Recording - September 2013 - 50

By Jess Repanshek
So it is 100+ degrees Fahrenheit, and I am
driving across town to Northern Phoenix to
spend some time in this guy’s backyard shed.
Well, by now it is a bit more than just a shed.
Patrick Hogg of the band Asimov
(sludged.com or facebook.com/asimovband)
bought a house that came with a separate
14’ x 17’ structure, and over the past year he
has transformed that into an affordable yet
comprehensive mixing and tracking studio.
Here’s how he did it.
A man has a plan
Many of us have the aspiration to make
our own studio, with full accoutrements to
enhance our technical capabilities. But
before we have at it, we ask ourselves a lot
of questions. What does it really take to
make my own studio? Do I need a perfect
room to start with? What about the best
gear? Can I take the real estate that I have
and convert that into something useful?
Patrick’s project wasn’t an afterthought. He
already had his own studio in mind when he
purchased this property, which came with a
fair-sized backyard and a moderately sized
garage/shed, just right to be made into
something great. He even went to meet his
future neighbors before he put any money
down, to get a feel for the neighborhood,
and to see if they would be easily bothered
by loud noises like bands playing, etc.
Patrick had only a minimal background in
carpentry and construction; assisted mostly
by his parents’ experience and guidance, he
proceeded to tear into the project, rejecting
filler materials and replacing them with quality components to achieve the best possible
room sound.
A budget was put in place, and one of the
first things contemplated in the design was
to maximize the total available square
footage. (For a birds-eye view see Figure 1.)
There were two things to take into account
here—space and noise. Adequate space in
the studio had to be allocated for equipment
and operators. This location is well within
city limits, and the neighbors are a stone’s
throw away. Prevention of noise leakage
and the resulting annoyance to the neighbors had to be considered, as well as how
to keep outside noises from intruding into
the studio space.
All strip, no tease
To start off, Patrick stripped the shed to its
frame, taking out all the existing drywall
and insulation. He left the roof on, and then
50

RECORDING September 2013

A look at a practical home-studio construction project
built everything back up around the existing studs. Since it was a standalone unit,
there were no water pipes to be concerned with.
The building had originally been built with its own electrical box with four individual circuits, so he used that. He re-routed the electrical to run through the floor to
a spot where he planned to locate his future desk, and to one place where the instruments would be. A line was already run through the ceiling to the lights, and he
ensured all of his connections were on different circuits.
Floor
Once the garage had been stripped, the floor was treated. A double floor of OSB
plywood was laid down and put in place, topped with a tongue-in-groove laminate
flooring to top off the decor. It’s important to measure your space precisely, and to plan
the placement of the floor elements. It’s a good idea to alternate the plywood panels
to provide the most solid structure without running seams. This will provide a more stable flooring, without the worries of having a “floating” floor that wobbles underfoot.
The floors were designed and routed to have a trough for cables and electrical to
be run in the subfloor, with the benefit of electrical jacks on the floor and ceiling that
could be totally isolated to prevent leaks.
Walls and acoustics
Having been stripped to the original frame, with all previous insulation trashed,
the walls were filled in with layers of 3/4" particle board, covered in sheetrock.
Panels were glued together using Green Glue (see www.greengluecompany.com
and our October 2010 article), which can be applied with a caulk gun. Green Glue

http://www.sludged.com http://www.facebook.com/asimovband http://www.greengluecompany.com

Recording - September 2013

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