A busy night
The Wharton Tiers Ensemble rehearsed, the Hear Back personal monitoring system arrived, the first 2 patch bays were attached to the console and tested (all but one connection a-ok), Nightswim picked up their gear, and a few vintage rock n’ roll posters now adorn the walls. And it’s only Monday.
Check out “Rakshak“ by Wharton Tiers Ensemble (from the LP “Twilight Of The Computer Age”) and Big Dog 2 by Super Duper Looper (a/k/a WT).
Posted 12 May 2008, 21:59 by The Kennel
We love the smell of burning flux in the morning
Smells like victory…
Posted 10 May 2008, 18:01 by The Kennel
The Ship is Crashing!
Bill and Harvey get silly at The Kennel…
Posted 5 May 2008, 13:29 by The Kennel
It's all about the fun now
A great day yesterday, as James arrived with his (vegetable-oil-fueled) Mercedes wagon laden with rack gear. Merged with Wharton’s and Bill’s stuff, and installed in the racks Jim finished building, it sure looks fine:
Here’s a nice shot of our patch bay rack (a/k/a “Lazarus”) gleaming with 10 refurbished 1/4” patch bays:
Much merriment ensued as we ran CDs through the console and played with signal processors, reducing R.L. Burnside’s Ass Pocket Full Of Whiskey to a molten glob of sound.
Our joy was tempered ever so slightly by the failure of the soundproofing units built for the sliding doors to install correctly. But we’re confident of our ultimate success after some adjustments.
Bill’s in this afternoon, tracking keyboards with Nightswim.
Posted 4 May 2008, 09:15 by The Kennel
Black goo
Excitement built last night as Wharton powered up our AMR2400 console for the first time in its new home. Happy to report all is well!
Also tested the inter-room connections; they were OK except for 2 XLRs and a 1/4” jack in the live room that need attention.
Meanwhile, Jim continued to assemble the soundproofing units for the sliding doors.
Packed away in a crate, we discovered 2 “black goo guns” — props from Dr. Wei Wei and The Fake Brain, a rock opera by James’ former band, Fake Brain.
Speaking of which, 4 3 songs from that opus are now playing in The Kennel Jukebox: “Antivibe,” “Cop Haircut”, “Fortress of Smallitude” and “Iron Clad Retardo”. All were recorded at the Kennel’s previous incarnation, at the Salt Mines in DUMBO.
Upcoming: 4 rack units are scheduled for delivery today.
UPDATE #1: “Cop Haircut” is by LowBrau, not Fake Brain.
UPDATE #2: The racks arrived in fine shape and Jim assembled 2 of them last night.
Posted 1 May 2008, 13:55 by The Kennel
Totally wired
Today James completed all inter-room wiring, except for our digital headphone system, which will be done very soon.
Now each room is connected to the others, via panels offering XLR, Speacon and 1/4” line in/outs. No more running cables through open doors — yeah!
Sexcop’s Alec Cumming was the first to enjoy the benefit of the new system, laying down bass and background vocals last night with Bill.
Meanwhile, Jim is assembling the wooden components of the soundproofing apparatus we’ll be applying to the sliding doors in the live and Ruby rooms. The aim is to better seal the space between each door’s panels; the system will be ready for installation in a few days.
On Saturday, Jim brought our shattered patch bay rack back to life. Glued and screwed, it’s stronger than before and ready to receive our 1/4” patch bay assemblies. Work on those begins this week.
Posted 27 April 2008, 16:22 by The Kennel
Drop Down to My Place
Introducing the Kennel Jukebox, powered by the nifty Easylistener music player. It’s over there on the left.
Our first selection is The Kennel’s official theme song: “Drop Down to My Place” by the Strangers (King, 1954), a selection from Hunky Dory: King Vocal Groups Volume 3 , released in 2005 on UK-based Ace Records. It’s a fantastic CD, well worth the import price.
Following that, “Atlantic Dub”, a mix by Prince Polo of “An Ocean Part Deux” from A Moveable Feast by The Sharp Things.
We’ll be adding new songs regularly—tracks recorded at The Kennel and other things we think you should hear—so stop back often.
Posted 27 April 2008, 09:06 by The Kennel
Ride my flying saucer
The evening began poorly with the arrival via FedEx of the shattered remains of the patch bay rack we won on eBay:
(Note to eBay sellers: when sending large, heavy, fragile packages across the country, a thin layer of bubble wrap is not the best packing material available.)
But things quickly brightened up thanks to Bill — who refuses to let the fact that the studio is unfinished get in the way of this work — and Josh McIlvain of Sexcop, who was in for a long session of lead vocals in the Ruby Room:
And it must be said, that big green lamp in the live room looks fabulous:
Posted 23 April 2008, 18:06 by The Kennel
A purple room, a puppy, pizza and Sexcop
On the construction front, Jim painted the front room an electric purple (J Mascis will be happy):
And patched the wall above the circuit breakers:
James finished trimming the Ruby Room, painted all that trim and brainstormed ways to enhance the soundproofing of our sliding doors.
At long last, our electrician wrapped up his work yesterday — including installation of a stunning, green ceiling lamp in the live room (pix to come).
On the social front, Koko came to visit Saturday:
She was accompanied by Allegra and Niall Santo and their mom, Carole Filangieri, who all stayed for pizza lunch with Eric Neher.
In the musical arena, Bill brought in two more clients yesterday: Josh from Sexcop tracked background vocals for a long session starting in afternoon, followed by Harvey Valdes from The Cool and Deadly, who worked on guitar overdubs until midnight.
Posted 22 April 2008, 07:30 by The Kennel
Poppin' buttons
Nothing’s wired up yet, but that did not stop the intrepid Prince Polo (a/k/a Bill) from deflowering The Kennel last night with avant-stomp trio Holographic Buttons.
Meanwhile, Thursday night saw a visit by another Brooklyn-based three-piece, Third Border, who will begin recording their second album the first week of June with Wharton Tiers at the helm.
Third Border guitarist Ben Miller (ex-Destroy All Monsters) and bassist Jerry Smith (ex-Phantom Tollbooth) proclaimed themselves thoroughly pleased by our amplification options, as drummer Jarrod Ruby (ex-Proton Proton) praised the warm, natural reverb of the live room.
All are excited to get started — and so are we.
Posted 19 April 2008, 07:16 by The Kennel
Let there be sound
Important work done last night. No tools required. The cops never knocked so we’re off to a good start.
Posted 16 April 2008, 06:27 by The Kennel
Last night
- Loaded in a van full of equipment
- Primed the big wall in the front room
- Took pictures of the skyline from the control room:
- And saw a UFO:
Posted 15 April 2008, 06:28 by The Kennel
Major combat operations
An explosion of activity yesterday — and construction is done.
Giuliana painted all the molding in the live room, James installed all the trim in the Ruby Room and Jim & Wharton cleaned out construction debris from the entire place.
Add a couple of carpets, a drum kit, some amps and a table lamp and it’s starting to look like a studio!
Rich Holst dropped by last night to break in the live room with some tunes on his acoustic guitar:
Jim’s Telecaster looks happy in its new home:
And a blue party bulb gives the Ruby Room just the right mood:
Many more tasks ahead — not least of which is soldering the patch bays — but the hard, painful work is over at last.
Posted 14 April 2008, 06:46 by The Kennel
The. Flooring. Is. DONE.
Jim laid the last piece of oak on the Ruby Room floor this afternoon, bringing to a close the final, major construction task at The Kennel:
James finished installing molding in the live room:
Our bench arrived, lookin’ cozy in the live room:
And Jim installed our groovy blue lamp in the Ruby Room:
Tomorrow, James puts molding in the RR and then — clean, clean, clean.
Posted 12 April 2008, 18:23 by The Kennel
Today's acquisitions
The blue lamp arrived via USPS:
Ain’t she a beauty? We won this on eBay for 50 bucks:
Posted 11 April 2008, 15:39 by The Kennel
Dabby Road
Ramsey Dabby, architect and friend to Wharon Tiers, whose design was largely followed in building The Kennel, dropped by to see his vision made concrete. He approved!
WT and Jim laid 9 rows of 3.25” plank in the Ruby Room, nearly half the job.
With the immense help of an air gun (thanks to the FDNY’s John Schatzle for the loan), James made short work of floor molding in the live room (not 100% done but much progress).
The big, green, glass lamp was deemed a great centerpiece for the live room. Our electrician will put in a separate switch so we can use it for mood lighting.
And the patch bays are in the house.
Posted 10 April 2008, 21:56 by The Kennel
The green lamp arrived today
Will bring to the studio tonight to see how it looks in the Ruby Room, but cannot install until that floor is finished because we need more light than this is likely to cast.
Posted 10 April 2008, 09:36 by The Kennel
The live room floor is done!
What more need be said? It looks gorgeous, that’s what:
Jim laid the final plank last night and then he and WT dry-fitted nearly all the flooring in the Ruby Room:
Nothing glued, but we’ll be able to complete half that room on Thursday night and wrap it up on Saturday.
Meanwhile, we’re expecting a Saturday delivery of a deacon’s bench (found on Craig’s List for $100) which will provide storage and seating, most likely in the live room:
Also on their way are 2 cool lighting fixtures, won on eBay, one of which will hang in the Ruby Room:
Tomorrow we hope to take delivery of 10 1/4” patchbays from Mr. Patchbay.
And finally, the electric work will be wrapped up this week. Progress on all fronts, feels so good.
Posted 9 April 2008, 07:33 by The Kennel
Closer...
8 more rows in the live room tonight — 4 more to go. Thanks to Rich Holst of The Sharp Things for helping out tonight.
Posted 7 April 2008, 21:55 by The Kennel
Close but...
Another productive day but we didn’t finish the live room floor. Everything takes longer than you think. Just ask Sophie Tiers:
Who suffered through her Dad’s sonic experiments in the live room on a chilly Sunday morning. Cranking a Casio pipe-organ sound through Jim’s ’67 Bandmaster and a 2×15 cabinet, WT slightly rattled some electrical conduit but it’s nothing we can’t handle.
After much trial, James installed speaker shelving in the control room:
Jim dry-fit the remaining 20 rows in the live room, and then he, James and Bill glued down 8, after which it was time to relax:
We’ll wrap up the live room floor tomorrow night — Tuesday at the latest, seriously! — and then it’s into the home stretch with wide planks in the Ruby Room.
Posted 6 April 2008, 19:08 by The Kennel
Priceless
8
Rows added to live room floor today (we’ll finish tomorrow)
1
Rows added to the Ruby Room floor (will be done not long after)
3
Gallons of floor adhesive needed to complete the flooring project
1
Cases of 3.25” oak plank James will buy tomorrow to finish the Ruby Room
2
Light fixtures Jim installed in the front room & bathroom
2
Racks taken out of storage and brought into the control room
Knowing we’re almost done…
Posted 5 April 2008, 22:21 by The Kennel
Seven more on the floor
Last night’s effort left us just 5 rows shy of reaching the next wall, after which each row becomes much shorter, speeding our way to completion of the live room:
It’s hard work, requiring frequent breaks from the fumes:
But soon it will be done; we’re hoping to complete the live room and the small Ruby Room by early next week, marking the end of major construction.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, James will be getting the equipment racks out of storage on Saturday — another big step toward opening day.
Posted 4 April 2008, 07:46 by The Kennel
Glue bomb
Boxes of signal processing gear were not the only things getting loaded in The Kennel last night. WT, Jim & Bill laid down 6 more rows of flooring and got a nice dose of DA5. Yeah baby.
Posted 2 April 2008, 11:47 by The Kennel
Let there be (track) lighting
James and Jim installed track lights over the console in the control room today — the first proper lighting in the place. More to come soon, as electrical work in the live room is nearing completion.
Also laid 8 more rows of oak in the live room, where flooring is now about halfway done. Looking mighty fine — and still no nails used. We might get away with this after all.
Posted 29 March 2008, 19:30 by The Kennel
The plank whisperer
Another 5 rows tonight. Still no nails used. The live room floor is looking especially nice, thanks to WTs eye for oak — and the effects of DA5 adhesive fumes. Whoowee!
Posted 27 March 2008, 22:05 by The Kennel
Floor snore
Another 5 rows tonight. Went very fast. At the end of each session we hammer the rows tight and screw a block of wood against them until the adhesive sets. In this way we hope to avoid using nails altogether.
Posted 25 March 2008, 21:31 by The Kennel
More flooring
WT and Jim laid 4 rows, or about 40 square feet, of oak in the live room tonight. More to come, ‘nuff said.
Posted 24 March 2008, 23:16 by The Kennel
The console has landed
Another big day at The Kennel as the massive AMR2400 takes its rightful place in the skyline control room:
Imagine carrying that thing up four flights of stairs — that’s what we had to do because the dodgy elevator failed again. A discussion with the building management is in order.
Posted 22 March 2008, 21:29 by The Kennel
We gotta stand for something
Last night we got the console stand out of storage, as well as a gear crate (background), and put them both in the control room:
Now we’re getting a better idea of how the room may lay out. Also last night, we glued and weighed down the first long row of flooring in the live room:
We’ll let that dry until the weekend, giving us a strong row to build against. Must avoid using nails to the greatest extent possible in this room.
The photo above also shows the beginning of electrical work in the live room, which hopefully will be wrapped up this week. Electric work is now done in two of the three rooms, plus emergency lighting and an illuminated exit sign over the front door.
And how about this molding in the control room:
Nice work, James!
Everyone’s going to The Sharp Things show Thursday night at The Zipper Factory, so no further updates until Saturday, when we’ll attack the live room floor.
Posted 19 March 2008, 07:34 by The Kennel
Oak-kay!
Yesterday was a big step, as we pressed hard and completed laying our solid oak floor in the control room:
Today we’ll finish off the room with baseboard molding and door trim and bring in the stand for the AMR2400 console. Probably will also clean out the live room in preparation for the start of flooring in there this week.