Undergoing a complete renovation - everything from functionality [live, machine and iso rooms, professional acoustic design, absorption and diffusion] to cosmetics [cables running through the floor and walls instead of on the floor]. But there's much more. Not only is the new space bigger, but it includes a lounge area with an arcade machine, 27" television, video games, and mix from the control room! Here's some before and after photos.
As you can see, the floor has been leveled and is ready for the walls to go up. The floor is made of 5/8" thick spruce plywood. The vibration to the outside is minimal due to the floating techniques and the fact that it's 5 feet underground already, surrounded by a concrete foundation wall.
The lounge will offer a television, video and arcade games, a mini fridge and a
stereo system that will allow you to hear what's going on in the control room.
In fact, almost every room will be wired for multimedia - internet, telephone,
control room mix. You will even be able to watch what's happening
on the
security cameras!
The control room is going to have angled walls and other forms of diffusion to break up standing waves. The back wall will have a seating area for those who wish to sit in on the mixing session, and to reduce noise there is a separate machine/storage room for the computer. There is of course the obligatory studio window from the control room to the live room approximately 3 1/2 x 6 feet made out of tempered, shatter-resistant glass.
The iso/recording booth will be a 4 1/2 x 10 foot room with tapered walls and funky colours. The mics and headphones run through the wall into the main system, leaving setup times extremely fast. There is a total of 4 mic jacks in there - just in case.
Of course, the real gem of Permanent Records is the Live Room. Large enough for a band and some friends, the room itself is made on a floating floor with a spruce subfloor and will have maple hardwood. The walls are double gypsum board, fire and sound retardant and inside the walls is Soundoff noise reducing insulation. After that comes the concrete foundation walls of the house, then the outer wall - outside is very quiet.
Update 11/21/2007 - the wiring for internet, telephone, audio and video is done and every room now runs through a Leviton Structured Media System in the lounge. The lounge walls are framed and some of it has drywall - all of the electricity is wired up in there, as well as lighting.
Update 12/7/2007 -Well, here's some new pics of the studio all wired up. Too bad the walls aren't up yet.
1/9/2008 - It's the new year and here we are with most of the studio framed, the rest to be done soon. There is now electricity, headphone jacks around the room, and a new circuit wired up exclusively for the studio - two 20-amp breakers dedicated exclusively for the studio.
12/7/2008 - Lighting has been put up in the live room now, with 3 pairs of lights controlled by their own switches. 300 watts of light in the 430 square foot room. It is possible to set up some nice ambience in there by turning on the different lighting options. There are more walls and doors up, with a double-entry door/airlock to the control room being put up today. Some of the walls have drywall and the rest of the framing should be done within the month.
6/9/2008 - All the walls are up, all the lights are in, all the power is wired. Next steps include insulating and drywalling.
