Manifold Recording / The Miraverse

January 30, 2011

Week 160 (Variac Panel)

Filed under: construction photos, technique — Michael Tiemann @ 11:06 pm

Some things take longer than others.  A little more than two years ago I advertised that the studio would be using Variac transformers instead of more modern technologies.  This was not a “retro at all costs” decision (though Variacs can be used to provide a really, really great dimming system), but due to the the fact that the pre-eminent lighting control company refused to sell us the very reasonable and very standard system that virtually every other studio employs, and instead would only quote us a package that cost 200% more than it should have.  Their absolute unreasonableness caused us to design them out of the main studio, albeit at an extraordinary expense of time.   Our proven ability to design around them led to a very easy negotiation the next time around when it came to outfitting the Annex.  Go figure.  But now, the variable transformers that we procured in 2008 are finally now being installed:

The design is ultra-green (in my book), as follows…

(more…)

January 22, 2011

The importance of art education

Filed under: books, creativity, culture, education — Michael Tiemann @ 2:48 pm

Last week the church I attend highlighted The Arena Culture, an editorial by David Brooks which considers a new book All Things Shining.  David Brooks writes:

For the past hundred years or so, we have lived in a secular age. That does not mean that people aren’t religious. It means there is no shared set of values we all absorb as preconscious assumptions. In our world, individuals have to find or create their own meaning.

This, Dreyfus and Kelly argue, has led to a pervasive sadness. Individuals are usually not capable of creating their own lives from the ground up. So modern life is marked by frequent feelings of indecision and anxiety. People often lack the foundations upon which to make the most important choices.

Brooks puts his finger on a very important subject—the relationships between truth, meaning, and reality—but when he wields his rhetorical hammer, it is his logical fingers, rather than the target, he manages to strike.  As a parent, as a church-goer, and as a board member of a Montessori school, I have been on my own little journey of self-discovery, and I have had a chance to re-evaluate many of the truths I thought I had settled the first time I made my way to self and adulthood. (more…)

Week 159 (Coverings…an incomplete list)

Filed under: construction photos — Michael Tiemann @ 12:36 pm

Looking at the few photos from this past week, the unifying theme seems to be that of coverings—things that lay on top of other things.  For example, granite countertops now cover the cabinetry in the Lounge:

and in Booth A: (more…)

January 20, 2011

A spiritual beginning to 2011

Filed under: creativity, npr, technique — Tags: , , , — Michael Tiemann @ 7:14 am

I think we all look for auspicious signs around the time of the New Year–signs of good fortune to come, signs of disasters to avoid, signs of hope. Indeed, there are many rituals from many cultures intended to tilt the cosmic game in one’s own favor.  For the start of 2011, I did nothing more profound nor bizarre than to turn my radio dial to 91.5 WUNC as I drove down to Pittsboro to check on the latest progress of my construction project.  Suddenly I found myself listening in on a conversation with John McLaughlin about spirituality in music.  Having seen John and his band play in Raleigh just a few months ago at the Lincoln Theater, hearing him talk about A Love Supreme was like music to my ears.  And I’m still jazzing strong about his latest release, To The One, which was nominated for a Grammy award last year, and which totally deserves to win it this year. (more…)

January 16, 2011

Week 158 (Music Room Floor, 2nd Coat)

Filed under: construction photos — Michael Tiemann @ 11:13 pm

Two weeks ago I gushed about how much more beautiful one coat of Tung Oil made the Music Room floor.  Well, it looks even better with a second treatment:

And a slightly wider view:

(more…)

January 9, 2011

Week 157 (QR Terminations)

Filed under: construction photos — Michael Tiemann @ 2:26 pm

It’s now time to shine a little light on the work of our intrepid wiring crew.  It was back in May [Week 122] when the wiring team first started pulling analog signal wires through our conduits, which connect the Control Room to the wall panels.  A week later [Week 123] they begin pulling our digital, video, and networking cables, connecting the non-analog interfaces of those same panels with the QR.  The analog cables were all terminated in mid-November [Week 149].  This week, 34 weeks after the first pull, the job of terminating the cables began in earnest:

And continued… (more…)

January 2, 2011

Week 156 (Finishing the Music Room Floor)

Filed under: construction photos — Michael Tiemann @ 10:50 pm

The last month of blog postings ([1]. [2], [3], [4]) have all had one theme in common: work is progressing, even if you cannot really see it.  Then Christmas came, and one of the most highly visible features of the studio was suddenly finished:

Tung Oil, the finish, is known even to Wikipedia for its ability to accentuate the natural beauty of wood and to bring out the greatest contrast in grain coloration.  But even if a picture is worth a thousand words, to really understand the nature of the finish and materials, check out the following animated gif (which is not animated on this page so as not to distract too much from the blog):

(more…)

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