Lou's Studio - Construction Phase

[Lou]

Thanks Ro - I'm doin just fine mate.

Dude - I already use photobucket for images! I need a hosting site for audio, unless you know of any 32 bar pictures!

Kind regards,

Lou.

[xSpace]

Hi Lou.

http://www.box.net does pretty good for making files available, but this service doesn't stream, they just hold the file to be downloaded by the visitor.

Fairly hassle free for the visitor as well.


See ya,


Brien

[Ro]

ah, sorry. Once again I missunderstood.. I'm a total idiot, I know.
Why not "rent" hosting space? It's cheap and will be YOURS only. put up a web-site while yer at it and ye dun.

[John Sayers]

Why not "rent" hosting space? It's cheap and will be YOURS only. put up a web-site while yer at it and ye dun.

good point - I'll be happy to direct you to the mob that hosts this site Lou. The server is in Seattle.

[cottagefarmer]

Or you could try Broadjam http://www.broadjam.com/ or AcidPlanet http://www.acidplanet.com if you want to get something up fast.

[Lou]

Hey chaps – How you all doin’? Fine I hope.

OK, well, here’s the penultimate update at last! Firstly a couple of thank yous for the hosting threads, then answers to the questions since December and before, some of the new shots for the website (currently under construction), the all important sound clips for your ‘critique’, and the poignant close prior to that bloody video walkthrough!

Xspace – Thanks Brien, that was really helpful, just what I needed as a temporary measure. (Real sorry to hear of the local tragedy btw).

Ro – No worries you plonker! I had you on Ohm’s law and now this?.................. You know I’m only kidding of course, you’re so, so, far from an idiot and I still owe you a few beers when you come and visit!

John – Lovely to hear from you and thank you my friend, but I’ve gone with Brien’s suggestion pro-tem as any clips will eventually be hosted on my website anyway. I just needed something quick and easy for the forum gurus!

Cottagefarmer – Thank you buddy, nice of you to stop by, many thanks for your help, and, well, you know the rest.

Now then ‘dudesters’ – Replies time.

Yellowfever – You posted those questions back in Nov last year!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please forgive the ludicrous delay in answering, but, it really has been a ‘run to the finish’. I hope you understand. I’m in word at the moment so I’ll try to remember the basic focus of what you were asking, and reply as honestly as I can.

Is there anything I’m not happy with?

Well, no, actually…………….there, I’ve just paused to type some dots, and, still no! I will however be changing my front door as it looks crap!

Anything I would have done differently?

Damm sure – I would have woken up to the realisation that I couldn’t do this on my own much sooner. I’d have done even more research. I definitely would not have employed so called friends! It’s amazing what you really learn about people when the s**t hits the fan in a crisis!

One piece of advice?

Simple – If you’re gonna’ do it, for God’s sake do it right, work out a budget then allow 30% over the top to finish it, then allow another 15% for the things you didn’t allow for! Plus the gear! Which of course means, if you’ve allocated £12,000.00 for example, it will actually cost you nearer £18,000.00. PLUS THE GEAR

Paddedcell – The website is on its way mate! When you and ‘nipper’ coming down?

Wayne D – Thank you for that comment, very kind and the soundclips are here in a minute.

VK – Thanks, and, as above dude – Be lucky!

Xspace – LOL! Dude, that stuff was first produced back in 1992 on an Atari 1040 ST! 300 pieces later, and they’re still emailing me for it, so, I’ll have to make it available on the website I guess. Believe me once you’ve seen one f*****g red train pass through a section of beautiful Swiss Mountain Scenery, you’ve seen ‘em all buddy!

DH – James, the isolation is awesome, the separation also superb. We had a typical ‘Party Central’ do here before Christmas, Andy was down and of course had to bang ‘seven bells of c**p’ out of my Yamaha kit at 1.00 am! Dude, Sarah and I went outside and the rustle of the trees was louder!

Green House – Nice to see you mate, your wife must hate me for being such a nerd! Luckily, it’s all Sarah has ever known in me, although, to be fair, I’ve always been a nerd!

Right – I think that just about covers everybody. On then to the update!

Pics or soundclips first? OK, ok, you’ve seen over 1500 pics already so how does this place sound?

Well, great, actually! Sorry guys. No, seriously I don’t want to make this appear to be too scientific, but, to be fair to all the experts up here, when one is conducting any kind of experiment, it’s essential to be aware of the criteria, the objective, and of course all the details of the conditions and tools under which the experiment was conducted.

Simply put, I’ll cover this as we were taught to cover these things in school.

Aim:

To accurately capture the ‘natural’ sound of a live drum kit as if the listener was sat in the room, with the drummer (and kit) in front of them.

Method:

Take two Neumann U87’s and place them as a stereo pair behind the drummer, (not in front). This technique not only gives a much more balanced sound between cymbals and toms, but more importantly, also provides a ‘drummers perspective’ of what was played.

Place Sennheiser E904’s on all six toms as well as well as one on the top rim of the Pearl Solid Brass Snare.

Place a Sennheiser E914 Condenser on the Hi-Hat, (slight angle towards bell), and another underneath the snare for maximum flexibility. (Two snare mics is the only way to go!)

Take a Sennheiser E902 Kick Drum mic and place it inside the bass drum again at a slight angle facing the beater, but around six inches from the inside of the front head.

Get great mate back from Essex for two and a half days………yes guys, two and a half days to tune hit (move mic) tune hit (move mic again)…………………….and……………..play.

Make up any old four bar keyboard groove (Trinity B001 ‘Old School Split’) record, and loop, and get him to jam along.

Adjust mic input levels to suit, organise pans to reflect what’s actually being played. Deliberately ignore gating, compression, EQ, and any effects you can think of, so that you can present an accurate account of how your gear, and, room sounds to the forum.

I realise that I’ve just made that sound like a cooking recipe, but that’s so that when you explain this to wives and girlfriends, they’ll have a better understanding of what we get up to!

Results: Well here they are guys – Please play them in your studios (flat – stereo hard left and right) and feel free to comment. Once again nothing has been done other than mic levels and pan. For anyone wishing to decode them, they were 24 bit/48 khz .aiff prior to encoding.

http://www.box.net/shared/pvriktj4qt (Live Drums Test 1 Overheads Only)

http://www.box.net/shared/17cf6fmr3g (Live Drums Test 2 Kick Snare Hi-Hat Only)

http://www.box.net/shared/6scsmqoqjs (Live Drums Test 3 All 12 mics Open)

http://www.box.net/shared/pdbxsk4vhp (Live Drums Test 4 All 12 mics with jam track)

Conclusion:

The separation between the mics is excellent. I can control the overall ambiance with varying amounts of overhead level, depending on genre. The variation of snare sound is endless due to different mixes between top and bottom mics. I can gate, compress, effect and eq to my heart’s content. Andy said that in his entire professional career, he’s never sounded that good in a studio!

On to a couple more pictures then.

I’ve had 3 more steel plates made, they’ll all be mounted on ash. This one is for outside the front door.



This is for the front door!



Me exporting the files you’ve just listened to.



Work in progress.



This baby is awesome – Line 6 Pod X3 Pro.



The final desk shot for the website.



Colour corrected, lightened, hi-res versions of two shots you’ve already seen.





So there you go guys, that’s about it from me apart from the walkthrough which is coming, and one very important thing I just need to do.

I’d like to introduce you to someone you’ve not met before. This picture was taken around 1949. This gorgeous creature has never had any internet presence until now.



This is the same little girl photographed in the spring of 1940. The plate was hand painted before it went to the darkroom. This picture has also been my mobile wallpaper for nearly three years.



And this, my very good friends, is the last picture I Shall post here. There’s nothing more to say other than hopefully things now make a bit more sense. This will be placed on the wall of the front lobby opposite the front door, and will be the first thing anyone sees when they enter the building.

Take care guys – It couldn’t have been done without all your help and encouragement.



Kind regards as always.

Lou.

[VK]

Sounds really fresh, Lou! I hope you make great records soon, mate!

Nice pics also, as always.

[snowdog99]

Lou, your build has been an inspiration. Thank you for sharing what inspired you!

I haven't been able to listen to your tracks yet- my gear is in pieces because I'm in the middle of my build as I type this. Can't wait to sit down somewhere and have a listen.

Made me sad to read those words "these will be the last pics I post here." Where will I get my fix now?

Congrats again!

Andy

EDIT: ok, I've had a chance to listen to your drum tracks....
These sound great! Great drums, great sounds, and a great player. Very tasty stuff! If you're getting these kind of sounds with very little processing, you are set man, set.

Cheers!

[jwl]

Congratulations, Lou. What stellar results you've gotten. The tracks sound fantastic, the room sounds much larger than it is. Very even and well balanced. And of course everything looks a dream.

What a lovely tribute to June, the place where you focus your energies to send out into the world, she's now a foundational part of that process.

[WayneD]

Wonderful stuff Lou! Your tribute, as well as your studio were tastefully done. Your lessons learned are to my benefit, you have saved me much heartache. I know now, as I should have known, that experts are experts for a reason. Their experience and knowledge is not something one can pick up in a short amount of time.

Good luck to you and your future work. Thank you for sharing what for all of us here, is a chance to have what you've done in your build. Each with in out means.

W

[Woozie]

Your studio is fantastic Lou and exactly as I expected it to be, knowing you as I do. The plaque for Mum is perfect and well placed!!

If Mum was still alive, she would love your studio and she would also want to know your next steps from a business point of view Lou. (you know what I'm getting at)x

Your studio has been completed with love, hate, sweat, tears, money and Dunie x

It's brilliant Lou and another chapter in your life begins..................

Suzie x

[John Sayers]

I'd like to thank Lou for all the time and effort he put into this thread. He's documented it superbly.

It's been a real example to all of us of the endless work and the heartaches that go into a building a pro studio.

I wish him happy recording times and hope to hear some hit records from the studio

cheers
john

[Funky Catt]

Hi everyone, as you can see I'm a grass green newbie here . Anyway, Just wanted to say only just having read this thread I feel I've missed out on the journey from the start of this project to its completion.

Lou you are a very talented geezer , it's not just the result that's impressive but it's the time you took to share your experiences with everyone. The truth is I've not read a thread offering the level of detail that yours contained. I'm about to begin my studio build and your thread has definately answered some of the questions I had about how to approach certain issues. Your studio and thread have been totally inspirational and if mine completes looking half as good as yous I'll be more than happy.

Fantastic stuff Lou, Big respect to you mate.

[andybibb]

Hi Guys my names Andy Bibb been working with Lou on his studio on and off for a long time now, I'm the one playing drums on the mp3's above and yeah we spent a long time fine tuning the kit and mics positions but we got there in the end it was great...and yes to all you drummers out there this is the best live kit sound you will ever here in a studio, after many sessions in my playing career usually very dissapointed with the kit sound after begging the engineer and producer that the kit sound ain't right this is a real pleasure to finally get it right!!!! it has proved to me it is possible to mic a acoustic drum kit WITHOUT compressors or limiters and all the rest of tools to cover up bad engineers, me and Lou are so fussy about sound and production and it is a pleasure to work with Lou who is the finest in the buisiness. Looking forward to many sessions at the studio mate in the future located at party central yes, party central this is because Lou and his wife Sarah are the most hospitable and freindly people around who make everyone welcome and always have a great time when staying over see you soon Lou..........Andy Bibb

[doublehelix]

Lou...

As usual, you have this knack for mixing real life emotions with the technical geeky stuff that we all love to do.

Of course the studio is beautiful, and the sounds are gorgeous, but the tribute to your mother is all I am going to remember from your last post. You are a fine man Lou, one that I would be honored to call "friend". Remember, "family first". We will carry our loved ones around with us in our heart forever, long after the ears are gone to hell in a handbag.

Brilliant Lou. Someday, I am going to show up with a bottle in my hand, and we are going to toast the night away. Someone will have to scrape us off the floor in the morning!