Hi guys!
I just finished building a
very small two room studio inside of a 20' x 8' shipping container, and I thought I would share my tale of breathing too much fiberglass insulation, drywall dust, and lacerating myself with various construction tools.
This is where it begins.
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Three years ago when I was nineteen my bedroom was packed with instruments and I didn't even have a bed (I just slept on the floor between my drum kit and desk) so my parents bought me an old shipping container from Long Beach harbor with the intent of me creating a studio. It was an epic project and I learned an incredible amount about acoustics and construction. My uncle Charles Garsha is an audio engineer and he helped me design it during his lunch breaks at Warner Brothers in Burbank.
The follow pictures were taken from 2010-2012.
I leveled a patch in our orchard and dug trenches for a simple foundation made from oil impregnated 6x6's
Framed 16" studs just like that of a house and built a room within a room for isolation.
Front wall/door installed. I really should have gotten an outward opening door, but I didn't realize how much space the inward swinging door would waste until it was too late. Live and learn.
Insulated with Owens Corning R-13.
Cutting the slot for the A.C. I gave myself a very nice cut in the hand shortly after this shot was taken. Perhaps I should have used the proper tool for the job.
Covered the walls with your typical 5/8" sheetrock. My amazing stepfather taught me how to build everything and he's pictured on the left, I'm on the right. I didn't pick up any fashion police on my radar detector so I rocked the pink shorts. Sorry!
Ventilation and electrical systems are in. I nailed in all of the blue receptacle housings but professional electricians wired it up so the place wouldn't burn down!
The black square in the wall is the intake for the air that is blown into the live room. It's placed low on the wall in the control room to scoop up the cool air from the A.C. Fun fact, that fan was previously used to cool one of the very first digital consoles at CBS.
Walls have been mudded and painted and doors are in....
Windows installed and framed. They are angled apart vertically and horizontally to keep them from acting like drum heads.
Breaking down the first session in the box.
Now all that's left for me to do is build some "pro" looking acoustic treatment panels as I am simply adorning the walls with blankets at the moment.
I hope you enjoyed this story and photos. If you would like greater detail, feel free to ask me questions!
Thanks,
Steve