# A Well-Lit Studio.



## Valérie_D (Apr 6, 2021)

Hello all,

It finally occured to me that after years of concentrating on my studio, gear, samples, etc, that my environment was not properly lit.

Besides amazon and wayfair (and Rona), my knowledge for finding proper lighting for my work environment is nil, feel free to share pictures of your studio or drops some company names where I could turn too, I'm in need of ideas.

Random Trivia : These might be common but I like that Pinar Toprak has similar lamps to her former mentor Hans.


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## PaulieDC (Apr 6, 2021)

I've been on that search also. However, I do like the lamp option you mentioned, I recently put an adjustable LED lamp on each side of my monitors like in the shots you posted (meaning position, not lamp style, mine are boring tech-looking things, lol), and after ooching things around so light doesn't directly hit my monitors, I'm liking the the feel of local-lighting-only, with ceiling lights not on. Definitely a more studio "feel", to me anyway!

One thread you may want to peruse if you haven't found it already is Show Me Your Desk, which is over 30 pages right now. Seeing others' setups was a help in making decisions for mine, including lighting (I posted on the last year but have since changed everything... again!). Glad you brought this up, if we all had to sit with only a fluorescent light fixture in the ceiling above us, would we feel cozy and inspirational? Would probably feel more like the endless wait for the doctor to come into the exam room, lol!


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## SergeD (Apr 6, 2021)

Hum, 2 lamps ahead, not sure.


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## MartinH. (Apr 6, 2021)

For cozyness I can recommend these very warm (basically yellow/orange) vintage LED lights. I never want to have "regular" lights in my room again. These things were one of my best purchases of recent years:






greenandco







www.greenandco.de





When buying LEDs, make sure to get flicker-free ones. 


For maintaining your sanity I can recommend using a bright light therapy lamp for a couple hours each day. If your studio doesn't get much natural daylight and you stay inside all day, it can be quite unhealthy in the long run.


And for ergonomics, I recommend having the background of the screen at roughly the same brightness as the screen itself.


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## Valérie_D (Apr 6, 2021)

Wow Martin, that's really great, very interesting vintage bulbs.


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## Polkasound (Apr 6, 2021)

I've always liked indirect, warm reflected lighting. This photo of my studio's control room is about 15 years old but it captures the lighting well. There are three sets of cans that project the light upward so that it bounces off the ceiling. In the winter I use 40-watt incandescent bulbs, and in the summer I use LED bulbs which I custom painted yellowish-orange and flecked with opaque black to match the light color and output of the incandescent bulbs.

When I'm at home and working on my DAW there during the day, I like it bright. I sit next to an open window and have all my room lights on. For working at night, I have two floor-standing lamps on either side of my desk. I fitted them with 10-watt orange LEDs and painted the plastic shades opaque black so that the only light I get is reflected light off the ceiling. My room lighting is on a dimmer, and I have to add some light from it because I'm not one of those people who can type without looking at the keyboard.


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## Dietz (Apr 6, 2021)

MartinH. said:


> If your studio doesn't get much natural daylight and you stay inside all day, it can be quite unhealthy in the long run.



Nothing beats real daylight!  I can't believe that I worked in cellars (or rooms that felt like ones) for decades. A room with several acoustically treated windows was the best investment of my career.


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## Valérie_D (Apr 6, 2021)

Hello Dietz, my studio is in my bedroom so I have plenty of natural light during the day. My lamps are just not adequate.


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## Manaberry (Apr 7, 2021)

I recently went for low lumen LED tube. It does produce some light, it's warm, and it doesn't affect screens' readability.

I've also put a DIY LED behind my main screen.


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## Gerbil (Jun 16, 2022)

I like pitch black and just the screens. It feeds my artistic soul…


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## arafaratanran (Jun 16, 2022)

Valérie_D said:


> Hello all,
> 
> It finally occured to me that after years of concentrating on my studio, gear, samples, etc, that my environment was not properly lit.
> 
> ...


I concur with your general judgement that lighting is pretty important. However, I don't like the model you chose for the actual execution. I might say, it is a bit fanboyish (or rather fangirlish, if such word exists), but that is beyond my point!

Psychology clearly tells us that so many reds and yellows will make you relaxed and sleepy - not the mood you need, when you really intend to work the hellish schedule of a media composer actually working in the industry. So, if you notice any lack of energy in the future, you should consider a repaint in white or light blue.


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## Pier (Jun 16, 2022)

Valérie_D said:


> Hello Dietz, my studio is in my bedroom so I have plenty of natural light during the day. My lamps are just not adequate.


Hey Valérie, what midi keyboard is that?

It's super thin!


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## Valérie_D (Jun 17, 2022)

It's not thin at all, look at the front!


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## MusiquedeReve (Jun 20, 2022)

I have LIFX LED color-changing bulbs in my ceiling - I change the color depending on my mood - light color has always had an effect on me when I write music


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## Pier (Jun 20, 2022)

Valérie_D said:


> It's not thin at all, look at the front!


I completely missed that when looking at the picture on my phone.

It's so very obvious on a bigger screen 😂


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