# Studio / Producer Desks



## SoundChris (Jan 21, 2017)

Hey there guys,

i am not sure where to ask this in the forum - i guess it fits best in the gear category: Lately i accidentially saw Blakus´s awesome studio setup - especially the impressive Prestige Composer Console from the company Console Concepts Pty. from southern Australia. So i wrote an email to ask for the price and the shipping fee to europe - germany. I already expected the price to be very high, but not that it would be near 9 k and especially not that the shipping of a desk would be that expensive :( (they said it could be between $ 1.5 k and $ 5 k Australian Dollars) depending on the shipping details. I stil wanted that desk really badly but also do know that within the next few years this is just out of reach for me.

Right now i am working on a very strong system (Mac Pro 6.1, 12 Core 2.9, 64 GB Ram, 1 TB PCIe based flash memory, about 1.5 GB external thunderbolt SSDs (Samsung Evo) and a few normal WD HDDs for Storage and Backup, a CME UF 80 Masterkeyboard, Yamaha HS7 (i badly wanted the Neumann hm120, but that will take a while until i got the money together), a NI Komplete Audio 6 interface, one 27´´ apple thunderbolt display and 2 smaller samsung 21´´ BX2231 displays. I am working on Logic X and Cubase Pro 9.

What i would need is a desk that offers about the same features as the Console Concept desk, which in my case means: I do not need much Rack stuff because i am working with plugins and vsti and would not need much hardware effects etc. I needed something where i can adjust the heigth of the displays (otherwise my neck / back start to hurt after long composing sessions, i needed a very stabile masterkeyboard drawer (my CME UF 80 has got 24 kg weight which is probably a problem?), enough space for the additional 2 displays and maybe for a mixing console someday or a larger fader port. The optic should be black, maybe with some elements in piano varnish optic and a leather padding for the arms. Under the table there should be some space to place the mac pro, the external discs and the cables as possible.

Does anyone here have a tip for me where i could look for a solution like this - maybe in europe, too, so i dont have to spend thousands just for the shipping? WHich experiences did you make paying a carpenter to create a top notch custom desk for your studio? Any recommendations are really appreciated.

Btw - here is a picture showing my actual IKEA solution (looks better than one would expect. But because the keyboard doesnt fit under the table i am far away from the displays which causes neck pain after hours and the displays - especially the main one - just stands to high in my opinion) :


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## R. Soul (Jan 21, 2017)

Have a look at https://www.studiodesk.net/
and http://www.zaorstudiofurniture.com/miza/miza-88-xl/


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Jan 21, 2017)

I've been using IKEA tables and I think it looks quite nice. I got the idea off of a composer in LA. He uses 3 in a U shape while I only use 2. He had a keyboard drawer build on his but I just use a keyboard stand under my desk. You could also put a bar between the legs of the desk. My screens are on arms so they're very adjustable and my speakers are on separate stands (which generally improves the sound). Then I have a rack under the desk on my left. It may not look as good as some of the other studio desk (although all I wanted is a clean simple table with nothing fancy), it only cost me $100. If I was to get a $2000 desk built I would get the exact same design except being solid core and nicer wood.

You could look into Beijer desks but I'm not sure what his shipping policy is for Europe.


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## Ashermusic (Jan 21, 2017)

Gerhard Westphalen said:


> I've been using IKEA tables and I think it looks quite nice. I got the idea off of a composer in LA. He uses 3 in a U shape while I only use 2. He had a keyboard drawer build on his but I just use a keyboard stand under my desk. You could also put a bar between the legs of the desk. My screens are on arms so they're very adjustable and my speakers are on separate stands (which generally improves the sound). Then I have a rack under the desk on my left. It may not look as good as some of the other studio desk (although all I wanted is a clean simple table with nothing fancy), it only cost me $100. If I was to get a $2000 desk built I would get the exact same design except being solid core and nicer wood.
> 
> You could look into Beijer desks but I'm not sure what his shipping policy is for Europe.




But then you have to turn sideways to play.


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## AlexanderSchiborr (Jan 21, 2017)

SoundChris said:


> Hey there guys,
> 
> i am not sure where to ask this in the forum - i guess it fits best in the gear category: Lately i accidentially saw Blakus´s awesome studio setup - especially the impressive Prestige Composer Console from the company Console Concepts Pty. from southern Australia. So i wrote an email to ask for the price and the shipping fee to europe - germany. I already expected the price to be very high, but not that it would be near 9 k and especially not that the shipping of a desk would be that expensive :( (they said it could be between $ 1.5 k and $ 5 k USD depending on the shipping details. I stil wanted that desk really badly but also do know that within the next few years this is just out of reach for me.
> 
> ...



Hi,

How about investing in a different seat? How about putting your mainscreen a bit down because those problems just don´t occure because of the keyboard position but probably the combination of looking constantly up? I also say the following, hope you dont mind here: Back / neck problems can occure from missplaced organized working enviroments AND are supported by the lack of personal workout and a false posture in general. It can be so many different reasons. Ergonomic working space is not about in spending thousands of dollars imo. Keep your money, research the simple reasons.


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## Gerhard Westphalen (Jan 21, 2017)

Ashermusic said:


> But then you have to turn sideways to play.



I have a keyboard under my desk which you can see but I can't play piano on that (just basic midi entry because the action is terrible) so I have my Yamaha Clavinova beside me. That can't be put in a desk as it's like an upright piano. If I had a nice controller like a Doepfer then I would only have a single keyboard under the desk and then get a third table to make a U. But even then, the Clavinova is my favorite action so I'd still probably keep it if I had a Doepfer and still turn for any piano playing. No way around that. The same as someone who has an acoustic piano in their room.


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## brett (Jan 21, 2017)

I know I'm in the minority here, but my view is that you should have the thing that you use most in front, at a height such that your arms form a right angle. For me, in film and tv, I use the music keyboard only a small amount of the time but computer mouse and keyboard most on the time massaging CC curves and mixing etc. This means the computer keyboard and mouse are in front. 

If this is worth a try for you, you should be able to get that centre monitor down and in line with the others, closer to you

I never understood people who spend 70-80% of their time using the mouse/keyboard and only 20-30% of their time (or much less) playing the music keyboard continually reaching over to use the mouse. Shoulders roll forward, thoracic spine hunches and you dump into your lumbar. You can absorb that when you're younger but eventually everything catches up with you 

Yes, drawers can help but only if you are religious about pushing them in when you're not using the music keyboard (difficult) but even then to allow space for the drawer the desk has to be higher and then your arms are no longer at right angles for the mouse and keyboard which is what many of us use for the majority of our days and nights in the studio

No perfect solution...


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## Ashermusic (Jan 21, 2017)

True dat, whatever works.


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## chillbot (Jan 21, 2017)

SoundChris said:


> But because the keyboard doesnt fit under the table i am far away from the displays which causes neck pain after hours



Alexander is correct, and ergonomics are important. The pain in your neck will cause you carpal tunnel in your hands if you continue. By ever-so-slightly leaning forward you will pinch the nerves in your shoulders that run down to your wrists. Please learn from my mistakes.

Desk aside, that video monitor should be on an extended arm. They make articulating monitor arms now that will clamp anywhere and hold whatever weight you need and put your monitor anywhere you'd like. The only reason not to move it forward are your speakers behind it but the speakers could be on a stand or mount on a wall, whatever. Just something to consider as you consider a desk.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jan 21, 2017)

brett, the perfect solution as far as I'm concerned is a desktop that slides over the piano keyboard. That keeps everything in the right position all the time, including the computer keyboard and mouse (they're at the front of the desk when you're typing/mousing, and right over the piano keyboard when you're playing).


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## brett (Jan 21, 2017)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> brett, the perfect solution as far as I'm concerned is a desktop that slides over the piano keyboard. That keeps everything in the right position all the time, including the computer keyboard and mouse (they're at the front of the desk when you're typing/mousing, and right over the piano keyboard when you're playing).



Although as I mentioned it means that your hands are too high - not at right angles - for too much of your working day so and not ideal. Life is full of compromises!


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jan 21, 2017)

Surprisingly it's not too high in actual practice.

I've been working on a custom desk using that design all day long for over ten years, in fact I sell them. (I'd post the link but I got frustrated with the hosting company, let the site expire, and haven't set up a new one yet.)

Everyone sets things up differently for their bodies, but I have my chair arms about 1-1/2" lower than the desktop surface. They could just as easily be level with it. The piano keyboard is about 29-1/2" above the floor, just like most real pianos, and with my Kurzweil K2500X the desktop is 5-1/2" above that.

While it's higher than a desk normally would be, it's very comfortable and it really does work!


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