Sorry to be crass, but... this is just so damn sexy, I... I think I got a little wet.
I just received shipment of this incredibly beautiful Toft ATB-16 recording console and gently placed it on the spot in the studio that's been waiting for it for weeks. The wood is gorgeous, the construction heavy and high grade, the knobs are like sex and candy... and I've only had time to put a vocal mic through it, but... OMG the WARMTH OF THE SUN! It's made by the same guy who designed the original Trident 80 series console (which a literal ton of classic albums were recorded/mixed on) and the EQs in this are identical to the original 80 series. The EQs are just silky sounding and practical as hell. I can't wait to start tracking with this sucker. Now I've just got to rewire my entire patchbay and connectors for it (which will take a few weeks). What's simply amazing about this board is you get 16 of these great sounding pres and EQ for about the same price as 2 stereo outboard units of similar quality. I honestly can't figure out how they can build it so well for the price.
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The studio has essentially been "done" for several weeks now. We've rehearsed a couple of times in the room, but otherwise I hadn't done much musically in there yet except master a couple of records. I mainly just wanted to sit in there for a few weeks and listen to music while I wrote code. The room just sounds beautiful. It's a sheer joy to listen to music in. I really nailed the design, despite the fact that I am no trained studio designer and just learned from the previous few I built or helped to build combined with my ideal of the perfect room (in other words, I partly lucked up). So zero treatments have been necessary.
But, I finally got the urge to actually mix something in the room this weekend. I chose that which I feared the most. The Ether Family Presents... "The Last Vaudevillian" track from the upcoming How To Get Lost Pt2. This song is probably my favorite song we've yet recorded, but the original mix was an albatross around my neck. It's largely to blame for me not wanting to release the record so far. There are two bass guitars using a total of 8 tracks, two drum kits using another 7 or so, and about a dozen vocal tracks, harpischords, whirlies, etc. It's insane carnival music. I could never get the basses clear before and you could never pick out the complicated arrangements. I must have spent 20 hours on the original mix back at the old house.
So Saturday, I pulled up the track, spent a couple of hours on it (using a lot of my newer processing toys this time... like Neve 1081s and most importantly a Helios EQ). In less than an hour it sounded so awesome I almost gave myself a heart attack. I just did little minor things from there out. It was just so damn EASY! I just sat there and played it over and over again. Just goes to prove that the right system in the right room with the right tools can make all the difference in the world. It's literally a day and night difference. So, now I'm stoked and can't wait to remix this mammoth record and give it the attention it always deserved.
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So, I guess I oughta finally post some photos of the studio right? :)
This is the drum wall (drums are behind that little gobo). The left door has a little fridge and coffee maker (sealed off for noise). The right door is the isolation booth and entry door. I was pretty happy with myself on that little design idea (which was totally last minute). The angles are completely
symmetrical for equal reflections. I put my CD collection up on the left angle to give some natural diffusion.
This is the client side of the room, which faces the driveway. The half bath is on the left, the machine room (for my ampex tape machines and computers) is on the right. Getting the noisy computers out of the room has been a godsend for mixing, mastering, and well... just sanity. Again, both rooms are
symmetrical. I sill have to put the access doors on those little storage wells above the bath and machine room.
This is the drum cove from above.
This is the little area between the drums and control area for guitarist and such to rock out.
View of the control cockpit (a probably far too appropriate name depending on your opinion of me) from the band/drum side. That's a little PC station on the right corner, mostly for testing websites. The rest of the place is all mac baby! I may end up getting a little Mac mini for there as well though if I start having interns come in to help with publicity and data entry.
View of the cockpit from above. Ahhhh... the alluring beauty of the Toft board!
This section is currently the bass corner, however eventually I will be putting a 6' baby grand there. (It'll fit! I measured!) It'll make the room a bit cozy, but damn... gotta have it. It'll be a long while anyway since I'm seriously thinking of getting a Steinway. Yeah, so that will be a few YEARS.
Here is a view inside the iso booth.
So, there you have it . Over 6 months of my life went into building this sucker, so please excuse my long-winded post. I just have to beam a bit over it. :)