Sumsound built

So, in my records of the build, we’ve looked at the room analysis, tailoring bass traps, using rockwool of specific thicknesses to deal with higher frequencies.

The final piece of acoustic treatment was a ceiling cloud, as the ceiling and floor over the mix position were the only parallel surfaces in the room. I turned to Bradford Ultratel, a fibreglass insulation board of 75mm thickness. By putting two of these boards together and joining them with small quanitities of spray adhesive and wire, I made the ceiling cloud. This was then covered in Japarra, a breathable cotton based material that has a sufficiently tight weave not to let any glass fibre through, and it was suspended from the roof, on a slight angle, over the mix position.

You can see from the photo above that a few other surfaces, like the bass traps and doors and skylines have all been painted to match the walls as well. Lastly we have some nice chairs in front and behind the desk.

Looking to the front of the room, I took this picture with my olympus camera on “night mode” – supposedly a longer exposure type filter. The thing that blew me away was the definition on the projection screen! It looks like Ive cut and paste a picture onto it as it’s so sharp and clear!

The front of Sumsound

So now the missions is somewhat different – using the ears and learning the room. And lastly, but most importantly, putting the gear and all that behind me to concentrate on tapping into creativity!

A good friend and amazing mentor of mine, Simon Leadley, always made the point that the newest and flashest gear doesnt make the movie, the people make the film – which reminded me that equipment doesnt gift you with skills or creativity, that has to come from within.

I’m so grateful to him for his constant inspiration and support to get Sumsound to where it is today and to have supported me to chase my dreams. He was an incredibly talented, generous guy and I’ll miss him dearly – those of you who weren’t aware, he passed away recently.

Having a mentor like Simon was a life changing experience for me. I guess we all have people who inspire us, who push us to do more than settle for mediocrity. Simon was one of those key inspirations for me and I can’t help but think about his legacy when I work at Sumsound. Memories of our many chats help me to focus on what’s really important and to take a step back and remember the big picture – people, loyalties, doing a good job, and giving freely of yourself where you can to help those around you in your community, be it your local audio community or your family or where you live.