| KDVS Studio Renovation Project by Todd Back in 1999 KDVS decided that a major renovation needed to take place with both of its studios. Three of us, Justin Kable, Rich Luscher, and I dove headfirst into planning and building two studios. Justin and I were buddies at UC Davis, and Rich was (and still is) the Chief Engineer at KDVS. We went through numerous sketches of tables, rack positions, and board placements. Since every aspect of the previous studios had been totally bombed-out, we needed to start from scratch, installing carpet up to the electronics. Rich at first was weary of the scope of the project. We had previously just gotten done with doubling the station’s power, moving the transmitter, and installing a new studio transmitter link. We started first by listing all the stuff we needed, creating a budget, and buying bits and pieces here and there. At first I had this dream of the total 70’s studio: woodgrain paneled walls and orange shag carpet; there was no way Justin and Rich were going to let me get away with this. However, I sold them the idea of custom wood paneling to give the studio a professional look. I had always enjoyed woodworking but never had anything I really needed to build. Studio A was the first studio we ripped apart. Studio A was the half-working production room with outdated equipment. It also doubled as a live/recording studio; adjacent to the control room was a padded sound room. We had a 1/4–inch four track and two track reel machines for production, and a 1-inch MCI 8 track for studio recording. Still in use were the analog cart machines. |
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| Here's a picture of the old setup. The computer in use was a terminal computer from the 80's with a monochrome CRT. Some smart alec had recently set up this computer to confuse everyone who tried to use it. I used it to check my email, nevertheless. |
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| From top to bottom: Row 1: A. The old mariner board, B. Studiomaster board, C. Revox 4-track, Row 2: Terminal and analog cart machine, Row 3: A. Studiomaster board, 2-track (covered), audio processing equipment, MCI 8-track (far right), B. (look sideways!) it's cassette tapes! |
| The teardown... |
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| And the rebuild... |
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| Here we are in the middle of putting the custom paneling up. We seriously started second guessing the easiness of the project when the paneling kept slipping off the concrete wall. Solution: more liquid nails. To the left, Eddie Salas, who helped out with construction. |
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| Here Justin and I were started out taping up the room, acting like goons. The ceiling was the first step. |
| Paneling worked out without a hitch. However, the day we got done putting the protective clear coat on the wood for finish, we all went out to eat Chinese food. We all thought the food sucked because it didn't have any flavor. It turned out we all temporarily burned out our sinuses/taste buds from the lacquer fumes Next step: Install carpets... |
| Justin and I borrowed a pickup truck and picked up a giant roll of carpet. The geometry of the Freeborn Hall stairway made it a tricky delivery. Above is the fitting, trimming, and installing of the commercial-grade carpet. |
| Here we are putting new counter tops in |
| And then the studio board |
| And then wiring everything together |
| A $1200 flat screen monitor; hot stuff for 2000 |
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| Above the final studio. To the left, an Alesis 16 track (8 track x 2) and audio processing. The studio computer, however, is mainly use for recording and editing. Soon to return are analog reel tape machines (for transferring old reels to digital, and because analog is cool). |
| Special thanks to Janie for her help! |
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| RIP: old studio board. |
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