Studio desk

thane1200

Medicated Member
Hello all!

I didn't know exactly where to post this question so I'm putting it here.

I have been a DJ............(yes vinyl) for the last 7 years and have begun a little electronic music production here and there. I've run out of space on my customized WalMart "studio" desk and I am looking for a decent quality studio/mixing desk at a reasonable price >500$ or less preferrably. I need space for a my PC, 2 computer monitors, small mixer, 2 sets of near-field reference monitors, keyboard, 4-track, drum machines, synths etc. It would also be nice to have a couple of 19" rack spaces built in; for processing gear. Any help would be appreciated. Thanx 4 your time.

~peace :)
 
Its unlikely that you'll find something in the $500 range with all that you've specific, but raxxess, quiklok and a few other companies make modular workstations that are expandable.

If your only complaint about the walmat desk is size, you might want to search for a used furniture store in your area. With all the offices closing, there are decent prices for heavy-duty commercial funiture to be found.
 
WalMart desk

frederic - thanx for the tip, I'll try and post a pic of my setup to clarify the space issues. Do those modular workstations have space for multiple video and audio monitors?
 
FWIW, Ikea has a desk called the "Jerker" (I kid you not) which I'm using to hold a Yamaha KX88, three monitors (computer) several other pieces of gear (synths, MIDI interfaces, etc) three sets of monitors (Event 20/20p, Audiophile SP5B and a couple of little Yamaha speakers I can't remember) in addition to all of this, it has another shelf that houses sundry items I like handy. I also installed a shelf for my computer keyboard and mouse below the main workspace. It doesn't have any kind of racks obviously (it's Ikea, after all), but it's sturdy and height adjustable and not bad looking (I believe there are two colors available). Amazingly, I believe the unit cost $129.00 in its basic configuration. I added two swivel side shelves to hold the monitors which cost something like $10.00 a piece. There are other pieces available including a holder for your computer, a drawer unit and an added top shelf.

Take a look HERE

Ted
 
I'm looking for similar desks for my future bedroom setup- Apple Powerbook, Control 8, Oxygen, Mbox...

Do u have pictures of your Jerker..?
:rolleyes: that sounds so bad...

Haha.

GLenn
 
thane1200 said:
frederic - thanx for the tip, I'll try and post a pic of my setup to clarify the space issues. Do those modular workstations have space for multiple video and audio monitors?

Some do, some don't. I couldn't find one that fit my needs, so I welded one together. Argosy offered to make one, but I didn't have quite that much money in the "console table" fund.
 
Glenn-

I gave a link to Ikea's page. There are pictures of the various configurations there.

As for my Jerker, well I haven't taken any pictures of it, but maybe I could get my girlfriend to do some this weekend! :eek:

Ted
 
tedluk said:
Glenn-
As for my Jerker, well I haven't taken any pictures of it, but maybe I could get my girlfriend to do some this weekend! :eek:
Ted

Yep thats what I meant.
From the picture and dimensions it looks like it would fit the space and my needs well but its hard to tell exactly how much space is on there without seeing the 'Jerker' in work.

Thanks,
Glenn
 
Building your own...

Racks are fairly easy to make, essentially its a box with "MAP" rails installed 19.125" apart... for the purposes of saving space, I chose to make my racks as part of a "producer's desk", thus offering a dual-use. Also, by making the racks structural and permanent, I was able to locate a spot in the floor to bore a hole through, collar, and run the cabling through from the back of the console room to the front, interconnecting the gear at both ends. This might not be what you're doing, but you're welcomed to steal ideas for your own racks from the pictures.

Marking the floor in front of the vocal booth, chopping up the wood to appropriate lengths and widths:
studio-0117.jpg


This is the clever part. The vertical supports that the rack rails bolt to, are supported top and bottom by long strips, with 19.125" spacers between, so even though the wood is only 3/4" thick, with the two layers its 1.5" thick, making it much stronger, yet providing a "grove" for the "tongue" of the top and bottom of the rail supports to slip into, and be glued and screwed in. I made the top and the bottom supports at the same time, to ensure the racks were at true vertical. The bottom support gets screwed to the floor when this is completed.
studio-0118.jpg


Hard to see, but most of the bottom and top supports are done:
studio-0119.jpg


Two semi-completed racks sticking up. They are standing up based on the interference fit at the bottom, no screws or glue as of yet:
studio-0120.jpg


More progress:
studio-0121.jpg


Here is how I tied in the toop of the support, to the outer wall of the vocal booth. Pine, while flimsy in various aspects, does support compression loads very well. The compression takes place from the left side of the pic, pushing towards the right, onto the vocal booth wall which isn't going anywhere.
studio-0122.jpg


Another view of the same structure, all it needs is a countery top and some moulding:
studio-0123.jpg


Counter top, and side access door. I'll be drywalling over the side, and applying moulding along the bottom after the floor goes down (which it is, just haven't taken pictures yet) as well as moulding around the door:
studio-0128.jpg



Okay, console table.... well, I contacted Argosy for my special needs, and their price was way out of my ballpark, though I must admit I've always liked their workmanship, but money talks and I'd rather spend it on other things, so I opted to build my own table, out of steel, welding it together. One could easily build a table out of MDF, pine, oak, whatever suits your skillsets. Me, I can't make a square birdhouse to save my life, yet steel I find easy to work with. Mostly because if you miscut or misdrill into steel, you can weld it back together no problem. Wood, if its done wrong, you're tossing the wood and cutting another piece. Some people can glue wood and get it straight as before, I seemingly cannot. Anyway, here goes.

Table upside down, resting on sawhorses, while I weld the leg brackets on:
IM000770.JPG


Completed, bolted together table (minus the legs):
IM000779.JPG


Painting the table, disassembled:
IM000781.JPG
IM000782.JPG



Assembling in studio:
IM000784.JPG
IM000785.JPG


Dumping gear in/on:
IM000786.JPG
IM000791.JPG


Finished product:
IM000811.JPG
 
Belive it or not, there is an actual Jerker fan page:

http://adam.pra.to/jerker/

I have one as well as swear by it - very versatile. My only request is that IKEA develop a corner desk version.

You should look through IKEA's entire catalog. You may be able to piece something together with their Galant desk line.

If you want to spend an extra few bucks, I would also recomment Anthrocart - www.anthro.com. I have been looking at their stuff for some time now and may eventually pick up a few pieces for my studio.
 
Possibly one of the stanger pages I've seen on the Web, but nonetheless quite interesting...
Show's the versatility of the desk quite well.

Glenn
 
Well, Glenn, I can try to post a couple of pics for your perusal. My point in listing the things I have on it was to show just how large it actually is! There are two models as you no doubt saw. Since the desk doesn't have the side supports, you can't add the shelves which are great for monitors. That's why, even though it's smaller, I chose the computer desk.

That Jerker fan page is funny! I bought mine before I knew that a number of people were already using them for their studios.

brzilian is right about the Galant line too. I think it's new. I saw it for the first time when I was at Ikea last weekend. There are a lot of different pieces for it and it's also height adjustable. It doesn't have the adjustable side swivel shelves like the Jerker, however. You could combine them, of course, but their finishes aren't the same so they wouldn't match exactly.

Ted
 
fraserhutch said:
Frederic - your pictures did not make it through :) I would have liked to see them.

Thanks!

They are there... I just looked at this thread again and every one of them came up...

Might take a while if you're a dial-up user, since I posted quite a few...

You can also paruse my web server if you wish...

First half of pictures:
http://www.midimonkey.com/construction/index.html

Second half of pictures:
http://www.midimonkey.com/~frederic/studio/index.html

Console Table:
http://www.midimonkey.com/~frederic/console/index.html
 
fraserhutch said:
Frederic - your pictures did not make it through :) I would have liked to see them.

Thanks!

Actually, i stand corrected. Seems *I* could see them but no one else anywhere could.

My DNS server, for my domain, stopped answering the internet, but kept answering my desktop. Go figure, its been fixed. So, the pictures should be back online on this thread.
 
tedluk said:
Well, Glenn, I can try to post a couple of pics for your perusal.

That Jerker fan page is funny! I bought mine before I knew that a number of people were already using them for their studios.

It doesn't have the adjustable side swivel shelves like the Jerker, however. You could combine them, of course, but their finishes aren't the same so they wouldn't match exactly.
Ted

I think for me the Jerker is the best option.
Well Priced
You can add on shelves, swivel shelves, drawer.
Although its desk space is smaller than the actual desk, you can build up and thats important consdering I have little floor space.
I mapped out the Jerker, swivel shelves and shelves and I could put everything I want to buy in the next year and still have quite a bit of space left over.

One question- How much do the swivel shelves actually swivel- like 180 degrees starting perpendicular to the wall or more?

PS- random quick question- is it okay to "stack" monitors, by this I mean monitor speaker, mopad and then another speaker on top of that. I have seen it done I'm just wondering if its acceptable?...(i've tried to search it but found nothing and its a quick question so I thought someone in here might know)
 
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