Peachy Gnome

28/10/2024

It's really great to see this! These guys from St. Cloud put out a really great record a few years back (mastered here) and just release this live performance video. Check out Telestela performing Speak/Siren Live. Just awesome.

Performed on October 4th at The Meyer Barn in St. Joseph, MNMusic written and performed by Telestela:- Josh Pfohl: Bass- Ricky Wilcox: Guitar/ Vocals- Sean J...

24/10/2024

I’m test driving this Gibson J-45 for the new album I’m working on. Who wants to hear it?

05/09/2024

Brian Just had me record some cello for a new track just recently with string arrangements by Josie Just. Excellent project. If you ever need cello or bass parts for your music let me know!

29/07/2024

I spent the last few weeks in my spare time putting this demo together. It's ten songs; a reflection on the past year of my life and some hopes for the future.

10 track album

26/03/2024

What kind of guitar does this track call for?

20/03/2024

How do you decide if gear is worth the investment? I recently picked up a set of Warm WA-412 preamps to compliment the preamps in my Prism. I like gear. I’ve used gear. But gear is not my thing when it comes to audio production and engineering. I’ve been disappointed by gear in the past. I’d rather talk about my toaster. Still I have to use this stuff so I care. Does it work? Is it easy to work with? Does it make life easier in some way or enhance my ability to put sounds together? How much is it going to set me back?

I like the WA-412. Its flexible. It sounds good in a variety of ways. I don’t have to think about it but I do because I like to think. How can I use this? It fits in my studio. It’s outstanding qualities make the already reasonable sticker price seam insignificant. How does it compare? It doesn’t have to.

I know that if it ever falls short I can sell it if needed and I will still have my toaster, but I’m good for now. It’s a win win win and I get to record stuff with it.

16/01/2024

Recently.

06/09/2023

I got the door seal in today. With the utilizes in the next room and the dishwasher at the top of the stairs I wanted to keep as much extra noise out as possible. This product came from Acoustical Solutions and works great.

28/08/2023

A few weeks ago now I set up the speakers and started testing the sound. The listening position is set 93 inches from the front wall centered between the side walls. This was determined to be the optimal spot to place my head given the dimension of the room. I marked this point on the floor, got the desk in place and set the speaker stands 5 feet apart from each other and from the LP forming an equilateral triangle. I measured meticulously and made many adjustments to insure the accuracy of the placement. The bases of the stands had to be shimmed and the left side raised three quarters of an inch to match the right. I got them just about perfect and moved on.

When I turned the system on and took a listen it was clearly out of balance. The sound sound was thin. I pulled up REW and grabbed my reference mic to take some measurements. I also referenced the room mode calculations from amroc to help diagnose the situation and come up with a fix remembering that the room, even though well treated, is not perfect and is more likely to be the source of the problem than the KH310s which are relatively flat. Sure enough I'm sitting in trough that is the result of a combined room modes at 60 and 80 Hz. The first several tests with REW showed a significant dip in low end between 50 and 100 Hz. The dip was greater than the 10dB that Sonarworks, a speaker calibration software, reports that it can accurately correct. So I grabbed the sub from storage put it in place, and calibrated it to correct the dip as best as it could without adding additional low end. Thankfully the Neumann KH805 is designed with a great amount of tunability. It worked. Subsequent tests with REW showed, and my ears confirmed, that the dip had been leveled, at least enough for Sonarworks to do the rest of the work.

Sonarworks is an easy to use speaker calibration software, which I and many others have come to trust. It works by collecting a response from multiple points around the LP and then computes an EQ curve to correct any dips or spikes in your system that may come from either the speakers or the room itself. I compared my averaged response to the response recorded by Sonarworks. It is a very convenient alternative to tuning your system manually with a graphic EQ.

With the speakers tuned I noticed a hi frequency resonance in the back of the room which was not audible from the LP. I did some research about and decided to take care of with some curtains for the benefit of anyone sitting on the couch, or should I ever decide to use the space for recording. See my previous posts for demonstration on how to make your own acoustic curtains. Mine turned out great.

https://amcoustics.com/tools/amroc

https://www.roomeqwizard.com/

https://www.sonarworks.com/soundid-reference?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwi7GnBhDXARIsAFLvH4m3M6Qjjztu4-weTgenACVCOiH75S7--zOa5KvjHRrgrcYs4nD9GiwaAixjEALw_wcB

18/08/2023

I was at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church today to record some arrangements put together by my good friend Andy Myers. One of his students, Ruby, and piano accompanist Natalie also joined. When we first arrived a crew of carpenters was sanding the exterior doors. When we got into the sanctuary it was clear there was no way we could record because of the sound. We chatted with the guy in charge for a bit. His crew was sanding the doors so they could be refinished. I asked what color and he said American Walnut. I threw out hot pink as an option. He insisted on American Walnut so we left it at that.

Fortunately, after speaking with the front office, we were able to get into another space away from the noise—a smaller chapel on the other end of the building with fantastic stained glass windows. We got set up and things went pretty well until an audible buzz could be heard whenever the vibraphone hit an A or B. The resonators on the organ’s reed pipes were vibrating sympathetically with the vibraphone. There was nothing I could do about it so the musicians changed the key of the piece one half step down to avoid the resonance. It worked.

As far as church coffee goes this stuff was pretty good and now that I’m back in the studio I’m very satisfied with the results I got from my Zoom H6 and selection of microphones. I’ve got it all packed up and ready for the next gig after I finish these mixes.

11/08/2023

Hold on hold on hold on. I’m going to play darts instead.

04/08/2023

It was a big week this week. After wrapping up a few odds and ends with the room I moved my desk and equipment in and got a start on calibrating and testing the speakers. I will have another post on that later, but for now here’s an introduction to my setup. On the right I have a Prism Titan interface, a Grace m109 monitor controller and a patch bay. On the left I have my HP z420 workstation upgraded last year. At the center is a Slate Raven touch screen monitor, the remote for the m109 and a Clarity M meter. The speakers are Neumann KH310s with a KH805 sub. There are a few things left to sort out next week. It’s all coming together very nicely.

26/07/2023

I’d like you all to meet my ceiling. It’s 8.5 inches of rockwool stuffed between floor joists covered with natural bull denim. The wood for the slats at the back of the room was cut from left over material used to make the diffuser on the back wall. I cut, sanded, and stained it myself. The dimensional 1x2 at the front of the room came from one of my favorite local hang outs—home depot. It was stained using the same “golden oak” stain I’ve been using on my stuff for years. Thank you Minwax. The lights are 3.5 inch halogen lamps held in place my a piece of 3/4” pine. The lights are dimable, which is great for working in either the light, dim, or complete darkness.

This finished ceiling provides an ample amount of acoustics absorption and gave me a unique canvas to practice the creative lobes of my primary thinking organ. This was not an easy project for a novice carpenter and took several restarts to get it right, but it is so worth it. It adds to the character of the space, enhances the vibe, and creates an attractive ambience, which is an excellent precursor to any functional audio workspace.

At first glance this ceiling cost more to build out than a standard sheet rock ceiling. The final price tag was around $1200. Sheet rock with pink insulation would have cost about half as much. But when you factor in the cost of surface mount absorbers that would be needed in its place this make much more sense. So seeing as how I had the opportunity to build from scratch I only wanted for this space to make the most sense acoustically, this just makes sense.

It vibes. Just a few more items to wrap up construction until I can get the equipment in here and test it out. Yes, there will be a love seat in the back.

17/07/2023

Last week I moved and hung the quadratic diffuser I had previously built (with help from my dad, thank you). This diffuser was designed using the calculator below. It is capable of diffusing frequencies between about 300 and 3500Hz. The effected frequencies are based on the dimension of the blocks. A lower range requires deeper blocks which means more overall material and wieght, which is why this diffuser was built in sections. it was hung using cleats similar to those used to make cabinets made of 2x4s. They were secured to the studs with 4.5 inch screws and to the cleats with 3 inch deck screws.

If you look back to my previous post about the build of this diffuser you will notice that glue was used on the base and side of each block. If you ever attempt to build one of these, that was a mistake. Glue should only be have been applied to the base of the block, especially on a deeper diffuser like this, because as the glue dried it pulled inward actually bending the backing several degrees creating a slightly parabolic shape. I’m not sure how this effects the overall performance, but it made rehanging it a bit more complicated. We tried cutting slits down the back of one of the panels and then clamped down and screwed in a brace. This actually split several of the 2x2 blocks vertically down the middle—a testament to the strength of wood glue. This was attempted with another panel without result and was not repeated on the last panel. Instead we just worked with the curve and got it on the wall without any serious problems.

11/07/2023

I’ve got a new cowling in the works for my studio space. I’m enjoying the color and texture variation in the materials I’m working with. This piece was sourced from an Amish community in Wisconsin. It was more than I needed at the time. Glad I found another use for it. More later.

10/07/2023

Over the past few weeks I finished framing the space, added insulation, put up sheet rock, mudded, sanded, painted, and had new turf installed. Several “extra” steps were taken with sound leakage in mind including the addition of clay pads wrapped around the outlet boxes and the use of acoustic caulking to seal air gaps in the framing on the walls facing the hvac. With a budget in mind I was less concerned with sound leakage on the walls against the foundation. Acoustic caulking was also applied to the studs on the side of the wall facing the hvac, again to prevent as much sound transmission as possible in key areas.

The only real way to completely deaden sound energy, especially low frequency sound, is with mass. In a previous project I added a layer of mass loaded vinyl to the studs, then added two layers of sheet rock with a green glue filler in between. The layers of sheet rock acted like a spring absorbing sound energy before being absorbed further into the vinyl and insulation beyond. This worked really well, but was costly and difficult to install. In today’s project I’m less concerned about completely isolating the space knowing that if the hvac is too loud I can simply shut it off while I work. Basements regulate their temperature pretty well on their own. That said, prior to construction there was no vent for the space so a duct was run off an existing line into the center of the space. To quiet the flow of air I added three alternative wooden blocks with screws and then sealed around them.

I also framed in and sealed a window inside of the existing exterior window. This creates an air lock between the two windows and helps insulate from noise outside. I painted the space between them black and cut a piece of frosted plexiglass to fit, adding privacy. I did this in my last space, and although it’s not perfect, it does reduce noise significantly from outside and is an easy way to finish the window. It also helps to live in a quiet neighborhood.

I should note that the walls were filled with faced r13 pink insulation and the ceiling with layers of r30 and r21 rockwool. The rockwool absorbers from the previous space will be mounted to the walls, corners, and soffits around the listening position and else where in the space. The goal at this point is to finish and tune the space using absorbers and a rear wall diffuser.

28/06/2023

I’ve got a few other updates about the studio, but I just had to take a break to share this right now. The new flooring arrived and was installed today thanks to Turf Factory Direct, Braun’s Delivery, and John’s Flooring. Check it out!

23/06/2023

I went on a side quest with the studio this week. It started on Amazon where I picked up two golf hole cups from KINGTOP. After they were delivered I headed to Home Depot to rent a hammer drill and 5” concrete coring bit. Using ginormous tools is always fun and this was no exception. I now have two holes prepped so I can install these cups and practice my short game whenever I need a break or a moment of inspiration. The turf should be here in the next week or so 🙂