My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)

[beans-on-toast]

Man, do they ever have some neat stuff out there. I like the idea of being able to monitor the lock remotely via Apple Home.

Kwikset Premis Touchscreen Smart Lock in Satin Nickel - - Amazon.com

 

[silky smoove]

The Schlage stuff is a little goofy. They have versions that work with Apple Home, but those models have a different face plate and backlight color that looks awful with the aged bronze hardware I'll be using. I'll have to see if aesthetics or potentially useful functionality wins that argument.

 

[beans-on-toast]

When it comes to a studio, Are there any uncomplicated decisions? A good lock is very important though.

 

[silky smoove]

Critical measurements taken by the contractor. Deposit paid by yours truly. Just waiting for all the parts to come in and then they'll get me on the schedule.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Critical measurements taken by the contractor. Deposit paid by yours truly. Just waiting for all the parts to come in and then they'll get me on the schedule.

Hope that the contractor isn't dyslexic. Measurements can be tough.

 

[Marial]

What's the name of your contractor, btw? We need to get an egress window cut into our basement.

 

[silky smoove]

What's the name of your contractor, btw? We need to get an egress window cut into our basement.

Emerald City Energy. They're based out of Renton. I've been very happy with the work they've done on my previous house. Everything else in my current house was done by Champion Windows who are based out of Kent. They seem to do equally nice work, and might be a better choice for cutting a new opening into an existing structure. I would have used them for this if Emerald City Energy hadn't provided this exact same door at my last place with great results, and is therefore sort of a known quantity.

 

[silky smoove]

Hope that the contractor isn't dyslexic. Measurements can be tough.

Agreed. They seem very sharp, and like I've said previously; They did an excellent job on the install at my last place.

 

[Marial]

Emerald City Energy. They're based out of Renton. I've been very happy with the work they've done on my previous house. Everything else in my current house was done by Champion Windows who are based out of Kent. They seem to do equally nice work, and might be a better choice for cutting a new opening into an existing structure. I would have used them for this if Emerald City Energy hadn't provided this exact same door at my last place with great results, and is therefore sort of a known quantity.

Awesome, thanks Chris!

 

[Ulf_Hansson]

The one I linked above can be ordered with Bluetooth or wifi connectivity. Pretty slick.

That's really nice!

 

[silky smoove]

Nothing much to report at this point. The new door is scheduled to go in on Wednesday, which is great. I'm working on setting up a new funding source that will allow construction to move forward that I'm very excited about. Hopefully I'll have some more updates in the near future.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Will the lock be installed at the same time as the door or is that handled separately?

 

[silky smoove]

Will the lock be installed at the same time as the door or is that handled separately?

Same time. It's all going in on Wednesday. I couldn't get the exact handset and lock combination that I wanted because Schalge discontinued half of that particular combination (the handset). Baldwin, which is what I have on the rest of the house, makes nice hardware, but their keypads are terrible. Kwikset hardware left me thoroughly unimpressed save for a few neat flashing lights and connectivity options. I opted to just compromise and get a set from Schlage with the functionality I wanted and a style that's close enough for my goals to keep me happy despite not being perfect.

 

[Bard2dbone]

This thread makes me powerfully ambivalent.

I want to set up to record at home, too. But I can't build a separate space. So I had the living room set up for band practice. Now we'll be practicing at my drummer's house. So I'm going to move my plethora of gear into a now-unused bedroom across the hall from my room and set up to record only.

Good news: Just recording doesn't require the space needed to set up the whole band. So a room stuffed with enough gear that it can only really hold two people, maybe three isn't as dumb as it sounds.

Bad news: No new construction means way insufficient soundproofing. And it WILL be ridiculously stuffed full and crowded.

I picture retiring to somewhere with enough space to build a barn sized studio with a huge live room. But if I could find that much space affordably, I suspect there would be no other humans nearby enough to jam with.

 

[Ulf_Hansson]

I'm working on setting up a new funding source that will allow construction to move forward that I'm very excited about.

 

[Ulf_Hansson]

I want to set up to record at home, too. But I can't build a separate space.

I know how you feel. I have all the stuff I need to make some decent recordings; I could use some more mics to do full-band live takes, and need to learn a lot. But I really don't need to buy a lot of stuff.

Unfortunately, the only place I have found that sounds really, really great is my parents summer house... A large open space, high ceiling, large glass sections in one end of the main room, mostly wood covered otherwise. Some carpets, soft furniture, bookshelves -- it all adds up to the best room I have ever recorded in. The only problem is that mum and dad are stubborn about actually living there!

So, whenever I start contemplating setting up my own space I quickly figures "this will never sound as good as my parents house". And then it's no fun anymore.

 

[Marial]

I could re-purpose my garage, but then I wouldn't have any place to put the mower and all of my other tools. My hope is that one day we won't need the income from our Air BnB and I can turn the basement into something. It will never be fully soundproofed, though.

 

[silky smoove]

This all needs a little perspective reminder to hopefully make everyone feel better about not having an ideal spot to build something like what I'm doing: I HAD TO SELL A HOUSE AND BUY AN ENTIRELY NEW HOUSE JUST TO MAKE THIS WORK!!!!

I definitely agree that building a space like this in an existing home is incredibly difficult. Had I not bought a house specifically with the intention of doing this it would still just be a pipe dream for me.

 

[Bard2dbone]

There's a level of home studio that I've heard called a "recording closet".

I think that's what mine will end up being. I suspect a lot of us who are setting up to record in an existing home will have to settle for those.

 

[J Posega]

Until I can afford a big old church like Dreamland Studios out by Woodstock, NY, I'll be setting up a small mixing/ tracking space for bass, guitar, and maybe vox.

I see a lot of co-working spaces cropping up across various industries, so I hope this idea really takes off for recording engineers. Someone buy up some big warehouse spaces, retrofit them with a bunch of small mix/ edit rooms, a few that are good for tracking guitars and vox, and the a couple big rooms for drums and full bands. It would be expensive, but I think it would benefit a lot of engineers and bands.