sonofableep

can i get a w00p w00p?  no?  well anyhoo…looks like team sound is going to get to graduate from “offices” to a “studio” at some point here.  not that i don’t enjoy my current office setting – a lovely panoramic view of hilly wooded maryland greets me every day as i settle into work, complete with deer grazing within arm’s reach.  but that view comes to me through about 200 square feet of glass, comprising two of the four walls i call home.  visually stunning.  acoustically atrocious.  there’s an about a 750 ms plate verb in here every time i stop whatever i’m listening to abruptly – especially if that happens to be something like pig destroyer.

so it’s time to get serious, give the corner offices back to the important people, and build ourselves a deep, dark hole with raised floors, dropped ceilings, padded walls, and not a trace of daylight.  i can’t wait.  truly.

we’ve got a blank slate to work with more or less, so i’m working up a layout that makes the most sense for our little team (emphasis on “little”…meaning “two”) and the best use of the space we’ve got.  nothing over-the-top, just a good room for each soundguy, and a sizeable foley / VO booth separating us.  and a door configuration that allows us to “seal the outer hatch”, leave the inner doors open, and holler to one another all day long…or seal the inner hatches as well and be left to our own devices.  and a booth window layout such that we can’t see each other directly – giving us the freedom to pick or scratch whatever needs picking and scratching, as soundguys are wont to do towards the end of 12 hour stretches.

we had the ghetto version of this layout back at mythic, and it worked out great.  there was virtually no need for “audio department” IMs, emails, meetings, etc.  with the outer door closed and the inner door open, we were in constant communication all day long.  with a group that small, why do it any other way?

only problem there was, both DAWs and the “booth” were carved out of one office that was 6×16 or something.  it was a little tight.  and there really wasn’t any sound treatment.  and there wasn’t really a booth.  and i had to walk through the other guy’s space to get in & out of mine.  okay…the whole the thing had a lot of shortcomings.  but the definite keeper was the outer/inner hatch philosophy, so i think we’re gonna try that out here, writ large.

and if this all goes through, we’re going to push for a green room and a deli tray.