Taking a studio on the road is no small undertaking – but a very exciting one! The Amplifier – as I will call the trailer – will serve many purposes. First, it will help me out as I travel from space to space. Once on location, it will serve as my consistent workspace hosing a small portion of my library, my tools for wood burnings and other art mediums, and of course, the audio and video studio. I’ll get into a little more detail later about what all the studio holds and what plans are in the works for special and ongoing production, but first things first: we need to build it. The grand total cost for this project will be around $17,000 divided into three steps. Not all of it needs to happen at once and some of it can be financed, we just need to find the right partners.

**This is an example of the type of lightweight trailer I might use.**

So here are the steps.

STEP 1 – Find and Acquire the Trailer

As you can imagine this is the most costly step. Since there will be some immediate remodeling anyway, I am on the lookout for a used trailer. It should be a “bunkhouse” (bunk beds and a larger bed), about 22′-27′, working appliances (I’m not going to live in it full time, but maybe for a week or so at a time), preferably with a power tongue jack. I am looking for help to either pay for or finance this step, somewhere in the $8,000 – $12,000 range

STEP 2 – Remodel and Reconfigure

The ideal trailer will have a couple of bunk beds along with a small kitchen and seating area. The queen bed that is the main feature of most units will be removed to make room for the studio. New builds will include converting a cabinet to rack space, a shelf for a mixer, a sliding shelf for a keyboard, secure spaces in closets and drawers for mics, mic stands, and instruments, curtain rails for backdrops, and shelves for books. I have no doubt I will think of more as I go. This phase will cost about $1,000.

Step 3 – Equip

Most of the equipment will come from the current studio, however, some upgrades will be needed. The most significant is a new, rack-mounted, well-cooled, and quiet computer. Whether I buy one “off the shelf” or build it (with some help), this will cost about $3000. Adding some padding for a few more incidentals, I’m upping the phase to cost about $3,750.

Any ideas for donations, grants, sponsorships for this project or specific productions are welcome!

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