Music room organisation - how do you approach it?

[woody]

My music room is a total mess right now.
The last few weeks have been bonkers with work and family related stuff, and I have acquired gear to the point that I need to actively keep my room tidy, or it will just clog up in no time.
Also, I'm not perfectly happy with the friction current room set up puts on some aspect of my practice.
There are some key pieces of gear I rarely touch.
So, I'm thinking about purging some stuff and rearranging my room.
I find it kinda hard to "un-stick" my mind of my current state of affairs, so I thought I'd ask you guys and gals for inspiration.

How is your room structured?
What is key to your daily music making?
Do you have made over your music room/studio?
What were your goals and how did it turn out?

 

[fretworn]

I like working at tables …

 

[laxu]

If you have the space, get as big a table as can fit in wherever you prefer it. Filling it up with things is usually not a problem.

Atm I have a main table with my monitors, two displays, audio interface and a side table where I have my Hydrasynth Explorer stacked on top of my Axe-Fx 3.

The plan is to put the speakers on poles and pull the desk back a bit.

Due to space limitations, my guitars are in the next room on a multi-guitar rack. There's a single guitar stand in the room for whatever guitar I'm using at the time. If I didn't live in a rental apartment I would put some of my guitars on the wall. The key here is having them somewhere conveniently available so that they are easy to grab - thus more likely to be used.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I'm going through this now, thinking of ways to makeover my room where it's more purpose driven. One example is to have all the gear I enjoy hooked up in a way that makes sense and is ready very quickly. Right now I have a lot of gear that should be getting used but is not in part due to it's not ready to go at that very moment. Fumbling around hooking things up can be an inspiration killer. Modeling software has made that scenario better because it's all 'in the box' and sounds great but... I still love my tube amps and other outboard gear. So updating cable management and switching hardware will be something I look into.
Another example is room layout and organization. I also need some more sound absorption and diffusion in key areas so the plan is to build my own panels. I already have an isolation closet where I can mic up amps or cut acoustics and vocals if needed but I'd like the main room to have some of those qualities too without worrying about reflections. This would also enable me to use my monitors more frequently instead of headphones all the time. My last house was setup better for this but I've been dragging my feet getting this one better organized. The enemy is time, as usual. But I've just got to chip away at it when I can because I do enjoy making music.

 

[sleewell]

my music room doubles as our workout room so i kinda just use it to practice and then have to put stuff away each time. but our rehearsal spot is pretty sweet, we setup how we play at shows so thats where i leave the bulk of my gear.

 

[laxu]

I'm going through this now, thinking of ways to makeover my room where it's more purpose driven. One example is to have all the gear I enjoy hooked up in a way that makes sense and is ready very quickly. Right now I have a lot of gear that should be getting used but is not in part due to it's not ready to go at that very moment. Fumbling around hooking things up can be an inspiration killer. Modeling software has made that scenario better because it's all 'in the box' and sounds great but... I still love my tube amps and other outboard gear. So updating cable management and switching hardware will be something I look into.

This was part of why I sold some of my gear when I moved into this apartment last year. My real world rig had just gotten complicated with multiple amps and cabs. Just being able to use it regularly was an issue as it meant moving cables around etc and switchers are expensive.

Hopefully a few years from now buying a little house is feasible and I can have a "proper" music room instead of what is more like a home office.

My wallet is loving the current "63 square meter student housing apartment with 1 Gbit/s internet, electricity and water included in rent at less than market prices" arrangement though. The apartment even has a sauna! Was totally the right move over buying a house or apartment right when interest rates skyrocketed.

 

[DrewJD82]

Every few months I need to go through mine and organize/clean up.

The biggest thing for me is organizing it so everything I want/need is in arm’s reach for when I’m recording but the more gear I get, the more stuff I have to dig out of a closet or something and that’s when the messes occur. I’m actually doing it this week, I’m getting another table to make an L-shape for my desk and I need some permanent cables in place for plugging things into my AxeFX loops.

I’m also getting a nice, comfy carpet because the commercial building lobby carpet I snagged from work feels like I’m walking across a grill brush.

 

[Achilles]

Perfect for amp heads and other heavy stuff.

Black Wire Shelving Unit - 24 x 18 x 54

4 SHELF STARTER UNIT Decorative heavy-duty black wire shelving looks good in offices, stores and warehouses. Easy assembly – No tools needed. Shelves adjust in 1" increments. Open wire maximizes airflow, reduces dirt and dust build-up. Black powder coating resists corrosion, lasts for years. NSF...

www.uline.com

 

[mavrick102000]

Going throug the same. I still have 3 panels to finish building and clean up from doing surgery/upgrades on several iMacs.

I'm repurposing part of the theater room. If I wanted monitors, they'd have to be on stands because with (2) 27 iMacs (one is a monitor only) there's no room left on a 62 " desk for them.

For now the Mk3 Keyboard controller will go on top of the desk -whenever it ships. Helix on the floor under the desk.

I'm sure it will evolve over time.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Every few months I need to go through mine and organize/clean up.

The biggest thing for me is organizing it so everything I want/need is in arm’s reach for when I’m recording but the more gear I get, the more stuff I have to dig out of a closet or something and that’s when the messes occur. I’m actually doing it this week, I’m getting another table to make an L-shape for my desk and I need some permanent cables in place for plugging things into my AxeFX loops.

I’m also getting a nice, comfy carpet because the commercial building lobby carpet I snagged from work feels like I’m walking across a grill brush.

I like how Tim Pierce has everything at arm's reach on all sides, I mean that's his living so makes perfect sense. Right now I have a decent size desk with a fairly wide and deep 3-bay rack (4U high) cab on top. But it's really too high and it doesn't leave a lot of space in front. Would love to have at least a U shaped desk area.

 

[la szum]

Perfect for amp heads and other heavy stuff.

Black Wire Shelving Unit - 24 x 18 x 54

4 SHELF STARTER UNIT Decorative heavy-duty black wire shelving looks good in offices, stores and warehouses. Easy assembly – No tools needed. Shelves adjust in 1" increments. Open wire maximizes airflow, reduces dirt and dust build-up. Black powder coating resists corrosion, lasts for years. NSF...

www.uline.com

I have bought 2 of those (but 30" wide by 60" tall) and what a difference.

 

[woody]

Still plowing through my room, sorting, purging and re-organizing.
I've found a kinda neat way to organize my small mics with cardboard strips in an IKEA basket.

As I have tons of stuff that does not necessarily "spark joy" I found two questions pretty helpful:
- If someone offered money for an item, would you sell it?
- If something was stolen, would you replace it?

Sadly, these days it's actually difficult to get people even to steal stuff, let alone pay money for it.
I have a pair of active speakers that are fun to listen to but useless as mix monitors, and I try to give them away, but so long it's been only no shows and people ghosting me.


It would be so much easier to dump working goods instead of giving it away that people get value out of it and that i does not end as landfill, it's mind boggling.
Anyways. It's light at the end of the tunnel here, the good way.

 

[Jarick]

Lol my music room is just piles of crap that I've been meaning to sort through for months.

I really need to go through and organize again, then repaint, then build out the acoustic treatment.

 

[-BOOGIEMAN-]

I did mine like this complete with multi colored led’s that line the entire roof and will flash and change colors to the beat of whatever you are playing, almost like being on stage again. Everything is easily accessible and I friggin wish I never had to leave this room…

 

[marsonic]

I should take good pictures, but I need to get the lights figured out first. I'm not really happy with any of them.

Most of my space is dictated by how the room sounds, which doesn't lead to a particularly efficient layout without screwing up the sound. And, most of the walls are covered in traps. But...it sounds great in here, so I deal with it. Most of the storage is in another room, but there's honestly not that much of it. I've come to grips with being a bit of a gear minimalist.

As far as the guitar stuff goes...I have a 5-guitar rack on one side of the room and my FM3-based pedalboard just off to the other side, plugged in and ready to go, with its own speaker also off to the side (which I prefer to feeding it through my computer and mains, though it's also wired to do that). It's really friction-free as far as playing guitar on a whim goes. It's also plugged in and ready to record, though I don't actually do that. I take Mastering seriously (as well as my actual day job), but Guitar has always been a hobby and always will be.

There's some other stuff...Ikea box/shelf thing for vinyl and CDs, a little side table rack thing for my turntable, some cables, etc., a rolling cart thing for random "office" and cleaning stuff, etc.. Unused pedals are in a box waiting to get sold. I don't own any "real" amps anymore. Extra cables and some gear I don't want to part with are in a chest of drawers in another room.

It's really not bad. I just hate the lighting in here. It's never the right brightness.

 

[dbagchee]

I did mine like this complete with multi colored led’s that line the entire roof and will flash and change colors to the beat of whatever you are playing, almost like being on stage again. Everything is easily accessible and I friggin wish I never had to leave this room…

Using a 4x12 as a keyboard stand is pretty genius...

 

[itchyfingers]

My room is also multi-purpose, where I play music, do my work, stretch, etc. So my goal was to have a nice corner where I can do work / write / record / practice, have enough floorspace for one or two people to join me, have a pedal rig dedicated to the house, have guitars within arms reach, and have all (or most of) my amps plugged in and ready to fire up.

I picked a corner desk out and stuck it in what seemed like the best corner. I've got my laptops, recording interface gear, db meter, and a printer over there. I redid one of the long walls to become a pedal shelf wall, made these cool poplar shelves for (most of) my collection. Left plenty of room on the bottom for amps, cabs, tape echos, etc. My pedal wall is my Teams backdrop, lol. I redid the short wall to hang 5 guitars on the wall and 6 more in a guitar stand, the other wall has another guitar hanger, plus the stands in my room and there's usually a baker's dozen worth of guitars to grab. Got a mission control type of pedal board that has every effect I'll ever need, and can do wet/dry or stereo out to the amps, all of which have power. Usually, when I am supposed to be working at the desk, I'll sit back and just admire my sh!t. I'm stoked to be fortunate enough to have this gear, and I'm stoked on the aesthetic of it while I'm not even playing it. Inevitably, thinking about the gear leads to me flicking the switch on the power conditioner, firing up the tweed and tape echo, grabbing a guitar, and doing some time travel. It's too easy. Had the homies over last night to work on jams and harmonies and had a weekly meeting with a client this morning - all in the same room.

All of this to say - think of how your want your work flow to be, and how to maximize your space to be not only functional but also inspiring.

 

[marsonic]

That looks a heck of a lot like the back wall at TPS.

 

[DrewJD82]

My room is also multi-purpose, where I play music, do my work, stretch, etc. So my goal was to have a nice corner where I can do work / write / record / practice, have enough floorspace for one or two people to join me, have a pedal rig dedicated to the house, have guitars within arms reach, and have all (or most of) my amps plugged in and ready to fire up.

I picked a corner desk out and stuck it in what seemed like the best corner. I've got my laptops, recording interface gear, db meter, and a printer over there. I redid one of the long walls to become a pedal shelf wall, made these cool poplar shelves for (most of) my collection. Left plenty of room on the bottom for amps, cabs, tape echos, etc. My pedal wall is my Teams backdrop, lol. I redid the short wall to hang 5 guitars on the wall and 6 more in a guitar stand, the other wall has another guitar hanger, plus the stands in my room and there's usually a baker's dozen worth of guitars to grab. Got a mission control type of pedal board that has every effect I'll ever need, and can do wet/dry or stereo out to the amps, all of which have power. Usually, when I am supposed to be working at the desk, I'll sit back and just admire my sh!t. I'm stoked to be fortunate enough to have this gear, and I'm stoked on the aesthetic of it while I'm not even playing it. Inevitably, thinking about the gear leads to me flicking the switch on the power conditioner, firing up the tweed and tape echo, grabbing a guitar, and doing some time travel. It's too easy. Had the homies over last night to work on jams and harmonies and had a weekly meeting with a client this morning - all in the same room.

All of this to say - think of how your want your work flow to be, and how to maximize your space to be not only functional but also inspiring.

If you start pointing out the individual awesome stuff in this picture, you can give yourself a panic attack. I know I’ve said it before, but a shelf of Fuzz Faces is a goal. And DeLoreans.

 

[the-trooper]

Me on forum:
Why yes my god sir, I do indeed organize my music room. Infact, it is becoming a bit of a problem with all my guitars, amplifiers, digital modelers, cabinets, and other assorted musical equipment.

Me in reality: