Recording - April 2017 - 30

building

the vu

No company actually makes readily available door handles
or locks for 4" doors, but you can special-order them... for
a mere $400. Instead, I bought a commercial deadbolt lock
($28), and drilled through and then used a slightly larger hole
saw and counter sunk the whole unit on both sides. I used a
wooden float ($3) for a handle on the outside.

Glass

Since we had already installed the big 52" picture window
in the outer wall, we had to figure out how to put a window on
the inside wall and close it all up. A frame was built connecting
the two walls, using the 'Torch Down' rubber and plenty of
caulk as an insulator between the windowsill and the rough
frames. This prevents vibration from transferring from wall to
wall. The opening was measured and 1/4" laminated glass
was delivered and installed. The inner window has a 6-degree
slant to reflect sound downward. Felt is used to insulate the
glass from the windowsill and frame. Clear fir is used for all
the trim throughout.
Next the control room window was framed, and 3/16" glass
installed on the control room side with a 6-degree slant
downward, and 1/4" laminated glass on the drum riser side
with the same 6 degree slant downward so that the whole thing
looks like a 'V'. (You can see this in the main photograph and in
Figure 6.) The window looking into the main room from the iso
booth came from a salvage place and is simply a small double
pane window purchased for $15. A narrow, tall double-pane
window was installed to provide light and a view when coming
downstairs (Figure 8).

Wall treatments

A deal was struck for some sorry-looking cedar exterior
siding (12") that normally would have cost about $4 a foot.
Because it had knotholes in it and had been sitting in the sun
warping, I paid $25 for a pickup load-all I could take. That
was perhaps the best deal made dollar for dollar.

7b

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RECORDING April 2017

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The main room wall treatment consists of cedar siding and
2" pyramid foam. The cedar was easily restored with a palm
sander and looks great. More 2" foam in the control room,
as well as 4" foam and corner bass traps to control a bass
cancellation problem, were added. Cork on the ceiling to cover
the drywall finished the job. See Figures 9 and 10 for what
the finished vocal booth and main room look like.

The result

The result of all the planning, and attention to detail in
the installation process, was a main room with a nice mix
of brightness and deadness. The drums sound great in this
room, and so does the grand piano with a little help from some
blankets. Vocalists sound great, and the iso booth works well
for isolating a guitar or vocalist when needed.
It was a pleasant surprise to hear how well it all worked
the first time. Planes overhead are not noticeable except for
an occasional faint rumble; most of that comes in through the
fresh air intake. (I wish that was the case upstairs at 1 AM
when I'm trying to sleep!) Because it is a home studio, some
things were impossible to fix, such as footsteps directly overhead
and front door noise, but those are small compromises.
Because of the added labor-using caulk between all the
layers, installing multiple layers, and rigid insulation-the
project took much longer than anticipated. I thought we could
put it together in 2-3 months; instead, it was more like 6-8
months, with the last few things taking a lot longer because
the studio was already in use.
We spent about $40,000 all told, including the new heating
system. I did much of the work myself, so that total does not
include my time. Over the years the studio was in operation,
I have done a lot of great work; as one example, check out
woodysimmons.com/ctl.html for the trailer to a film whose
soundtrack was mixed entirely at The Vu (the recording was
done live at a community auditorium in San Rafael).
With a lot of planning and help, a home studio can be a
wonderful project. I should know: I did it, and despite my initial
plan, not only once... I'll soon move into a new homebuilt
mixing room in Hawaii!
Woody Simmons (simmons@recordingmag.com) is a banjo
player, engineer, and producer with over 40 years of experience,
having worked with and engineered acts like Kitty Rose,
Marcia Cassity, Ancient Future, and Malvina Reynolds. Learn
more at woodysimmons.com.

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http://www.woodysimmons.com/ctl.html http://www.woodysimmons.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - April 2017
