The Studio - Let's Talk Shop !
By Tom of Blue Flux
| Most recording studios
go through a continuous process of improvement, updating, and
obsolescence.
My studio is no different, and has been through a considerable amount
of
evolution in the past years. In recent months I had to face the
ultimate
challenge of re-building my recording facility from scratch, due to
moving
house. This is all part of the fun of being a recording musician,
although
there are times when I would disagree!
The first part of these ever growing pages
thus deals with the lessons, surprises, and frustrations, I experienced
in the process of installing my new Groundhog Studio.
There are those who feel that spending
thousands of pounds on recording equipment is a daft thing to do, when
one could put that money to much better use, like laying a new carpet
or
fitting a new bathroom. These pages are not for them....
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Click on this button
for a selection of
Blue Flux songs
you can listen to
whilst visiting
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Groundhog Studio
shortly after completion
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| Anybody following
Blue Flux's developments, most likely on these pages, will remember
that
after leaving our home of many years in South Wales, UK, we relocated
to
Cologne in Germany in 2000. Though both Jill and me have benefited
greatly
from the change of scenery, the downside was that our accommodation in
Cologne did not lend itself to the construction of a proper studio. The
interim solution became what was fondly known as Piglet Studio,
one half of a smallish bedroom, accommodating hard disc recorder, some
outboard gear, and a microphone.
This uncomplicated set-up was the cradle
for the Blue Flux album "Sugarbeat",
a guitar-only effort I am very fond of, because simplicity, as always,
is beautiful. However, for someone who has been used to a fully fledged
studio and production set-up, I knew that this state of affairs could
only
ever be a temporary solution.
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Piglet Studio (2001) - which fails to impress,
other than through its
sheer functionality. Here all of "Sugarbeat" was recorded in 2000 &
2001.
Monitoring was carried out through Logitech active
PC speakers plus
sub woofer - useful, but way too coloured for final mastering. Hence
the
use of the AKG HEARO
888 headphones.
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On the Move Again
Jill and I had been on the lookout for
property with room for a decent studio for quite a while, and after
many
disappointments we struck gold. Located near the town of
Moenchengladbach,
and in the heart of what used to be the British Forces stronghold in
Germany
during the heydays of the Cold War, many streets still bear the proud
names
of the Empire (Churchill Lane, Mountbatten Close, Tudor Crescent - this
is Germany, remember). Cheddar cheese and Heinz baked beans can be
bought
at any street corner - we used to drive many miles for them in Cologne!
And a surprising number of Rover dealers in our vicinity betray the
considerable
number of Forces members who obviously went AWOL and stayed behind. All
in all, we feel right at home here.
Groundhog Studio
Apart
from being more spacious
than British houses, most German houses have another thing going for
them
- a decent cellar. Unlike the handful of British cellars I've ever
seen,
which were damp, with earthen walls and a 5 foot high ceiling, the ones
they build here could be mistaken for a British living room, only
bigger.
A prospective studio owners paradise ...
The cellar room I earmarked for our new
recording facility, aptly called Groundhog Studio, is 4.20 by 6.0
meters,
with a 2.25 meter high ceiling. At some stage it must have been some
kind
of cellar bar (Germans are known to be keen on these), hence the brick
faced wall with a wooden bar top on the left. The floor is tiled in 70s
orange & brown ceramic tiles - mmh...
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Left side of Groundhog Studio to be, still with clobber
of previous
occupant. Note the "bar feature" with disco mirror ball above, and sink
far right. |
First Draft
The draft
below shows
the classic single room layout, with HD recorder and mixing desk
against the wall, and the keyboard rack at right angles. The recording
area for guitar and vocals is on the left, and my original intention
was
to leave this uncarpeted, to promote a brighter, more jangley guitar
sound.
However, I soon ditched that idea, since the browny orangey tiles just
looked too awful against the blue carpet. Anyway, the brick faced left
wall should help to brighten up the sound, and, if needed, I'll place a
temporary piece of MDF board on the floor.
Having been blessed with a sizeable room
also meant I could opt for a utility area (on right) to stash away
guitars,
cables, and stands. Despite being a cellar room, daylight has not been
banished completely. Sloping soil elevations outside facilitate a
double
window, and though not sufficient to work up a Costa Brava suntan,
enough
light is admitted to defuse jokes about the warped body-clock of
recording
musicians.
| Doors & Windows
Both windows in the
room are double glazed, and provide a fair amount of attenuation.
However,
they hark back to 1975, and my impression is that today's double
glazing
is more adept at containing sound. Hence I added a third pane of glass,
which fitted snugly into a handy
recess in the inner frames, to leave an air gap between panes of about
20
mm. The glass was secured with builder's silicon (the non-smelly type)
and wooden strips on the frame faces. Certainly cheaper
than fitting new windows, and the extra soundproofing is very noticable
indeed.
The door leading up to the garden was a bit
more of a problem. Being an outside facing door, it was built solidly
enough,
but had 4 thinnish panes of glass fitted to admit daylight. A noise
leak
if ever I saw one! The option was to either fit a new door - hassle,
expense
- or to upgrade soundproofing of the existing door. Clearly the latter
was the correct course of action for any self-respecting studio owner
with
an eye on future equipment purchases ...
Original door
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Fitting Rockwool on inside ...
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... sandwiched by 12 mm MDF
board
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The finished article
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The pictures above show the upgrading of
the door. MDF really is quite a good soundproofing material, and
together
with the Rockwool fitted behind the glass panels and some new rubber
seals
between door and frame I'm pleased to say that sound leakage through
the
door has been substantially reduced.
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| Floor, Ceiling, and
Walls
The
original floor
was tiled, so the decision to lay carpet was an obvious one. Not quite
so obvious might have been my decision to also carpet the far wall.
This
is the wall where the speakers are mounted, and opinions differ whether
to acoustically
treat this wall, or the opposite one. Experience with my previous
studio has shown that at least one of these two walls needs to be
treated
in some way.
Carpeting the speaker wall means not only
breaking up standing waves (at least their mid-to-high frequency
content,
since carpet is not dense enough for the low frequency content), but
also
absorbing some of the off-axis spill reflections from the speaker
cabinets.
Since the room is fairly deep, reflections off the opposite,
non-treated
wall have not proved to be a problem thus far. In case they should,
some
additional absorption material could be fitted there later.
Those lovely tiles
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Floor and far wall carpeted
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The question sometimes arises as to why
not to just carpet (or otherwise treat) all walls and ceiling, to
minimize
any spurious reflections etc. I guess one reason not to is that
monitoring
and mixing in a semi-anechoic chamber would lead to artificially
compensating
for the absence of natural reflections by adding excessive reverb and
EQ.
After all, there has to be some relation to the acoustic environment
the
average punter will find himself in when listening to your music.
That's
my theory, anyway, but I'm prepared to stand corrected if anyone has a
scientifically superior explanation.
The ceiling is made from solid re-inforced
concrete, and really quite thick and hence soundproof. Good luck, then
-
no additional work required here. On the downside - try drilling holes
into it, and you're likely to not be able to use your right arm the
following
few days. This, incidentally, goes for most walls and ceilings in
German
houses - concrete rules OK! My advice to anyone moving here from timber
frame or breeze block land - buy an industrial strength hammer drill,
and
start arm wrestling!
... Continued on page 2
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 Click
here for Groundhog Studio - Page 2:
Cables & Connectors,
Patchbay, Equipment Placement, Final Verdict
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To
hear the music
of
Blue Flux,
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Contact Blue Flux
Copyright Enthalpy Publications 2006
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