February 2010, 09:21 AM	#2
phybeau Gear Head Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 37	Sorry for your loss. But congratulations on a beautiful studio!

7th February 2010, 07:51 PM	#8
mike-661 Gear Head Join Date: May 2008 Location: moved to Florida Posts: 68	Wow!, I really love the vibe of your studio. Very sad to hear about the loss.... Good job for pulling through and finishing! and BEST of luck in your new space!

7th February 2010, 10:52 PM	#9
iwobic Gear nut Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Italy Posts: 83	looking wonderful! very good job! __________________ www.myspace.com/icytheproducer Follow my studio building thread/photo-blog @ http://www.gearslutz.com/board/photo...amo-italy.html

8th February 2010, 07:27 AM	#10
Jose Skertchly Gear Head Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Mexico Posts: 31	That's a lovely space!

8th February 2010, 06:50 PM	#12
scud133 Gear Head Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 71	that's a hell of a transformation, great work!

8th February 2010, 10:12 PM	#14
glee Gear nut Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Maryland Posts: 92	Very sorry for your loss. You guys did a great job! What are the dimensions of your space before and after?

9th February 2010, 02:12 AM	#15
dpalasini Gear interested Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 9	Absolutely gorgeous. I'm so jealous. Sure would love to see more pictures of the process.

9th February 2010, 04:59 AM	#18
cschuby Gear Head Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Philly Posts: 47	Beautiful job!! Sorry about your father-in-law; it's hard to lose those close to us. Best of luck and enjoy your creation!!

9th February 2010, 08:15 PM	#19
Colonel Blues Lives for gear Join Date: May 2008 Location: France Posts: 673	I know how you can feel today… something like a "bitter joy"… But Joe's Room is a nice place, really ! Plenty of success for you… __________________ My little place... http://www.gearslutz.com/board/4131368-post408.html My DIY Guitar Isolation Cabinet. Your advice welcome ! http://www.gearslutz.com/board/4476409-post1.html "And if one can steal what you have, who has the power to steal what you give ?" (Antoine de St Exupéry / 1900-1944) http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-mu...-do-again.html I'm a proud Cherry Tree family member, join us !

10th February 2010, 03:08 AM	#20
idylldon Lives for gear Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Idyllwild, CA Posts: 2,038	Nice job and I'm sorry about your loss. Perhaps a nice framed photo of Joe needs to be hung in that space somewhere. Cheers, -- Don __________________ "What is essential is invisible to the eye." -- Antoine de Saint Exupéry

10th February 2010, 05:22 PM	#21
Glenn Kuras Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 7,436	Wow this looks great. Can you email me pictures? Would love to put them on the GIK site. __________________ Glenn Kuras GIK Acoustics USA GIK Acoustics Europe 1 888 986 2789 (USA) +44 (0) 20 7558 8976 (UK) Skype:gik.acoustics Room Set Up Help

10th February 2010, 07:06 PM	#22
Guillermo Gear interested Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Quito, Ecuador Posts: 28	Awesome place, enjoy it!!!

12th February 2010, 07:54 PM	#23
Studio Dweller Gear maniac Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Jersey, US and A. Niiice! Posts: 205	Thanks very much for all of the nice comments! I really appreciate it. __________________ Larry Bentley Cellar Dweller Productions

12th February 2010, 08:32 PM	#25
Mr.Cheese Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,505	Sweet studio man!

25th February 2010, 08:12 PM	#26
exploded Gear Head Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 34	It's a really nice looking place! I'm jealous. It doesn't look like a basement studio at all. I'm sure it feels nice to be done with it. Although, is it ever really done?

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