I’m in the middle of moving house and have a bit of a blank canvas as far as my music-making setup goes so I’m currently pondering the best way to have everything set up. After being in a super compromised space where I was basically limited to things which would fit on my lap I’m grateful to even have this problem but struggling to figure out the best way.
Basically I want my mouse and keyboard at the right height and my controller at the right height too. This kind of precludes an ‘everything in front of you’ setup, I think, since that has to lead to a compromise on ergonomics somewhere.
First thought was ‘corner desk’ but either they look badly supported, or the support is right where your legs would be if you wanted to swivel from one thing to the other (since that’s really where support is needed). I imagine I’d end up cursing this before too long.
I like the idea of ‘side by side on a long desk/table’ more, especially since you’d still be getting more of the monitors to both ears rather than predominantly blasting one if you’re turning sideways. Only trouble here is most sturdy-looking desks top out at 160cm wide and I’m not sure that’s quite enough for a Pro 2, mouse and keyboard to be comfortable, especially on ones like this where the legs aren’t right at the edges.
Two smaller desks side by side kind of runs into the same issues with the legs being awkwardly placed and you probably banging into them all the time when seated.
I realise arranging all this nonsense with a computer in the mix is a bit of an eternal question with no right answer but I’m curious to see how others approach it.
the thing Ive learnt from a few setups over the years, is nothing is perfect
a few things Ive found help in my areas :
depth of worktop used, its useful to be able to push thing back…
so you kind of get two layers on the horizontal plane. but too deep get counterproductive as you can easily reach… (unless standing)
stacking, so use the vertical plane
some instruments/controllers work better than others - again, too many vertical layers gets counter-productive, since again, your limited in reach, or cannot see knobs/displays.
corners do work really well, if you cut the worktop at an angle - so you have a 45 degree angle on them where you sit (legs mounted either side)
standing desks - I kind of wish Id added at least one of these, as sometimes its nice to be standing up… though other times you need to sit.
don’t necessarily use purpose built desks. (except perhaps standing desks)
often they are too shallow, its quite cheap to build your own setup where you attach things like kiitchen worktops to the wall directly, or recently Ive used some ‘dining tables’
shape… I think perfect setup is perhaps to surround yourself by desks… so on 3 or even 4 axis.but thats now always practical, depending on room shape.
wall mounting… Ive recently just mounted by modular on a wall, with some shelves below works really well , similarly mounting computers monitors on walls with a vesa mount can worth nicely , as you can push them out the way when not needed.
at the end of the day, its always compromises… and of course, largely depends on the space you have, and also the amount of gear.
the only rule seems to be, you never seem to have quite enough space, or if you do… you soon fill it up
corners do work really well, if you cut the worktop at an angle - so you have a 45 degree angle on them where you sit (legs mounted either side)
Hmm, yeah I was pondering whether something like this might work for me which I guess is sort of similar? Would probably need to go to the store and sit at one to really know.
(I’m not an Ikea plant, honestly)
don’t necessarily use purpose built desks. (except perhaps standing desks)
often they are too shallow, its quite cheap to build your own setup where you attach things like kiitchen worktops to the wall directly, or recently Ive used some ‘dining tables’
I realised after a while of looking that I was basically looking for a sort of dining table. Sturdy, long dining tables can get into a whooooole other price category though! I should check the local classifieds just in case I guess, you never know.
Standing desks also get pricey fast, especially on the larger end. Cool though, for sure.
I like these. Three levels, and the bottom two slide in and out. I have my computer keyboard and Push on the bottom level, Octatrack and mixer above, speakers and monitor (on a VESA arm) on top.
now using it more of development workspace, more than music, which Ive moved to somewhere else.
(though to the right, you can see the shelves I put up for music gear, these are on tilting brackets… so I could angle the gear towards me.
what nice about the corner space, is you can push alot of stuff you dont need access to back into the corners ‘deadspace’… here I also used the vesa arm above the primary monitor so I can angle it nicely. if I was using more as music space… Id probably move the main monitor onto a vesa arm too.
the corner angle is 45 degrees, and 60cm, wide enough to feel comfortable, and as you see, once you move the monitor back… you have plenty of space for a widescreen monitor.
upstairs where my music stuff is now, is more based around some ‘cheapish’ dining room tables from Ikea, Ive also used some ‘shoe stands’ to get some levels on it… then as mentioned above mounted the modular on the wall with shelves underneath (for things like Octatrack/controllers)
… will it stay like this forever? is it perfect? nope.
I’ll lay bets in 6-12 months, I’ll move it all around again
yeah, I looked at sliding rails to add… they look really neat…
But couldn’t find anything (that was not pretty expensive) that would take the weight of my main keyboard (Virus TI) - but for controllers (that are often smaller/lighter), seems like a great idea.
This one is built to take a full-sized keyboard or synth. If you’re going the DIY route, plywood and heavy-duty sliders should do the trick. I made something similar a while back to let my guitar pedal board slide out of my desk.
Is it just the Pro2, mouse and keyboard that needs to be accommodated? My experience with building a desk with a sliding tray for an 88 key is that either way it’s an ergonomic compromise - the main surface ends up being just that one inch too high or something, and I recommend long sliders so the synth/piano can go all the way back so you can get your knees under. Problem is, once the keyboard is out you then have to stretch for anything on the desk.
I think in your case I’d be going with a corner desk not in a corner, sitting straight on with the pro2 on your left at an angle, with enough cable slack that you could slide it front and centre when you wanted.
Yeah, awkward as it might be to look at the corner desk idea was always ‘not actually in a corner’ but in the middle of a wall.
Kind of veering towards essentially the same thing but with the Pro 2 and my couple of other modules on a wheeled desk/table that can be brought out to more or less make a corner desk then moved back against the wall when needed. Maybe not as elegant as a desk that accomodates everything but probably more practical in the end.
Crank handle is fine for setting it to just the right height and leaving it there. It’s got just enough space so everything is within an arm’s reach, and my two big 8" monitors sit about the right distance apart on floor stands either side. Limiting my gear to what I can fit on the table helps to rationalise my gear choices too. And I can fit a 61 key Axiom keyboard on its stand quite neatly underneath, and slide it out when I need it.
Yeah I heard that can be a problem. Mine is fairly balanced because I have the OT + other gear right at the front, and the heavy speakers are on seperate stands which helps. I’ve been surprised how solid it is this high up actually, was expecting a bit more wobble.
