# Charlie Clousers Studio Tour



## synthpunk (Jan 26, 2016)

Nice space Charlie. Thanks for the inspiration.


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## JohnG (Jan 26, 2016)

Thanks Charlie -- pretty fun.


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## gsilbers (Jan 26, 2016)

neat.


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## stonzthro (Jan 27, 2016)

Thanks Spitfire and Charlie - what a great and open community we have as composers!


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## chimuelo (Jan 29, 2016)

Nice.
Love the Air digitals...


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Jan 30, 2016)

chimuelo said:


> Nice.
> Love the Air digitals...


If I'm not mistaken they were recently discontinued. Excited to see if they'll come out with a new line. 

It's great to see composers going from the "fridge" to Charlie having his whole system tucked away behind his desk.


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## marclawsonmusic (Jan 30, 2016)

Great video! Thanks for sharing


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## Baron Greuner (Jan 30, 2016)

edited


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## dgburns (Jan 30, 2016)

nice Charlie.Is that a Togaman viol guitar I spy?...I have a feeling that would be fun to explore.

As a gtr player,I'm confounded why I never dug into the whole midi guitar thing,good for you for carving a unique sonic singature.

you should check out a guy called Edmund Eagon,twelfth root-he's very deep into the Haken thing.Actually I consider him to be a genius frankly.

What?? no ipads on your desk?  I'm deep into those for key shortcuts.


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## Carbs (Jan 30, 2016)

Baron Greuner said:


> I checked out the two chairs.



Same! I would love a lot of that gear, but it says something about the state of my back that I'm most envious those chairs, lol.


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## charlieclouser (Jan 30, 2016)

dgburns said:


> nice Charlie.Is that a Togaman viol guitar I spy?...I have a feeling that would be fun to explore.
> 
> As a gtr player,I'm confounded why I never dug into the whole midi guitar thing,good for you for carving a unique sonic singature.
> 
> ...



That IS a GuitarViol - the semi-acoustic version. I can't play it very well but it's great for scraping, scary string fx. 

I know all about Edmund Eagon, and I ran into him at NAMM and talked for a bit. He can really make the Haken sing.

I have some iPads but I don't use them for key commands. I figure, why would I move my hands off the keyboard and over to an iPad every three seconds when they keyboard is already under my fingers? Many years ago I did away with all of the stock Logic key commands and spent a week or so making my own very sophisticated set. I can pretty much operate Logic totally from the keyboard without using the trackball at all, unless it's to add plugins or change routings from the pop-up selectors on audio objects, or sometimes to select objects to be operated on. At one point I had the Artist Mix controller but I got rid of it once I realized that its little touchscreen only gave you buttons for things that could be assigned to key commands anyway. I really prefer doing things from the Mac keyboard. Some examples from my key commands set:

- Control + Function Keys 1-16 = jump playhead to start of marker 1-16
- Control + arrow keys = zoom
- Command + L/R arrows = jump playhead to previous/next bar line
- Option + L/R arrows = jump playhead by 8 bars, rounded to bar line
- Number pad decimal point = bring up the dialog to type in a bar number to locate to
- Command + Function Keys 14-15-16 = recall stored zoom presets 1-3
- Command + Option + Function Keys 14-15-16 = store current zoom as preset 1-3
- Shift + (period) or (comma) = jump to previous / next marker. 
- Arrow Up/Down = previous/next track.
- Function 1 = Select all objects between locators.
- Function 2 = Select all objects after currently selected object(s).
- Function 4 = Select equal rhythmic positions (this one is great).

Those take care of 90% of navigation and zoom controls. The scroll ring on the trackball takes care of smooth scrolling and zooming.

- Command + Plus/Minus = move selected object(s) forward/backward by one bar. Works on regions in the main window and on notes in the various editors.
- Command + Option + Plus/Minus = move selected object(s) forward/backward by one division.
- Command + Option + Shift + Plus/Minus = move selected object(s) forward/backward by one tick.
- Control + Plus/Minus = lengthen/shorten object(s) by one bar.
- Control + Option + Plus/Minus = lengthen/shorten object(s) by one division.
- Control + Option + Shift + Plus/Minus = lengthen/shorten object(s) by one tick.
- Option + Up/Down arrows = transpose notes by one semitone.
- Command + Option + Up/Down arrows = transpose notes by one octave.

With those I can take care of most editing of regions in the main window as well as notes in the key editor. Most of the time there's no dragging things manually for me. 

- Command + PgUp/PgDn = previous/next Channel Strip Setting or Plugin Setting or EXS Instrument.
- Command + Control + C = copy Channel Strip Setting or Plugin Setting or EXS Instrument.
- Command + Control + V = paster Channel Strip Setting or Plugin Setting or EXS Instrument.

With those I can quickly rearrange the order of stuff in the main window. These basic commands as outlined above leave nearly all of the alphanumeric keys empty and available for other more specific commands, and don't forget that with combinations of the various modifier keys you can use each letter key for at least ten things - so all of the commands related to "Hide Tracks" for instance could be the "H" key with various modifiers. 

I really prefer this method to setting up external devices since it all still works when those external devices aren't there, get discontinued, or whatever. I can operate Logic at full efficiency as long as I have an extended keyboard and a Kensington Expert Mouse. Simplicity!


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## dgburns (Jan 30, 2016)

If lemur ever went under,I'd be screwed for sure.

"Function 4 = Select equal rhythmic positions (this one is great)."

>>>must remember to create shortcut for this....

It's a bad thing to get excited over a list of key commands right?


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## marclawsonmusic (Jan 30, 2016)

dgburns said:


> It's a bad thing to get excited over a list of key commands right?



Not on this forum


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## synthpunk (Jan 30, 2016)

Well seeing there all broke now in 10.2.1 (except Logic Remote) your on to something there Charlie 



charlieclouser said:


> That IS a GuitarViol -
> I really prefer this method to setting up external devices since it all still works when those external devices aren't there, get discontinued, or whatever. I can operate Logic at full efficiency as long as I have an extended keyboard and a Kensington Expert Mouse. Simplicity!


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## AlexRuger (Jan 30, 2016)

Kensington Expert Mouse is life! I can't stand using a computer without one.


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## charlieclouser (Jan 30, 2016)

AlexRuger said:


> Kensington Expert Mouse is life! I can't stand using a computer without one.



Yes, I agree - I won't operate a Mac without one. I have stockpiled enough of them to last until the end of my career / life / wrist. I think I get about 18-24 months out of each one and I have more than a dozen in stock, so I should be good.


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## dgburns (Jan 31, 2016)

aesthete said:


> Well seeing there all broke now in 10.2.1 (except Logic Remote) your on to something there Charlie



So this is Charlie's glory thread (don't wish to derail) but-

Lemur/osculator Touchosc(with logicpad template) all working with the new 10.2.1/el capitan no issues.

Charlie, you should test drive touchosc with the logicpad template,I think you would like it,kinda like the mackie control,but I like the way it deals with soft synths better,especially the 'see one track' window pane.just saying'.

-edit-

I'm pissing around with the logic remote right now and it's pretty good too for synth parameters etc.I got turned off on it from the early versions,but it's gotten much better.I might switch to it now


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## charlieclouser (Aug 7, 2016)

I was under the impression that Lemur / TouchOSC / any other external controller can only do things that are already assignable to key commands - don't they all use Logic's Key Commands window to assign incoming MIDI events to commands? Sure, you can assign incoming Lemur commands to items in the Key Commands list that are NOT already assigned to Mac keys, but.... it's not like TouchOSC lets you access a whole bunch of stuff that one can't already do from the Mac keyboard if one is suitably dedicated / obsessed, right? 

I actually prefer to just use the Expert Mouse (and its scroll ring) and the Mac keyboard for as much as I can - that way I can basically sit frozen in place, hands never really moving at all - after 30 years "on the (track) ball" I am pretty darn fast. Watching demo videos of people using those big dedicated touch screens with Cubase just looks much slower than what I already can do.

Plus - simplicity.


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## samphony (Aug 8, 2016)

I too tested everything that's out there and always came back to the killer combo LPX + trackball + keyboard. One leftover of these enormous test drives is an iPad app that allows me to stack multiple key commands=macros. 

The Raven MTI 2 will arrive at my studio today. I'm curious how that will work.


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## dgburns (Aug 8, 2016)

samphony said:


> I too tested everything that's out there and always came back to the killer combo LPX + trackball + keyboard. One leftover of these enormous test drives is an iPad app that allows me to stack multiple key commands=macros.
> 
> The Raven MTI 2 will arrive at my studio today. I'm curious how that will work.



Raven looks good.I just don't have room for that thing in front of me.Maybe I'll change my mind at some point.I like the macro functionality.Tried a touch screen and found it didn't help my workflow all that much.


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## dgburns (Aug 8, 2016)

charlieclouser said:


> I was under the impression that Lemur / TouchOSC / any other external controller can only do things that are already assignable to key commands - don't they all use Logic's Key Commands window to assign incoming MIDI events to commands? Sure, you can assign incoming Lemur commands to items in the Key Commands list that are NOT already assigned to Mac keys, but.... it's not like TouchOSC lets you access a whole bunch of stuff that one can't already do from the Mac keyboard if one is suitably dedicated / obsessed, right?
> 
> I actually prefer to just use the Expert Mouse (and its scroll ring) and the Mac keyboard for as much as I can - that way I can basically sit frozen in place, hands never really moving at all - after 30 years "on the (track) ball" I am pretty darn fast. Watching demo videos of people using those big dedicated touch screens with Cubase just looks much slower than what I already can do.
> 
> Plus - simplicity.



I still use ipads/lemur.Three of them now actually.Sometimes one controls Protools with v control app.Sometimes(rarely)one controls LPX with the logic remote.The logic remote is actually pretty good.Looks good.Mostly I use it for the mixer,but nothing that a mackie control can't do.

I'm still tapping the potential of what lemur can bring for Logic.I've worked at it almost as hard as writing over the past few years.Scripting has not come easy to me and the manual sucks balls as far as I'm concerned.

I use lemur for faders,having crossed over and accept that the lemur faders work ok for me.I also use lemur for key commands.I just program them by going through osculator.I've never tried using actual midi to access key commands in logic.Somehow I remember trying and found it buggy or something.
One of the reasons I got deep into lemur was to relieve the mouse strain on my wrist.I also use a kengsington trackball.Frankly more often then not it's the keyboard/mouse that I reach for first.

But I DO select orch tracks remotely using a lemur which has all the wood/brass/perc/string etc groups of tracks all in one page with the buttons visible all at once.I just have to select a track and boom,I am ready to record on that track in Logic.And the second ipad shows me the articulations for that exact track.Took some time to program all that.And I'm triggering applescript for the keycombos and mouse co-ords,but ...it works.no more looking up at the screen if i need to select a orch track.For all other track types,ie guitar,bass synth and drums,I just select the old fashioned way.I change those up far too often to think of scripting that to lemur.

I also use about ten screensets for things and recall them by name on the ipad.All in all I save a few hundred or perhaps close to a thousand keystrokes a day.Just selecting a track in logic requires a bit of scrolling and I think I save about 4 keystrokes per.

I also made a scroll bar on the lemur.One fader for vertical scrolling,one for horizontal scrolling.The vertical scrolling is much smoother and much faster then the ring on the mouse.I find I use the ipad for mouse more often then the mouse now.It takes me one finger a move of about one inch to scroll on ipad whereas it take me about 6-7 ring swipes to get to the same place.I hate that ring scroll thing on the kengsington.One day I'll probably break the thing swiping it too hard.

Maybe one day I'll be able to show you my lemur stuff in person and you'll get a close up look at what the possibilities for you might be.

-edit- for some reason I can't indent the first word of the next paragraph so I just spaced them out more.sorry


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## charlieclouser (Aug 8, 2016)

I used to be quite the macro jock with QuicKeys back in the day - but I used it mostly for programs outside my DAW for processes which are now achievable by apps which can do batch processing, like Sample Manager from AudioFile Engineering. That app is great because you can set up a whole list of audio processes AND determine the order in which they'll take place, so you can strip dead air from the top/tail of samples and THEN apply fades for instance - all in one go. Plus at some point QuicKeys got weird - somewhere around the transition from os9 to osX its development seemed to stall, and when it reappeared it was very different and I never got it integrated into my OS X workflow. Sad!!


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## charlieclouser (Aug 8, 2016)

dgburns - I also was starting to get some wrist stress after 20 or so years behind the trackball, but what solved that problem for me was recessing the rear edge of the Kensington into my desk by about an inch, so it sits "flat" like the built-in trackball on the SSL Duality console (which is, in fact, a Kensington mechanism). Took a saw to my work surface and never looked back! Really helps alleviate wrist stress when you don't have to continually maintain that cocked-back angle on your hand. Now my wrist angle is zero degrees. Love it.


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## stonzthro (Aug 8, 2016)

@dgburns - I'd be really interested to see how you select tracks via Lemur - I had no idea that was even possible! 

@charlieclouser - I've been considering recessing a trackball too since I've started to have physical issues. Did you add some brackets underneath to hold the trackball in place?


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## jononotbono (Aug 8, 2016)

charlieclouser said:


> dgburns - I also was starting to get some wrist stress after 20 or so years behind the trackball, but what solved that problem for me was recessing the rear edge of the Kensington into my desk by about an inch, so it sits "flat" like the built-in trackball on the SSL Duality console (which is, in fact, a Kensington mechanism). Took a saw to my work surface and never looked back! Really helps alleviate wrist stress when you don't have to continually maintain that cocked-back angle on your hand. Now my wrist angle is zero degrees. Love it.



This is a brilliant idea. I'm gonna have try it as I haven't finished building my studio desk so now is a perfect time to cut the recess out. Your studio looks amazing by the way and your music, especially on American Horror Story, is wickedly good!


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## dgburns (Aug 8, 2016)

stonzthro said:


> @dgburns - I'd be really interested to see how you select tracks via Lemur - I had no idea that was even possible!
> 
> @charlieclouser - I've been considering recessing a trackball too since I've started to have physical issues. Did you add some brackets underneath to hold the trackball in place?



@stonzthro -It's one of those nerd things that I took a bit too far.It involves using a mouse pointer app called CLICLICK and apple scripting key commands for screen sets so that a specific screen shows the track you need and then applescript tells the mouse to click on the track at a given set of co-ords you tell it.I went further and got my iPads talking together so I can raise the appropriate articulation page as well.That's the basic idea.

@charlieclouser -great idea about the wrist angle.must investigate.So I guess we get to call you "macro jock" from here on ??


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## stonzthro (Aug 8, 2016)

Zoiks - Cliclick sounds awesome! I could sure you that for Logic's clip volume (why on earth that does not have key commands in 2016 makes no sense!). I'm gong to give that a try.

Thanks!


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## charlieclouser (Aug 8, 2016)

To recess the trackball, I totally did it in the hack carpenter style. My desk is an ancient Argosy Dual-15k, but with the upper racks removed and a simple full-width desk surface that I made for the upper level (30 inches from the floor). The lower deck surface (the one the music keyboard rests on) is 26 inches from the floor, so there's about a four-inch gap between the two levels. The upper surface is just a wood desk surface I made, and I chopped a trackball-sized hole into it and I support the trackball from below by means of some chunks of 2x4 and 2x2 on the lower deck. 

I used copious amounts of 3m Dual-Lock to hold everything in place - since a layer of Dual-Lock is about 1/4" thick you can stack multiple layers to fine-tune the height of stuff. Dual-Lock is like my studio Lego material - it will hold any thing to any other thing, and I've stacked four layers or more back-to-back to fine tune heights and spacing and stuff. I'm a terrible carpenter and generally just hack chunks of 2x4, spray paint them black, and start sticking them together with Dual-Lock. Works great and allows for undo and redo in physical space! Comes in black, too. I buy this stuff by the roll. 

I definitely took my inspiration from a session behind the SSL Duality, but the big Euphonix MC-Control has the same Kensington mechanism integrated in the same manner - flat and flush as opposed to having the rear edge angled up.


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## benatural (Aug 8, 2016)

Good to know about dual lock. How well does it stick to smooth hard plastic? Every other Velcro adhesive I've tried doesn't stick for long, but this stuff seems pretty beefy.


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## samphony (Aug 9, 2016)

Dual lock here since years too. It's the best progress in regards to Velcro since ages. It sticks to all sorts of surfaces. You can get it in all sorts of forms. Unlike classic Velcro it sticks. Like Charlie it's the Lego in my studio. Highly recommended.



benatural said:


> Good to know about dual lock. How well does it stick to smooth hard plastic? Every other Velcro adhesive I've tried doesn't stick for long, but this stuff seems pretty beefy.


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## stonzthro (Aug 9, 2016)

thanks charlie and symphony!


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## charlieclouser (Aug 9, 2016)

Dual-Lock is the king of velcro-like substances. Unlike actual velcro, it has the following qualities:

- Positive positioning lock. It snaps together like Lego and there is NO "wiggle room" like you'd get with fabric-type velcro.

- Powerful adhesive. I've used Dual-Lock to suspend rack units and CD burners from the underside of a desk surface. Take a not-lightweight rack unit like a Distressor, use two strips of Dual-Lock about 15 inches long running left-to-right, one near the front edge of the unit and one near the back edge, and you can mount that sucker underneath a desk surface where it will stay for years on end. I've done it. As long as the desk surface has a smooth surface (like formica or laminate) and not an overly rough or porous surface (like raw plywood) then that stuff will hold fast. In fact, it's so strong that it's often stronger than the adhesive used to hold laminate to MDF, so if you're working with Ikea shelves you might actually peel the laminate away from the MDF when removing the Dual-Lock, while the Dual-Lock holds fast to the laminate surface, so be careful! If you ARE working with rough plywood and are worried about how well the Dual-Lock will stick to such a rough and porous surface, break out your staple gun (not desk stapler, your staple GUN) and drive a few 1/2" staples through the layer of Dual-Lock that is adhered to the plywood for extra strength. I've never had Dual-Lock let me down. The back of my Argosy desk is absolutely covered with USB hubs, Gigabit network switches, and assorted little boxes and junk and it's all held in place on a vertical surface with copious amounts of Dual-Lock.

- Removable adhesive. Being a 3m™ product, the adhesive will not decay, lose strength, or become gummy as the years go by. When you peel it off of a piece of gear years later it will always come off in one piece, completely cleanly, and leave no residue at all (unlike fabric velcro which always seems to decay and leave nasty gummy residue that is difficult or impossible to completely remove, even using Goo-Gone or acetone, which may damage paint or surfaces).

- Note that the adhesive is NOT re-usable. Once you peel a chunk of Dual-Lock away from a piece of gear or a surface, throw it out. The adhesive is shot once it's been laid down and peeled up.

- If you do use fabric velcro for some applications, look for a 3m-branded product, or at least one that advertises that it uses 3m-brand adhesive. This will save you from a messy afternoon of "de-gumming" some years in the future. I still use fabric type velcro for holding guitar pedals down on my giant pedal board. The surface of the pedalboard is covered with that felt-type fabric that you see on cheap-ass PA speaker cabinets and racks from the 1990's, and Dual-Lock doesn't stick to that very well - but the "male" side (the hooks, not the loops) of normal fabric-style velcro sticks to this felt fabric very well. So I put male velcro (2 inch width) on the bottom of guitar pedals and they stay in place on my pedal board but can be removed and repositioned as needed.


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