New Build Headaches for all you Gurus up Here!

All together now................ "Happy birthday to me, happy christmas to me, happy birthday happy christmas, happy everything to me!" :D :D :D :D Got it. You're a star Kendale, very many thanks, you even got the coffee pot in there! :lol: :lol: :lol: Warm regards to you and yours, Lou.

Hey Lou, I just noticed your website link and went there. Loved the samples, and ordered the album from cdbaby. Your studio is looking good. Can't wait to see your construction pics. When do you expect to start building? - Andy

Aloha, Thanks for confirming that it got through okay.

PS. what do you mean John's got me covered? or do you know something I don't?

In the three years that I've been following this forum, I've watched John come up with great designs and solutions time and time, and time again. When you consider that this is what he does for a living, and the fact that he has designed and built more studios than you & I ever will, one has to conclude that there are some very good reasons why he says what he does, and whether we understand them or not, it really is in our best interest to follow his recommendations. It amazes me sometimes to read of those of whom after being given sound advice, and at no cost at that, only to choose to do it "their way" and usually with disappointing results. :roll: I don't understand it... Anyway, enjoy the coffee and the doodling. :D Aloha 8)

Kendale, Look at it this way my good friend; my skills are (hopefully) in writing, producing and performing music. With that, I mean that I know what I can hear, I know what grooves and what doesn't. For years I was employed on the odd occasion as a drum programmer, but I'll always use a great drummer any time I can when the music calls for it, (cos it will always be better!) - check out the album, (the guy who plays drums on that is staying with us this week, and has been watching what's been happening here with great interest. 8) As for the expertise of people like John, yourself, Glenn, Keith. Steve etc, I'm here to get help, You people have apparently 'taken me under your wing' so to speak, (for which I'm extremely grateful) and once we get this design finally done and dusted, (can you believe it's only been a month?) I hope this thread will get moved to the construction forum so that everyone else will get the benefit of my experiences here, as well as all the skill and wisdom from you guys. In short - I will be building exactly what you chaps kindly tell me to, because I trust you, and you all know better. Or if you like, my worst nightmare jobs are when clients give me a complete brief and then tell me how to do it. :evil: :evil: Soul destroying! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: This site is exactly what the internet was intended for, namely a worldwide FREE resource for people to learn, improve, share, help and progress. :wink: I am as passionate about that as you guys! "If you build it Lou, people will come." :wink: :wink: To not build as per your ideas, skill, and more experienced knowledge, would be downright stupid, and frankly nothing short of an insult. Back later, (rant over.) :lol: Warm regards as always, Lou. Aloha. 8)

Hi Andy, thanks for stopping by, and of course very many thanks for ordering the album. :wink: I hope you enjoy it. As for a start date - I'm planing to have the first pneumatic drill cut carving through my driveway in early April. This I hope will give me enough time to really plan the project properly, (long way to go yet!). I have read many of Sharward's (Keith's) posts and have to wholeheartedly agree with his views on preparation. There will be a lot of money, time, and hard graft going into this, plus the time and expertise of the people here, so I want to keep my 'cock-up-along-the-way' count as low as possible! :lol: :lol: In any event, I'm already in the very fortunate position (thanks to this site) of being somewhat ahead of the game. It's gonna hard, frustrating at times, and maybe even occasionally a traumatic nightmare. It will in the end however be worth it, and it all started here! :D :D :D :D Regards, Lou.

Hi Guys – How’s it going? Hope you’re all fine and well. Just to bring you all up to speed with where I am at the moment, and ask you all for some feedback. :? :mrgreen: My current state of euphoria started last Friday morning when I picked up John’s second design post. As I said at the time, “Bloody Genius.” Then of course, it just kept getting better with Kendale’s mighty efforts, and the .skp file? Awesome. :wink: OK, now I hope you’d all agree that design is somewhat similar to composition, in that it’s a creative process, often made more enjoyable by bouncing ideas off other people, especially when they’re half way around the world! As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I do not intend to take all your valuable advice, and then go and do it “My Way” (Mr Sinatra can definitely take the credit for that!) Basically chaps, I’ve been glued to this studio design thing for four days solid, (2nd deadline on production job kicks off on Fri) trying to improve my sketchup skills so that I can explain my thoughts. I warn you I’m still nowhere near your league, but I do feel I’m starting to get the hang of it, (largely due to Kendale’s skp file! – many thanks Dude!) So here come the thoughts, questions and mandatory pics. 1. I love John’s idea to put the control room square on. 2. I love the fact that John’s second design entices me to believe that I might be able to get a third room in there, even if he intended for it to double as the kitchen. :?: 3. John - I really feel that Kendale’s idea of rotating the control room makes for an easier access through the top right hand door. 4. I absolutely have to have Ken’s kitchen! No seriously guys, if any of you feel it’s possible to beat that right hand side layout, please let both of us know! :lol: 5. Ken – Love the left hand side, but really think that having gone for the toilet on that side of the layout, it would be a good idea to put it as close to the foul water drain as possible. (Re: carving up a minimum of 6” concrete to get the 4” sewer pipe in.) I hope you agree, my friend, as I don’t want to offend anyone. 6. I don’t know why, but I like the idea of getting a sound lock on the right hand side as well. (Between vocal booth and front door) Now to the pics, and my sketchup skills to show you where I’m going with this. If any of you see anything that I’ve now screwed up – please tell me, I will be grateful, and not in the least bit offended. I have doubtless put absorption where there should be reflection, but I just got a bit carried away with the program. Prime concern is still ‘nailing’ the layout, once we’re all agreed on that, I’ve allowed myself two months to sort out room treatments, audio cable runs, mains electric, plumbing etc. Then all I gotta do is really get my head around all the construction issues before the build starts! (No I haven’t overlooked ceiling designs!) :wink: The first two pics are John and Kendale’s (for reference) and then 4 self-explanatory design stages since my last post, followed by a little something which I hope will bring a smile! Update: Sorry - Cant get John's pic to load - please click/scroll back a bit if you want to see it! Finally, Glenn – where you been, Man? Missed you over the last week or so, you’re involved too, I’m sure you’ve seen what’s been happening but any thoughts good, bad or otherwise, please Mate, just tell me. PS I cant see any way of dividing the live room any further, so I’ll probably go for moveable acoustic panels, or put any guitar cab in the toilet! (Do I need to divide it anyway?) Cheers Guys, Kind regards, and many thanks, Lou. [/i]

Aloha Lou, Look's like it's coming together nicely. I like the way you laid out the restroom/soundlock wall and the vocal booth soundlock. Any chance you could post or email your Plan Edit 5 skp file? Thanks! Had another idea to help create that "ultimate client puller." Do you know of any lighting designers in your area? Aloha 8)

Aloha Kendale 8) I love the first one, kind of reminds me of when I was on tour with Sting and then I woke up! :lol: Seriously I have many ideas for the chill factor ambient light thing, including a gadget that projects a complete star system in 3D over the entire room. 8) .skp file on its way to you as I write, many thanks for asking. The toilet door would be better opening into the restroom, but I did n't want to chance rotating it and messing up the surrounding walls! :oops: I thought that if we were to 'pull' the sliding doors of the control room 'southwards' in the plan view, this might make it possible to get a dividing wall in the liveroom without it passing over the drain cover. (Not sure) I somehow lost the floor when I started playing :shock: ! I've since tried to get it back many times, but there appears to be something in there which is preventing me from drawing a co-planer surface at the bottom, and then simply filling with the paint bucket. ('Ark at me :lol: :lol: ) Also, part of the control room seems to be attached to the floor, but I don't know how. Just so you know Ken, the drumkit has been scaled, ie, that's now a 22" bassdrum in the component! Anyway, chat later, I need to go and get a bigger memory stick! Warm regards, and many thanks once again, (especially for the words of encouragement re: toilet and soundlocks.) Lou. (PS - I thought the control room could do with some artwork to brighten it up a bit!)

Hi Lou, congrats on your build. Your exuberance is contagious! LOL In the sketchup files, I'm just seeing single walls. Are you planning on building double-wall construction? Or did I miss this earlier in your thread?

Hi Jwl and thanks for stopping by. I should tell you that I have a reputation amongst friends and professional colleagues, for being very enthusiastic about almost everything I get involved in, so your apt choice of English is both well informed and accurate. :wink: Thank you Sir, but in all honesty who wouldn’t be exuberant with all the help I’ve received here? Also if it’s contagious, that could make it infectious as well! :lol: As for the sketchup files, I’m only concentrating efforts on the overall layout at this stage. The final design will be a twin leaf construction exactly as per John’s recommendations on the SAE site and of course Rod’s book. The plans have all been drawn to scale, and all internal walls are 4” thick. They will end up being 10” thick due to the 2” air gap and the other 4” wall. If you visualise 3” either side of what’s currently shown, this still allows enough room to get the kit in. I hope! :shock: I’ve then got to get the ceilings designed. The current drawings for example, show the control room at my maximum available height, i.e. too high. This means that once the final layout is in place I’m then going to have to re-draw the whole model, (this was intended), with all the twin leaf, and ceiling framing in its final position. Plus, as already mentioned, I’ll need separate drawings for all electrics, HVAC, audio tie lines, and plumbing etc. :roll: It is my sincere hope that by then my sketchup skills will have improved enough to just get on with it, and then post designs for approval, improvement, or moderate alterations. :twisted: Then, and only then, will I feel like I have enough detail behind me to take on Knightfly, and Sharward (to name just 2 of the ‘Gurus’) in the construction forum! 8) And now for a couple more screenshots as I’m out of the frame (level of attention-wise), from tomorrow! Deadline 2 for this production job is first week in March, and I’ve just been given another track to have ready to go by Tuesday! (Right problem, though!) Regards, Lou. 8)

Hi Chaps – Hope all is cool with you and yours! It’s been a bit hectic here over the last few days, but the track I mentioned that I had to get out by yesterday I, in fact, managed to post on Sunday! (Yippee for the workaholic!) I have had some free time though, so I’ve done a lot more reading both here, and on the construction site, which has enabled me to ‘stand back’ and reflect on the current design. :wink: I’ve tried all the ways I know to get another wall on the left side to create that third room, and every time I just ruin the whole of that side completely, I’m totally beat on that one. :evil: Given that I’m only concerned about the occasions where I’d want to record both drums and bass at the same time, I’m now going down the road of trying to design a drum booth in there to get some isolation between the two, and still maintain a line of sight for the drummer to the control room. Now, although Kendale’s kit is awesome, it’s not a typical kit, so there’s more room on that side (at this stage anyway!), than there appears to be. Can any of you offer any suggestions as to how I can nail this baby? ie: Do I need the third Room? Could I get enough separation with good quality moveable panels? Could I chance putting a bass cab in the vocal booth? Is a Drum Booth a workable option? (Additional HVAC etc.) Work is now full-on until the end of Feb, but I so want to start working on the framing drawings, and I just need this last part sorting so that I can run with it. Thanks so much Guys for all your help – it’s very much appreciated. Kind regards, Lou. 8)

'The most gracious, courteous, easement in an upward and (hopefully) forward direction' :wink: Also known as - 'polite bump' then I'm done and on to the next stage! :) Thanks Guys, Warm regards, Lou. 8)

hey guys! great designs flying around this post! Lou, I was hoping you could email me a copy of one of the many skp files shared between you and Ken. I'm about finished with my tracking room and will start designing the layout of my control room, would LOVE to have the dimensions and angles of the control room! looking forward to the build phase! Kevin

Done my friend. (Awesome build BTW!) Regards, Lou. 8)