Your desk situation

[Walnut]

Hi can I ask to see your guys setup?

I'm trying to.figure out which might be my best choice.  I need the piano in front of me and under the desk because of how I work I need to be facing the screen pretty much at all times. 

I've got a Studiologic SL73 

And I tried a few piano stands but nothing seems to fit right.  So I have been putting the piano on the desk.  I'm not to happy with it.  I am going to try a Z stand and see if it fits a bit better.  And if not I'll rethink my desk situation.  

[mdee]

 

Facing my computer and monitors I have an m-audio 61 to the right of my listening position.

I just turn my chair slightly to the right to play. I can still see my display easy enough.

 

[Akitru]

I'm very happy with this configuration... MIDI keyboard on the desk and computer keyboard on an under-desk rack beneath.  For me both keyboard heights work out to be comfortable for their purpose.

All this is on a motorized standing desk so it can lift when I want to play standing up (which is always the case when playing guitar or singing).

The compromise:  not a lot of empty space for notebooks, etc. so most of that gets tucked on the computer keyboard tray when needed.

[zevo]

I redo my setup periodically, but one thing that's remained constant for me is that I've given up having a 'regular-sized' keyboard in front of my main machine/monitor view; my XP-60's 61 keys and breadth/depth is just too big, so I have it on it's own stand, with a second monitor on the second/top 'extension' to the stand, but with enough room for a trackpad and small bluetooth keyboard (logitech k380).

I can see my project, control my project, and even make simple edits quite easily this way. The audio monitoring isn't perfect, but for that I either wear headphones, or just deal with it and make audio-specific edits sitting down playing midi. I could 'overcome' this by getting another pair of small keyboard-monitors but I haven't really felt the need to add more stuff and the cabling... ugh, the cabling.

I then use a 37-key Arturia controller (keystep pro) in front of me under my iMac (which is sitting on top of a really old dual-stack mac mini). The keystep pro has a little slit/groove on the bottom that the edge of the mini slides right in to and holds the keystep pro at a perfect angle to both see and noodle around on.

Everything else but my audio interfaces and raised monitor speakers, sit on separate laptop stands (drum machines/mini synths/etc) and I can move them about at will, and if I need room for the desk for other things desks are for (lol) I just move the kit out of the way, move the keystep entirely or slide it back, and the desk works as, well, a desk.

Edited May 31, 2023 by zevo

[fuzzfilth]

Here's my rig.

88 keys of Kurzweil PC88 sit slightly angled on a metal frame which also carries a thin, curved wooden board for ASCII keys and mouse. In that board there's a recess on the left so the panel of the Faderport sits flush with the surface.

Edited May 31, 2023 by fuzzfilth

[fisherking]

5 hours ago, fuzzfilth said:

Here's my rig.

nice setup. and another lefty 👍

ok, gotta ask. what's on either side of the top monitor? are those round things alien ships, or simply aliens... (or?...)

[Glenn L.]

The far right corner of our livingroom is my 'studio.' 😵‍💫

[des99]

7 minutes ago, Glenn L. said:

The far right corner of our livingroom is my 'studio.'

The cat is in the driver's seat, I see... 😉

[Glenn L.]

She has us well trained…

what can't be seen:

FMR Audio RNP and RNC;

mics: AKG 414; AKG 452; RØDE NTK; RØDE NT-1.

The other hardware is in my sig. oh, that's a 32” LG monitor and Dynaudio BM5As (no mk???)

EDIT: Here's a better shot of the desktop, albeit with my old iMac.

knew I shoulda put my stash bottle away….🧙‍♂️

Edited May 31, 2023 by Glenn L.

[fisherking]

subwoofer under the desk.

at night, i've got a blue LED strip behind the desk, the satechi keyboard lights up, and things get real....

[dubsak]

My desk is an old drafting table that I've converted. Added a keyboard shelf beneath and build myself a little 2 space 1U rack for under my monitor. Works real well for me as the drafting table allows itself to be height adjusted but that was a set it and forget it sort of deal. My keyboard is only a 61 though so something real large might not work under that sort of thing. The thing I like most about my set up is that the desk was free and I don't have to feel precious about it so I feel comfortable making it feel good. It feels like a place I want to be.

[fuzzfilth]

16 hours ago, fisherking said:

nice setup. and another lefty 👍

Not actually a lefty, but back in the days of ATARI 1040STs it was quite awkward to have the mouse on the right, blocking the disk drive, and having all transport keys on the right side numbers block meant letting go of the mouse every time you wanted to navigate. Being a drummer, I thought 'Well, if Simon Phillips can play his ride and hihat with the left, I might as well put the mouse there'. Took two hours to adjust but I haven't looked back since then.

Quote

what's on either side of the top monitor?

That's two LED panels so anyone having a Skype or Zoom session with me can see the two day stubble in my face in all its glory.

Edited June 1, 2023 by fuzzfilth

[fisherking]

2 hours ago, fuzzfilth said:

Not actually a lefty, but back in the days of ATARI 1040STs it was quite awkward to have the mouse on the right, blocking the disk drive, and having all transport keys on the right side numbers block meant letting go of the mouse every time you wanted to navigate. Being a drummer, I thought 'Well, if Simon Phillips can play his ride and hihat with the left, I might as well put the mouse there'. Took two hours to adjust but I haven't looked back since then.

That's two LED panels so anyone having a Skype or Zoom session with me can see the two day stubble in my face in all its glory.

got it (about the left-hand thing). but i'm going with 'alien ships' for those circles; just makes more sense....

[lookatthisguy]

I very much wanted—needed, even—a setup where the desk could be the desk, and the piano keyboard would slide in and out. Could not afford to buy a proper production desk, however. As things worked out, I got lucky, finding a very plain/professional-looking gamer desk for $60 on Amazon. Had all the surface space I needed. Picked up some furniture risers for the legs, and for the keyboard table stand, some of those rubber feet that allow furniture to slide around. Things serendipitously fit together in terms of the measurements, so I have a poor man's setup along the lines of what I think you're discussing. The desk sits a little high for what people would conventionally want, but it was more important to me that the piano sit at proper playing height.

Edit: Didn't want to attach the photo for people to have to download, so I pulled it. I'll figure it out.

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by lookatthisguy

[mdee]

On 5/31/2023 at 7:43 AM, fuzzfilth said:

Here's my rig.

88 keys of Kurzweil PC88 sit slightly angled on a metal frame which also carries a thin, curved wooden board for ASCII keys and mouse. In that board there's a recess on the left so the panel of the Faderport sits flush with the surface.

I owned a Kurzweil PC88 and it was a really nice keyboard/controller. Before that I owned a Kurzweil Midiboard that was a beast of a midi controller. I gave the PC88 to my young nephews to use for piano lessons. I bet it's collecting dust somewhere. Guess I should ask.

[Glenn L.]

^ my desk is a modified IKEA Nørden kitchen table. About 100€ 17 years ago, the shelves cost about 35€ in wood. I'd like my controller in front, too, but that is unworkable. Limited space, but hey, it's ours.

[lookatthisguy]

16 hours ago, lookatthisguy said:

I very much wanted—needed, even—a setup where the desk could be the desk, and the piano keyboard would slide in and out. Could not afford to buy a proper production desk, however. As things worked out, I got lucky, finding a very plain/professional-looking gamer desk for $60 on Amazon. Had all the surface space I needed. Picked up some furniture risers for the legs, and for the keyboard table stand, some of those rubber feet that allow furniture to slide around. Things serendipitously fit together in terms of the measurements, so I have a poor man's setup along the lines of what I think you're discussing. The desk sits a little high for what people would conventionally want, but it was more important to me that the piano sit at proper playing height.

Edit: Didn't want to attach the photo for people to have to download, so I pulled it. I'll figure it out.

(Figured it out, I think… straight from my phone, it's .heic, not .jpg.)

[Walnut]

My setup is super simple right now.

It's in the process of change but I've got a lot of projects at the moment. I'd like to build a proper desk.  Within the next month. 

 

[mdee]

My desk is the ProMedia desk from AKA Designs from the UK.

It cost about what a first class ticket would cost (extra) to fly from the

UK to the United States and to truck it to my house. But worth it.

I also have the matching side rack both in the Grey/Oak finish.

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by mdee

[wing]

On 5/31/2023 at 7:43 AM, fuzzfilth said:

Here's my rig.

88 keys of Kurzweil PC88 sit slightly angled on a metal frame which also carries a thin, curved wooden board for ASCII keys and mouse. In that board there's a recess on the left so the panel of the Faderport sits flush with the surface.

I don't think you have enough displays 😉

[wing]

Exweez the mess... I'm actually currently kinda renovating my setup after upgrading computers.

I got this custom desk built for studio rack usage about 7 years ago, because my chiropractor highly recommend I try a standing desk. At that time, I could not find a standing desk which could accomodate or was designed for studio equipment - rackmounts and a keyboard tray, so I found a local "carpenter" and had them build me a desk to spec.

I put that in quotes because it was one of the worst experiences I've ever had and I was absolutely ripped off. I paid an obscene amount of money at the time but figured that's what it takes to get custom work... you can't tell from the photos necessarily but the craftsmanship is extremely poor. The middle section doesn't measure 19" (literally half an inch off) so I can't even add rack gear. The height was measured wrong too, and the wood is splitting in various places. I complained to them immediately after and not kidding, they skipped town, never to be heard from again...

So I'm stuck with this desk haha.

In hindsight and in the future when I do get a new desk, there's a few things I would do differently - 1) get a desk to accomodate at least 61-keys (that's a 49-key and I'm always having to switch octaves), 88-keys if I can! And 2) Have a desk riser so that the middle section is lower - my monitor is a bit high for ergonomics.

Nowadays there are various studio desk makers who make stunning desks for standing use - literally at half of what I paid. Next time I'm not certain I will get a standing desk (the older I get the more exhausting it has become), but what I learned is that there are incredible studio desk brands out there, so for the most part custom work is pretty much unnecessary.