Studio Fog Expanse.

Studio Fog Expanse is a project studio in Ridgewood, Queens, designed specifically for production, tracking sessions, and mixing.

The studio features a fully treated mixing zone, treated with 24 sound panels (including 8 bass traps by GIK acoustics, and six wooden diffusion panels), as well as a sound-damping blanket, and additional foam tiling covering the ceiling, to ensure maximal damping of sound reflections. Three of the GIK acoustic panels form a cloud, suspended over the mixing zone, minimizing excess bass resonance. This room sounds good. (Check out the audio examples below to hear it for yourself.) And with moody lighting, an essential oils diffuser, and a nice carpet, the space also feels good. Further creative inspiration is on-hand in the form of a curated library: books available for perusal include The Stanley Kubrick Archives, Kurosawa’s Rashomon, magazine Sound American’s The Mapping Issue, The Letters of Paul Cezanne, and others.

The studio is currently in a state of development comparable to beta testing. While in use by a number of musicians, upgrades are being made on a continuous basis.

Studio Fog Expanse is being built out and maintained by composer Cole Blouin, who learned freelance video production and editing as a means to subsidize the space in its earliest stages of development.

A few upgrades planned for the studio include:

  • A 16-channel audio interface

  • Improved monitors

  • Cymbals and hi-hats for drums

  • Increased mic selection

Demo Tracks.

This is an (ongoing) list of tracks recorded at Studio Fog Expanse.

A comment from Cole:

Studio Fog Expanse has been a dream of mine for many years, since reading about the recording studio Brian Eno kept in Manhattan during his time in the city in the late 70’s; since reading about Harry Partch’s visit to La Monte Young’s studio in 1968 (where he was reportedly horrified by Young’s experiments with electronic drones in just intonation—but, still, the idea that Young had his own studio really stayed in my mind, for years); the DFA’s Plantain studio. Inspired by both the New York avant-garde and its interactions with pop culture (particularly the Talking Heads records Fear Of Music and Remain In Light), Studio Fog Expanse is a delirious wish in the face of a darkening world, darkening culture, darkening economy, TikTok popstars, Marvel reboots, etc, to create a space where we can create challenging and stunning art.

Following the (relative to my limited means as a freelance guitar teacher) enormous financial leap that was the decision to start working in the space, I spent many hours assembling it: stapling foam tiles to the ceiling (at first with a cheap stapler from a nearby Walgreens, and then a staple gun from Home Depot); driving to Staten Island, Mount Vernon, Inwood, and other neighborhoods to buy used sound panels; ordering and learning to use a masonry drill to install panels against the brick wall; installing toggle anchors in the ceilings; building the cloud (and failing to hang it, at first, due to its excessive weight; later succeeding at hanging it due to some reduced weights, added supports, and a few helpful friends); and scraping together funding from a combination of video editing work and, honestly, some (manageable) credit card debt. It’s been a labor of love, but I hope that it will pay off in the form of great-sounding recordings, for all of its participants, for years to come.

A note I taped to the door during a cleaning and upgrading frenzy announces: SOME OF THE GREAT RECORDS OF THE 2020’S AND 2030’S WILL BE MADE IN THIS ROOM. After 9 months of intensive labor, considerable financial risk, and delays in the development of my own creative work, I am very proud of how Studio Fog Expanse has grown, and eagerly anticipate its further growth in the years to come.

If this vision resonates with your creative desires, I would love to hear about your music—and hope to welcome you into the Studio Fog Expanse family!

Sincerely,
Cole.

Gear List (partial; in progress):

  • Microphones:

    • Two earthworks TC20mp’s

    • One earthworks QTC1 (on loan from studio member Aidan)

    • One AT-220

    • One Shure SM-58

  • Amps: 

    • Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue

  • Preamps and rack-mounted effects:

    • Orion Studio 2017 Thunderbolt and USB

    • S-patch Plus Patch Bay

    • Audioscape Opto Compressor

    • Empirical Labs Distressor (Stereo Pair)

    • Stam 1073 MPA

    • Stam SA4000MK2

    • Warm Audio EQP-WA

    • Furman PL-8C Power Conditioner

    • Samson SRK12 Universal 12 Space Rack Stand

  • Instruments & Midi Controllers:

    • Synths:

      • Korg Microkorg

      • Behringer PolyD

    • Midi Controllers:

      • AKAI MPK Mini

      • AKAI APC Mini

    • Squier Jazz Bass

    • Drumset (no cymbals, for now)

  • Additional goodies:

    • Hercules DJ Controller by Serato DJ Hardware

    • Two USB-powered lights

    • Tripod

    • Mic stands

    • Brian Eno - Oblique Strategies

    • Moose lamp

Studio Fog Expanse works on a monthly membership basis.

The monthly membership rate is currently set at $400/month.

Membership includes:

One 6-hour recurring time-slot of studio time/week, guaranteed.
Discord Access.
Additional access to the studio on a by-need basis. If you’re finishing a project and you need it for two or three days, check with the other studio members in the Discord and see what works for the group. If there’s an open time, you’re in!

*Sliding scale available on the dual bases of merit and need. If the standard monthly rate is a too much of a stretch to seem sustainable, but you’re a musical visionary, we can figure something out.