My (Current) Work Setup (June 2020)

After my recent post about work process streamlining I got a few comments and messages asking about my personal work setup so I thought it might be a good idea to cover this in a  dedicated post.

This place is a constant work in progress so it might look very different already in a few months but for now this is how it looks like.

When setting up a work environment, it is of course essential to consider your personal work profile and optimize accordingly. My personal work profile is about 80% notation work and 20% production work so I built my work place with a higher focus on notation than on production. I don't own any external outboard gear as I usually outsource mixing anyway. Even though the room is treated acoustically to some extent I would never consider it to have a reference frequency response in order to be able to mix properly in it anyway.

Here's a list of what I'm using and why I'm using it:

Main Computer:  PC Platform with Windows 10 

Custom built (2013) with an i7 3930K and 64 GB of RAM. I have upgraded a few components (SSD Space and Graphics Card) since I got it but it has served me well for the last seven years. On larger projects, the RAM tends to become the bottle neck so there will probably be an update necessary in medium future. I have always been on PC platform and since Win 10 have been content with its stability and features. I see that some of the workflows on Mac are more elegant but personally for me, it doesn't justify the price.

Audio Interface:  RME Fireface UC 

Not much to say about this. Rock solid drivers, great functions, great sound. Never had an issue with it.

Screens: Hisense 43" 4K TV (Main), Asus Zen Screen USB (bottom right), Samsung Syncmaster 2693HM (Auxiliary, top right)

Until recently I had a dual monitor setup with two FullHD screens and one with tilt function. I decided to go for a large screen with 4K resolution as for notation and score sheet overview a lot of screen space is essential in order to avoid scrolling too much. As I'm not doing any colour sensitive work I decided that getting a rather cheap TV would be absolutely sufficient. It took a bit of time to get used to it as of course having that much screen space involves more head turning but the pro sides of being able to read and work on even a large score sheet without needing to scroll vertically has proven to be invaluable.

For DAW work, it is also benefitial as I can display way more tracks at once than I could originally.

The smaller screen to my right is a USB powered Full HD Asus ZenScreen. It can easily be tilted by 90° so I can use it to display for instance PDFs that I'm transfering to notation. In DAW use I put the Mixer on it.

The third screen is a rather old 27" Samsung which I only use when I'm scoring to picture to put the video on.

Speakers:  APS Klasik 

I did a shootout with a few speakers that would fit the size and budget I wanted to invest in them with these speakers being the clear winner. I wouldn't consider them at a reference level (like for instance ATC) but they are very solid for "every day work". I tilted the right one by 180° to have both tweeters at ear level. The lens distortion of the picture makes it seem like the right speaker is further back which is not the case.

Midi Keybaords:

Piano Yamaha P121 (Silent) 

This is about 4 years old and I bought it after trying out several 88 Key Midi Controllers back then with none of them feeling like a real piano. This model comes with a silent module  that allows me to mute the hammers and get a MIDI output from it, so I can comfortably use it as 88 Key Master Keyboard

M-Audio Keystudio

I think this one is not being produced anymore but it is a simple 49 Key Midi Controller that allows me to input things quickly without needing to rotate to the Yamaha. The touch and action is very plastic-y but that doesn't matter for step time input in notation software. I'm thinking about a NI Komplete Kontrol 49 to replace it for the NKS functions but for now it works reasonably well.

DAW Controller: Presonus Faderport 16 

As my main DAW is Studio One, having this DAW controller was a no brainer as the integration with it is just phenomenal. I'm a big fan of haptic feedback so being able to touch faders and buttons has been great. I can mix an entire session on this without needing to touch the mouse. Since a recent firmware update you can set it into MIDI mode and use it to write CC which is a great addition. It also allows for quicker navigation in a session.

Button Controllers: Elgato Streamdeck & Streamdeck XL

To the left of my Keyboard I have placed two of those. Since I got them, they have become indispensable for me. For Notation programs (Dorico and Sibelius) I use customized versions of the Notation Express profiles for it. The smaller one holds the note values so I can use my left hand to pick the note values on it and my right hand to input the notes on the Midi Keyboard. The larger one holds all the functions that I can quickly access. Particularly multi step functions have become incredibly fast with these. And again the haptic feedback of pressing actual buttons is great.

In Studio One, I have created my own profiles for the two, optimizing the shortcuts to work best with my personal workflow of creating mockups which is based around importing MIDI data from Notation into the DAW to create a Mockup from this. So a lot of MIDI functions like overlap notes, move note x ms earlier, adjust velocity etc. are quickly accessible.

Mouse: Logitech MX Master 3

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a good mouse as you use it extensively. This one comes with 4 assignable buttons that you can customize on a per app basis that hold the most important functions. It also comes with a horizontal and vertical scroll wheel. Particularly the horizontal one is essential in Notation and DAW work.

Keyboard: Speedlink (backlit)

This is a rather slim keyboard with rather short strokes. The important function for me is that it is backlit which makes night work a bit easier. Otherwise I'm not very picky about keyboards.

Work Ergonomy:

I tried to place everything that I need to touch without needing to change my position or in the case of the piano just by rotating the chair. Anything that I need to stretch for or move in order to touch it would slow down the work process so I try to avoid it. I also tried to place all things according to my dexterity with the Streamdecks being to the left to switch functions while having the right hand on the midi keyboard.