Updated Podcast Studio Tour [Coach Radio]

By popular demand I finally finished all the small details of my studio makeover. After 20+ people asked for a studio tour, I was motivated to knock it out.

I’ve completely converted a contractor’s storage shed (in the backyard of our new house in the mountains of Colorado) into a full-fledged studio where I do all of my video and audio recording. Scroll down to see pictures of the process.

This is the latest setup of the studio where I produce most of the video and audio for Coach Radio. I don’t find it important to invest in a lot of equipment. As long as you sound decent, first figure out what you’re doing and gain some experience.

Equipment

• Camera
  • Canon HV30
• Computers
  • 21.5″ iMac
  • 13″ MacBook
  • ASUS nettop
• External monitors
  • HP 2009m 20″
  • Hanns-G 19″
• Mackie 1202-VLZ3 mixer
• ARTcessories HeadAmp4 headphone amplifier
• Edirol R-09HR digital recorder
• Heil PR40 microphones
• Rolls MM11 micmute
• Behringer Multicom PRO-XL compressor/limiter/gate
• Proline tripod (this thing rocks!)

Questions on gear, getting set up, or marketing? Leave them in the comments and lets talk about it.

From Shed to Studio

OK, so here’s a shot of my backyard. The building on the left is what I’ve converted into my studio.

If you’re interested in the backstory, here’s what I started with: a storage shed for the previous owner, who is a contractor. There was one window (if you could call it that actually since it was just a single plate of glass) on the left wall. Notice the single light bulb on the ceiling.

Since we moved to Colorado in May, I thought I’d just move everything into the shed and work for a few months in the summer while I got a feel for the spot.

Then, we got six inches of snow. And with snow comes cold.

I quickly covered everything and got to work. I didn’t move anything out yet because I didn’t have anywhere to go.

I had a space heater in here, but it just couldn’t keep up with the cold. The warmest I could get was about 65 degrees. Not good when it’s chilly.

The first thing I wanted to do was pull down that shelf above my desk and put in some insulation and a ceiling to keep the heat in. That’s my youngest, Brie, excited that it’s finally warming up.

I also needed to put in a real window to further contain the heat. I’ve moved my equipment out by now (and have also gotten tired of setting it up and taking it down) and begun working from my bed. Yeah, not as comfortable as it sounds.

I worked from the bed with my laptop, but still needed to record some radio shows. I set up a temporary studio that I used in the afternoons in the other shed.

Notice the particle board desk. Just a few weeks before it held power tools and gas cans.

My next order of priority was wall insulation and real walls. While I was at it, I thought it’d be nice to add a second window for more light.

Then, finally . . . heat! I was excited because this was the first time it had been at least 60 degrees in a while.

The holes were patched up, then everything was primed.

Next up was real color and some lighting. There was only one inconvenient power outlet, so I added two more and also ran ethernet cable here from the house for high speed video and audio streaming.

Next up was the floor. Since we’re in the mountains and I’ll be walking through snow at times to get here (45′ from the house) I wanted to avoid carpet and unnatural stuff like linoleum. I thought bamboo or hardwood would have been perfect, but the price tag was about $600 . . . for a shed!

Colorado has a problem with beetles killing the pine trees. I was able to connect with Rocky Mountain Forest Products, a lumber shop about 45 minutes away, and they had a great solution. They salvage pine, mill it, then kiln dry it. They made me some tongue and groove flooring at just the length I needed.

All I did to the pine was put a few (more than a few actually) layers of clear coat on it to protect from water. Here’s everything after getting moved back in. That’s my video camera to the left.

Eventually I pushed my desk all the way to the left wall and moved my microphone over to the right, just in front of the window. The only thing left was trim. Since it was sold in 16′ sections, it proved to be a challenge to get it home.

Now, it’s all trimmed out, furniture is moved in, sound deadening is hung on the walls, and you’ll notice there aren’t many cables on the floor.

Check out the video at the top for the full tour.

Questions on gear, getting set up, or marketing? Leave them in the comments and lets talk about it.