Update

Nearly nearly there now - will post some pictures when I get a camera that works properly.

All cabling is now in, with the exception of the instruments / MIDI. Two PCs are in together with all the racking and patch bays, plus all soldering is now complete too.

Spent most of the weekend trying to install ProTools onto a clean install of XP SP2. What a nightmare - it just wouldn't boot up properly. The fault turned out to be that ProTools was unhappy being installed into a partition other than the C: drive. Once all the default paths were used it appeared to open without any problems. It is a pity that the error message displayed discussed an "Assertion Error in ...... code line 242"??? :)

Just all of the other software and plugins to go back on now, together with the speakers and control surface etc.

The booth was tested yesterday by simply recording a voice over and I was very pleased with how dry and quiet the recording was and there was obviously no annoying PC fan noise in the background. A neighbour was revving his motor bike in the ajoining garage and this couldn't be heard at all. One thing that lets the isolation down is the window so clear mastic has been placed around both sides of the perimeter which does appear to have improved things slightly. However, another single pane of glass may be installed vertically on the control room side which should help things out a little too. Also, the void between the inner and outer doorways are going to be lined with foam rubber to help give a little absorption between the void.

Update

A quick update - pictures to follow:

The racking is now in place as is some of the wiring to and from the devices / booth and kit. All soldering now complete too.

Most of the weekend was spent fixing the foam acoustic tiles to the entire inside lining of the vocal booth; most of the spray adhesive went up my nose, but at least that job is now complete too.

This weekend, it is hoped that all of the kit will be in place - a Mackie Control has been ordered today to work with Logic / ProTools and Vegas video, together with a Blue Sky 5.1 Media Desk surround monitoring system. The Mackie Control is going to be used in conjunction with a Digi002 Rack ProTools LE system.

Acoustic Foam Tiling

A fantastic place was discovered last night selling packs of acoustic foam wedges which can be used to line the inside of the vocal booth with. Originally it was intended to purchase a pack from Custom Audio Designs, however, their packs cost £295+VAT which would not quite be enough. An alternative place, who sell through ebay stock identical designs - 425 x 425 x 45mm deep wedges for just £32 for a pack of 30. This equates to an approx. coverage of 58 square feet, so two packs have been ordered. The URL is: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Comfortex-Foam

Update

Nearly there now - this weekend saw the benching erected, all of the trunking / mains finished and the alarm system installed (courtesy of my brother). The big TV is now on the wall too as is the sky feed - yes that is Coronation Street on the screen :)

Just the tie lines / wall boxes to be soldered now and then kit can go in. Next weekend it is hoped to build 2 x 14U rack cases out of MDF to fit underneathe the benching; once this is done the kit can go in.

Update

Almost there now - the trunking was installed at the weekend and back boxes are ready in place. It is hoped that this weekend the mains will be installed and the audio cabling too. The photographs here show the double door arrangment and the trunking installed. The booth will have four TRS lines for headphone feeds / DI etc., together with 4 mic lines one of which will double up as a "listen back" mic socket. Once the benching is then installed, kit can go begin to go in. If budget allows, it is intended to install acoustic tiling in the vocal booth as whilst separation is acceptable, the room rings like anything!

Update

A bit of an update:

Doors have now been installed together with 5mm neoprene seals around all perimeters.

Doors have been painted.

LCD TV bracket has been installed ready for big TV :)

It has now been decided to run a cable from the 4 port LNB on the satellite dish on the front of the house and have free satellite in the studio.

Surface mount trunking should be arriving tomorrow so mains should go live very soon together with the alarm system.

Update and booth window installation

All of the skirting and architrave is now complete in both the main studio and the booth. Today, the angled, 750 x 750 sealed unit was installed in the booth (28mm deep). The angled pane was achieved by cutting down a 68mm piece of softwood from 50mm at one end down to 18mm at the other, thus forming two triangles which the pane could sit between. 5mm neoprene was also installed around the angled frame, both back and front to create mechanical separation between frame and pane. Prior to installing the architrave around the frame, all gaps were filled with decorator's caulk on both sides to reduce noise transmission as effectively as possible. (see picture).

Update

Skirting and architraves were fitted in the main studio today.

Update

A bit of an update on progress made .(apologies for poor picture quality as only had phone on me).

Both rooms are now painted and the laminate floor has been laid throughout. The Utility Room is complete and the new wine cooler fits just perfectly :)

The new fire doors arrived today too ready to be fitted on Saturday 30th December.

All that remains to be done in the studio before the fun wiring bits can commence (AV and mains) is for skirting and architraves to be fitted, window cills painted and the vocal booth window installed.

Photos

Here are a few images showing the new plaster in the studio and the new floor / paint etc. in the Utility. It is really difficult to get back far enough to show the Utility area, but that's not important any way - apart from the new wine cooler that is.

Utility update

Last weekend saw the painting of the utility room, its architrave and skirting installed and the laminate floor installed. Lighting in both rooms (Utility and Studio) is now on too. Photos to follow once I can find a camera :)

Plastering

Weds 6th December saw the plastering started and completed in one day. Photographs to follow.... It is hoped to get at least the Utility area painted and its floor laid this weekend.

Window Boards

The internal window boards were fitted last night - Monday November 27th.

Plasterboard complete

The plasterboarding is now complete and the plasterer is booked for Tuesday December 5th. All that needs to be done before this is for the internal window boards to be fitted and for some odd gaps in the plasterboard to be filled with caulk.

Internal Doors

As previously posted, it had been decided to construct the internal acoustic doors from MDF. However, it has now been discovered that a local company stock 686 wide Fire Rated doors, 44mm thick for just £32 inc. VAT. These are much denser and thicker than standard hollow core internal doors, so it has been decided to opt for these. At first, these doors will be installed as they are, but if they do not perform as well as expected, they will be uprated by applying a layer of T60 High Performance Acoustic Membrane onto one side, together with a layer of 25mm duct foam - thanks to www.customaudiodesigns.co.uk for this useful information. The T60 is stated to increase the SRI by upto 25.2dB, so a double door arrangement made from these products should perform extremely well.

Plasterboarding almost complete

Last weekend (18/19th November) saw the plasterboarding almost completed with the exception of the ceiling. The double stud / double door way partition between the studio space and utility room has had four layers (two layers either side) installed. At this time however, whether to double board the whole studio cannot be decided upon for definite as it is unclear as to whether the two fairly large windows would defeat the object of double boarding throughout. Isolation between the Utility and Studio is important, however, isolation from the outside, given the fact that the garage is detached, is not as important. It may be that just the walls around the vocal booth will be double boarded. Photos to follow......

Plasterboarding

The Utility area (next to the main studio) is now completely plasterboarding with the exception of the ceiling. It is hoped that plasterboarding will be completed by the weekend of 25th November 2006. The second picture shows the two layers going on - this is on the double stud partition between the studio and Utility.

Windows

Hooray - the new windows have finally arrived, so these will be installed this coming Saturday. Pictures here show the windows successfully installed by my bro on Saturday 11th November.

Alarm System

Today the first fix wiring for the studio alarm system was installed.

Quick Update

The new consumer unit with its 6mms armoured supply from the house is now in and new electrics are partly running. The old electrics have been removed also.

The utility now has a proper vent for the tumble dryer which was achieved by using a 107mm diamond core drill.

Plasterboarding will now commence next weekend (11th November).

Still awaiting the new windows too.