I was reading the ‘Your Setups’ thread just now, and every time I see complete rooms turned into studios, I start mentally questioning how people can even work like that!
For example, say you have a humble setup. You have your main keyboard in front of you so that it’s positioned ergonomically for playing. Positioned conveniently and directly above your keyboard, you might have some synth modules that are your kinda thing. To finish up you have a few outboard essentials like EQ and Compression sitting in a rack positioned on one side of your synth modules, and say a mixer/recorder positioned on the other side.
So basically, this means you get to sit in your chair, everything is to hand and you literally don’t have to move a foot to access everything ergonomically.
But what about the working habits of those that have whole rooms dedicated to being a studio?
I don’t see how that could ever be conductive to having a good time with your gear. I often see studios where they have their keyboard and monitors in front of them, which of course makes perfect sense. But then they’ll have a wall of outboard placed so far away they have to walk across the damn room to tweak it!
How do you work like that?
I think there’s something to be said about a humble setup. Because as cool as some of those studios look, the majority I see in that thread must be an absolute nightmare to use in terms of ergonomics and immediacy!
Personally I prefer absolutely everything at arms length. It’s so important to me that unless I can physically arrange my gear in such a way that absolutely everything is to hand, then the gear just doesn’t get bought in the first place.
This thread is entitled “Weird Working Habits” so that those of you who indulge in these strange, woefully unergonomic practices can explain to the rest of us how you manage to work like that!
Believe it or not, some people like getting up and moving around while jamming or working on sounds.
I’m a bit of both I guess, I tend to have a few areas which can work by themselves (imposing their own set of creative limitations) or as part of a big setup.
I do music stuff in the chair by the window. Internetting and work stuff at the Comp Desk. My wife hangs out at the guest desk when I’m playing with the Rolands and not the noisier machines.
I also have two IKEA carts full of cables and stuff that usually sit in front of the shelves.
My process is:
If the gear I want is already setup on one of the desks, jam away!
Otherwise, move unused stuff to the shelves, move stuff I want to use into an open spot on one of the desks
Adjust audio and MIDI cables appropriately
JAM!
If recording:
Either record synth or mixer out to the Sony M10
Or run a long pair of cables to the MOTU M4
Not pictured: I have a long USB cable that runs from the mac on the Comp Desk to behind the keyboard. This makes it easy to do USB updates to any device, or run MIDI over USB and Audio over USB for the synths that support it.
I find it useful to have two distinct “stations.” That way I don’t always have to tear down my prior setup before doing something new.
This room is supposed to be the master bedroom of this apartment. We prefer to use the smallest bedroom for sleeping and the larger bedrooms as offices / studios.
There is something to this. My professional life has been 99.5% sitting in front of computers. Moving gear around and physically making connections can be nice. Using electric carts to move a 25’ sailboat around on its trailer and then launching it with a 2-ton crane was a bit much.
I constantly shift stuff around to make it more ergonomically. And i also have sold stuff that wasn’t integrating well into my setup. I basically have three positions at my desk where i can sit and play synths and groove boxes. Almost all of them are ready to go because otherwise i won’t really use them.
But i just started to put 2 or 3 pieces on a shelf so i can swap them out with other devices. Before i had them at unpractical places and as a result didn’t use them. So now i can swap them out pretty easy and have them in the middle of my setup.
I definitely envy everybody who has a studio with 3-4 pieces. But so far i couldn’t limit my studio to that degree. Maybe in the future. But i also get bored with gear quite quickly and like to be able to produce music with different setups from time to time.
I have a small table with a chair, everything fits on it. Anything not getting full use is sold or boxed in my wardrobe out of the road. Got set of shelves on their side with records and turntables. thats it, no moving and just a productive small space
When i first moved out at the age of 18 i rented rooms or small bedsits and always had minimal space. I think its just normal to me, id be lost in a big space full of gear
In my experience a room full of gear only works when it’s in a dedicated space like a studio you rent somewhere away from home. Then it becomes a place dedicated to that purpose and it feels natural to move about to get to the various bits. Having it mixed in with home life is distracting/confusing unless you rely on being able to sample your washing machine/spouse shouting at you/neighbours having sex etc.
Me too, I have now a kind of “wall” (Jasper Keyboard Stand), and it is organized by importance (also, upper row things with sequencers, below rows with stuff that is controlled by sequencers).
I dont want to sit in one place for hours on end when I work. I want movement. I enjoy bouncing around my studio between the synth rack and the sequencers.
I think I showed this in another thread already, but it might be applicable here. I try to control as many instruments as possible from the Octatrack, so I’ve made that the most ergonomic thing in my studio:
I have other hands-on things right above it, like MIDI controllers and other Elektrons, but the OT is the main thing I need my hands on. Also I have all other instruments connected to a mixer, with a submix coming into the OT so I can sample everything.
If it’s a working studio then you don’t really know what equipment will be used until the client is there and ready to record. I would assume there would be rearranging according to what the particular client needs. If it’s not a working studio then I would assume it’s just a place to store equipment.
Hmmm, I don’t know if these qualify as weird, but I like to get up and see if some tracks physically move me - if they make me dance and I feel sexy, then I know I am on to something.
My centerpiece is the laptop, so I often take it around places in the tiny apartment I live in, and continue to do work just to get a different… I don;t know. I may move from the the main area to the couch, or sit in a corner of a room, sit on the toilet with the lights off, lay down flat on the ground with it, etc.
I also work better under chaos, so at this point in my life, I have given up on routines, best layouts, best ergonomics, best this and that, because if I do try to employ them, pretty soon I take it apart and find that these things are hindrances to me.
I’ve learned that I like to work on certain things at a time and some pieces pair really well.
If I had the space, I would have stations for certain things. I wouldn’t mind walking to the other side to change things. .
Right now everything I have can be tucked away and used in different areas, or different desks and I love the flexibility of it, but NYC apartment living necessitates this kind of workflow so I have no choice but to like it.
I don’t think I’ve ever questioned why things are setup a certain way for someone else, unless it related to ergonomics.
Everyone works differently and creative types can be very particular about what works for them.
