When my wife and I decided in June of 2016 to pack up and move from Buffalo, New York to Raleigh, NC (well, as it turns out, Cary, NC right next door to Raleigh), I told her that I was going to get a proper sound booth as part of the deal and she agreed.
Living in an apartment for the first year we got here, I was content (as were my clients) with my temporary studio (sound engineer-approved) that may or may not have looked a lot like a walk-in closet full of clothes.
When we closed on our new house in late summer, early fall this year, though, my job was clear and I sat down to compare the features and pricing of all the voiceover booths out in the market.
Quality being fairly equal across the spectrum, I was surprised to find that based on features, price, upgrades and shipping (from Spain, no less) Studiobricks was the best deal at the best price.
So in October, I placed my order for my Studiobricks One Plus, VO edition.
It arrived in early December.
Now I hope you’re not like me but if you ARE like me, you might start to imagine what your new arrival will look like in the studio, all assembled and pretty…completely ignoring the effort required to assemble your new voiceover home.
The crate containing Peter’s new Studiobricks voiceover booth…it’s LARGE! (All construction photos courtesy of Bill Jordan)
You awake from your haze about the same time you see an 18-wheeler backing up in your driveway. Well, I should clarify. My house is on a little hill so the truck stopped at the bottom of the driveway and was going to unload the 1,200 POUND, 9 FOOT HIGH tightly packed wood crate right there.
Oh dear Lord.
I was blessed with a driver who could see the panic in my face as I was trying to process how all this was going to happen (delivery, unloading, assembly). He took pity on me as he lowered the crate (perched on his hydraulic dollie) on the truck’s elevator. Together, he pulled the dollie holding the crate and I pushed that dollie with the enormous crate to the top of the driveway.
There were a few feet in that uphill move where I was not sure we were going to make it (and boy THAT would have ended badly). We did make it up the driveway, however, safe and sound. Yes, always tip your driver.
I at least had the good sense the day before the scheduled delivery to call my local friend, fellow voice talent and fellow Faffer Bill Jordan to see if he would help me put this bad boy together.
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad Bill said yes.
He came over to the house with a crow bar (mighty handy) and we started to undo the crate, neither of us having any idea what kind of unpacking was before us.
So first and foremost, kudos to the packers of these Studiobricks booths – it is quite an art to pack all that together. Amazing really.
Evidently one is supposed to read the Studiobricks’ assembly directions BEFORE assembly. I believe that takes away the challenge.
The directions for booth assembly came over via email and they were pretty good, save for a few omissions. They weren’t quite as idiot-proof as I needed but, fortunately, my wife showed up to tell Bill and I what to do when we got confused.
It turns out you’re supposed to read directions which Bill and I, being men, didn’t understand. Again, helpful to have the wife there to direct us.
Two people are good to help put a booth together (mine is about 3’ x 5’) but three strong people would have been better. Maybe I just need to lift more weights.
Also there are videos that show the assembly of a Studiobricks booth in about 3 minutes. That particular sized booth, in those videos, seems to be the size of a standing match-stick. My assembly took a little longer (see the part about reading the directions).
Knowing the total weight of my booth ahead of time, I had a carpenter reinforce the floor under the house some weeks earlier to avoid any possible floor/weight issues. That might be something you’d want to consider too, depending on where you would put your Studiobricks booth and which size you buy.
Here’s another piece of information that you’ll find helpful because Bill and I (and other Studiobricks owners) had to figure it out on our own. The roof and floor of the booth come together as one piece that you need to pull apart. And it takes quite a bit of tugging to pull them apart.
We figured this out early enough that it wasn’t a problem, although we did move the floor and roof together out of the crate, which was oh-my-gosh heavy. I do know some other voice talents who erroneously proceeded with their assembly before realizing their mistake. Score one for Bill and Peter and Peter’s Mrs.
Inserting a corner batten into the Studiobricks that helps keep the walls very secure
The assembly of the majority of booth is much like assembling Legos and it is an impressive feat of architecture and engineering when you see it come together. Everything fits tightly, as it should.
Some of my interior booth foam was torn when it arrived, which was very unfortunate, but what can you do?
I did have a couple of assemble questions (cause I’m stupid about this kind of stuff) but the Studiobricks team got on Facetime with me and we got it worked out. They were helpful.
There may or may not have been 1 or 2 pieces leftover when the Studiobricks was “allegedly” all assembled
Because the voiceover booth was designed and constructed in a European country, some of the optional electronic parts that I ordered were sourced from European countries and thereby use the European electric standard…so you’ll receive an electrical converter with your booth. Not a big deal but just something to be aware of.
If you get the optional VO package with your Studiobricks, which includes a table, a mic boom and script stand/monitor holder, you’ll be putting that together with a handbook of only pictures.
Honestly, for me, this VO package assembly was the most stressful part of the whole booth assembly. The pictures on the directions (and they were ONLY pictures, no words) were not as clear as you would think (hope) and I was concerned I would break something. Luckily I did not.
No, I did not bother to put together a time lapsed assembly video because that’s been done to death. Assembling the booth is heavy work but not hard, but it’s not easy either. It’s a bit like work for some hours and voice talents abhor work, as you likely know.
And we are whiners too.
Bottom line: if I can do it (with help) you can do it (with probably less help).
Besides, what matters is NOT the construction so much as the sound inside the booth. The sound exactly what I expected and I am very pleased (as is my sound engineer friend and fellow voice talent Dan Friedman).
I’ve been recording spots, promos and auditions and everyone is very pleased with the sound. And it’s a really nice environment to work within.
Glad I have The Bricks (or if you are from Chicago…da Bricks).
Tags: audio production, commentary, voiceover, voiceover advice // Comments Off on “tranquility base, studiobricks has landed!” O’Connell updates his voiceover booth
I was talking today with a fella who submitted to 
Wait, like ALL in our voiceover industry are. We’re actors…we want to pretend, we crave praise for our pretending, we want applause for our pretending and then we want to be paid…for our pretending. Then we want publicity for all that again, confirming for the world how great we are at pretending.
