Key posts: AudioGrotto Build Diary

Substantial posts by bassman, who started the thread, and by the forum’s most active contributors. 79 of 143 posts are listed.

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bassman, 27 April 2008Well, hello fellow forum dwellers. I, too, get to finally start building my studio here in the basement of a church in Newport, KY. Here's the link to the design thread…
bassman, 27 April 2008Thanks, Ro. I need all the luck I can get! OK. Part of the basement floonr had cracked due to overflowing water from an outside drain. We had to repour that chunk and…
bassman, 27 April 2008Here's the prep area how it looked before the pour. I tried to get pics during the pour but sheesh, that is a load of work, so didn't have a chance till after it was…
bassman, 3 May 2008Right then! More progress.... We have a bunch of walls up and its got me a bit excited to actually see the design get born! We are using steel framing and I must say, I…
bassman, 3 May 2008guess I only get 5 pics per post..... here's the track shooting down and stuff We had to clean the floor before the gyp came as this was the last chance to use the floor…
bassman, 3 May 2008:twisted: I met with a local structural engineer regarding the ceiling spans, which get pretty large in the tracking room. I wanted all of the framing to be able to…
bassman, 3 May 2008yea, the truck was a real hoot! It showed up at like 7:30am and I got a call. Had to run down and get the place open for them to bring it in. -bassman gyp truck…
bassman, 3 May 2008More framing: We are using 20 gauge steel studs and track. When you combine two studs and wrap them in two pieces of track, it makes a beam that can be used as a window…
bassman, 4 July 2008Well, its been quite a while since I've posted on my progress here..... So many things going on. Several personal issues have kept me from having the free time to post…
bassman, 4 July 2008Yeah! Piccies :D :shock: :D :shock: :D :shock: :D :shock: Should be a good size this page.... OK 829 looking through the back wall of CR 2 into the CPU hall with the…
bassman, 10 July 2008Right then.... a little backtracking. I was going through the photos of the build and realized in my haste that I forgot some more framing details that might be…
bassman, 17 July 2008Well, couple of questions for the forum today..... 1. What type of insulation is sufficient for in between the walls? My understanding is that rockwool is not necessary…
bassman, 2 August 2008Well, we have more progress as the first layer of drywall goes up. I hate having to be the contractor on this because I just had to fire my whole crew. They were getting…
bassman, 23 September 2008OK, some more glass info: 1. Its helpful to have two thicknesses of glass laminated together, for example: 3/8 lam to 1/2 for a 5/8 laminate piece. 2. This sh*t is…
bassman, 23 September 2008Here are some piccies. They include some detail of how the ceiling looks up close, some wall separations and a window detail. -ashley Image not preserved:…
bassman, 23 September 2008OK, some more...... More ceiling details and the completed live room ceiling Me having to use the dreaded jackhammer to remove a concrete base for some very old…
bassman, 23 September 2008Here's my design for the variable acoustic panels. I want to make a bunch of these in a standard size to simplify fabrication and use standard 2' x 4' bales of rockwool.…
bassman, 27 September 2008I have more questions regarding glass: 1. If we take two pieces of 1/4" laminate glass and glue them together around the edges, will that come close to a piece of 1/2"…
bassman, 24 December 2008I have been remiss in posting here on the build because this year has just been the most demanding of my life so far. I have been taking pictures and now that I'm…

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bassman, 24 December 2008Right, now that all of the wiring is in, glass block and all the twiddly bits are covered, we can move on to insulation. One detail that I did not want to overlook (and…
bassman, 27 December 2008Finally some rock on the wall! They started hanging the ceilings so that the wall layer will provide support and keep the ceiling square and true at the edges. Every…
bassman, 1 January 2009Thanks for posting guys.... I was kinda feeling like I was tossing piccies into the VIOD :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: OK, Gyprockin' Part II In these pics, you can see…
bassman, 1 January 2009Now that the drywall is all installed and the inner HVAC ducts are placed, we create soffits around those inner ducts which will be insulated thus helping with isolation…
bassman, 1 January 2009OK, now for some finish fun! My carpenter who is absolutely the best and has helped me do this whole freekin' project (including the two 1700 sq ft apartments above the…
bassman, 1 January 2009Right, frames installed and prepped for stain etc.... Now to figure how to trim out the gap in between wall frames. We've all seen various methods for this and it gets…
bassman, 1 January 2009Let's do this..... Upholstery is a bitch :horse: :horse: Glad that Roy is good at just about everything. You can see how getting the fabric to stuff in just right takes…
bassman, 1 January 2009Well, I did learn a lesson on installing the glass and should have had Rod's book in front of me but one of my old horrible crew guys has absconded with it. Gee thanks…
bassman, 4 January 2009While the windows were going in, we also started framing in some of the acoustic treatment including soffit walls for the main control room and false rear walls for bass…
bassman, 4 January 2009Well, onto the floors! I had always wanted to use an acid stain on the concrete for a floor finish. This won't work since the drywall is already in and the acid needs to…
bassman, 4 January 2009Floors are ground. Time for the color. Water-based dye sprayed on and tooled by hand with towels and whatever works.... It pools and runs around to create cool patterns…
bassman, 5 January 2009MWWWWWUUUHAAAA HAAAA HAAA!!!!! Color. 8) :jammin: :ahh: :asth: Well, I hope that "interesting" really does turn out to be cool. When the acrylic sealer goes on the…
bassman, 5 January 2009Here's some more of the lava room, big red booth and the main control room floor. Some comments on the process: •Its expensive! :cop: •But lasts just about forever as…
bassman, 5 January 2009So, that brings us up to date on the project. The painters are in there priming right now and should have some new pics in a few days. The only other thing going on is…
bassman, 31 January 2009Hey there sound weaver.... Which book? The Pro Tools one? I hope its been helpful for you. thanks for the support on thread. I do have more news. As I got closer to the…

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bassman, 2 February 2009Well, basically its the fabric. I had not spec'ed fire rated fabric as a cost savings factor and also since this is really zoned a "home office" and not a commercial…
bassman, 7 February 2009Well, we are moving ahead. I have plans back from Wes which have the details of where the soffit wall goes and how to do the rear wall. Sweet. :jammin: But first, I am…
bassman, 7 February 2009I have the pics of the ceiling hanging process..... We set the panels on the floor and placed them, carefully lining them up with string lines and such. Then using a…
bassman, 15 February 2009More ceiling panel pics.... We have not hung the ones in the main control room since they need to hang relative to the soffit wall and that is now under construction.…
bassman, 15 February 2009OK, on to the soffit wall..... In trying to get a sweet spot that hits the mix position and the producer chair at back, the soffit wall is angled a bit and the speakers…
bassman, 15 February 2009Right. Now to tame some of that bass coming out of the soffits. The AB-1's spec down to 20Hz and they really do slam! I am obsessed with low end, hence the "bassman",…
bassman, 4 March 2009:shot: The soffit wall is coming along nicely. The carpentry is tricky since they have a slight angle to them. Fill with normal insulation and cover in two layers of…
bassman, 5 March 2009Hello lillth, The speakers are PMC AB-1's and their tweeters are fairly high in the cabinet. They are aiming right at ear level. See the chair in the pic. The speakers…
bassman, 15 March 2009Treatment update: Progress continues in both control rooms getting the soffits finished and the rear wall stuffed plus some corner traps in the second control room.…
bassman, 15 March 2009:cen: On to a new subject: noise complaints from our neighbor during a particularly loud drum session this weekend. This guy was hitting the crap out of the drums! 105…
bassman, 15 March 2009Well, let's think about it.... The big window is 15' tall and 9' wide. Anything on the inside to get a 20dB drop would be pretty massive. I don't think drapes are going…
xSpace, 15 March 2009Right, big hole. It just seems that you are going to confront this from many different angles for it to be effective. So small adjustments with your additional steps can…
Soundman2020, 16 March 20091/4" Plexiglass? No wonder you have a problem! Plexiglass is less than half the density of normal glass. 1/2" of tempered glass would be roughly 4 times the mass of the…
bassman, 16 March 2009Well, this is all good advice as usual, thanks! I don't think we have to worry too much about a fourth leaf effect. There's not too much real low end coming through now…

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bassman, 17 March 2009Hello Nativluv.... Well, I can't tell you that it doesn't act like a third leaf. Don't really know. However, its a strange case since the speaker is really part of the…
bassman, 30 March 2009I have been at work on this for just over a year now and have had about 15-20 people in various trades working on it. Not all at once but depending on what stage we are…
bassman, 30 April 2009Right! Zoning sorted. Will be installing 1/2" laminate glass over stained glass windows on the north side of sanctuary to protect neighbors from hard rock drummers!…
bassman, 30 April 2009we had to get the second control room up and running quickly in order to get a whole bunch of equipment out of the sanctuary space where it was temporarily. First go at…
bassman, 30 April 2009All these pics are in backwards order..... dang it! I keep forgetting the forum loads them from last to first. OK. More clouds going in..... -ashley Image not preserved:…
bassman, 30 April 2009OK, onto the console build..... this thing is turning into a Pew Transformer...... Go figure. Its turned out to be a great asset to have all of these pews. I couldn't…
bassman, 30 April 2009So we popped it in place after painting the soffit wall. I'm not sure I can believe we are getting this close to go time.... :shock: 8) :twisted: -ashley Image not…
bassman, 10 May 2009Hey Wes! Y'know, Roy has been very efficient with the fabric. We are going to have some extra which is good since there are a couple extra traps I've put in at the last…
bassman, 26 May 2009OK..... :shot: 8) :shot: :shock: :shot: :lol: :shot: :yahoo: Slappin another update here for ya. Ceiling panel detail. Some floors are being uncovered. Hot chick in the…
bassman, 26 May 2009Couple more pics.... some actual building going on here... AG update 5-25 005.jpg AG update 5-25 001.jpg AG update 5-25 006.jpg
bassman, 13 June 2009For post, you simply can't beat Nuendo. 300-500 track feature film sessions, routing galore. what's not to love? Fabric, all Guilford. Reason: Fire rating. I'm fully…

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bassman, 16 August 2009Its been a while and time for another update. We are down to a few things. • Studio Wiring, patchbays, panels, testing etc... • cosmetics, curtains, touchup painting, a…
bassman, 16 August 2009OK, more stained glass pics: -ashley StainedGlass 036.jpg StainedGlass 035.jpg StainedGlass 032.jpg StainedGlass 031.jpg StainedGlass 033.jpg StainedGlass 034.jpg
bassman, 16 August 2009OK, now for some wiring progress.... testing patchbays and installing them in the main rack fixing the darn iMac making the little panels -ashley Wiring 026.jpg Wiring…
bassman, 24 August 2009I've got more updates coming but wanted to mention that I am shooting for an opening date of Sept. 24th. There is a music festival here in Cincinnati that week called…
bassman, 25 August 2009Sorry, guess I wasn't clear. :? :? I'm having open houses three nights in a row, Thurs, Fri and Sat from 5pm-9pm so that people can see the studio and then head out to…
bassman, 4 September 2009So progress continues but now more so on the kitchen and bathroom. Just got back from IKEA with the cabinets and have picked out the pendant light for the kitchen…
bassman, 6 September 2009Control Room one has some finishing touches on the fabric and diffusors installed in the rear. Here's some shots. -ashley C1_treat_finis 053.jpg C1_treat_finis 052.jpg…
bassman, 6 September 2009Right, on to the kitchen and bathroom.... Saved the best for last, eh? The party ALWAYS ends up in the kitchen so why not make the whole lounge one big kitchen? These…
bassman, 6 September 2009a couple more.... Kitch_rough1 046.jpg Kitch_rough1 045.jpg
bassman, 30 September 2009Hell yea..... done. -ashley Kitch1_lo.jpg Green1_lo.jpg Blue1_lo.jpg MainCR1_lo.jpg Lava1_lo.jpg
bassman, 30 October 2009Hey Jester, SSL is sounding great. The best deal in IO for me, running 40ch total when needed. Simple and allows for flexible control room routings in Nuendo. The sound…
bassman, 2 November 2009Interesting you should mention that. I think we're doing pretty good. We had a halloween party last weekend with a DJ and he reported 51-52 dBC inside his house. I'd say…
bassman, 25 March 2010Hellooooooooooo Just wanted to post back here with some follow ups on the studio outcome. We never hear from those builders once they're off and recording again do we??…

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xSpace, 21 March 2011"Even Rod's book has these caulk seams in the fire blocking diagrams. I'm not sure if I did something wrong but I just don't think the caulk has enough resilience to…
bassman, 21 March 2011I had a nice big reply all typed up for this but had to re-login and lost the darn thing.... Curses! :evil: Anyhow, I was not required to use fire-rated caulk for the…
bassman, 22 March 2011RE: Green Glue, I was talking about the difference between using GG inbetween two layers versus going for three layers of 5/8" rock. If I could do it again, I would go…
bassman, 29 March 2011The only tonal diff I can imagine is that with new hardwood over concrete you would have to use a thin foam layer as a base before the wood. We did this in another room…
bassman, 1 August 2011Well, I am the bass player and I try to retain my dignity in these matters..... pass the buck to the drummer. They always need a shower.... Concrete finishing was around…
bassman, 14 September 2011thanks, lowemae. If you're ever down this way, shoot me a note and stop by. Ft. Wayne ain't that far.... This summer has been the busiest yet for me, getting the B room…
bassman, 13 September 2015Hey Luny Tune, I use DSP EQ on the speakers to compensate for the low end gain of the soffits and other anomalies. I had Wes Lachot help me design the soffit wall and we…