Attic Room Studio Build

[Eddy Deegan]

Beautiful

[Luke W]

Cheers Eddy

[Drew Stephenson]

Yes indeed, looking very good.

[Arpangel]

Like the keyboard desk....

[Martin Walker]

How many more 'impressive's can we cram into this thread?

Well certainly another one from me, based on this level of expertise

Martin

[Luke W]

Yes indeed, looking very good.

Much appreciated, thanks

Like the keyboard desk....

It's worked out well, pretty much everything about this build has been focused on saving space and that keyboard shelf has been a real winner there.

How many more 'impressive's can we cram into this thread?

Well certainly another one from me, based on this level of expertise

Martin

Cheers Martin, really appreciate it. Although I'm sure if I could probably fill another thread with photos of me frowning at things that didn't quite work out or fit properly!

[Folderol]

{sigh} wish I had something even remotely as nice as that. It doesn't just look like a well designed setup. It looks cosy, and somewhere you'd like to be - even if mentally freewheeling

[Luke W]

{sigh} wish I had something even remotely as nice as that. It doesn't just look like a well designed setup. It looks cosy, and somewhere you'd like to be - even if mentally freewheeling

Thank you very much. Getting the room clear made a big difference, it does feel very welcoming now I can just sit down and get to work rather than spotting things i need to finish building or installing...

[Drew Stephenson]

I know what you mean there, i'm down to just three more jobs to do...

[Luke W]

I know what you mean there, i'm down to just three more jobs to do...

I do have the patchbay to sort out (I picked it up second hand and it needs de-soldering) but until I add a couple of bits of gear I’m eyeing up I can totally do without it. And now I think about it, little bits like cable/mic storage need sorting... But nothing like piles of cable and old racks scattered around the place anymore, so it at least has the illusion of being finished.

I was catching up with your thread earlier, looks like I’ve missed quite a lot! It’s looking spot on.

[Luke W]

Well, it was all going so well but I've been tinkering with things again. Made up a little MIDI controller to sit next to my keyboard and give me a bit more hands-on control over a few parameters. I really like the intergration that the NI keyboard provides and mostly everything I ever want to adjust or automate is covered, but I've found myself wanting a few faders recently.

Pretty much everything I looked at buying either had a load of controls I wouldn't use, tiny faders, or was just a bit too expensive for my needs. Seeing as I've already got the kit and I like learning things I decided on building one.

It consists of 3 x 10k linear faders in a box, with a Teensy dev board doing the thinking.

The result:




The parts came to about £50 delivered (annoyingly I had to order from a couple of suppliers each with a delivery cost so it could be made for even less), and it works really well. All built and coded by following guides from kind people on the interwebs, I can take no credit for any part of it!

[The Elf]

That's a really neat piece of kit. Well done! Perfect for orchestral arranging.

And I'm wondering if my own skills are up to it...

[Luke W]

That's a really neat piece of kit. Well done! Perfect for orchestral arranging.

And I'm wondering if my own skills are up to it...

Cheers That's the plan for it, I gave it a very brief test last night and I think it'll do the trick nicely. The part that I found a bit tricky was cutting the slots for the faders, and I did get it pretty wrong the first time around, but that was a patience problem on my part more than anything. If you were to look at the bottom of the box you'd see a slot cut out that a fader definitely can't follow...

Also, I'll probably have a synth based question or two in the not too distant future, I may drop you a message at some point if you don't mind?

[Luke W]

Another little update, I've been doing one of my favourite jobs (yes, really) and tidying up some cables. One of the lower racks is now "finished". I fitted a drawer to store my headphones and other bits and pieces, and a cable management bar so I can still get in the drawer without anything thats plugged in getting in the way. It'll also hopefully stop me running over cables with my chair.



It looks like my laptop is going to stay as my main machine for longer than I'd thought, so over on the other side I've fitted a sliding shelf to house it neatly without the mess of cables that it was living in and around. I also took the chance to tidy up the network and hard drive cabling and used a bit of leftover Cara to make a panel that hides the annoying external power supplies.




There's still a bit more to go, but it's certainly a lot neater than when I started.

[Martin Walker]

Bravo Luke!

I spent some time updating/cleaning/ my power cable contacts & mains distribution boards on the floor behind my desk some weeks back, and also took the opportunity to carefully lift all the audio cables away from them and clip them together a couple of feet off the floor, just below the surface of my desk.

I couldn't hear any background hum before these tweaks, but just for laughs I also did a couple of quick spectrum analyser checks on before/after hum levels, and you could see an improvement.

Martin

[Folderol]

Very nice work. Like those faders

[Luke W]

Bravo Luke!

I spent some time updating/cleaning/ my power cable contacts & mains distribution boards on the floor behind my desk some weeks back, and also took the opportunity to carefully lift all the audio cables away from them and clip them together a couple of feet off the floor, just below the surface of my desk.

I couldn't hear any background hum before these tweaks, but just for laughs I also did a couple of quick spectrum analyser checks on before/after hum levels, and you could see an improvement.

Martin

Cheers. I always think it's worth it for the looks and ease of fault finding/replacing anything, but a measurable difference as well is reassuring!

It's really easy to overlook I think, especially in a rack when it's hidden away behind kit. I set it up thinking I'd be replacing the machine before too long, so it didn't seem worth fiddling around and bolting everything down to pull it all back out again. Also by the time the build was at the point where I was able to get the computer in I was so keen on just getting everything fired up and actually using the place that it seemed to matter a little less.

Very nice work. Like those faders

Thank you. They were an interesting project, and a frustrating way to learn how many Micro USB cables have no data pins connected...

[Luke W]

Another little update... I recently fitted some LED strips along the back wall for a bit of ambient lighting, I took some pictures intending to put them up here and then forgot. Reading through Eddy's build yesterday jogged my memory so here they are...




The ceiling spots are great for working in the centre of the room, but one of them shines straight at my screens so I usually have them off while doing any work at the desk. I've got some spots in the panels above the mix position which light up the desk area nicely, but I was finding that with the rest of the room completely dark it just felt rather strange.

It's worked really well and I think it creates a nice atmosphere to work in, I'm certainly finding it much more comfortable than before. I've also managed to keep the place tidy after working around piles of cable/kit for far too long.

[Eddy Deegan]

Ooh that does look lovely I'm very much looking forward to getting mine set up though my short term future looks very plasterboardy!

[Luke W]

I've been doing a few bits here and there over the course of the year, a couple of updates:

I added a Scan 3XS PC a few months ago and finally got around to tidying up the right hand rack and wiring which is now looking nice and neat:



A more recent addition is an Elgato Stream Deck, which sits quite nicely on top of my controller keyboard and is proving to be a brilliant bit of kit. I've only just started getting it set up and trying things out but I think I'm going to find lots of uses for it.



There's always something left to do, but I think it's safe to say I'm running out of excuses to get involved in the next forum album project.

[Eddy Deegan]

Looking very smart Luke, it is a lovely space you have there. I'm looking forward to your participation in the next forum album; I find a good environment feeds the muse significantly and hopefully that'll end up being true for you also

[Drew Stephenson]

What Eddy said ^^^.
Plus, when it comes to physical controllers, our minds tend to leap to faders and knobs first, but when it comes to actual productivity, a set of buttons is often the most powerful tool.

[Luke W]

Looking very smart Luke, it is a lovely space you have there. I'm looking forward to your participation in the next forum album; I find a good environment feeds the muse significantly and hopefully that'll end up being true for you also

Cheers Eddy, I'm hoping that to be the case. It's been a very busy year but all being well I should have some more dedicated regular studio time soon. It's already feeling like a great place to be, so that's half the battle won...

What Eddy said ^^^.
Plus, when it comes to physical controllers, our minds tend to leap to faders and knobs first, but when it comes to actual productivity, a set of buttons is often the most powerful tool.

Definitely. I initially got the Stream Deck to switch articulations/patches in sample libraries and VIs, but I'm already finding more uses for it and get a feeling that it'll end up doing lots more.

On the same topic, I find the dock to be an incredibly powerful bit of kit, especially considering the tiny amount of space it takes up. I've been fortunate enough to spend a good amount of time on some serious surfaces and I have to say that with this, the difference in features and usability isn't nearly as significant as the difference in price.

[Music Wolf]

I'm lead to believe that Santa will be bringing me a Stream Deck mini tomorrow

The plan is to use it in a live application in conjunction with Cantabile software. No doubt I'll be bombarding The Elf with questions in the New Year.

[Luke W]

I'm lead to believe that Santa will be bringing me a Stream Deck mini tomorrow

The plan is to use it in a live application in conjunction with Cantabile software. No doubt I'll be bombarding The Elf with questions in the New Year.

I can imagine it'll do a great job. I had a similar thought about setting one up as a QLab controller.