Messy or not, what's on your (music) work desk right now?

[tauzero]

17 hours ago, kiat said:

Blimey! Wasn't expecting the...errr...creativeness What stuff do you make with all those parts? 

 

Just odds and sods - a few Arduino and ESP32 projects, the odd preamp, and quite a few things that I've started and never got round to finishing (I suspect I suffer from terminal executive dysfunction). And some I've got round to getting the parts to do and then forgotten what it was I was going to do with them.

[kiat]

18 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

Just odds and sods - a few Arduino and ESP32 projects, the odd preamp, and quite a few things that I've started and never got round to finishing (I suspect I suffer from terminal executive dysfunction). And some I've got round to getting the parts to do and then forgotten what it was I was going to do with them.

Similar here in my electronics project (box) room that my music gear grew out of. Least you've got stuff to go back to.

[Hellzero]

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

 

Just odds and sods - a few Arduino and ESP32 projects, the odd preamp, and quite a few things that I've started and never got round to finishing (I suspect I suffer from terminal executive dysfunction). And some I've got round to getting the parts to do and then forgotten what it was I was going to do with them.

Procrastination, I know that too, but the things go in the barn part of the house: Good trick.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

18 hours ago, kiat said:

You did well to capture all of that in one picture without tidying up 😁 @RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE . Task completed 💪 💯. Work in progress, nothing wrong in that! 

Thank you kindly 😀👍 

Enthusiasm returned . I have made more of an effort since those pics were taken . It will still a while . One step forward 22 steps back etc.

Will soon be discarding 3 moog boxes along with the Tv Boxes and other rubbish etc . Oh, the joys of living in a converted Victorian flat ! 😮‍💨😀

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

4 hours ago, kiat said:

Ok, time for me to fess up. Upstairs, right now, in my original office/workshop where I do anything, mostly IT and electronics, not DIY or music stuff, except soldering cables and whatnot....

though have done some downstairs in my m̶u̶s̶i̶c̶ ̶r̶o̶o̶m̶ front room which I've taken over to do all my music at home, which is this....

 

Amazingly my wife has let me get away with this. But she thinks both are messy, however I tidy them up. Maybe not surprisingly our visitors to the front room these days tend to be musicians 😎🎸🥁

This looks very inspirational ! Nice job ! 👍

 

 

[bass_dinger]

My desk. 

 

A pair of Roland Cakewalk powered speakers; Kurzweil SP76 piano; E-MU Classic Keys Module for extra sounds; all into a Xenyx 802 mixer (plus a line-in for the bass guitar); which all connects to a Yamaha AG03 mixer/interface. 

 

The PC is new, too - the old one wouldn't run Windows 11, and only had the ability to drive one PC monitor.

 

 

All this will change next week.  EBay, basschat, and Thomann have together worked to enable a major upgrade. 

[bass_dinger]

On 09/09/2025 at 19:55, bass_dinger said:

My desk. 

 

A pair of Roland Cakewalk powered speakers; Kurzweil SP76 piano; E-MU Classic Keys Module for extra sounds; all into a Xenyx 802 mixer (plus a line-in for the bass guitar); which all connects to a Yamaha AG03 mixer/interface. 

 

The PC is new, too - the old one wouldn't run Windows 11, and only had the ability to drive one PC monitor.

 

 

All this will change next week.  EBay, basschat, and Thomann have together worked to enable a major upgrade. 

 

Now, with two PC monitors, a self-built rack unit (which also serves as a monitor riser), a new Behringer UMC1820 interface, and a new-to-me Behringer rack tuner.

 

Those rack mounted units keeps the desk clear.

 

[tauzero]

 

New music/computer room. I'm already worried I haven't got enough space.

[bass_dinger]

1 minute ago, tauzero said:

 

New music/computer room. I'm already worried I haven't got enough space.

 

Not enough space? You could install a model railway on the table and still have enough room for a four-piece jazz combo on the floor space!

[paul_5]

Playing around with a tube overdrive using Matsumin’s Valvecaster circuit. I’ve changed the caps to allow more bass through and boosted the input to create a higher signal level into the drive stage. I’m waiting for some capacitors rated at 63v to add a charge pump to supply the tube plates with 30 odd volts. So far it sounds great!

Edited November 29, 2025 by paul_5

[rushbo]

I'm lucky to have a dinky little box room to tinker with things and practice my bass parts. I'm feeling smug as I've just finished setting up my almost-but-not-quite John Wetton tribute bass, which I put together a couple of days ago. 

[bass_dinger]

8 minutes ago, rushbo said:

I'm lucky to have a dinky little box room to tinker with things and practice my bass parts. I'm feeling smug as I've just finished setting up my almost-but-not-quite John Wetton tribute bass, which I put together a couple of days ago. 

The neatness of an office, the tools of a workshop, and the accessibility of a spare bedroom. 

 

It's a good space to use - not just the desk, but also the whole room. 

 

Edited November 30, 2025 by bass_dinger

[Geek99]

12 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

New music/computer room. I'm already worried I haven't got enough space.

You could fit a trumpian-ego into that 

[Geek99]

12 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

 

Not enough space? You could install a model railway on the table and still have enough room for a four-piece jazz combo on the floor space!

Save space by putting the jazz combo under the desks. It would also stop them raising their instruments and so stop spiralling, which as we all know “is jazz” **
 

 

** attention jazz-fans : please watch the Motown documentary film “The Commitments” before flaming me with posts along the lines of “jazz is just so much more than that” and “thats country jazz, we don’t play that around here” 

Edited November 30, 2025 by Geek99

[ped]

This is my office. Spot the pedalboard!

 

 

[Dood]

I could tell you what is on my desk right now, but then I might get in to a bit of trouble. I can tell you that a couple of months ago I was involved with prototype testing of a super nice 'signature model' device for a really rather well known bassist. I provided consultancy and product evaluation with cups of tea, to tweak the features to make them just right. It's important that products have a feature set that meets the needs of a wide range of players.

 

This week I have shot an in-depth brand product feature video to go with its release...  which is imminent...

 

 

#BestJobInTheWorld 

[StickyDBRmf]

I love the headstock plant sculpture!

[mike257]

This was my "desk" at work over the last couple of weeks. Out with a band that I'm tour managing, but we'd had to downsize the larger crew from our UK gigs for some smaller European shows, which meant I had some multitasking to do. 

 

This is my corner for guitar teching, mixing the IEMs off the iPad there, and that little Fender combo and Tele to the left was for me to jump on and play guitar for five songs because we couldn't fit the extra session guitarist in the downsized tour setup! 

 

[Owen]

I guess this is the most obvious thread to put this conundrum to the hive mind. 

 

I have a desk which is a slab of MDF cut to fit sideways into one side of a chimney breast. It is almost 8'x4' and I can get LOADS of stuff on to it. Of course, the problem is that having that much space means that I actually DO have LOADS of stuff on it. I have an old bloke vanity project of subjecting the world to the noise I make when I record. I can not actually get to the kit which is buried under LOADS of stuff to pursue the creative process. Of course, I could just keep the desk tidy. But I cannot. I am not wired that way. 

 

I have been wondering about a writing bureau with the innards ripped out and mounting a widescreen monitor in there. This would be exclusively a workstation which could be closed, and the room would look significantly less cluttered. I would need monitor speakers on external stands.  It looks as if my idea would need a supersized bureau, which does not seem to exist. I am not going to commission one because that would be ridiculous money. I have twin visual monitors at the moment, but could go for an ultrawide jobbie quite happily. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

 

[ped]

40 minutes ago, Owen said:

I guess this is the most obvious thread to put this conundrum to the hive mind. 

 

I have a desk which is a slab of MDF cut to fit sideways into one side of a chimney breast. It is almost 8'x4' and I can get LOADS of stuff on to it. Of course, the problem is that having that much space means that I actually DO have LOADS of stuff on it. I have an old bloke vanity project of subjecting the world to the noise I make when I record. I can not actually get to the kit which is buried under LOADS of stuff to pursue the creative process. Of course, I could just keep the desk tidy. But I cannot. I am not wired that way. 

 

I have been wondering about a writing bureau with the innards ripped out and mounting a widescreen monitor in there. This would be exclusively a workstation which could be closed, and the room would look significantly less cluttered. I would need monitor speakers on external stands.  It looks as if my idea would need a supersized bureau, which does not seem to exist. I am not going to commission one because that would be ridiculous money. I have twin visual monitors at the moment, but could go for an ultrawide jobbie quite happily. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

 

Something like this for sure. Retro monitors mounted at an angle. Like from a James Bond film. Bonus points if you have facial recognition software which prints out pictures of Chick Corea

 

 

[bass_dinger]

9 hours ago, Owen said:

I have been wondering about a writing bureau with the innards ripped out and mounting a widescreen monitor in there.

 

Look on ebay for writing desks and Welsh dressers.

 

They are pretty much unsellable especially if they are dark brown wood, made in the 70s or 80s, and definitely if they are huge.

 

Convert the draw fronts into drop down flaps to reveal a sliding tray for a electric piano or mixing desk, put a rack unit and amplifier into the cupboard on the bottom.

 

If the top unit has glass doors, hang curtains inside to obscure the PC monitor and powered monitors.  Go big on lots of shelves and alcoves for storage - as you have already discovered, having one single 8'×4' shelf leads to a messy layout.

 

Try also local auctioDepending ouses, Facebook market place, and house clearance companies.  Even if they don't want that sort of furniture, they might be willing to tell you about it.

 

If you buy yourself a Victorian piano stool to place in front of the unit, you will have somewhere to sit that matches the unit. 

 

Depending on the layout and size of the unit you could use it to store bass guitars.  Perhaps you might buy a second unit (a wardrobe) to store the instruments. 

Edited 4 hours ago by bass_dinger

[tauzero]

3 hours ago, Owen said:

I have a desk which is a slab of MDF cut to fit sideways into one side of a chimney breast. It is almost 8'x4' and I can get LOADS of stuff on to it. Of course, the problem is that having that much space means that I actually DO have LOADS of stuff on it. I have an old bloke vanity project of subjecting the world to the noise I make when I record. I can not actually get to the kit which is buried under LOADS of stuff to pursue the creative process. Of course, I could just keep the desk tidy. But I cannot. I am not wired that way. 

 

I think we were separated at birth.

 

What you could try (with no guarantee that this will work) is to put up four 8' x 1' (if we're insisting on using antique measurements) shelves above the current desk-like object, and transfer the topmost strata from said desk-like object to the shelves. This will also allow you to impose a temporary organisation on the objects thereby moved, and possibly even dispose of some of them (unlikely, I know, but you may find the right hard place in your heart).