Some pics of my A/C unit. It's a 26 SEER, 9000 BTU Mr Slim heat pump. It works really well but as you can tell from the pics, it has no right being called "Mr Slim." It looks like it is from the 80's. That is why I put it above the door. So no one would see it when they first walk in and hopefully the door frame helps to hide it's girth. Other than the look of it I am very please with how quite and cool it is.
I just had to share this... Since the start of my studio build back in december 2009, I've been using the same screw to plug the hole of any open tube of caulk to keep it from drying out. It has slowly grown in size and this is what it looked like after my last caulk of the floor/wall gaps last week (July 2010).
I'm starting to build my own broadband sound panels and bass traps. Here are a few pics from that. My wife, brother-in-law, and I all worked until 1am trying to finish the studio so I could bring record a studio session the next day at 2pm (otherwise I was going to have to drive to another studio to do the session and my schedule did not really allow for the extra driving time). Anyway, my wife took a half day off of work and painted the whole studio while I build these sound absorption panels. How awesome is my wife!?!
My brother-in-law has been with me since the beginning and has been a lifesaver. He helped me finish the drywall, mud and tape, and install the floor the same morning as my studio session was supposed to start. And we did it!
I was set up and ready to start tracking by 2pm. Of course it wasn't completely trimmed and pretty but the recordings turned out pretty damn good. You can check out the tracks on http://www.soniarao.com. The first 3 tracks are what we did that weekend.
I still have to put up my second door, trim out the floor, paint the outside and about a hundred other things to really get this thing looking and sounding good but at least I know I can make great music. And that is really what it's all about, right?
I am certainly not done here but I wanted to take a moment to thank John Sayers, Rod Gervais, and this entire forum community for all their help and advice. I certainly would not have gotten as far as I have without you all to learn from.
Here are some pics of drywalling the walls. 3 layers of drywall with 2 tubes of green glue between each. Nothing exciting to see here but it's all part of the build. :)
The one thing that I would have done different is that the joints look like they all fall on top of each other, so these joints would have been staggered to avoid this potential weak area.
The one thing that I would have done different is that the joints look like they all fall on top of each other, so these joints would have been staggered to avoid this potential weak area.
But it all looks pretty nice.
Hi xSpace,
Yes, I completely agree. I should have staggered the joints. One of those instances where i wasn't thinking ahead as I was putting up the bottom layers. I did however use acoustical caulk on each joint for each layer. So hopefully that helped a little bit.
So one thing that I think would be interesting for new studio builders to see is what some of these projects actually cost from start to finish. I built a pretty modest one-room 12x16 studio in my back yard. You can see through my thread what all I put into it but here is a run down of the highlights with prices I paid as of 2010:
- 12x16 concrete foundation (to LA city code) ($2200)
- 12x16 building: framing, siding, tyvec and roof ($4000)
- electrician to wire from the house ($1200)
- two used solid core doors off craigslist from other recording studio ($90)
- carpenter to install double-door entry ($550)
- door weatherstripping from JC Whitney ($80)
- locksmith to install hi-quality door handles. ($100)
- a/c guy to install mini-split ac unit ($500)
- Mitsubishi mini-split AC ($1458)
- 82 sheets of drywall ($750)
- insulation for both inside walls and bass traps ($535)
- 4 lighting silencer boxes, green glue 5 gal pails, acoustic putty for electrical boxes, iso clips ($1399)
- more green glue from a guy on this forum ($695)
- a bunch of trips to Home Depot/Lowes/AMS for wood, screws, dry wall lift rental, vent ducts, vent fan, fabric for my bass traps, a boat load of acoustic caulk, city permit fees, laminate wood flooring, paint, etc. make up the rest of the $$$.
My total came to about $15,500. And about 10 months from first researching how to build a studio in September 2009 to recording my first artist in July of 2010.
You can look at some of my early posts and laugh at what I thought my budget was going to be for this.
I'll be posting some more pics soon of the finished inside of the studio. Thank you again for all of your help in achieving my goal. I am able to play drums at almost any hour without getting the cops called on me. I live less than 3 blocks from the Van Nuys municipal airport (Jim Carey keeps his jet there) and I don't have stop a vocal take from jet engine noise. Very pleased.
:yahoo:
-Doyle
Hey Doyle,
You said you paid $500 for your mini split install. Is their any way you could give me the contact of your install guy. I haven't been able to find anyone that cheap. Thanks!
Heath
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I honestly don't remember the guy's name who actually did the install but he was referred to me by my electrician (who did a great job for the best price I could find). You can find him at his website and I'm sure he'd refer you to the same guy. http://www.mcsconstructionandelectric.com
PM me if you have trouble and I'll see if I can dig up an old email from the AC guy or something. Hope that helps.
