Posts Tagged ‘DIY’

In my TCOM 631 production class we were given the option to either complete a series of software tutorials or learn a new skill. Being that I’ve been on a bit of a DIY electronics kick as of late I wanted to try my hand at  making a ribbon microphone. I’ve never built a ribbon mic before so I decided to start with a DIY kit in order to eliminate unnecessary complicatons.  I ordered my DIY ribbon microphone kit from DIYRIBBONMIC.COM and it arrived today. I plan on assembling this bad boy in the next couple of days.

This year I spent my spring break building bass traps for the studio with my good friend, Ian. While most of my friends were tanning on sunny beaches, my week was comprised of whiskey, meat, and power tools; albeit not at the same time. When all is said and done expensive tans that will fade but my new bass traps will last for a long, long time. The project is still not 100% finished. I am still waiting on my fabric to arrive so that I can stretch it over the front of these traps to make them more visually appealing. I purchased 25 yards of barn-red burlap to use as a finishing material so that it would match the current color scheme in the studio. They are going to look AMAZING!

Bass traps can be expensive due to their size and weight… Shipping costs can be pretty extreme. I decided that it was in my best interest to build my own based on my needs. I enjoy working with my hands and saving money so it seemed like a good fit. Also, by building them myself, I can be sure of the quality of my traps and will be able to make future adjustments if need be without having to contact a manufacturer. All in all I am building 9 bass traps for the studio but I was only able to finish 7 of them in a single week.

I’m still rather sore from the 7 continuous days of the physical labor that went into creating these things but it’s a good kind of sore. I mean, it wasn’t like I was working at a balls-to-the-wall pace for the entire week. I made sure to schedule some rest and relaxation as well. Ian and I made it a point to have a cookout every night of the week. We ate exceptionally well… Oh, and I made sure to document the feasting with my iPod so that I could share it with all of my friends that were busy posting pictures of beaches in a future post.

Today I placed an order for a 100′ spool of balanced audio cable and a number of connectors. I want to be able to make cables and adapters in-house rather than purchase them. I’m doing this for 2 main reasons. The first of which being, I can save money. Secondly, I’m tired of trying to make pre-determined cable lengths work when it is clear that I need a more custom length. That being said, I spent a few hours organizing the studio workshop today in preparation for the new cable-making workload. After doing some research I think I have a fairly good understanding about how to assemble the various cables and connectors that I will be using on a regular basis.

After watching a number of video tutorials on how to make audio cables I began to make mental notes on how to set up my work space. I have a plethora of timber in the garage so I decided to use some to create a soldering station. This is the 80% finished product. I still have to install a few metal plates. Alas, it’s not going to win any beauty contests but it’s ultra functional.