Thorgal's studio somewhere near Copenhagen (DK)

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thorgal
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Thorgal's studio somewhere near Copenhagen (DK)

Post by thorgal »

(Copy / paste of my recent post with pictures)

My h/w specs (from memory, I can't remember everything):

PC stuff
  • motherboard Intel DG965SS
  • CPU : Core 2 Duo E6600 (2 x 2.4 GHz)
  • 3 sata 2 HDs : 80G Samsung Spinpoint for OS, 500GB WD Caviar SE serie for data, and another one for backup
  • 4GB RAM : 4 x 1G Kingston something, PC6400
  • a few Zalman passive coolers for the HDs, a big Zalman CNPS9700 for the CPU (super efficient!!)
  • Antech Sonata III for the PC case
  • RME HDSP PCI card for audio work (Disabled the onboard intel HDA), using its own interrupt (of course)
(very silent and cool PC at the end)

External gears
  • RME Multiface II
  • RME Quadmic preamps (line and mic levels with phantom power)
  • Two compressor/gate units 266XL
  • Patch panel NYS-SPP-L1
  • MIc AKG C414B XLII and Audix OM5
  • some OK headphones that I rarely use (Philips SBC HP890) but I want to upgrade ...
  • Rackmount 19'' Thon something (about 80cm high)
  • Old turntable Technics SL-1710 to rip rare old LPs :)
  • Two large screen Samsung monitor, SyncMaster 226BW
  • 2 speakers Dynaudio BM5A
  • effect rack for guitar Korg AX1500G for live perf.
  • small extra stuff lying around
Instruments
  • Electric guitar Fender stratocaster (made i US, bought over there - very cheap!)
  • Electric bass guitar Fender Jazz Bass (made in US as well)
  • Electroacoustic guitar Jasmine by Takamine (got it as a present 15 years ago, still sounds good but the mic died, which is no big deal!)
  • a couple of harmonicas (a diatonic in A and chromatic in G)
  • a jew's harp from ... I don't remember ...
  • a drum from India (don't knwo the name, it's a present from a friend)
  • a tambourine, a triangle, some claps (? a pair of thick wooden sticks), a violin stick
  • a kalimba from South-Africa (present as well)
  • a digital piano, Kawai L1, given by a friend 1 month ago. With the Pianoteq software, it sounds splendid!
  • my own voice, which I have been using for "singing" for 10 years or so
  • ... kitchen pots, friends' didgeridoo at times, whatever ... anything that makes a sound
As you can see, I don't have a mixing board. I haven't felt the need until now and with the way I proceed, I don't need it at all, the TotalMix (hdspmixer app in linux) is very very versatile. But this may change when I open my studio to bands (it sits in my cosy living room with a big view on a local lake and forest :)) I should post a picture ...

Oh yeah, all my cables are from a brand called ... something-Wave (a bit pricy but I get no noise)

And this is how it looks like. You can see it's a tiny bit messy but under control :) On the screens, you can see a rosegarden session with Addictive Drums and Qjackctl. In the bottom picture, you can have a glimpse of my PC in the back and my mini-ITX mythTV server on the low shelf. I have plans for surrounding the center area of the living room with heavy curtains for voice recordings (have not done some serious singing for recording yet). During the day, the view from the window wall is fantastic! I shall update that one :D

The one thing that is uncool is the shape of the room and the asymmetry in my speaker location + no sound neutralization on the wall behind them. I can live with that for now.

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Last edited by thorgal on Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
thorgal
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Post by thorgal »

and I promised a daylight view from the main window (it was exceptionally nice that day!):

Image
studio32

Post by studio32 »

very impressive :shock: :lol:
studio32

Post by studio32 »

Can you work with midi using your piano?

Is it possible with every electric piano?
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MattKingUSA
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Post by MattKingUSA »

behagelig

-Matt :D

thorgal
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Post by thorgal »

Hejså!

snakker du dansk ?? Yeah, det ser flot ud! Hvor er en dejlig udsigt, hva' ! :)

I am VERY lucky but it did not come with certain drawbacks, etc. Right now, one of the neighbors is mowing the lawn ... lots of noise! :D
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schivmeister
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Post by schivmeister »

Niceeee..

but one question:

how do you deal with room acoustics?
thorgal
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Post by thorgal »

room acoustic treatment: nothing so far. I only recorded acoustic guitar and tambourine, the rest is electric stuff (bass, and guitar through effect rack and preamp). The acoustic stuff sound OK after a bit of EQ but it's not optimal. When I start recording the singing parts, I will have installed some sort of recording booth in the center of the room (about 4 or 5m2). It will solve the problem to some extent. But right now, this is not a big concern, I am programming the drum parts and there's a LOT to do, I have something like 25 songs ... I am producing a double-album ... never ending story ...
thorgal
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Post by thorgal »

Hi Jedee,

Thanks for your comments :)
No, the cables are not a problem, they are PlanetWave cables and have a little switch button to open the circuit (break the loop) so that no sound is transmitted through. It is equivalent to removing the cable from the guitar jack socket.
I tell you, this little thing is really convenient.

Oh yeah! Besides, the guitars don't have batteries ;)
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