Rimskidog

They are multi-purpose production rooms. They can be used as booths from the main studio; they can be linked together (say one as a control room and two as live rooms) or standalone (for pre-production, rehearsal or DIY recording). They can also be used as edit rooms, for post-production or even as a soundproof photography studio or video sound stage. At approximately 16ft x 17ft they probably arent as small as they look.

Solid mate!

More for your interest today then... setting out work begins for the three rooms in the new building:

A long day for the builders yesterday then. When Thomas arrived to let them in at 7:30am they were already standing waiting. They didnt leave for about 12 hours.

First they finalised the metalwork:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7052.jpg[/IMG]

and then the pour began:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7068.jpg[/IMG]

The lads worked hard all day, barrowing concrete to the far room until eventually:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7069.jpg[/IMG]

Work then started on the control room:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7063.jpg[/IMG]

Almost there:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7085.jpg[/IMG]

and finally:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7088.jpg[/IMG]

Done.

More progress today then. The control room floor caught up with the rest of the build (they worked from 7:30am to 7pm to make it happen):

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/IMG_0953.jpg[/IMG]

and concrete arrives at 10am tomorrow. Whoop!

Thanks guys! Appreciate it.


They say you should not judge people by how they deal with you when things are going right, but rather what they do to sort things out when things go wrong. Fair play to them, builders have been in all weekend put matters right. This involved them lifting up each bay in turn and relaying it correctly. This was complicated by the fact that each of the layers was bonded together.



So the good news is that we are back on to pour concrete early this week. Benches and metalwork for control room floor is going down tomorrow and we are hoping to pour by Wednesday at the latest. Thomas flies in tomorrow to check the work prior to the pour (as there ain't much we can do once the floor pans are full of concrete!)

Good news and bad news today.

On the good news first... the steelwork is done for all of the productions rooms:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/IMG_0952.jpg[/IMG]

The bad news? Somewhere between a communication error and a complete clusterfvck something went badly wrong. When I went down today the floors were as you see them above but there was a large quantity of regufoam left. It soon became evident that the benches have not been implemented properly. In the circumstances, the metalwork all needs to be lifted up again. In the circumstances it looks unlikely at this point that we'll be pouring concrete on Monday as per the original plan... Keep watching for the next episode of... soap.

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1329126314' post='1537326']
Cool stuff!

(opens second box of popocorn)
[/quote]

Be careful dude, it'll go straight to your hips! ;-)


Today's update then. The regufoam and benches are now in place for studio 3 and 4 and the steelwork is being formed for studio 4:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/IMG_0935.jpg[/IMG]

[quote name='GremlinAndy' timestamp='1329001752' post='1536021']
I only just found this thread and it's been the best hours worth of catching up I've ever done. the work you're doing there is fantastic buddy. I'm going to be glued to the thread for updates from now on! Good luck!

Andy
[/quote]

Nice one! Here's today's update then: in this photo you can see that wooden benches are being constructed on top of the regufoam to carry the structure of the floated concrete floors:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/IMG_0926.jpg[/IMG]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1328906726' post='1534809']
About time too mate!

Another lovely high ceiling to give you plenty of space, this is going to be a treat (sits back with the popcorn)...

Well come on then!



[/quote]

Thanks man. Stone room will have 19ft ceilings or so!

And finally phase two begins in earnest... so here's the first in a series of pictures about this week's activity. First of all, the steel arrived:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/IMG_0923.jpg[/IMG]

And then the builders did. Happily they got right down to the job at hand pulling out the old office space and unibonding the concrete to keep the dust down. Once that was done they started marking the rooms onto the concrete floor and laying out:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/IMG_0922.jpg[/IMG]

[quote name='Nibody' timestamp='1328689858' post='1531071']
I seem to recall one of them was a web designer.. that would explain it. The website and rebuild are coming together well. I would love to get in there! I'm afraid the best studio I was ever able to afford was Rhythm at Bidford on Avon when my old band recorded its two EP's - Paul Johnson I think owns/runs it/engineers. Not quite in the same league as yours though it was a nice studio in a nice location (Think he's just expanded it recently).
[/quote]

Cool. Swing by some time. I've always got a cold one in the fridge. It's gonna be a bit messy for the next 8 -10 weeks but any time after that it good!

Forgot to take pictures today (sorry!) but in short, I spent the last couple of days filling a large skip, mainly with the room divider panels from the new unit. Filled it pretty much level with the top. Then the driver came to pick it up:

"Er, you'll have to take the plasterboard out mate"

Me: "Eh?"

Driver: "We can't have plasterboard in these skips. They aren't plasterboard skips"

Me: " WTF?!? You are having a laugh."

Driver: "No mate. No plasterboard in these skips"

Me: "Why did nobody mention this when I ordered the skip?"

Driver: "It says clearly on our website: 'no plasterboard in skips'"

Me: "I didn't go on your website. I just got your number from yell and called"

Driver: "Well you should have read the website first"

Me: "Grrrrrrr"

Driver: "So do you want me to wait around while you take the plasterboard out?"

Me: "If I take the plasterboard out it'll be empty"

Driver: "Well I can't take it away full of plasterboard"

Me: "Well you taking away an empty skip isn't much use to me anyway. How do I get rid of the plasterboard"

Driver: "You could call and order a plasterboard skip"

Me: "Who from?"

Driver: "We do them. Just call the office"

Me: [IMG]http://i464.photobucket.com/albums/rr7/Jeffg0107/Smiley/Suicide.gif[/IMG]

The Wager stuff isnt anything to do with me. The guy who did my website (Alan) just put that stuff online to make sure the music player was working. Thanks for looking though!

Thanks. Hadn't spotted that. The developer obviously is neither a drummer or a speller!

<p>Thanks guys! &nbsp;@51mon, dont have any google ad campaign planned. &nbsp;What&#39;s the benefit of that? &nbsp;Will ask the optimisation question.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div>In other news, phase 2 is now in progress. &nbsp;First up, the regufoam for floating the floors arrived and was cut into shape:</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Tomorrow I become an unskilled labourer.</div>

soooo... my website developer has sent a link to a beta version of the new website for final comments before it goes live. You can see it here: http://www.allthingstech.co.uk/circle/index.php

Any comments/suggestions/constructive criticism would be appreciated!

Cheers!

[quote name='jonthebass' timestamp='1327265889' post='1508650']
How cool! Was he alright?
[/quote]

Yeah he's a cool guy man!

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1327308988' post='1508963']
Excellent!

Cheers man!
[/quote]

More news on phase 2 next week, in the meantime...


in more interesting news, I had Henry Rollins (Black Flag, Rollins Band) in this week cutting vocals:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7033.jpg[/IMG]

If fretted basses sound fine it's likely just a matter of eq. Start by inserting a parametric eq and sweep it until you find that mid range growl on your fretless then just give it a gentle boost with a wide Q. Of course you could be wild and radical and mic the thing up and capturing the sound you hear rather than trying to make a plastic model of the same thing. ;-)

[quote name='StraightSix' timestamp='1324079735' post='1470784'] Wrong: http://www.shure.com/idc/groups/public/documents/webcontent/rc_img_sm58_large.gif compared to: [url="http://www.shure.com/idc/groups/public/documents/webcontent/rc_img_sm57_large.gif"]http://www.shure.com..._sm57_large.gif[/url] [/quote]

Er, they are pretty much identical past 5k with minor differences (looks like 1 or 2db max) between 6-7k and fractionally over 10k caused entirely by the basket/foam. Go listen to a 1 db bump at 6.5k on a vocal and see what you can hear. As i said "to all intents and purposes" its the same. You *might* notice the 57 is marginally brighter. Most wouldnt. Indeed, the choice of pre and processing will probably affect the sound more than switching between these mics. (I have 3 of each of these mics in the studio and know them very well indeed). You are very welcome to come down some time when I'm quiet and compare for yourself if you don't believe me.

The SM7 works great live (yes I've got one and have often used it live) but given he said a T-funk M80 is out of his price range that will certainly be too expensive.

[quote name='StraightSix' timestamp='1324067757' post='1470619']
I agree it doesn't suit all singers - have you tried the SM57...? It has a different frequency response and is preferred by many a top wailer (Mick Jagger, Paul Rogers etc.).

It is also a very cheap upgrade and I would also recommend trying some sort of Preamp/EQ/Compression pedal - I use a TC Helicon Correct which is very effective.
[/quote]

The only difference between the sm57 and 58 is the popshield/ball. To all intents and purposes the frequency response is the same.

I feel like I should join in on this thread but as I've just come out of a 3 days session I suspect I won't make much sense so I'll keep it simple: 1. emulations (whether vst or line 6 types) do not make for huge guitars;
2. I'd rarely cut 3k and up but will usually low pass somewhere from 5-7k
3. go read Slippermans distorted guitars from hell here: http://badmuckingfastard.com/sound/slipperman.html

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1320267084' post='1424688']
www.airstudios.com

Seriously, ask and you never know what might happen.
[/quote]

Ha! Last time I worked at Lyndhurst hall it was like £3k a day (and that's some time ago!)

[quote name='ironside1966' timestamp='1322852596' post='1456756']
Recording everything dry is quit a modern approach, a lot of the old and great recordings both rock and Jazz where recorded in colored rooms, it is not about recording an instrument it was about recording an instrument in a room and a engineer would put has much emphasis on placing the instrument in the room has he would about microphone placement.
[/quote]

Spot on. And in the best studios this still happens!

Yeah, sadly. Nobody pointed out to me that the electric meter needed to be moved before the contractor could start. By the time they did the network people said it could be 10 weeks before they could do anything. As a result we are making a small change to the design so that we are not held up too long but it still pushes us back by 3 weeks or so. Oh well. I should have known better that start to think the end was in sight!