Up To Something Part 2

In my first Up To Something post, I mentioned having some plans for 2022. Most of them are behind-the-scenes, but this one will be front and center. Introducing the gotAngst Studio.

My office has been a workable studio, but I use it for a lot more than making YouTube videos. This meant I had to set up and tear down the lights, camera and audio gear for every shoot. It’s been holding me back.

Build it, and they will watch your videos...

My lovely and patient wife, Angie, had the incredible idea of using our daughter’s old room as a permanent studio. I’m pretty sure I started the project before she finished her sentence. It was a big ask for such a small room, which meant it required a major makeover to work.

Small Room or Big Storage Closet?

Her room had become the house junk drawer. I needed to purge the junk quickly, so I put things in three piles. Donations, Dumpster and Certain Death (meaning someone would kill me if it went missing.) It took a few days, and I only angered the hoarding gods a little.

A little paint, a little napalm...

When the room was empty, all I had to do was tear out the old carpet, decontaminate and exorcise anything that had been under the old carpet, sand and paint the walls, paint the ceiling, and install carpet. Really, that’s all. Whew! Fortunately, the next steps were just as easy.

This will work, truss me!

I wanted a permanent home for the lights and microphone. It’s a 10 x 12 room, and I didn’t want anyone tripping over the equipment, so it all had to be mounted. Traditionally, you would use a truss to mount lights overhead, but they’re expensive. I had an idea that my daughter’s boyfriend, Joe, helped me plan out.

My friend, Brandon, deserves a raise after helping me install the overhead rigging. We hung 1-inch pipe from the ceiling in a rectangle around the room. It’s sturdy, like sturdy enough to hold the lights in place during a tornado. There is also a pipe-crossbar for microphones, which slides back and forth in case we need to reposition them.

Quiet on the Set!

My biggest battle was sound, specifically outside noise and echo in the studio. We have a few neighbors who are super proud of their loud pickup trucks. Research led me to sound dampening curtains which hang from a curtain rod along the outside wall.

The curtains weren’t enough to suppress the echo. I added a sound-dampening mural to one wall, acoustic foam tile to the ceiling and another blanket. After several days of troubleshooting, it went from bad to better.

gotAngst is Lit!

The only thing left was decorations. Brandon helped me install the brick wall paneling. It’s an unwritten rule that faux brick walls require neon signs, so gotAngst is now lit!

After installing floating shelves to display my books, I threw up some cool nerd prints since, you know, I’m a nerd.

The room also needed a desk since I’m planning to make more videos about writing software. I mounted a sturdy Ikea countertop to a Monoprice standing desk frame.

Introducing the gotAngst Studio!

After lots of planning, it took three weeks to put the studio together, and easily another week to fine tune. I couldn’t be more excited. Thanks to Joe, Brandon, Cristi, and especially Angie for their input and help. You can see a brief tour of the gotAngst studio on my YouTube channel!