The Stickhouse Studio BUILD

Last batch for now Hmmm... I thought I was keeping them in chronological order, but I managed to mess that up. Think of it like a little game. You guess what we did first. :roll:

BTW, we're much further along than this... I just need to shoot some pics and get 'em in the computer.

looking great, stick. more pics!

Great Pcitures, Brian. You know which one I loved!!! :D

Yeah, the one having nothing to do with the studio! :P :lol: ;-)

Keith! :roll: :wink: :lol: :D :P

ALRIGHT! Drum roll please! I'm pleased to announce the finished Stickhouse. Ok, well, no, not really... there's always a few little things to take care of... I still need to build a custom desk, and solder up the rest of the mic panel, and put the closer on the machine room door, etc. But, for all intents and purposes, the studio is done. We've got a few things on the exterior to touch up, but nothing major. So, without further ado... welcome to the Stickhouse.

more pics

more pics again

And the bathroom... I did the tile and floor myself. The sink set up came as a set from here.

So, I'm more than happy to give detail on how and why I did things, so fire away if you have questions, but probably won't take the time to chew through every detail without prompting. In general, I'm thrilled with the form and function of the studio. The soundproofing is excellent... especially the tracking room... it's SUPER quiet in there. Like, "hear your own heartbeat" quiet. If the gear is all off in the control room and the boys are stomping through the house, I can just make out the thumps, but they're pretty faint. You don't hear music from the speakers outside, at all. (Again, I'm not tracking drums...) As far as the looks and comfort, hopefully the pictures speak for themselves. The Murphy Bed works perfectly, as tested by my In-Laws over Thanksgiving, and completely disappears and functions as a bass trap when you close it up. The bathroom turned out cool... June keeps saying "I wish OUR bathroom was this cool". I still need to design and build the desk, but I have to decide on and buy a new controller keyboard first, so, that'll probably wait awhile. I'd like a new chair too... perhaps an Aeron, or maybe something like this. But again, what I have now works well, so it can wait until the next big record budget.... HA! Like that'll ever happen! So, next up is a slick website so I can start to get the word out. But, until then, if any of you guys and gals need a mix guy, producer guy, or track guy, hit me up. I'm ready to go. :D [/url]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am completely impressed with the final look of every room you've built. You're bath looks GREAT! That pull down bed is really cool! The pics are showing a pretty dark room... was this the intent or are the pics just dark? Are you pleased with the choice to "wrap" your clouds with rope light? Are you obtaining the effect you planned on? What is the end hieght of your TR, both to ceiling and to bottom of clouds? It looks a little under 8'... does it feel small? Sure is impressive. Marc

guitardad72 wrote:

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am completely impressed with the final look of every room you've built. You're bath looks GREAT! That pull down bed is really cool!

Thanks. Yeah, I was really happy when we came up with the way that the bed hides completely in the wall. I had planned for it from the beginning, but hadn't really figured out exactly how the fabric panels would fit to cover it up. I'm stoked.

The pics are showing a pretty dark room... was this the intent or are the pics just dark?

Yeah, when I took the pics with the flash it looked terrible. So, they look a little dark, and the room IS a little dark, mostly because the transformers for the low voltage halogens are a little undersized. I didn't account for the cable length when I put the transformers in the machine room, so I wouldn't hear them buzz. So, I just need to order some higher power ones so the lights in the back of the room light to full power.

Are you pleased with the choice to "wrap" your clouds with rope light? Are you obtaining the effect you planned on?

Yeah, it worked out great. I thought it might be a cooler effect on it's own that it is, but with everything else on, it's very cool. It is great for watching movies... just enough indirect light.

What is the end hieght of your TR, both to ceiling and to bottom of clouds? It looks a little under 8'... does it feel small?

The hard ceiling is just under 8, and the clouds are about 3 or 4 inches down from there. It doesn't feel too small... the window to the CR is big, and there the window to the outside in there too, so it's not claustrophobic. It would've been nice to go up higher, but there was just no way with the existing structure.

Sure is impressive. Marc

Thanks! It was a lot of work. But, really worth it. Both for the end result and the process. I really learned a lot...

Impressive work Stick! Dunno if it sounds good, but is sure LOOKS good :) I just adore the wood finish. It gives warmth and a natural look, I'd sleep over anytime.. nice bed/trap feature. The indirect lightning from the clouds is something I've been planning, I like your approach with the different planes and how they are "connected" (as in where the wires run) So euhrm, next up some accoustic stuff like absorbers, diffusers and what not? again, bril work. Now, let's go into details. :0 about the pix. they are sure DARK... spooky even. Here's a cleared up version of some pix:

Jesus Ro stop touching up the photos with auto enhance, all the ritchness in color and depth is lost, i really liked the photos as they were, great job stick!

AndreasB wrote:

Jesus Ro stop touching up the photos with auto enhance, all the ritchness in color and depth is lost, i really liked the photos as they were, great job stick!

I know, man. Some peeps like it like this. Just like some peeps like hard compressed tracks. get it. (I know it's gamma over the top, but hell, this way you actually see what's there.)

Ro, I think touching up some one else's photo's to see details is just fine :D Stick, good news for me... after showing my wife the pic of your pull down bed, she said "looks very nice", I said "you don't want me to do that too" and she said "no". Not the expected responce. :wink: AND thanks for the responce to the light/dark questions which will help me make wall color and lighting choices for my room without any windows.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound the way it perhaps did.. I'm angry because i broke my arm yesterday and will be casted for 3 months!!!! so I guess that studio table I planned to build wont happen until March....dammit...still have some clouds to do.Stick did you do your with wood framing and metal studs to keep the isolation in place? looks really nice. a

My original pics look good to me on my laptop... It's all wood framing. Double walls, no floated floor. It's plenty of isolation for my purposes. And yeah, the bed is going to be great for out of town artists and and In-Laws.

GROOVY!!!! Looks great Stick!! 8) I'm jealous...your done. But, I'm gearing up to bring in another console and 2" tape machine during the next week, so I can't complain much... :D How's it sound? Have you tracked or mixed anything yet? Aaron

Thanks Aaron, It sounds great. The low end is tight but present. My 1031s have never sounded so full range. The tracking booth is just a hair tubby, but I've since added a picture with glass to reflect a little back in, so it should be pretty much there. Isolation is great. I've actually tracked and mixed (and mastered! :shock:)a whole Christmas record in here. I'd send you to iTunes to check it out, but I don't think they've got it up yet.

Drop us a link when they're up. :wink:

Will do. You know you can't have too much Christmas music in your life.

Hey Stick -- can you post those pictures of your cement fiber board staining again? If you look back on your thread, you'll see that the images are gone now. :? I've got a coworker who's really enthused about the work that you did on your siding, and I'd like him to see the process... if it's not too much trouble. Three coats, right? More pics of the exterior would be awesome too, assuming you've got 'em and just need to put 'em up. --Keith :mrgreen:

Actually, I'm not sure I've got pics of the cement fiber staining process... it's not hard though. And yeah, I haven't shot the "finished" exterior... even though it isn't quite done... If it's not too rainy tomorrow, I'll try and grab some... oh wait, I bet my wife took the camera with her out of town.... BTW, Keith, you gotta come up and get this caulk off my hands...