Tomorrow some TV people are coming over to talk to me about a project, so I had to clean up the studio. Inspired by a vid from Ulysses, as well as a recent visit to the studio of Santiago Cargua, I decided to make one of my own–especially since the studio is clean!
Qi Note Studio was built in 2019 and is constructed of adobe, bamboo, and chonta (Iron Palm). The foundation is cement with a river stone exterior. It is located on a country lane in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador, South America.
The ceilings are high, so I was able to do something I always wanted to do: hang percussion instruments from it! (The inspiration was that years ago in New York I was rehearsing at the apartment of Brazilian percussionist Café, and he had all these little percussion instruments hanging from his ceiling because the apartment was so small.) There’s an old silver-plated Pan American “pea-shooter” trombone up there too.
The equipment includes a keyboard, bass amp and full drum kit, so I can have rehearsals. There is a recording booth which is completely isolated, with a floating floor, double pane glass and acoustic panels. One or two clients can be recording in the booth while the engineer is outside the booth in the main studio. (The mic cables feed underneath the floor and come out on the other side of the booth.)
I can also record myself inside the booth. That's how I record instrumental or vocal tracks for clients, make podcasts, and do radio shows. I recorded my first audiobook last year, and am working on another one.
Another new project will be recording my Substack articles so they can be made into a podcast series. It's only a question of finding the time!
Enjoy the tour. In the comments, send a link to your own studio so we can all vicariously dig it!
Studio Tour