DIY Gobos

Aloha Audiophiles

Ok, it's been over a month since my last post. But in the mean time I moved my home (and studio) and had a baby in the midst of the holiday season, SO GIVE ME A BREAK!
Not that my email box was full of faithful readers begging for more of my musings...

Let me tell you about a little project I did last week. I just moved into a new studio space and the new place is like 6 times bigger than the old one. Like Bobby Bender Studios IV, BBS V is a basement facility that is basically concrete and cinder block construction. In IV I remedied the inherent sound problems caused by such construction by covering all the surfaces with deflectors and absorbers, but because the new space is so much bigger, there's really no way to do that without dropping a bunch of cash. My solution was to get some gobos to give me the effect of having a moveable booth. But rather than break the bank for some store-bought barriers, I built them myself as is my nature.

What I did was go to Home Depot and get three sheets of plywood (5/8") and some castors. Couple that with the 2x4's I already had, plus the ugly window treatments my wife pulled off the windows of our new house and that's all I needed. I cut the plywood sheets down to about 47" x 70" just so I could fit them in my car (yep, I got three of those to fit in the Vibe!).
Here's what I did:

#1: Lay the plywood flat on the floor
#2: Use a heavy duty staple gun to staple the curtains (and I threw in some carpet padding for good measure) to the plywood
#3: The 2x4's will be the 'feet' of the barrier, so cut these down to the appropriate size. This will vary depending on how tall your plywood sheets are. I tried everything from 4" to 18" and I think 10" worked the best for my 70" sheets. You also may want to cut one end at an angle so to give you better support. You want four feet for each sheet.
#4: Attach some castors (wheels) to the 2x4's. Put them on the end that will be furthest from the plywood to give you better stability. I used 2" castors.
#5: Attach the 2x4 feet to the plywood and VOILA! you're done!

Try different dimensions and materials to suit your needs. This effectively reduced the flutter reflections in my new space and gives me something to work with until I get the 'real' studio built.

Right now I'm sitting with my in-laws and my wife and new baby as they watch Law & Order. What a rockin Friday night!! Woo hoo!

Rock on

Ben
www.javboyrecords.com