Now, I'm not usually one to brag too much (no, really, I'm not!). And I'm also not usually so eager to show my personal belongings to the mass populous. (I know, 3 people read this including my Mom!) But I'm really proud of my little music room at home that is slowly becoming my little home studio, as well.
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| Can a cat be used as an acoustic treatment? We have three! |
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| My Step-daughter Rachel's drum set. |
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| A selection of some of my guitars. My favorite orange Stratocaster is current on loan. |
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| Still loving my Korg SV-1! The Roland Juno-Gi is a great addition, as well. |
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| The Jerker II Workstation's clever swivel shelves come in hand in multiple ways. |
I'm still lacking in the "acoustic treatment" department and that might be next, but there is only so much I can do and still keep the ergonomic layout that helps me feel productive.
So, as with all studios, from the big ones all over the world to the little tiny ones in every other corner filled with amateurs like myself, there are compromises in every layout. Thankfully most issues can be controlled with some simple fixes. And hopefully I can find an inexpensive way to tackle them as they come about.
Back in the day, when I used to work at a local recording studio, we built and used "go-bos". Go-bos, short for Go-Betweens, are little movable walls made of an insulating material. We used owens-corning 703 cover with a heavy tweed in a 2 x 4 frame with wheels. Sometimes we used that egg crate foam to lesser effectiveness.
Recording instruments in a room with a lively sound (i.e. hard floors and wall reflections) never really bothered me. I usually found a way to make it sound good. But vocals... well, that was a bit tough for me. 16 years later, it still is. Too much of any one thing on a vocal is bad news.
So in the coming months, I'll endeavor to build or buy the proper things to help create some kind of a "vocal booth" in my little room. Preferably one that is portable and can break down for storage when not in use.
But I digress... the real topic here is how happy I am that I found a better arrangement for my little home studio, one that works better and feels better. I used to use a long and large "L" shaped desk that was left over from my design/photography studio days for my main work area. But I gave that to my wife for her sewing room and took back a workstation desk that I bought in 1995 for my first freelance design business from Ikea. Called the Jerker II workstation (now sadly discontinued!), it cost me $215 plus some for freight. It has held up remarkably well and in this arrangement, it makes me even happier that I've kept it for all these years!
With the side swivel shelves, it is perfect for reference monitors. They are now positioned perfectly, allowing sound to seem to float in front of my eyes. It's amazing! Using the Auralex MoPad Monitor Isolation Pads helps to isolate them and also has allowed me to tilt the monitors down a touch for even better response. They work, don't even debate whether you should get them, THEY WORK!
But as luck would have it, or lack thereof, as soon as I got this studio space the way I want it, my Lexicon I-Onix U22 USB interface has a problem and had to be sent back to the factory for an "engineering change". Free to me for the price of shipping to them, but the wait could be as long as 6 weeks!! So that kinda shuts me down to more recording exploration...or so I thought...
Last night after trying to go to bed and not being able to sleep, I got up and powered up the Juno-Gi, plugged in my new Blue Spark condenser mic and recorded part of a song. The keyboard has XLR input with +48v phantom power and an 8 track digital recorder complete with rhythm patterns! That should help keep me going until I resolve my interface issues!
Soon, I promise, I will be brave enough to actually post some audio here, maybe even some video! YIPE! Stay tuned...
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