In Labour

We’re expecting. It’s true! Any time now we will be a two sound-booth household. 

Long weekends can make me antsy. I need to accomplish something to make it seem like the weekend happened. It could be a trip or a project and that thing doesn’t have to be completed, just started, or part of the focus.

This weekend’s best accomplishment was a wonderful visit from my Mom, brother and niece for a BBQ.  If you’re playing the home game, you know that my niece is a rescue dog named Nacho. When Spice was still with us, dog visits were taboo.  We promised Spice a dog-free retirement after we all muddled through a disastrous dog-sitting experience several years ago. But Sugar’s reaction was a question mark. There was a lot of staring and she was obviously concerned, but after they left, she settled back into her adorable, sloth-like existence. No harm done.

The Labour Day project had me living vicariously through hubby’s new sound-booth build for voice work. The best part for me is that I will inherit his old booth because my studio no longer fits the bill.  My studio is now too noisy for professional-level recording. Perhaps it’s because of the change from a desktop to a laptop. (My sound recording friends will have all sorts of tips and tricks, I’m sure. I believe I’ve tried them all including using sound reduction in my software.) Derek and I have been sharing his booth for months and while that’s not entirely why he’s building a new one, it probably hurried things up.

There are all sorts of plans for building these booths on YouTube. Derek took the best of what he found and created his own new space, which he’s in the process of erecting. When he built the first one, installed on the main floor off the TV room, I insisted that it not stick out too much. It occupies an alcove at the back of the house. I painted it the wall colour and no one ever notices it.

He learned a lot about what he does and doesn’t want when it came to designing the new booth. It’s almost entirely constructed from wood and MDF he had on hand, with a re-purposed door and insulation. He’s just waiting for his wall-foam order to arrive. He even built a ventilation system that should keep him cool during long recording sessions. The bones are up. It just needs finishing inside and out.

It’s really solid and airtight. He doesn’t complain about sharing with me but I’m pretty sure he’ll be happy to have his space to himself again.  His hand-me-down booth will step-up my voice-over game again. Labour Day, indeed.