Similar to any aspiring music producer who has ever purchased a DAW, I produce the majority of my work in the comfort of my own home, spending hours upon hours of time confined to my room creating music (aptly dubbed bedroom production).
Aside from the room itself, desk space can be just as important when creating a comfortable and accessible environment to create in. A dysfunctional workspace can discourage productive workflow.
In the same way a dysfunctional workplace can damage creative flow, a comfortable space can conduce quality creative output, especially when it comes to bedroom production.
Comfort
Being comfortable in any workspace is a necessity for producing quality output. A studio is somewhere you will be spending a great deal of time so comfort should be high on your priority list. I recommend installing some kind of low lighting to ensure your eyes don’t tire quickly as well comfortable seating. Sitting for hours in an inappropriate chair can cause serious back and neck problems, on top of this try to take regular breaks to go outside and stretch your limbs and head.
Creating Your Space
When rolling off musical ideas that spring to mind when producing, it is incredibly important to have all available equipment within an arm’s reach. Personally I like to include a variety of live instruments in my production, particularly vocals, guitar, trumpet and at times piano – I use this instrumentation to create my desk space by keeping a condenser and instrument microphone on my desk.
My amplifiers are located at my feet and keyboard on a stand next to my desk. With this positioning, I can access all instruments by sitting in the middle of them all with my laptop directly in front of me. Having instruments in sight while you’re working is also a great source of inspiration, if I’m ever stuck on track I can swivel my chair to find a new instrument and sequentially, a new musical idea.
Changing Your Space
I highly encourage changing up your workspace every once in a while, rearranging your area can be incredibly beneficial for your headspace and creative output. If you have a range of instruments at hand try substituting and/or removing whatever you use least.
However, if you’re comfortable as is then, by all means, do not feel obligated to change it up.
