Audio & recording

Then a week or so later I came home from work and the "mate", had got bored and started demolition work on the inside of the shed, oh; did I mention, he started without asking me,

NOTE TO ALL never leave your drummers unsupervised.

So after a few days panic, there I was on the internet looking up how to do this and experiencing some stress regarding finding the money, so a few days later I got a truck load of 3 pallets of 19x800x3600mm Yellow tongue chipboard flooring and made some phone calls, "hey mate were building a studio will you come and help, I asked" . . .

I also bought LOTS and lots of fiberglass, bags and bags of the shit (I hate fiberglass so bad) it's the gift that keeps on giving for days I REALY HATE IT. Note to self wear gloves when installing the stuff, OR were gloves when going to the toilet, DO NOT forget or you will NEVER NEVER forget !

Some screws, glue more screws, more glue and and a few more phone calls to some more mates to come and help us lift the sheets over our head. that's my brother Mark helping he was important that day mainly cause's he is over 6ft4 tall and I am incapable of hammering in a nail. Only after we had completed all of this did someone suggest a gyprock lifter, mmmm now you tell me aarrrggggh.....

Stand alone in the room that night it looked like something from a action movie, dark with dangling wires and lights hanging from the ceiling, you half expected a screaming Bruce Willis or Mel Gibson to come jumping out of a corner at any second waving a guns in both fists. Instead you just got itchy from the fiberglass (Did I mention I hate fiberglass, I really do)

After a enormous weekend by all concerned the shell was complete, I'll never forget my feelings sitting alone in that room the first night after everyone else had gone, it was both exciting and scary; full of the innocent hope that only some one that's never tried to build a studio before can have, If only I known I would have done something cheaper like offshore yacht racing

Over the next two weeks the studs would go in for the walls, with more discussion than a international banking corporate merger, just how unequal are the spacing supposed to be on studs and noggins to reduce resonance. Boxes and boxes of this glue and that glue, screws and the accumulation of more hardware than a single musician is ever supposed to own.

After only three weekends of frame construction the Plasterer arrived (Thanks Nick, that's Bens mate) and the next stage was underway with a Saturday morning rush, with five keen bodies on staff we were glad that its was a cool Queensland winter 23c and nice and fresh in our insulated box with no windows, the dust and fiberglass was horrendous, but the dream was a live (and very, very itchy).

Every wall was treated inside and out: The main wall between the control room and the main both is more than a foot thick with two layers of 19mm Chipboard around 70mm pine studs, three layers of gyprock, internal and external fiberglass and carpet underlay for an added of skin irritation. This amount of treatment will reduce a rock drummer rim shoting a brass snare to the point where you can have a normal conversation only 2.5m away. Now that's very cool!

The walls on your right is the main wall between the control room and the vocal booth, again two layers of 19mm Chipboard around 70mm pine studs, two layers of gyprock, internal fiberglass and carpet underlay then spacers holding more fiberglass for an added of skin irritation

Walls do neither a castle make, nor a studio finish but it bloody well helps. That said only once you have completed something like this yourself can you understand the relief and pride that we felt at getting the shell to this stage. I remember naively thinking to myself where almost finished, (not knowing what I know now). That at that stage we weren't even halfway, still self delusion is as good a motivation as anything I suppose.

The thought, construction and design that went into the couch you wont believe. I know I know you would 't think that it would be such a big deal, but a bloke has to have somewhere to sleep while you spend 4 hours getting drum sounds. And unless its raised by the right height amount the engineering position how will you ever be able to correctly back seat drive (Engineers note: If thay are more than 3m back you can't normally hear them anyway, besides you can just fake studio deafness, sorry I didn't hear you)

I was rather proud of my little touches, like the storage underneath & behind that couch, the builtin Air con vent/duct above that hinges down to gain access, the headphone points and mic lines builtin to the couch, so the bass player, doesn't even have to get up.

I Know I'm sometimes prone to going overboard the main wall between the control room and the main has a total Glass thickness of 24mm (1inch) using 2 sheets of (2 x 6mm laminated glass) between all rooms you can play drums full noise in the iso booth and talk in a whispers only 2m away that's very cool. More glass, fitted by experts, the fact that Ben has worked for a number of major glass companies came in very handy, It never ceases to amaze me just how lucky I was with the range of trade skills and the enthusiasm of the people I had around me.

yer'right looking back its hard to believe I was that nieave, and just how little I knew. The work was only just beginning. Hell its been 3 months at this stage and it's still not finished.

My arty ~ Farty shots of Jame and Ben. My construction crew with out whom none of this would have been possible. Until you tried to construct something like this on a $0 budget its impossible to understand the effort that you will ask of your friends and family.

A very big thanks to these two wonderful blokes James & Ben in particular for helping make my dreams come true. With out there efforts and skill the studio would have never happened, Thank you both very much ~ pete.

The Control Room phyiscal construction completed to fit out as in a traditional building project we had a topping off ceremony. Sadly we just had a one drink each cause all the money was gone by then.

The next major project was the main vocal booth, in the photo on the left you can see the battens on their side, this allows enough space for even more fiberglass under the stretched material. Once it was finished it looked great, sounded like a vocal booth and really worked, ( I didn't know until I started this adventure that a percentage of professional designed/built studios sound like crap untill their "tuned in" i.e. fixed.I guess we were just lucky

Never NEVER EVER do you first session even if it's for yourself until the studio is entirely finished, because once you can make and record noise then all construction grinds to a halt

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first_sessions

first_sessions

first sessions

500 first session history

first

first

desk

One of the areas that I'm most proud of is the studio patching system, I would equal or exceed the flexibility most professional studios in the under 250K range.

It's almost complete (is anything like this EVER finished??) the the next few months I will be completing 180 points of switchcraft patch bay that will provide, the arteries which through the wonder of musical creation will flow.

It's almost complete (is anything like this EVER finished??) the the next few months I will be completing 180 points of switchcraft patch bay that will provide, the arteries which through the wonder of musical creation will flow.

• 2 x Golden Tones (combo & Head)
• 2 x Fenders
• A lany 12"
• Blackstar
• Tranor

into_the control room

The Big room: A large med-live sounding 6x8m room with a 3.3m height this has a big room sound great for drums, this room has 24 balanced lines plus 4 returns to the control room allowing direct recording into Cubase via the desk, + 6 stereo monitor sends to headphones or PA/wedges, video link is currently planned.

A mate has donated two large stage blacks and 5 martin 300w moving lights

upstairs_03

upstairs

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My daughters dog Snowy is the studio manager and mascot takes I real intrest in all recording and mixings sessions. but was much less helpful during construction due to her fear of power tools.

Again studio manager "Snowy" shown here supervising nick doing some bass overdubs on his Music Man 4 string, would like to thank you for your intrest in BlueCrystal Studios.