Tag: songmachine

Studio Build

SongMachine Studio Build Update #10 – The FINAL One!

Posted on by Corey Stewart

Well, its finally happened. SongMachine is now finished and (technically) ready to take on clients.

The finishing touches were made today but a lot of work was poured into the week trying to get SongMachine ready for our first client who starts her recording project in two days time on Monday, November 18th, 2024.

One of the things we needed to do was to do a test recording or two just to see if all of the connecting up of the hardware was done correctly. This was done last Wednesday.

Thankfully it was and here’s a picture of the three mic setup for acoustic guitar and voice.

We also did a sound frequency test for the recording area once the curtains were up and a basic covering of the concrete floor with carpet tiles and the room passed the test with flying colours.

Both the recording area and the control room are flat in terms of sound response but with a little bit of life in them to give the recorded sound some character. 

Now, I’m not up with the technical specs of the sound frequency tests and what it all means but Sandy was happy with the results and that’s all that matters.

What we did today was essentially a general clean up, final laying of the carpet tiles (with glue) and putting a frame around the recording room side window as you can see from the following pictures.

Now that everything is pretty much ready to go I wanted to extend my final thank you’s to the following people…

  • Mum and Dad – Absolute legends and huge supporters of the project from the very beginning
  • Sandy Mathewson – Came down every Wednesday to help me with building the studio. He is now going to take on his role as head engineer come Monday.
  • Cooper Lindsay – My nephew, budding musician/producer and a handy person to have around. He’s tall and walks around in stilts
  • Darryl Puckridge – Our sparky who made sure that power was delivered to SongMachine
  • Henry Sweet – Our chippy who did all of the wall and ceiling frameworks at the beginning of the build
  • TLC Concrete – Built the new shed and poured the concrete slab marking the beginning of the SongMachine studio build project.
  • TMW Earthworks – These guys removed the old slab and created the foundation for the new shed to be built

That’s it… All done and dusted. I know that there will be finishing touches here and there, little tweaks along the way and both split system AC will need to be installed at some point but a recording studio like us mere mortals are works in progress.

I’ll be taking Sunday off in readiness to start work on Monday November 18th. Wish me luck.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

Home Recording

My Home Recording Studio Love Affair

Posted on by Corey Stewart

Right now I’m sitting in front of my computer typing out this blog post and on the other screen is an open project on Logic Pro X and I’m really, really torn between completing this post and just doing some more recording.

However, there was a time not that long ago, that I couldn’t have imagined this scenario because back then, the thought of setting up some sort of home recording studio absolutely terrified me.

But what was I really scared of? I suppose I was scared that…

  • My music would sound crap and not sound like what’s on the radio
  • I couldn’t do it (record from home)
  • It would take too long for me to learn
  • My end product would be judged harshly by others
  • People won’t like my music (and therefore, not like me)

Of course, these irrational and illogical fears were a result of an unhealthy combination of way too much perfectionism, not enough confidence and a dash of low self esteem thrown in for good measure

I remember when I purchased my first iMac way back in 2009, I had included in the purchase a copy of Logic 9 (I had some experience using Logic 4.2 – before it was purchased by Apple from Emagic) and when I installed it onto my new system I left it sitting there all alone on my desktop, unopened for a very long time.

Eventually, curiosity got the better of me and feeling a bit brash one day, I opened it up and started to muck around with it.

The more I used it, the more I gained confidence in my ability to learn about and operate a piece of software that was almost like learning a foreign language. Then I discovered that YouTube had heaps of Logic 9 tutorials that enabled me to integrate more knowledge that I could use in my recordings.

It was around about this time that my decision to start collaborating with other songwriters in a big way took place and my new found knowledge of recording music at home had some sort of outlet.

Then Logic Pro X came onto the market. When I got that onto my system everything had changed. Now I’m a home recording studio junky and there’s no stopping me now.

The main thing I love about recording from home is the sheer convenience of thinking of a songwriting idea and then being able to flick on a switch and have everything at your disposal at a moment’s notice.

Don’t get me wrong… I still use and work in other recording studios big and small, professional and amateur, and feel that these facilities provide a much needed service however, with my home recording setup I am no longer at the whim of somebody else when it comes to recording my songwriting ideas and developing them towards a completed product.

Through this website, I’ll be sharing with you my home recording experiences, what I’ve learnt from taking a leap of faith into the land of home recording plus curating some fantastic content that I’ve found that has helped me along the way so watch this space.

Okay, now I’ve got that out of my system, I’m getting back to my recording…

Peace,

Corey 🙂