danstein

I'm buying a house to put all my instruments in - does that count?

Looks fantastic, Mike! I have spent the last 15 years working in a studio I built myself, and I can tell you that it is endlessly satisfying to not only have access to a dedicated studio space, but to be able to look around and know that you did all the work yourself. Congratulations, and may you get many years of pleasure working there!

I think we can be sure the organ has plenty of key click.

Another vote for the Nord gig bag here. I have one for an Electro 5 73, I have used it to haul that keyboard all over NYC for 4-5 years with no issues, and the case still looks practically new. I also second the recommendation to get a folding cart - with >= 4" pneumatic wheels. I have one that I use when I take the subway to gigs - I can load a small X-stand, my Nord 73, AND a SpaceStation amp on that and get to many gigs without even needing the car.

Wow, great work! Beautiful-looking space, may congrats to you and props to both you and your uncle for pulling that off. Doing it in 6 months is impressive, too - having built my own studio, more-or-less single-handed, I know how much work is involved. Enjoy it!

When I was about 14 or 15 and just getting into improvised music, a couple of slightly older guys who I played with took me to see the Metheny Group - I think this would have been the American Garage tour. I didn't know anything about the band at that point, and from where we were sitting or standing, Lyle was set up with his back to us and I actually thought for most of the concert that he was a woman because of his long hair. I have to laugh at my younger self now - but, after the first minute or so it didn't matter who or what he was, the music was amazing, transcendental even, for me. I spent the rest of high school and college listening obsessively to everything they put out - I used to go to sleep listening to As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls, every night for a few years at least. Lyle's harmonic approach, and particularly his approach to synths and orchestration, were huge influences on me. Near the end of college (which was in Cambridge, MA, near where Lyle was living at the time) I was walking past a hole-in-the-wall pizza joint one night near my dorm. I happened to look in and see this very familiar-looking guy playing a video game. I went in, and sure enough it was Lyle, playing Ms. Pac-Man! I was pretty shy but mustered up the courage to approach him (after he finished a level, of course.) He was as nice as could be, very generously bailed on his game and sat with me for a while, asked me questions about what I was studying, and seemed as down-to-earth and just plain human as everyone else has said. I think I asked him about studying with him which would have been a dream for me, but circumstances never quite aligned for it to happen - something I regret to this day. Anyhow, it was a cool experience to meet one of my heroes like that, and something I will (obviously) never forget!

I don't own one, but it looks like the Key Largo inputs are balanced 1/4-inch. So going from XLR outs on the Motion Sound into the 1/4-inch inputs doesn't require an "adapter" per-se, just a cable with (female) XLR on one end, balanced (TRS) 1/4-inch plugs on the other. Maybe that's a pedantic difference, but cables like that are not hard to come by. And unlike real adapters, they don't increase the likelihood of poor connections/signal loss. I don't know if that helps you solve your set-up, but thought I'd point it out.

From the NPR website: Jacob Collier: vocals, piano, guitar, bass, melodica, cymbal; Becca Stevens: vocals, acoustic guitar, charango; Christian Euman: vocals, drums, percussion; MARO: vocals, acoustic guitar, keys; Robin Mullarkey: vocals, bass, percussion

My AC set-up is pretty basic. The two rooms of the studio take up most of the basement, so there's a window-mounted unit at the front feeding the control room via soffited ducting, and another at the rear feeding the live room. In retrospect, I wish I had installed a mini-split ductless system. It would have been more expensive upfront but would have saved some effort in ducting and probably would have given me a little more convenience in controlling temps - but what I have is working well enough.

I respectfully disagree (to a point). See my post above yours - I live in brownstone Brooklyn, my building is connected on both sides, and my neighbors have no idea that I have a full recording studio in my basement. I can cut screaming rock guitars or full-bore Hammond organ at 2am directly below my 3-year-old's bedroom with no issue. However - it does take true room-in-a-room construction, absolutely anal attention to detail in the construction work itself, and a pretty substantial investment in materials to make it work. And, of course, a space that can accommodate losing 1-2 feet in each direction. But for the OP, it sounds perfectly feasible (although I have no idea about the legal restrictions in SoCal, so I can't speak to that at all.) The most important point, though, is that his professional carpenter uncle can't rely on standard construction techniques - he really needs to research specifics on sound isolation - things like interweaving the corners on all layers of sheetrock, using acoustical caulk on every single joint, sealing all penetrations with more acoustical caulk, making sure any bracing for the internal framing is removed before closing up walls, etc.

I have some related experience with this. I built a two-room, sound-isolated (room-within-a-room) recording studio in my basement in Brooklyn. I had the benefit of a ton of advice from the designer/builder who helped me design the place, but I also did a ton of research online before and during the process. The best online resource I can point you to is this one: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php Tremendous source of info on construction techniques, acoustic principles, etc. Many very experienced and knowledgeable people post on there. 35k sounds about right for your earlier project - actually, a good deal if it was done well. My basement is 1000 sq ft, and I think I put about 35-40k into it in materials alone.

Too true, Cphollis! In fact, I think it was the link from this thread to your blog that sealed the deal on my buying an SS - so, thanks from the bottom of my heart, and now-empty-wallet!

Thanks, Dave! And same here re: YOUR Soundcloud page - nice treatment of Fee Fi Fo Fum!

Thanks, Dave - I actually already have a folding dolly that I use. I can fit a keyboard stand, the SS, and a bag of cables on that, and the Nord goes in a gig bag with backpack straps. SO what used take 3-4 trips to and from the car to load in or out, I can now do in a single trip (or on the subway when necessary.) I am thinking I may need a cover for the SS, though. I normally don't bother with amp covers, but the open side panels make me a little nervous - I would hate for something to get in there and poke through the side speaker by accident!

Hi, all - First post here. Thanks to this epic thread, I bought an SS sight-unseen (or -unheard) last week. Great service by Sweetwater, by the way - ordered it Tuesday, it arrived here in NYC on Friday so I was able to try it out on a gig Saturday night. So, on to the first gig report. This was a 5-piece band (rhythm section, lead guitar, singer-songwriter also playing acoustic guitar) in a typical small NYC club, doing r&b/soul-flavored originals. With this band I play a mix of Rhodes/Wurly/B3, with one or two tunes using acoustic piano. This was a tough set-up for a number of reasons: - small stage so we were really crammed together - typical NYC club situation with 5 bands in a row, each playing a 45-minute set, so very little time for set-up or sound-check - basically, 10 minutes to set up, then dial it in on the fly - I just reworked my entire rig, ditching the Roland Fantom and Hammond XK-2 I have been carrying for years in favor of a Nord Electro 5. This was only the second gig I have used the Nord on, so I'm still figuring out the ins-and-outs of the keyboard I was set up all the way stage left, with the SS just to my left, sitting on the floor and leaning back against the side wall at about a 45-degree angle. It was no more than 3' from me, so not ideal for hearing the spacious sound others have described, but I was able to hear myself very clearly, and it sure seemed like the rest of the band was hearing me as well or better than in the past. My fiancee was in the audience, and was also able to hear me very well (which is not always the case.) I definitely need to try the SS in a bunch of other situations before a final verdict, but my initial reaction is that I am thrilled with it! Working in and around NYC, the logistics of carrying gear to and from gigs is a huge issue for me, and leaving aside issues of sound, this amp is less than half the size (and weight) of the keyboard amp I have been lugging for years. Between that and swapping two keyboards for the single Nord Electro, my load-in and load-out suddenly got enormously more manageable - so even if the sound of the amp is only AS GOOD as what I had before, it's still a huge improvement. I'm pretty confident that the sound itself is also a big improvement, so I am a very happy camper at the moment! Big thanks to everyone who shared their extensive experiences with the SS - I'm really pleased to own one, and I have a feeling it will be a workhorse for me for a long time to come!