Personal Life Stuff, mostly catching up.
Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:21 am
Just catching up on some stuff that's been going on for the past several months. So this could get a little long winded.
Late last summer, contractors were allowed to resume working on residential projects. So I contacted my contractor and moved forward with building out the basement studio space I had planned. Took them 7 weeks to finish out, and they did a nice job!
The room is 4.8 x 6.1 meters, roughly (20x16 ft. or 320 sqft. exactly) The dimension was chosen because A) it's the largest size that would fit and still meet code requirements, and B) it has good acoustic modal response. That is, room modes are fairly evenly spaced across the lower frequencies according to the Amroc acoustic calculator.
The room is not soundproofed (that was not in the budget) so the walls are standard partition walls insulated with Thermafiber R15. The ceiling is where most the sound attenuation happens to keep noise from being annoying up on the first floor living spaces, and 2nd floor bedroom areas. And the ceiling does a great job. Double layer of insulation (Thermafiber fire & sound guard, air gap, and then R-15 insulation), and Armstrong Fine Texture ceiling tiles with NRC 0.70 and CAC 35 on a direct-mount ceiling grid (Ceilinglink system). I cranked the PA (Presonus Air 12" speakers on a Soundcraft Signature 22 MTK mixer) up to near 100dB SPL, and the living room noise level was measured as about 45 dB SPL. So depending on drum/bass around 40 to 50 dB SPL of sound attenuation.
The floors are luxury vinyl plank wood-look flooring. And there is a wet bar with Cherryville cabinetry and a nearly black granite countertop w/ spill channel and sink w/ pump. 3 pendant lights over the bar, and 2 4-light LED track lights on the other wall were also installed, and are on dimmer switches. Walls and front corners are treated with GIK Acoustic panels I bought and installed myself. I also installed a LED stage wash light over the desk which illuminates the floor and back of room. The bar counter is underlit with a couple Govee LED strips I bought. Both the LED strips and wash lights are sound reactive.
The room is purpose built to be a rehearsal, recording, and multimedia production space. And there are plans to host virtual performance streams with the bands/musicians I work with in the near future. It's a nice looking and nice sounding space, so here are some images.
https://imgur.com/ImbkNWR
https://imgur.com/dAPrwwJ
https://imgur.com/r8CWUGp
https://imgur.com/fQ52oTQ
https://imgur.com/Q9sY34Q
So that's enough about the studio space.
Last March, our last cat died. He had complications with his diabetes, and we couldn't get it regulated with insulin. We had a scan done, and they found a mass on his pancreas. He was well loved and had a good life. After many months of having missed him, around Christmas time (with some mild encouragement by me) we decided to adopt 2 young cats from the local PAWS association. After a couple mistimings on contacting foster parents, we successfully adopted Bernard and Clayton in January. They are a bonded pair of brothers. They're both 1 year old now. They are very cute, but sometimes a pain. Again some images, because who doesn't like cat pictures!? (people who are less than human, that's who!)
https://imgur.com/7FGnJLP
https://imgur.com/gp4xDl7
https://imgur.com/obCL5wt
I've also recently started practicing HEMA to get a bit more active. I've been interested in it for a few years now, and did recently find out that there is a local club here in Philly not far from us, the Philadelphia Common Fencers Guild. I think they're affiliated with Rogue Fencing. The lead instructor is also an EMT. Club classes are not in session, but we plan to join up once the resume.
In the meantime, I'm practicing at home, and possibly getting my wife involved. I did buy proper masks with overlays that have back of head protection, gorgets, and torso protection. I still need to get some good padded gloves at least for the light intensity we do at home, but I did get fingertip protectors that fit inside the gloves. Later once we join the club, we'll get proper gauntlets, and fill out the rest of the protection (hips, shins, arms, etc.)
The club we'll join focuses on the longsword and rapier styles of Fiore Dei Liberi and Philippo Di Vadi, though they do plan to expand a little in the future, such as including messers. I have a little knowledge of Joachim Meyer, but am learning a bit of Liberi for now.
Finally, in addition to the band I'm in, Blackjack Rose, I've joined another group involving our drummer and his friend who's a bassist. So this side project is a jazz/fusion trio. (Our main band is a pop/prog rock group). We'll resume rehearsals once all band members are vaccinated. But for now since it's just the 3 of us, the trio has met a couple times here in my basement on Sundays. They did ask that I bring my horn, so I've started taking up my trumpet again and practicing an hour a night. I haven't played in 20 years, but I still have all the books and tools I need to get back into form. (Vizzutti, Koprasch, Concone, and some newer jazz-oriented etude books I just picked up). I should be in pretty good shape by the end of April or May. Otherwise I'm still primarily a keyboardist with the group, but I'll double on trumpet.
The main band, Blackjack Rose, does have an album due to release soon. I don't have an ETA yet, but hopefully in the next couple months. We've had some snafus and things were delayed significantly, but hopefully everything is on track again. Meanwhile we decided to hire an animator to put animation to one of our songs. He should be starting work on that very soon, and it will probably take him several weeks to get it done. So we're looking forward to that being completed.
And that is what's been going on in my life for the past several months.
Late last summer, contractors were allowed to resume working on residential projects. So I contacted my contractor and moved forward with building out the basement studio space I had planned. Took them 7 weeks to finish out, and they did a nice job!
The room is 4.8 x 6.1 meters, roughly (20x16 ft. or 320 sqft. exactly) The dimension was chosen because A) it's the largest size that would fit and still meet code requirements, and B) it has good acoustic modal response. That is, room modes are fairly evenly spaced across the lower frequencies according to the Amroc acoustic calculator.
The room is not soundproofed (that was not in the budget) so the walls are standard partition walls insulated with Thermafiber R15. The ceiling is where most the sound attenuation happens to keep noise from being annoying up on the first floor living spaces, and 2nd floor bedroom areas. And the ceiling does a great job. Double layer of insulation (Thermafiber fire & sound guard, air gap, and then R-15 insulation), and Armstrong Fine Texture ceiling tiles with NRC 0.70 and CAC 35 on a direct-mount ceiling grid (Ceilinglink system). I cranked the PA (Presonus Air 12" speakers on a Soundcraft Signature 22 MTK mixer) up to near 100dB SPL, and the living room noise level was measured as about 45 dB SPL. So depending on drum/bass around 40 to 50 dB SPL of sound attenuation.
The floors are luxury vinyl plank wood-look flooring. And there is a wet bar with Cherryville cabinetry and a nearly black granite countertop w/ spill channel and sink w/ pump. 3 pendant lights over the bar, and 2 4-light LED track lights on the other wall were also installed, and are on dimmer switches. Walls and front corners are treated with GIK Acoustic panels I bought and installed myself. I also installed a LED stage wash light over the desk which illuminates the floor and back of room. The bar counter is underlit with a couple Govee LED strips I bought. Both the LED strips and wash lights are sound reactive.
The room is purpose built to be a rehearsal, recording, and multimedia production space. And there are plans to host virtual performance streams with the bands/musicians I work with in the near future. It's a nice looking and nice sounding space, so here are some images.
https://imgur.com/ImbkNWR
https://imgur.com/dAPrwwJ
https://imgur.com/r8CWUGp
https://imgur.com/fQ52oTQ
https://imgur.com/Q9sY34Q
So that's enough about the studio space.
Last March, our last cat died. He had complications with his diabetes, and we couldn't get it regulated with insulin. We had a scan done, and they found a mass on his pancreas. He was well loved and had a good life. After many months of having missed him, around Christmas time (with some mild encouragement by me) we decided to adopt 2 young cats from the local PAWS association. After a couple mistimings on contacting foster parents, we successfully adopted Bernard and Clayton in January. They are a bonded pair of brothers. They're both 1 year old now. They are very cute, but sometimes a pain. Again some images, because who doesn't like cat pictures!? (people who are less than human, that's who!)
https://imgur.com/7FGnJLP
https://imgur.com/gp4xDl7
https://imgur.com/obCL5wt
I've also recently started practicing HEMA to get a bit more active. I've been interested in it for a few years now, and did recently find out that there is a local club here in Philly not far from us, the Philadelphia Common Fencers Guild. I think they're affiliated with Rogue Fencing. The lead instructor is also an EMT. Club classes are not in session, but we plan to join up once the resume.
In the meantime, I'm practicing at home, and possibly getting my wife involved. I did buy proper masks with overlays that have back of head protection, gorgets, and torso protection. I still need to get some good padded gloves at least for the light intensity we do at home, but I did get fingertip protectors that fit inside the gloves. Later once we join the club, we'll get proper gauntlets, and fill out the rest of the protection (hips, shins, arms, etc.)
The club we'll join focuses on the longsword and rapier styles of Fiore Dei Liberi and Philippo Di Vadi, though they do plan to expand a little in the future, such as including messers. I have a little knowledge of Joachim Meyer, but am learning a bit of Liberi for now.
Finally, in addition to the band I'm in, Blackjack Rose, I've joined another group involving our drummer and his friend who's a bassist. So this side project is a jazz/fusion trio. (Our main band is a pop/prog rock group). We'll resume rehearsals once all band members are vaccinated. But for now since it's just the 3 of us, the trio has met a couple times here in my basement on Sundays. They did ask that I bring my horn, so I've started taking up my trumpet again and practicing an hour a night. I haven't played in 20 years, but I still have all the books and tools I need to get back into form. (Vizzutti, Koprasch, Concone, and some newer jazz-oriented etude books I just picked up). I should be in pretty good shape by the end of April or May. Otherwise I'm still primarily a keyboardist with the group, but I'll double on trumpet.
The main band, Blackjack Rose, does have an album due to release soon. I don't have an ETA yet, but hopefully in the next couple months. We've had some snafus and things were delayed significantly, but hopefully everything is on track again. Meanwhile we decided to hire an animator to put animation to one of our songs. He should be starting work on that very soon, and it will probably take him several weeks to get it done. So we're looking forward to that being completed.
And that is what's been going on in my life for the past several months.