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Circle Studios refurb


Rimskidog
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Sadly, my job is very dull right now. Chasing skip-hire companies, being let down by electricians, dealing with ordering glass and audio cable, and doors and lots of other dull stuff which sucks money out of my bank account at an alarming pace!

So, while I sort out a new electrician for the next phase of the production rooms, the time has finally arrived to let you in on the control room build. The first full FTB build Northward Acoustics have done in the UK so we are doubly psyched about it. First up then, the steelwork arrives:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7299.jpg[/IMG]

Those with good eyes will see the little sticks against the wall of the live room. As my spacial awareness is very poor Thomas placed these so I could get an idea of where everything will be. You'll see that the live room window will almost double in width and the door will move to the right with an 18 inch pillar between the two.

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Whatever you do dont forget the camera for this part!

Very interested to see this one as far as we are allowed to (Northwood IP being something you cant spill just anywhere I would imagine).

Very close to rubbing my thighs over this ;)

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Heheh. You're welcome to come see yourself bud!


In other news... the front wall of the control room starts to make an appearance. You can get an idea from this how much bigger the control room window will be compared to the old window:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7311.jpg[/IMG]

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So it was finally time to take the live room wall down (doesn't seem that long since it first went up!)

The solid maple frame was pretty securely anchored in so, in order to avoid any damage to it, we decided to drill out the blocks around it first:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7333.jpg[/IMG]

In this photo you can see the plastic membrane we've put up to keep the dust in the live room to a minimum:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7337.jpg[/IMG]

Until finally, it came out. Everybody was amazed at, what had looked so small in the wall, was so big once it was out.

And the hole in the wall then got enlarged ready to take the new window:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7343.jpg[/IMG]

Anybody want to buy a solid maple studio window?

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Hehe, let me see, I could put the wall back in the downstairs front room, with the window in it, then have the control room nearest the kitchen, hold on, how big? Hmmmmmm, nah I dont think its quite big enough mate, sorry ;)

That new window looks enormous!

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@ 51mon :D

@ Nibody - oooh, nice idea. Wonder if I could get the rights to that...


Continuing the concrete trend, you can see that the pillar between the live room window and door is going up already:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7349.jpg[/IMG]

(the wall to the right of the pillar will eventually make way for the door).

In other news I've now found a new electrician so the first fix on the production rooms and stone room will go up tomorrow!

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[quote name='Rimskidog' timestamp='1336905282' post='1652476']
@ Nibody - oooh, nice idea. Wonder if I could get the rights to that...
[/quote]


Too late guys, see [url="http://www.activemusician.com/Ampegs-New-SVT810-Fridge-Actually-Keep-Things-Cold--t101i3104"]http://www.activemusician.com/Ampegs-New-SVT810-Fridge-Actually-Keep-Things-Cold--t101i3104[/url]

Looking awesome though!

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Is the further wall double skinned and vertically staggered concrete blockwork? Its really hard to make out, but I dont think I've ever seen a wall like that before....

That is just a huge amount of mass isnt it, how big is the gap?

And (more tedious questions sorry mate ;)) how much noise attenuation will it give ("All of it", I'm sure!), because the more I look back through the piccies the more major this build appears, its just immense!

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[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1337117330' post='1655889']
Is the further wall double skinned and vertically staggered concrete blockwork? Its really hard to make out, but I dont think I've ever seen a wall like that before....

That is just a huge amount of mass isnt it, how big is the gap?

And (more tedious questions sorry mate ;)) how much noise attenuation will it give ("All of it", I'm sure!), because the more I look back through the piccies the more major this build appears, its just immense!
[/quote]

blockwork is vertically and horizontally staggered!

Airgap between CR and LR is approximately 6 inches. I'll take a pic for you tomorrow.

The attenuation is limited by the doors (which are 75db I think from memory) but as we have a soundlock it *might* get us up to 90db with a following wind though its a bit difficult to say until it's finished and we can test it.

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Possible 90dB, Jeesus!

New studio moto:-

"In CircleStudios live room, no one can hear you scream"

Well, if you make a pickle of the patching anyways!

Dont know why but that reminds me of recording a lady singer who was pretty green when it came to studios, we had her all set up ready to go, take 1 is in the can, we all listen back at war volume and right before the song starts you could clearly hear her fart, [size=2]"trumpppppppphhhhhwheeeep"[/size].

She never lived it down :D

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Harhar. It's always funny when they forget you can hear them!


Someone asked elsewhere if they could see a photo of the control room window with someone in it so they could get a better idea of scale. I took a picture today as one of the builders swept up at the end of works. Here it is:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7359.jpg[/IMG]

And, while we're at it, here's a picture of the airgap between the live room and control room just for the hell of it:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7352.jpg[/IMG]

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Heheh. The idea was to make it look much more open than studios traditionally are so that there's more connected feel between the engineer and the band.


Of course at the same time the front wall was going up, so was the backwall. At first it was zooming up:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7304.jpg[/IMG]

then yesterday I appeared out of the control room only to find they had put a lintel on the gap they had left to get the control room glass in:

[IMG]http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g28/Rimskidog/DSCN7314.jpg[/IMG]

Only problem was the gap they left wasn't actually going to be tall enough to get the glass through...

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Hats seriously doffed, sir, for having taken the time and effort for posting all this, over all this time. The quality of this is admirable, the photos stunning (yes, even the 'phone pics...) and the frank, lightweight banter must mask a whole shed-load of difficulties and deceptions. More power to your elbow; huge thanks for sharing all this with mere mortals such as (some of...) us.
It is, regrettably for me, unlikely that I should have call of these facilities, once completed, but be assured that, given the opportunity, I shall not hesitate to pass on your coordinates to those looking for an address.
The 'house-warming' is likely to be one hell of a party..!
Respect.

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