# De-Stress your workplace?



## merlinhimself

Was wondering how you all add some zen to your workplace for stressful times, or even just to have a good mood when you walk in. Is it tiny buddha figures everywhere? Aromatherapy? Just looking for some general ideas haha.


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## bryla

Calm or headspace apps. No need for figures. Oh and planning runs out walks.


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## merlinhimself

bryla said:


> Calm or headspace apps. No need for figures. Oh and planning runs out walks.


I recently started taking an extra 20 minutes for lunch to jog, seems to help a lot actually, I'm a bit more tired at the end of the day, although my mood is better. But will definitely look into a headspace app! Thanks!


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## chillbot

Lots of keyboards everywhere makes me happy.


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## PaulBrimstone

Staring at the dust bunnies calms me enormously. And the mountains of cat food cases that somehow migrated to the studio.


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## chillbot

merlinhimself said:


> Just looking for some general ideas haha.


I think that's an odd question, as the easy answer is you should fill your studio with whatever makes you happy. I assume that what makes me happy is unlikely to be what makes you happy.

My studio is filled with keyboards, david ortiz bobbleheads, a lot of red sox stuff, a lot of random noisemakers, a lot of wine and beer, also putters, calendars with pictures of golf holes, televisions with live sports 24/7, and a distinct lack of having to look at any cables or wires. Anyway that's what makes me happy.

I miss having a studio cat but I feel like they would get lonely with no one to hang out with at night now that my studio is no longer attached to the house. But on the plus side, it would sometimes take me hours to figure out which buttons she pressed on my mixers when no one was looking.


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## Daniel

Aquascape & Garden


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## Kyle Preston

chillbot said:


> david ortiz bobbleheads, a lot of red sox stuff



I knew I liked you for a reason. Lifelong Red Sox fan here, I dream of having enough space in my studio for _another_ monitor to play MLB games. Some day...


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## tav.one

chillbot said:


> My studio is filled with keyboards, david ortiz bobbleheads, a lot of red sox stuff, a lot of random noisemakers, a lot of wine and beer, also putters, calendars with pictures of golf holes, televisions with live sports 24/7



and Desks?


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## tav.one

If possible make sure that the room has natural light and fresh air, these two have played the biggest role in improving the vibe and positivity of my studios in past.

Whenever I'm not working and for entire night time, I play some calming meditative music or mantras. Each mantra has a different vibe so when they're played continuously the effect becomes enough to feel it. I also don't let anyone use abusive language in the studio and not much negativity is allowed to be discussed, these things make a big difference for me. People say whenever we come to your studio we feel a strong sense of calm and we don't feel like going away (which is not always convenient..haha)

In terms of stuff, I use Himalayan Salt Lamps, some nice lighting & Incense in the mornings.


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## merlinhimself

tav.one said:


> If possible make sure that the room has natural light and fresh air, these two have played the biggest role in improving the vibe and positivity of my studios in past.
> 
> Whenever I'm not working and for entire night time, I play some calming meditative music or mantras. Each mantra has a different vibe so when they're played continuously the effect becomes enough to feel it. I also don't let anyone use abusive language in the studio and not much negativity is allowed to be discussed, these things make a big difference for me. People say whenever we come to your studio we feel a strong sense of calm and we don't feel like going away (which is not always convenient..haha)
> 
> In terms of stuff, I use Himalayan Salt Lamps, some nice lighting & Incense in the mornings.


I so wish I had a studio like John Powells haha. Natural lighting is everything to me. But unfortunately I work in a windowless room. I've thought about oil diffuser? but was wondering if the aroma's might end up giving a headache. I doubt the studio we rent from would allow us to burn anything in the rooms.


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## merlinhimself

chillbot said:


> I think that's an odd question, as the easy answer is you should fill your studio with whatever makes you happy. I assume that what makes me happy is unlikely to be what makes you happy.
> 
> My studio is filled with keyboards, david ortiz bobbleheads, a lot of red sox stuff, a lot of random noisemakers, a lot of wine and beer, also putters, calendars with pictures of golf holes, televisions with live sports 24/7, and a distinct lack of having to look at any cables or wires. Anyway that's what makes me happy.
> 
> I miss having a studio cat but I feel like they would get lonely with no one to hang out with at night now that my studio is no longer attached to the house. But on the plus side, it would sometimes take me hours to figure out which buttons she pressed on my mixers when no one was looking.



Totally true. I would fill my space with Star Wars memorabilia, but I feel it wouldnt set the right tone.


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## synthpunk

Lava lamps, Salt lamps

Lampe Berger Aromatherapy made in Paris. Charleston, New Orleans, Euclyptus scents ( some people love incense but for me they can be too dusty and also affect my asthma)

Fresh air, sunlight

Dogs coming in/out looking for attention, treats, naps

Do not work longer than 3-4 hours at a time before you get up to stretch, take a break, cook, or go for a walk etc.

A comfortable, ergonomic sitting solution whether that be Herman Miller, a yoga ball, etc.

Stay hydrated! Filtered water nearby is a great idea.

Art, posters, and pictures. Memories of influences, mentors, and family. Dollar store toys. Plain white walls and led lights cause anxiety and euclidean clock issues

Keep nasty, rude, narcissistic non-believers away from the creative environment nothing can kill the mood more.

Get a recording light for outside your door and allow no one in while it is on.

Power naps in my hammock.

Music films & documentaries

Music on vinyl and music server. Learn the art of listening.

Non Technology Days try to get away from the computer, your phone, your iPad's, at least twice a month do not be a slave to your technology

Find other relaxing hobbies as well ie soldering, gardening, bonsai, walking, painting, drawing, reading, yoga, etc.

Grilling just outside the studio door.

Soccer balls for exercise, juggling, and free kick practice


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## chillbot

tav.one said:


> If possible make sure that the room has natural light and fresh air, these two have played the biggest role in improving the vibe and positivity of my studios in past.


I agree 100% with this. But it's a constant battle with the sun being too bright or too low on the horizon or highlighting how dusty all of my gear is, and with the fresh air I try not to annoy my neighbors TOO much so there's a lot of window opening and closing that goes on all day.

Smells are important to me, I love the outdoor smell. But in LA (and probably other places) we also get a lot of pollen coming in and coating the gear and sometimes smog and ash and other misery.

My chair smells funky at the moment. 10 years of sitting on it, oops. This is probably why aeron chairs are so popular, don't ever get a cushion chair. I took it out and shampooed it a while back but I don't think I let it dry proper and now it smells of mildew. So I'm battling it with pet spray and fabreeze. Hm.


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## chillbot

Kyle Preston said:


> I dream of having enough space in my studio for _another_ monitor to play MLB games.


I have the ticket on direct TV, I watch pretty close to 162 games per year. Not always with the sound up unfortunately but it's always on in the background.


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## synthpunk

https://amzn.to/2DXucDP

A couple burners and Charleston, New Orleans, Eucylptus scents



chillbot said:


> I agree 100% with this. But it's a constant battle with the sun being too bright or too low on the horizon or highlighting how dusty all of my gear is, and with the fresh air I try not to annoy my neighbors TOO much so there's a lot of window opening and closing that goes on all day.
> 
> Smells are important to me, I love the outdoor smell. But in LA (and probably other places) we also get a lot of pollen coming in and coating the gear and sometimes smog and ash and other misery.
> 
> My chair smells funky at the moment. 10 years of sitting on it, oops. This is probably why aeron chairs are so popular, don't ever get a cushion chair. I took it out and shampooed it a while back but I don't think I let it dry proper and now it smells of mildew. So I'm battling it with pet spray and fabreeze. Hm.


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## synthpunk

We will have just about every World Cup game on this summer.



chillbot said:


> I have the ticket on direct TV, I watch pretty close to 162 games per year. Not always with the sound up unfortunately but it's always on in the background.


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## synthpunk

Bill Brown disagrees with you 









merlinhimself said:


> Totally true. I would fill my space with Star Wars memorabilia, but I feel it wouldnt set the right tone.


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## charlieclouser

I prefer an absolute minimum of clutter. 

No figurines, bobbleheads, tchotchkes, knickknacks, or souvenirs. I had enough of that in my record making years - every engineer would tape pictures onto the center section of the SSL, and litter the meter bridge with little toy Godzillas and spacemen... after a while it starts to look like a twelve-year-old's room. Ugh.

No visible cables or power strips - everything is up off the floor, attached to the back of the racks / stands, and all cables tied down tight and out of sight, with black cable ties only. All guitar pedals permanently wired, powered, and velcro-ed in place. All patch bays labeled and with zero unused jacks. All labels are P-Touch white on clear. All patch bay label strips are printed from Excel templates with matching fonts and consistent color scheme.

All of the furniture, equipment, cables, wall treatments, and carpet should be black or charcoal gray.

Big windows that give a view of modern industrial / brutalist architecture with some greenery in the foreground.

I even roll the huge racks of gear into the back corner of the room when I'm doing a big in-the-box project. Each massive rack needs less than four cables to attach to the main brain, so it's quick.

For me, a cluttered room = a cluttered mind.

(edit: Don't believe everything you see in the Spitfire Cribs video - a lot of that stuff gets wheeled out for work [or photo shoots], and then gets stashed in the back alcove where it's literally behind a curtain when not in use!)


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## chillbot

charlieclouser said:


> No figurines, bobbleheads, tchotchkes, knickknacks, or souvenirs.


I used to feel this way. I despise almost all "knicknacks" and clutter. But when you find something important to you... I guess it's still the bare minimum for me but my couple of ortiz figures makes me happy.








charlieclouser said:


> No visible cables or power strips - everything is up off the floor, attached to the back of the racks / stands, and all cables tied down tight and out of sight, with black cable ties only.


100%. You wouldn't believe the lengths I've gone to (you would) to hide cables to the point of buying a plastic plant to run/hide a cable through when there was no other option. When we built my current studio I went completely overboard running cables through the walls. There are stacks of cables in every wall and ceiling and attic and crawl space. I obviously labeled all of them but it's still kind of a trip when I rewired the studio last year figuring out what goes where, not as easy as I thought it would be. Took a lot of pics of the studs/cables before the drywall and soundproofing went in but I still ended up with things like VGA cables running through the walls which I've since just clipped off but there is chaos inside those walls. Still, the studio looks pretty good.

One thing I was going to do was install a lot of wall boxes for the cables, and an engineer friend convinced me just to run PVC pipes everywhere I could and then stuff the PVC pipes with auralex which is perfect. So I have PVC tubing connecting the main studio with the assistant studio, and the living room, and the recording room, and the machine room, and all of those are connected to each other as well. Into the recording booth we did the PVC pipes with two right turns to minimize and bleedthrough and then stuffed the ends with auralex. It really works great for flexibility because I can still run any cable from any room to any room. In the main studio we couldn't raise the ceiling to the height I wanted so instead we cut out the raised foundation and poured a cement slab, thus giving me another 2 1/2 feet of ceiling space. But it also worked out well because the recording booth and everywhere else is still on the raised foundation so we can run cables underneath it.

Dang, TMI sorry what were we talking about? Right... not seeing any cables is my personal zen. Not sure if that got too off-topic.


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## charlieclouser

Here is a very cluttered version of my rig from about 15 years ago or so - a fifteen-foot-long Argosy console with seven displays on Ergotron arms, full of ProControls and a lot of synths. It looked bad ass but dang.... has anybody seen where the MPG-80 went?

Note the d-drum3 front and center! Not visible in this picture is... well, lots more gear. I did make some cool records on this rig but.... man. I grew out of the "big iron" style and I don't miss it.

To be fair, this was sort of pre-virtual instruments - we had some of the early players like GigaSampler, Absynth etc., but the Macs were G4 machines and really not up to the task of hosting the kind of stuff we have these days (although I could run dozens of EXS24 instances even back then!). My GigaSampler rig was a Pentium4! What a boat anchor.

I remember visiting James Newton Howard's studio around this time and he had an absolute wall of synth modules behind his writing position. A few years later I went back and it was ALL gone - and Omnisphere was on the screen.


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## gregh

Most of my creative working life has been and still is working with visual artists. I was a visual artist for quite a while and worked in small and large collective studio spaces. (best one was the upstairs of an old Hari Krishna temple in the middle of the city which I negotiated down from 80 to 50 dollars a week! Of course that was 30 years ago  )

What I noticed is that some people love lots of stuff around them, whereas others (me for example) get overwhelmed by stuff and like to be and work in empty spaces. 
Know who you are and try to construct a working space accordingly - not always possible to hit the ideal but you can at least approximate. Better is better

[I do/teach Tai Chi for what is more than relaxation. Very beautiful, very elegant, suits the aesthetic personality ]


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## Saxer

Daniel said:


> Aquascape & Garden


Aquascape sounds very nice... do you have any picture?


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## lux

I personally find de-stress exclusively a state of mind and somehow unrelated with what's in my studio. I had similar mix of stress and relax with several configurations. What I've noticed is that having more stuff in the studio prevents me from getting more and more, which would, at times, be a stressful activity 

I do often watch movies (and sometimes soccer games, as Chillbot) though, which helps. Also I like getting out of the studio and see people for a while, which is cool as well.


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## charlieclouser

This is what I always had in mind with that 15-foot-long Argosy console - a single shape that contains all of the equipment, yet is still imposing and impressive. Of course, being located in a glass globe on a space station in orbit would really complete the scenario!


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## Valérie_D

Over the years, a ''cat studio'' does the trick for me : always calm and in the present.


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## synthpunk

Plain white, gray studios usually mean plain, white , gray music with no personality. 

There are reasons The Beatles had colored light poles, and colored glass frames made for Abbey Road or U2 made records in castles.


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## nulautre

charlieclouser said:


> This is what I always had in mind with that 15-foot-long Argosy console - a single shape that contains all of the equipment, yet is still imposing and impressive. Of course, being located in a glass globe on a space station in orbit would really complete the scenario!


I looked quick and thought that was Kim Jong Un


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## nulautre

Valérie_D said:


> Over the years, a ''cat studio'' does the trick for me : always calm and in the present.


Clearly your cat doesn't like to sleep on your laptop while you work  (Like mine does)


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## Valérie_D

nulautre said:


> Clearly your cat doesn't like to sleep on your laptop while you work  (Like mine does)



I try to find him a spot on the desk because he's a gigantic cat and wants to participate in the work.


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## chimuelo

I have a grandson and his loyal German Shepard puppy.
He pushes jr around in his wheeled walker and bounce to the beat.
Stress is severely minimized.


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## Daniel

Saxer said:


> Aquascape sounds very nice... do you have any picture?


Special for your request, I just uploaded my new aquascape to youtube.


This is my small garden:


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## khollister

My latest stress reliever (occasionally he is a stress carrier) - Oakley, the 1.5 year old Golden Retriever. My avatar is Poobah, who we lost a few years ago.


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## synthpunk

We have The odd couple Kevin. We have a 10 year old black lab that we rescued who has Addison's disease we manage
that is one of the coolest guys around. He has about a 100 word vocabulary that he understands LOL

We also rescued a Bichon Frise puppy who had puppy mumps when it was young that was quiet and timid and we thought might not make it. It is now the fun, play lovin, bossiest princess / squirrel chaser you've ever seen and we call her Tomboy

Man's best friends!



khollister said:


> My latest stress reliever (occasionally he is a stress carrier) - Oakley, the 1.5 year old Golden Retriever. My avatar is Poobah, who we lost a few years ago.


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## khollister

synthpunk said:


> We have The odd couple Kevin. We have a 10 year old black lab that We rescued who has Addison's disease we manage
> that is one of the coolest guys around. He has about a 100 word vocabulary that he understands LOL
> 
> We also rescued a bichon frise puppy who had puppy mumps when it was young that was quiet and timid and we thought might not make it. It is now the bossiest princess / squirrel Chaser you've ever seen and we call her Tomboy
> 
> Man's best friends!



We also have a couple cats who Oakley thinks are really cool self-propelled dog toys. The cats are happy to play along until they thing Oakley is getting a little too rough and then they box him across the nose a few times. Oakley gets this hurt look on his face like "what did I do?"


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## jiffybox

charlieclouser said:


> I remember visiting James Newton Howard's studio around this time and he had an absolute wall of synth modules behind his writing position. A few years later I went back and it was ALL gone - and Omnisphere was on the screen.



That is priceless. I have Omnisphere and all of my studio gear just got very nervous as I gave the room a once over side eye...


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## jiffybox

synthpunk said:


> We have The odd couple Kevin. We have a 10 year old black lab that We rescued who has Addison's disease we manage
> that is one of the coolest guys around. He has about a 100 word vocabulary that he understands LOL
> 
> We also rescued a Bichon Frise puppy who had puppy mumps when it was young that was quiet and timid and we thought might not make it. It is now the fun, play lovin, bossiest princess / squirrel chaser you've ever seen and we call her Tomboy
> 
> Man's best friends!



Dogs are a gift to humanity, truly. I'm in the process of moving cross-country and with it I will finally have a dedicated offsite studio space for the first time in my life (goodbye home offices/closets/garages/guest rooms). Another bonus is that I will also finally be able to have a dog in my new home (NYC apts didn't afford that luxury, nay, human right) so I'm in total studio set up/planning mode which includes diagrams and layouts and much thought into cord management and ambiance. Any place you studio gurus can point me to studio set up mastery would rock. I'm also looking forward to having a studio dog so any tips you may have are also appreciated. Cheers.


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## synthpunk

If you're an analytical person I would go to the graph paper and cut out method. Make small cutouts to scale for every item you have, map out your space on graph paper, this allows you to move stuff around and see where you can put everything in different arrangements.

The other method I call happy-go-lucky which I am a member of ... trial and error LOL

Sometimes monitor speakers sound better in different positions and arrangements so you may want to play round with that as well.

You probably also want to plan some at least basic room treatment. Seems like DIY and places like GIK are in vogue these days.



jiffybox said:


> Dogs are a gift to humanity, truly. I'm in the process of moving cross-country and with it I will finally have a dedicated offsite studio space for the first time in my life (goodbye home offices/closets/garages/guest rooms). Another bonus is that I will also finally be able to have a dog in my new home (NYC apts didn't afford that luxury, nay, human right) so I'm in total studio set up/planning mode which includes diagrams and layouts and much thought into cord management and ambiance. Any place you studio gurus can point me to studio set up mastery would rock. I'm also looking forward to having a studio dog so any tips you may have are also appreciated. Cheers.


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## jiffybox

I'm already on board the mapping out my space with cut outs to scale thing. It's extremely helpful and more often than not I find that something I thought would work in my head won't work when laid out in the space. So far things are fitting like Tetris...with inches to spare. It's a rather small room so I'm definitely going to have to figure out some sort of treatment options and I suspect there will be much trial and error with monitors. It can be an epic endeavor setting up a new space, but I find it to be a fun one, too. Thanks for the GIK tip, synthpunk!


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## Saxer

Daniel said:


> Special for your request, I just uploaded my new aquascape to youtube.
> 
> 
> This is my small garden:



Thanks for posting! I was an aquarium nerd in my youth (looong ago) and still love to watch those little under water worlds. I still have some gold fish in a garden fountain.


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## jmauz

+1 for the studio dog. My pup is in and out of my studio all day. If I'm writing something soft he'll fall asleep underneath my desk at my feet. He is the absolute best companion...he keeps stress at bay, forces me to take breaks, and brings a ton of positive vibes to the studio.


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## Daniel

Saxer said:


> Thanks for posting! I was an aquarium nerd in my youth (looong ago) and still love to watch those little under water worlds. I still have some gold fish in a garden fountain.


Wow cool! I am an aquarium nerd in my age now. 

Another inspirational workplace studio from *James Horner:
http://jameshorner-filmmusic.com/visit-studio-james-horner/#*


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