The pipes, the pipes…

The pipes are calling.  

3/4″ inch schedule 40 pipes, that is.  

In order to showcase performers at the studios in dazzling incandescence and deep, passionate washes of color, we’re hanging some black iron pipe on the walls.

One pipe is up already, and it’s enough to clearly see that this is going to look very, very cool.  There’s a few more left to do – basically, by covering a couple of walls, you can project light from a bunch of different angles, which yields the appropriate color sculpting and luminosity dancing that all real lighting designers understand.  Stanley McCandless, here I come…

What else is new:  Trina and I figured out a plan for finishing the light rigging, where to hang acoustic treatment, and how to hang a curtain behind the stage.  It’s going to be beau-ti-ful.

It’s a sign of things to come…

So after much slaving back and forth with the focus group (also known as family and friends), I finalized a sign design for the front yard and had it fabricated by our local Fastsigns store.  Here’s the design from Illustrator.

In the process of working on this, I learned a lot that I wish I’d already known about the CMYK color space and how it differs from graphic design for the web.  Specifically – apparently basing my entire brand around a dark, intense blue is just about the worst thing I could have done from a color-matching perspective.  It’s been pretty instructive to look at the color matching between an onscreen image, the business cards I recently had printed, and the sign itself.  

So, without further ado, here’s what I got back from the printer last night:

I was very, VERY excited when I saw this peeping through the window at me from inside the sign shop.  I knew that the spec’d size of 5×3 feet was going to be large, but I don’t think I was really prepared for just how large that is.  I felt almost like I was going to fall into the f-hole!  

I have a bit of pride about that part of the design, actually; the f-hole is traced from the fiddle I built last year.  There are some irregularities to it and I went back and checked: yes, they’re really part of the instrument itself.

For some scale, that’s a 34-string harp next to the sign, which is itself close to 5 feet tall!  The sign comes up to my chin or so.  It looks huge inside, but it’s actually the perfect size to go over the existing lawn sign (which doesn’t look all that large in context.)  Thanks, visual perception!

I hope to get the signs (one for each side of the stand in the front yard) mounted soon.

Mailing list now active!

Today’s IT project was installing and configuring PHPList,  a cool mailing list program which integrates nicely with Wordpress.  If you’re interested in heaving about our progress as we get things set up here, just subscribe to the list using the new link in the sidebar!

First things first…

Opening this space has meant facing some steep learning curves: lighting and sound design, Seattle business licensing, and not the least of all, Wordpress configuration.  I think it’s really that last one that’s been the hardest.  But the website is now up and running.

Since I moved into the space on February 1st, a lot has already taken place:  Trina, Pam, Leslie and Khaled all helped me get the main floor painted and decluttered (thanks guys!), and the same crew plus Jeff and Shula helped move over piles of clothes, music gear, and woodworking tools last weekend.

First likely headache?  I may have to take a look at how clean the AC power is in the main room – I’m getting a fair amount of 60 hertz hum that I need to track down.  Oh, and if anyone has any drywall tape & mud skills, now would be a good time to pipe up…

There are boxes to unpack, lights and acoustic treatment to hang, and so much more!

February was all about getting moved from my old place in Shoreline, and March will be the Month of Studio Bringup.  Stay tuned – it’s going to rock.