Silly Question: Studio furniture feedback...

[tedsingingfox]

Hey, y'all.I'm in the happy position of being on the verge of buying some DESPERATELY needed furnishings to help me organize my living room AND help me set up my first little digital recording station.so, throw me some quick feedback if you would. I'm looking at the musiciansfriend.com site. I was planning on ordering the small "Mix" station, on sale for pennies under $100. (the catalog I just got in the mail promises free shipping).I go to the site and find out two things. There's a larger "Project station" that would be easy to grow into later for $199.The kicker is that either of them are going to cost me an extra $70 for shipping that, SORRY, is never free for much of anything but software to this isolated little mountain town I live in.so, does it make better sense to try to save the $$$ and stick with the smaller station (at $170, total) or "go big or go home" and buy something i won't have to replace or add onto later (for $270)? Financially (it makes me slightly worried, but) I'm leaning toward the bigger purchase for the long term. (Unfortunately, I can all but guarantee I don't have the solid-enough credit rating to go the "finance it now for $15 per month" route.)Yes? No? Neither? Part of the problem is that I'm possibly so EAGER to get started, I may even be missing other, more practical options that I just don't know about yet.ANY and all feedback is greatly appreciated.Ted

[matto]

Hey Ted,if you posted links to the stuff your considering it would be much easier to give you advice.What do you have that you're going to put on it...and what are you planning on purchasing in the "nearish" future, like a within a year or two?matto

[ragani]

Hey Ted,[removed because Matto posted the same general idea while I was so thoughtfully composing my post. So, yeah, what Matto said.] And...I don't know which ones you are looking at, but sometimes (sometimes is key) I find furniture suitable for mix station use at thenerds.net. They have a $1.99 shipping deal going on now-- I just ordered a big office table that came by freight and paid nothing (no kidding!) for shipping (they had a free shipping deal over the holidays, and it saved me $80+ in normal freight costs). Aside from that, I did visit musiciansfriend.com, but all their free shipping coupon codes don't work for any of the mix stations. Pooh! My personal philosophy comes from a mix of "if you're going to do it, do it right" and my own personal love of finding bargains and experimental projects. But then again, that's coming from someone who sits on the floor when using the computer in my studio (it's that Eastern thing). Either way, if I'm going to make any big moves in life, my philosophy is to jump when I'm feeling more excited than afraid... There. Now I'm sure I've really cleared up your confusion. Raags

[hummingbird]

If I can interject - keep it simple. You don't need to buy a whole lot of stuff. I got an old table that was out on the balcony when I moved into my place -- with a cloth on it, it's a great host for my printer & hard drive. I have a typing table someone gave to me that I put my keyboard on (yes, it comes with a stand, but since I'm up & down & move the keyboard around according to my needs, the typing table, with wheels, is perfect & makes the keyboard more secure). I have an old computer desk that I bought for $50 from someone down the street that holds up my keyboard & monitor, modem & mouse. I have an old glass coffee table, with a nice towel over it, that is home to the various instruments I play & the notations/lyrics/music I'm working on right now. Besides that I have my bargin basement vocal booth & the usual mic stands & music stands & guitar stands. Simple, no-cost or low-cost. That's my mantra (I should note that I reorganized my studio while my computer was in the shop. This is the neat side. You'll note you can see the TV in the third picture... that's so I can have the TV on, but muted, when working on music. This is a crucial aspect of songwriting that should never be neglected.)I do find these little plastic do-dads with drawers to be helpful in sorting receipts & bills & music & stuff. Edit - wanted to add that being ergonomic is extremely important to me (due to carpal tunnel from working in non-ergonomic offices for so many years), so I have everything set up so the top of the monitor lines up with the top of my head when I'm sitting at my workstation, and the mouse & keyboard are at the right level. I have an ergonomic office chair too.

[ginstl]

Ted, I think that if the stuff you're looking at will inspire you creatively and will keep your studio organized and give you a good mix position then go for it.Greg.

[gatorjj]

I went to the Musician's Friend website and guess you are talking about these two?http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document ... &index=0If it were me and I didn't have any rack-mountable gear I'd look for something local and cheaper, either a computer desk or something similar in function. Those desks look nice and have good reviews though, so if it's what you want, go for it!FWIW here's my setup. I also built a little 4'x1' "desk" that slides in front of this (a place to set my keyboard, mouse, and little MIDI controller) for about $5.Let us know how it turns out Ted!Cheers,J.J.

[mazz]

Ted,For the inexpensive route: I've heard of people using doors (without the door knob) set across a couple of filing cabinets. The filing cabinets are good for storing, well, files, and also cords, strings, capos, etc. Also, the place where the knob goes is good for running cables through so they stay neat.You could also go to Office Depot and look at the computer furniture. Lots of times they have the easy to put together stuff for around 50 bucks. You could put your speakers on stands off to the sides. I've seen people use concrete drain pipes for speaker stands because they don't transmit the vibrations of the speakers to the floor, something to think about with cheaper studio/office furniture. Of course, some nice covering over the drain pipes would be good unless you like the industrial look. Musicians Friend also sells speaker stands.If I were going to invest in studio furniture again, I'd spend a large portion of my budget on a great chair. You're going to be spending a ton of time sitting in it and it needs to be as good as you can afford. That's where I'd put my bucks, where my butt is!!!Good luck!Mazz

[jh]

Quote:For the inexpensive route: I've heard of people using doors (without the door knob) set across a couple of filing cabinets. The filing cabinets are good for storing, well, files, and also cords, strings, capos, etc. Also, the place where the knob goes is good for running cables through so they stay neat.I think that´s an excellent idea. Vikki has a good approach too (I have the same one ) Even the racks I have I´ve built myself. Quote:If I were going to invest in studio furniture again, I'd spend a large portion of my budget on a great chair. You're going to be spending a ton of time sitting in it and it needs to be as good as you can afford. That's where I'd put my bucks, where my butt is!!!And this is a good advice as well. - JH

[ragani]

Hi again, Ted,While we're all discussing make-shift studios and offices, here's the computer office desk I got at Office Depot for $59.99: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/3 ... r-Desk-28/. And because I actually do sit on the floor in my studio, I use a folding table there (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... id=7679248) that I got from Walm*** for just under $50 and went to Home Depot and had them cut the legs down to the height I needed. I love my little studio!And yeah, if I didn't sit on the floor, I would definitely invest my money in a chair, like mazz recommends. That's where you'll be spending hours of your time, and it's worth coughing up a few bucks for your butt.So that's my 4 cents.Raags

[anne]

"that's coming from someone who sits on the floor when using the computer" This looks like it is more common than I thought. I thought I was the only one...Ted - invest in a good chair rather than a fancy desk. I found a 2 x 4 folding table at Targ** to work best for me (after trying several different desks).I recently bought the speaker stands for my Yamaha's (on-stage brand, pair, $79 total at guitar center) and I have my little M-Audio 4" speakers on each side of my monitor on my desk. Then my keyboards are on a keyboard stand to the side., like an L.