What kind of building are you in?

[David Piper]

DrummerMan, thanks for your post. I've been following your trailer project - very cool!

[trodden]

I'm upstairs from a mexican resturant/music venue. I'm actually across the hall from the green room for the bands playing downstairs. I usually don't have any bleed issues because I just try to avoid tracking quite acoustic projects while there's a metal band pounding downstairs. Plus I do most of my sessions during the day anyway. But having a bar downstairs is definitely handy, as well as the cheese dip!

You nearby the RWAKE/Downtown Music folks?

Haha! No, but not far from there. I'm actually above Juanita's if that means anything to you. I do know those guys as well as the venue. They actually moved next door from their old spot to a bigger, cooler spot. Very cool place!

rad, never been to their place, but met them back in 2003 when they were on tour and in seattle, played a show with them.. Really really cool and nice people. Seemed they had a good thing happening there, good to know its even getting better!

[Al_Huero]

I've got an outbuilding on the property, separate from the garage but with that 20 x 20 footprint; so likely was a garage of some sort at one time. Someone enclosed the adjacent chicken coop at some point (roughly 10 x 18 or so) as well so that's where I've built out my control room.

[marqueemoon]

My wife and I just bought a house. It's going to be a while before I/we will have the funds to properly outfit the basement as a recording/practice space, but there's a healthy amount of space down there. I'm pretty excited.

Most recent recordings were tracked at our practice space and mixed at a friend's house. The results have been surprisingly good, although I need to have my own mixing space with speakers and a room that I'm used to back.

[trodden]

My wife and I just bought a house. It's going to be a while before I/we will have the funds to properly outfit the basement as a recording/practice space, but there's a healthy amount of space down there. I'm pretty excited.

Most recent recordings were tracked at our practice space and mixed at a friend's house. The results have been surprisingly good, although I need to have my own mixing space with speakers and a room that I'm used to back.

Hey man, good to see you! it's been awhile! congrats on the house purchase. After spending some time scoping out craigslist and different neighborhoods, trying to find a live/work/warehouse space thing.. i don't know what to do. My sister and her husband are talking about taking advantage of the dropping housing costs here in C-attle and maybe purchasing at the end of the year. They're trying to get me on board as well.. Both are musicians, studio dorks also.. looking for something that has a detached building much like Al Huero's situation posted above, with a mother in law or something so i can have my own living quarters/place for rocker dudes to use the bathroom when using the studio. Been in a house up in Maple Leaf for close to 5 years now.. ideal, but not ideal with the owners/roommates wanting to move on to the next phase in their lives. Family/babies.

[Corey Y]

I just found out my effective working space in the warehouse I record in is about doubling soon. We were leasing out a warehouse/woodshop to the old foreman of our custom window shop, but he's changing his career path. So we're buying back some of the equipment and moving most of what's stored in the space I use now over there. I would like use of the whole 1,000 sqft space, but I'm not holding my breath for that. It will certainly allow me to make some more permanent changes in the space, which will be cool.

Maybe I will finally build a control room...or possibly just follow up on my previous plan of building some large mobile absorbers/dividers.

[DryCounty]

I've been in the basement of an 1890's building for the past 4 or 5 years, which is great in that we are isolated enough from any bands that play upstairs but unfortunate enough in that in the time we've been here it's flooded three times.

The last one was bad enough it made me almost paranoid. The building we're in is owned by an overhead door company, a family business that's been around since the 30s, I believe. Great people -- however, they rent to just about anyone and with four floors above us that means every square inch of space has been turned into rehearsal space for bands. Our floor now has three bands and it can get a little claustrophobic. The doors are secure but there are no deadbolts into our space. If anyone got drunk enough and rode the freight to the basement they might be dumb enough to break into our room.

Not to mention, every floor has an overhead fire extinguishing system and I would be devastated if any clown set that off. Not only would we get hit by the water on our floor, but five floors total would come seeping into our space. We've been through 2 hurricanes and a roof leak. After dripping through five floors, water is pretty much black by the time it hits you. So, I'm leaving.

A friend has rented a long warehouse literally right around the corner and has offered me the front/office portion. It's dropped ceilings and tiles over concrete floors, but that can be fixed with the right treatment, etc. We'd be the only band. I'd have a bit of a smaller control room but wouldn't have to worry about sound escaping or being hit by a ton of sound while trying to record. Windows are barred and there would be a single entrance and decent parking.

It's not a "move up" but more of a lateral move that would allow me more autonomy and flexibility when I record. It'll be sad to say goodbye to the old space, but it's high time to move on.

[weatherbox]

Warehouse neighboring a chimney service, the place taxi cabs come to get their tires patched, and a big ol' proper studio. It is definitely the "warehouse on the other side of the tracks" vibe most fully realized.

[gitgrinder69]

I'm in a turn of the century apple packing shed. 10000 square foot wooden industrial space, essentially, but only about 1000 of it is renovated for studio use at the moment. The rest is occupied by a coffee house/music venue, wood working shop, and defunct antique store. Yeah, grandma, wanna make a record?