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Posted by: bobg Jun 20 2013, 03:15 PM

Hello!
My name is Bob G and I've been given the opportunity by Bogdan Radovic to be a part of this forum for which I am honored.

I am a former Professional Trombonist and actually started playing in school back in 1963.
I started playing guitars in 1968 have been "messing" with Recording in some form or fashion since about that same time.

I was a Symphony Orchestra and Musicians "Union Hall" Trombonist for 10 years and I've played for Ice Shows, Circuses, Broadway Show Performances, backed up Acts such as "The Canadian Brass", Carol Lawrence, Al Martino, Judy Collins, George Shearing and many others, have done Brass Ensemble Work for Archbishops, Bishops, and other High Church Celebrations for numerous Religions including some spectacular Ordinations. I also did some Multi-Track Recording Sessions back in the 1980s in a Studio that had New 24-track and "Half-Track Tape machines.

While in College studying Music, I studied for a time with a Berklee School of Music Guitar Grad' and studied Arranging with a retired NBC New York Arranger/Conductor.

Since 2004-2005, I have been involved with the DIY portion of recording as I built a Pretty Cool Studio Desk for only $80 that was considered for an Article in "Recording Magazine" and was featured in the online "MAKE" Magazine in December 2006.

Since then I have designed and built a number of items then created Build Plans that have been used in 22 countries across the world and all across the US.

In the (Copyrighted) photos below you can see my home studio that I have been building piece by piece since 1994.
I designed and built the Studio Desk (for $50) in 2009, I designed and built the solid wood Rack Cabinet in 2012 for $50 (the metal Rack Rail was another $35), the keyboard stand is still in design stage but at this point can be built for $30 or less dependent on the format it is built and Black Acoustic Panels are held up and away from the wall with a Mounting Unit I designed and built for under $12.

I also designed and built the "Black-Hole" Acoustic Panels behind the desk that are 8-inches deep with compressed fiberglass and other interesting sound absorbent materials and sound wave break up capacity.
BG

Posted by: sammetal92 Jun 20 2013, 03:36 PM

omg omg omg looks a freaking mazing! I'm a college student with some equipment and no money, and I'd kill to have a studio like that, but don't worry I won't kill you

And welcome to GMC! If you can provide some guidance on this, I'd be thankful I'm a student with a job and I got a scholarship just recently but decided to save most of it for future education, so anything that could help me get some recordings done and shown to the world would be insanely epic!

Posted by: bobg Jun 20 2013, 03:38 PM

Below are 2 (Copyrighted) photos of the first desk I designed and built in 2004-2005.
It has that B2 Bomber kind of look with two 12-space rack bays.

The Editors of Recording Magazine ( Lorenz Rychner and Mike Metlay) liked this desk so much at the time, they asked me to write a DIY Build Article for the magazine.

However, when I submitted 14 pages of instructions and photos, they said my article would actually take up every available bit of print space in the entire issue.

At that point I started my website and put the info there.

Posted by: deeaa Jun 20 2013, 03:50 PM

SWEET!

Posted by: bobg Jun 20 2013, 03:52 PM

These are (Copyrighted) photos of desks etc built by other DIY enthused people.

Jeff G of Illinois


Steven B. from Oregon-Definitely has that "Retro" look!!!


Christopher B. of Malaysia


Colin H from Scotland/Shetland Islands


Phillip W. of Lancashire England


Travis B. of Iowa


Jay C. of Georgia (US)

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 20 2013, 04:16 PM

Hi man! Welcome to GMC!! That's an awesome place! Your equipment is really good and your designs look great! What are you working on currently?

Posted by: bobg Jun 20 2013, 04:57 PM

Thanks Sam. I will help as I can.

It doesn't take much money these days to put together a baseline recording set-up.
Essentially a Computer, Recording Software, an Analog to Digital interface with preamps and Phantom power, some headphones and or monitors and a decent microphone.
EXAMPLE:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PTMboxMini
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RH2C/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AV40
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/M1Active520
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AT2020/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MicStdFBoomL/
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XLR10

I am not meaning to "Plug" Sweetwater Music but as they are primarily Recording Based, It is easy for me to find good examples.
As far as "Plug" is concerned, Mark Bruhn of Sweetwater has been a great help in my own personal experience.




Recording-wise, I have been recording a young man in my studio who is putting together a song that is pretty interesting.
It is primarily based on Drop-Tuned Heavy Metal Guitar with Influences of Techno and Dance.
The past few days he has been "writing parts" via Cubase 6.5 for "Over-Drive" Bass Guitar and Techno Drums.
Otherwise, I am slowly finishing up the design of this DIY Keyboard Stand so I can take photos and create Build Plans for it.
BG

Posted by: sammetal92 Jun 20 2013, 05:47 PM

Sweet guitars man, and that bass looks killer!

My dad can make amps and cables, along with a few effects pedals like boost, fuzz etc. I use REAPER alot, I found it much easier than Cubase, although I've never tried Pro Tools, probably because REAPER is very cheap and great quality.

I have a pretty good PC:

Core i7, 3.6GHz
1TB Hard Drive
16 GB RAM
Sound card (internal one)

I've got good quality stereo headphones by JVC. I don't know if that qualifies for being studio standard?

So now I need an interface (I plug my guitar directly to the sound card via line-in), some monitors (I have regular surround speakers, nothing special) and a microphone with a stand.

Can you recommend a good quality interface that isn't very expensive and works with REAPER?

Thanks for the help, man!

Posted by: liveOASISforever Jun 20 2013, 06:11 PM

Its really cool what you can do for that little amount of money

Posted by: vonhotch Jun 20 2013, 07:04 PM

That looks like a great set up. I love DIY stuff. How did you make those acoustic panels? And welcome!!!

Posted by: Sensible Jones Jun 20 2013, 07:50 PM

M-Audio Fasttrack! I use one with Reaper with no problems whatsoever!!

Posted by: Todd Simpson Jun 20 2013, 10:20 PM

WELCOME!! And, please tell me you have a web site where I can maybe purchase one of your mix desks as maybe a kit or something? Looks great!!!

Todd

Posted by: bobg Jun 20 2013, 11:41 PM

Thanks! The fact is, with some tools and guidance just about anyone can!
BG


I used "Naked" 2-inch X 2 ft X 4ft Panels of Owens-Corning 703 Compressed Fiberglass then wrapped them myself.
I bought them from ATS Acoustics here in Illinois:http://"%20<a%20href=" target="_blank">ATS ACOUSTICS-DIY</a>

Speaking in generalities, lower bass frequencies require thicker amounts of OC-703.
Thus 2" thick will make nice Broadband Absorbers and 4" thick will absorb lower frequencies.
It's generally recommended to have a mixture of both, with thicker panels concentrated in room corners as the corners tend to "Collect" Bass Frequencies.
BG



"Todd (and anyone else), in keeping in step with this site's Rules and Regs, I would appreciate it if you would direct that question to me at (eMail Address for me bobgStudioWorks)



Thanks for your kind words!
That bass has seen a lot of work and travel and as it was built in Japan it's build quality is great.

There are a ton of lower-cost interfaces that will work such as the M-Audio one "Sensible Jones" shared.
The M-Audio version of the Fast-Track is no longer in production but is now built under the
"Pro-Tools/Avid" name: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FTSolo/
I lean towards the Focusrite Saffire Product Line as they seem to get high marks.http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SaffPro14/
Whether it works with Reaper is something that would need to be asked of them.
However there are a lot of under $300 interfaces that would do what you need.
BG

Posted by: vonhotch Jun 21 2013, 12:56 AM

Thanks, I didn't realize that you were selling plans on your website, or I would not have asked. I now remember seeing your site while I was looking for a design to build a desk. I got lazy and just used an old computer desk I forgot I had, but I like your designs.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 21 2013, 07:52 AM

Man I read all the posts and I am curious like hell, where is the pic? I can't find any link

Posted by: maharzan Jun 21 2013, 07:58 AM

Yea, I thought the same. He probably deleted it.. why?

Posted by: bobg Jun 21 2013, 04:44 PM

Couple of reasons.
1) About photos, I needed to get my head wrapped around 2-items in the Website Rules and Regs relative to Copyright Issues.
2) As far was posting my homestudioguy.com website link, I wanted to get that clarified with Bogdan Radovic before getting too loose with it.
I'll get (Copyrighted) Photos back up today and hopefully soon, I'll have my website link included in my Signature.
Sincerely,
Bob G.

Posted by: bobg Jun 21 2013, 06:38 PM

Todd (and anyone else), in keeping in step with this site's Rules and Regs, I would appreciate it if you would direct that question to me at (eMail Address for bobgStudioWorks)




I am actually recording a young man whose name is Gabriel!
He is a former Trombone and Bass Guitar Student of mine from a number of years ago.

The song we are currently working on is based primarily on Drop Tuned Metal with influences of Techno and Dance.
He has been writing in the Bass and Drum Parts via Cubase 6.5 and yesterday we worked primarily on his vocals.

In regards to my DIY Projects, I want to finish up the Keyboard Desk design/build and get Build Plans completed.

Other than that, it is the standard Husband, Father and part-time bread-winning roles.
BG

Posted by: sammetal92 Jun 21 2013, 08:18 PM

What's a good price I can get on that?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jun 22 2013, 08:00 AM

Hehe, got it and I also got the link and studying the site! Cool stuff man! Thanks for sharing

Posted by: dcz702 Jun 22 2013, 10:01 AM

I love this post! Your studio is so perfectly done and so well organized. As I'm looking at adding hardware to my very basic setup I started looking at new desk to accommodate the need for more real estate. Some of the desks out there are way to pricey. After visiting your web site it not impossible to do myself I don't have power tools though. Maybe purchasing tools neccasarry would still be cheaper than buying a desk, and I would get tools for future use out of it to. How long would you say a person with little knowledge of power tool would take to complete a project for a desktop table.

Posted by: tonymiro Jun 22 2013, 11:17 AM

Just a couple of suggestions/comments that may help anyone looking to do a DIY:

Bass trapping can sometimes be improved by placing the trap at an angle in the corner. Also, use high density glass fibre (as I think you've done) as foam doesn't work for bass traps. The glass fibre needs to be layered often to a depth of 6' or more'.

Monitor placement - I tend to repeat this a lot but siting monitors on the meter bridge will more often than not result in comb filtering and odd reflections. Having said that most home studios will use small 2 ways that also need to be sited near to a wall in order that the port can fire at it to emphasise the bass. The consequence is that the monitor nearly always ends up on the bridge. So is there a solution? Well kind of. It's not ideal but better than nothing - move the monitor as far forward on the bridge as possible and if you can put them on some form of hgh density acoustic foam foam shock recoil. The shock recoil will help isolate the monitors from the bridge and may also angle them up slightly and help reduce filtering. With ported two ways you should also consider closing up the port with acoustic foam.

Also monitors and listening position - the monitors should be equi-distant from the side walls to help prevent timing issues. The ideal monitoring position is at the apex of an equilateral triangle, with your ear level with the tweeter for a 2 way.

Posted by: bobg Jun 23 2013, 08:34 PM

I have actually been told by one guy that he built my desk in 2-hours.
I'd say within a day or 2.