Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with studio

a small piece of space needed

beckish — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:55:28 -0800

Any suggestions for finding artists studio space in Queens, NY--either Long Island City or Sunnyside/Woodside? I'm looking for a small space 200 squ feet or so or a shared studio in Queens--I've looked at some of the big LIC artists spaces but am looking for something reasonably priced and hoping to get closer to Sunnyside than the city. I'm thinking I should just walk around and knock on doors but figured I'd see if anyone has any thoughts first?

LOUD ALL THE TIME

defmute — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:56:23 -0800

WHERE IN L.A. CAN I BE LOUD ALL THE TIME? (FOR CHEAP) i'm looking to find a studio apartment in l.a. county somewhere (the closer to koreatown the better) where i can play music as loud as i want, whenever i want without spending a whole lot of money for some concrete future loft bullshit. i am looking to spend like...500 per month for rent. what do yall think?

Furnishing a small apartment.

Authorized User — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:21:23 -0800

Help me furnish and decorate my new small studio apartment. My new apartment is a small (22.5 m²~ 240 square feet) studio apartment. Pictures and floorplan here. The living area is approximately 260cm by 430cm. The fixed cabinets are both 60cm wide and the gap between them is 140cm wide.

What I need is a decent sized bed, preferably at least 120cm wide (I'm not picky; I could sleep on a sofa bed IF it's good enough), a good desk and some chairs for the kitchen table. What I would also want is enough room to occasionally seat about 4 people in comfort and possibly for watching movies from the computer screen. The table could also fit just enough chairs to also seat 4. Storage-wise I should be good with the existing storage with the exception of a bookcase and possibly some desk drawers. If there was enough room and a place to hide away a gaming table that is 120x180cm and is disassembled into a package measuring 120x60 plus some legs, it would be perfect, but that is not really necessary.

And since the apartment is new and shiny, I'd like the furniture to also at least not be ugly so something that fits the apartment would be nice.

My budget is basically big enough for Ikea stuff or any alternative at a similar price point. (Note that I am in Finland). I already have some Anssi bar stools suitable for the table and an black Expedit bookcase. The rest of my old furniture is either something I'm looking to replace or is just too clunky for this place and I'm not married to the bookcase either.

Any tips, tricks or input are appreciated. How would you decorate this place given these requirement or without them?

What did I lose when I upgraded to Win7?

Drasher — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:32:13 -0800

[Various Filters] I am stuck. I am using MS Visual Studio 2008 to create a software package. I saved all the source code and what (I thought) I needed so I could format the machine and install the Win7 Update as a fresh OS. After reinstalling the VS2008 compilers, now the project will not compile. The project is a VB.NET front-end GUI and a VC++ DLL back-end which talks to a PIC24FJ256GB110 micro over USB.
The compiler starts spewing error messages as the except.h header file is drawn in. (This file is created by Microsoft and included by some other file, I do not know what file actually includes it.)
The first specific error is: "C2065 '_In_': undeclared identifier."
I suspect that the problem is some kind of compiler setting or directive that is not carried over in the project file. I tried creating a new project from scratch and working the source files into the new project, but the error persists.
I have posted questions on the MS news servers and on stackoverflow.com and have not received helpful answers.

How do they fix performance glitches when doing post-production on "live" recordings?

Joe Beese — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:18:09 -0800

How do they fix performance glitches when doing post-production on "live" recordings? Assuming that they don't have multiple performances to splice together, how do they correct a singer's pitch or fix an instrumentalist's late entrance?

If they simply record a new part in the studio, how do they approximate the venue's acoustics?

Its hard out here for an 8th grade Teacher

allthewhile — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:57:20 -0800

How much money should I try to raise to get 8 kids in a studio, with a producer, to cut some songs? I'm working with 8 inner city students in the city of Chicago. They all have a passion for music, but limited experience with music. They all write, rap, and a few of them can sing like crazy. I just received a kickstarter invitation, and have no idea where I should set my sites. 1. I guess I should call some studios? Does anyone have any suggestions?

2. Any suggestions as to what cost I'm looking at working with someone to create beats, samples, and recording time in the Chicago area, I would appreciate it as well.

Where was Mr. Show filmed (besides Los Angeles, obviously.)

joechip — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:47:57 -0800

Does anyone know what studio/ stage the majority of Mr. Show was filmed in? I think the first season, or at least the first episode, was filmed in a different location than the rest of the series. Curious as to where that was as well.

How do Studio Stands Work?

kepano — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:48:50 -0800

How do FOBA studio stands lift up? I'm curious about how the wheels on studio stands lift up. Look at this this FOBA stand for example.

Under the cast iron base are caster wheels which can be raised or lowered to secure the unit or move it around. A simple press on the foot pedal allows this action to happen.

How does this work?

Better pictures in this PDF.

Sound advice

Zenabi — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:55:12 -0800

I am looking for recommendations for a recording interface and self-powered monitors. The Firebox gets rave reviews but I recall reading somewhere that there are now newer/better alternatives. Is this the case?

Living in South Africa doesn't help as the price for the Presonus Firebox is truly insane ($250-00 in the US - $759-00 here!)

Equipment:

- Quad core Q9550 with 4 Gig DDR 3 RAM - Audigy 4 sound card (could this be used for anything later?) - SONAR 7 - Behringer Eurorack MX1604A - Rode NT1-A

Due to the pricing here, it looks as if purchasing in the US via credit card and having the items shipped over here seems to be the way to go - any dealer recommendations or advice? Also, any other advice regarding the equipment/assembly of a home studio would be most welcome.

At this stage, I am uncertain whether I should use the Behringer mixer or how best to wire it in to break the pure digital setup (more advice required!) TIA

Outside Air Filter

ulotrichous — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:07:52 -0800

We want to add a wood stove to my wife's studio, currently under construction. Is outside combustion air a must or a maybe? The studio is framed and roofed, and it's on a 2nd story above the garage. The place where we'd like the wood stove to go is above the garage, so we could do a vent through the floor and duct it to the outside.

I've read differing opinions as to whether outside combustion air is a good idea or not. I understand if the house is tight, it can draw exhaust down the water heater flue or in through bathroom fans, etc, but there won't be any other exhausts to back draft in the building. It's not super tightly-sealed but it is new construction; however there are french doors which are always going to let some air in, ventilated soffit, etc.

One thing I read said that outside combustion air is more efficient because your house becomes positively pressurized, which sucks the warm air towards the envelope of the house (and out?) which distributes the heat better in the space for greater efficiency.

But I also read this near-rant on the myth of outside air but it's very axe-grindy and seems like it comes from a guy who used to sell wood stoves that didn't offer outside air options... but it makes some good points.

My builder is a little worried about additional fire code requirements for the garage ceiling if the outside air vent comes through there, and it's always possible that the outside air could be added later, but I don't want the kit to become unavailable, or have to redo the ceiling as part of it, etc.

The stove is a Drolet Eldorado. It's Canadian, so you know it's good. The studio is about 600sf with a 200 sf office below in the back that I am calling "geekland".

So, do you have experience with outside air supplies for wood stoves? Do you think we should do this now, or maybe plan to do it later, or not worry about it?

To squat or not?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:09:06 -0800

I am considering renting out an artist's studio space and squatting in it temporarily, does anyone have any experience in this? Good idea, bad idea? So, I have been staying at a friends place in Chicago for the past few months and am ready to move out. Only problem is finding a good roommate/apartment combination hasn't quite happened yet. Because of this I am considering getting artist's studio space to move all of my stuff into and sleep in while I keep looking for a proper apartment. This could really be an ideal situation for me, because having studio space is really more of a concern to me than having a swanky apartment and most of the time I would actually use the space for art making etc. I figure in the future, if I find a better apartment situation I can just share my studio space with someone else to help offset the cost.

I have an older friend who has managed to squat in her studio in NYC for years and years, even after getting married for a while, so it seems like something I could manage. What I am more curious about are peoples experiences trying to do this in Chicago, and what the worst legal ramifications would be if I was found out. How do landlords even check for this or prove it if they are suspicious?

Thanks in advance.

What equipment do I need to take clear photographs of 2d artwork from above?

Nonce — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:52:04 -0800

What equipment do I need to take clear photographs of 2-d artwork from above? I'd like to keep costs low (under $200). The artwork would range in size, but some would be what I would consider pretty big (30" or perhaps more).

I found this DIY camera stand online.

I also found mention of tripods that can be used to shoot straight down.

Any specific model recommendations of tripod? Or particular models of old studio/copy stands that I should poke around and try to find online used?

Also, what inexpensive light source will give me good results? These bulbs seem to have a good color temperature and high CRI, but I don't know if that actually makes them an appropriate choice.

Clever poster to put in a home studio

cronholio — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:48:42 -0800

What should I put on the wall in my new home studio? I just moved my home studio to its own room (yay!) and there is an empty wall right above my screen that needs to be filled. I was thinking of a poster of a guitar chord chart, scales or the circle of fifths, which seems kind of lame. (I know most of these things by heart.) Alternatively it might be something in the spirit of Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz.

Can you think of something clever (and possibly helpful as a reference) that I might put there?

Music track suggestions for beginner DJ

TimeTravelSpeed — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:46:01 -0800

I just bought a dinky music mixer for my PC, and would like some suggestions on specific tracks to try out on it. Would also like suggestions on bands to use in general. I bought a Torq MixLab Digital DJ System from woot.com last week and realized that I have no appropriately phat beats to lay down. In fact, my new computer doesn't have any music on it whatsoever.

I need to populate my library with tracks that are for use with mixing. Any suggestions?

For example (please pardon my lack of lingo / understanding of DJ-ing):

"Try playing the intro of 'Digital Love' by Daft Punk by itself until the drums kick in. Once they start, fade slowly over to DJ Sir Beatsalot's remix of 'Crystal Rave'. When I was learning, this helped me get a feel for the basics...blah blah blah"

Any additional tips and tricks are welcome too.

Trying to set up a home studio...

DMan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:00:43 -0800

A few quick questions about home music recording, including gear and technique... So I'm in a group that wants to experiment with recording some stuff (Christian praise band) and although I know a little bit about the process, I have a few questions.

First, a recording interface: We have 6 total audio sources that we'll want to record--2 guitars, 2 vocalists, a bass, and drums. However, it's my understanding that it's very uncommon to record everything at once anyway, so we can probably use maybe a 4-input recording interface, right? I was thinking something like the Presonus Firebox, which has 2 XLR's, 2 instrument-level inputs, MIDI and SPDIF. It also comes with Cubase, which seems like a huge plus starting out.

Second, what's standard practice as far as recording procedure? Do we record everything at once? One instrument at a time? The methodical engineer side of me says to record one thing at a time for simplicity's sake, but the musician in me says that it's going to be kind of frustrating for each person to play their part individually with only headphones to play along with. Is it standard to have the whole band play, and only record one or two instruments at a time? Or should most musicians expect to have to play alone in a studio situation? I honestly have no idea how this is supposed to work.

Any help would be greatly appreciated--basically, I'm looking for general advice about home studio recording, both in equipment and procedure. Thanks all!

Need advice on rebuilding a stripped-down audio recording studio

digitalprimate — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:00:30 -0800

I want to (re)build a small, mostly digital studio in my office. I write and play mostly indy pop, typically using no more than 16 tracks with a mix of electronic and acoustic instruments. Although I have a ton of gear, most of that will remain in boxes. I'm going for a smallish singer/songwriter production suite. Here's what I plan on salvaging from my current gear:

- MacBook with 2g ram. Firewire 400 + USB2, writing to an external HD (more on that in the What I Need section)
- My Genelec 1032As midfield monitors
- My Mackie 1604EZ board
- An assortment of wide diaphram mics & instrument mics
- A metric assload of guitars, basses, keyboards, outboard effects & processors, and other random gear. I'll mostly use my J-45 and Tele for the guitars.
- My ASR-88 as my main keyboard interface

What I Need:

- A new I/O: two balanced in's are all I need.
- New HD recording and sequencing software: I've used Cubase, Logic and most recently ProTools. I'm a set it and forget it guy; when I'm recording I do NOT want to fuck around with configuration.
- New sample/synth software for sounds: mostly mainstream instruments like pianos and organs, basses, strings, the occasional vintage synth emulator.
- A new HD - I don't think it'll be a good idea to write to my dedicated Time Machine back up HD, no?

I've got $500 and Manny's in the city is going into liquidation until the end of May. Can it be done? What would you suggest? Old AskMe's don't really address my specific gear needs in relation to what I already have, and the latest one is over a year and a half old - an eternity in gear-years. Thanks in advance!

The unbearable darkness of our studio

shmegegge — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:00:45 -0800

What are the go to guides for learning to light in production environments? specifically, I'd like a resource (in book or other form) to learn about lighting sound stages for video production. our studio right now has plenty of decent lights, but not enough know how to compellingly light a scene.

Yearbook Photo-Style Photo

Sticherbeast — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:51:25 -0800

Where in NYC can I get one of those photographic portraits as were common in high school in the mid-90's, with the laser or forest background and such?

help me find new awesome broadcasting software for a good cause

stenseng — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:07:17 -0800

Mefi broadcasting experts: suggest broadcast automation software for the radio station of the organization I do IT support for... Through the agency I work for, I provide IT support services for a talking book and braille library for blind and visually impaired people. They've got a radio station that provides news broadcasts, book narration, etc.

Their broadcast studio (and particularly the automation part of the booth) is based around Dalet systems 5.1, which was designed for NT4, requires expensive, proprietary soundcards, and is generally old, slow, buggy, and not well supported.

What's the new hotness, broadcasting mefites? Help me suggest a modern system that can do show scheduling, switching from multiple sources (pre recorded show, live feed, sattelite feed,) will work with most decent modern ASIO or dsound compatible audio cards, etc.

Bonus points if it's accessible via screen readers, but not a deal breaker... Thoughts?

How do I easily convert an ASP.Net 2.0 website to plain html?

therubettes — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:37:45 -0800

Is it possible to use Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition to create a simple website and to then easily convert the site to plain html? I have to put together a simple website, about 20 pages of static content. I would like to use Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition as it has lots of neat functionality that will allow me to build and amend the site quickly e.g. sitemap, masterpages, navigation controls etc.

How would I then go about automating the process of exporting the site to a static version (by this I mean plain HTML) i.e. one that will function on my webhost?

To clarify I will not be using any of the fancy .net functionality or controls. So no logins, calenders, datagrids, database etc. The thing wont even have a radiobutton!

Oh and if you think this is a dumb idea please tell me.

Studio apartment in the sub-400 euro per month range in Madrid?

charls — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 08:08:47 -0800

MadridApartmentSearch Filter: I recently moved to Madrid to study for a year, but have a terrible experience with my current flatmates and I'm looking for another place to stay. Can I expect to find a studio apartment in the sub-400euro range, or is it too much to ask for? I've seen many places, but from what it seems the only offers in that suit my budget are from families/elderly people renting rooms to make ends meet. Can I expect to find a studio in that range, or is it too much to ask for? Can anybody lead me to some sites or newspapers where I could find such offers here?

Your help is much appreciated!

PS. My spanish is OK, so I will be able to communicate with prospective landlords.

visual studio

amsterdam63 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:02:54 -0800

The command window (in XP) flashes for just a second and then goes away when executing "Hello, World!" program written in Visual C++ express edition. I started with Win32 project, then Console Application, put in source code and built the solution (F7), and everything seemed to be going swimmingly, then of course, I tried to execute it using F5 (and by going to project folder in explorer and Debug-->start debugging. Pretty sure this isn't relevant, but here's the source code:

// Ex1.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console application.
//

#include "stdafx.h"
#include

int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
std::cout << "Hello, World!\n";
return 0;
}

Looking for "house-warming" gift ideas for someone who just signed the lease on a new artist studio space.

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:46:05 -0800

I am looking for gift ideas for my boyfriend who is moving into his new studio soon. He won't be living there. It is just a work space. He's fully prepared with supplies- which are quite bulky and will take up a lot of space (type cabinets and huge letterpress machines).

I'd like to get him something small as "studio-warming" gift. I am the more organized and business-oriented one in the relationship. And since he definitely needs help in that area, a gift that will help keep him organized (w/ time-management, money, etc) could be a good idea. However, something funny or cute is totally an option as well. Bonus points if it's related to letterpress.

Other than offering my time in helping him paint, move boxes etc. is there anything else he might find especially useful for his new space?

You can email me at studiowarminggift@gmail.com if you want to know more. Thanks in advance!

How Best to Set Up a Furniture Rearrangement Question?

WCityMike — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:08:21 -0800

How can I best set up a question regarding furniture rearrangement (in terms of spatially rearranging things, with measurements) on the Internet, and is Ask Mefi the best source or are there other communities that would be better? Are there Flash tools that let you post furniture floorplans and let others come and rearrange things? Alternatively, for advice simply on arrangement of furniture, how much might a professional's advice be, and would an interior decorator be the profession to turn to? (Do they still call themselves interior decorators? It seems a '70s term.) I am going to be living in a small studio for a while to come now. It is a great landlord and a pleasant building. I have no use for a one-bedroom and also would prefer to reserve funds (funds that would then go for increased rent) for other quite important targets at the moment, not to mention I don't have people who could help me move at the moment.

The problem with the studio is space and outlets, however: I have only two outlets in the main living area, limiting where certain things can be placed (computer, TV/DVD/cable, etc.), and electricians have advised that new outlets can't be added without major renovation.

I think I've done the best for what I've got, but it does need fixing. And recently I realized I have two furniture-space crises coming down the pike: (i) I've been sleeping on a twin air mattress for a while. I plan to replace that with a "full" bed, but have no idea how that might be introduced to the space without seriously getting in the way. And (ii) my bookshelves are overflowing and another one needs to be added, but there's utterly nowhere to put it. (I had considered a futon, but I think that after a certain age, it says that something's a little weird about you if you're still on a futon. Or is that just an idea I picked up from "The Office"? Dunno.)

I'd like to turn to hiveminds for advice -- either Ask Mefi's hivemind or that of a "furniture rearrangement" community -- but I frankly don't know how to appropriately post the problem in a manner that people can give effective answers, given that it involves accurate measurement and rearrangement of things.

I already have all the measurements done, and have set up a little cardstock model with rearrangable furniture to try my own hand at moving things around. Is there a website -- probably something involving Flash -- where you can set up a sort of bird's-eye view of your apartment and then Joe Schmoe come in off the street and rearrange the things inside?

Alternatively, how much would it zing me, financially, to get a professional to walk in and say, "If you put this there, put this there, put this there, and replace this with this, your problems should be solved"? (I live in Chicago.)

Getting into Studio B

bkudria — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:04:33 -0800

How can an older-than-he-looks 20 year-old guy get into a 21+ music event in Studio B? I'd like to hear some music in Studio B in Brooklyn, but the event is listed as 21+ . I'm 20, but I look older (it's the goatee, I think) - I have no problems getting beers in restaurants and such. Am I likely to get in to Studio B? How can I improve my chances? Or, am I likely to get ID'ed at the door, and refused entry? Any tips? Also, anything else I should know? (I've never been there before).