The Desk

[ckett]

Jesse,

Some very cool design ideas here. I currently have a Faderport and am looking into adding the Mackie Controls. I used to have the older ones with the P&G faders and didnt like the feel of those. Are the Mackie ALPS faders as nice as the Faderport? I know the Faderport also has ALPS faders but they may not be the same model.

[Jesse Peterson]

My retired EXT was an older model with p&g, I know what you mean.

The Alps faders on the mackies will look a bit jerky in read mode but this is normal and is basically cosmetic. They are much quieter then the P&Gs and input is totally smooth with identical feel as the faderport. I actually popped the fader cap off my mackie master which I have no use for and switched it with the faderport.

[Jesse Peterson]

In depth review of the Novation Zero.

I got my Novation Zero SLII. It is designed for keyboard players and does not really fit into my set up comfortably at the moment. I have it mounted on a shelf I built primarily for coffee below by my right hand. Sort of like a center console and throttle section of an airplane. The zero angles up, it's a little over an inch tall at the front and about 3 inches tall in the back. I took the case off last night just to confirm a suspicion I had and sure enough, the actual guts are less that an inch thick. I can easily mount the zero permanently into the desk face and run the USB and power under the surface. I will need to do a little electronics work to get the power switch accessible, but it's worth it. Unfortunately, the multi-pin ribbons are glued to the board so I won't be able to to run extensions between the surface board and the USB/MIDI/PWR board.

Not sure yet where I'll mount it though.

The real power of this unit is the Automap software that it comes with. Automap is a wrapper that works with rtas, vst, vst3, au, 64bit, etc etc. Automap also works well with jBridge (you must automap wrap first, then jbridge wrap). Once you wrap a plugin, everytime it is open on the screen, the controls of the Zero are mapped to the plug in. You are not limited to any style of plug in, if it can be automated, then it can be mapped more or less. Each plug in map is in the order of it's components by default, but you can change this to anything you want and save it as the default map for that particular plugin. Below is a shot of my EQuality map. The zero communicates with the wrapper, the wrapper communicates with the plug in via USB midi.

Zero also has something they call speed dial. Speed dial takes control over anything that your mouse is hovering over just like the similar feature on the euphonix desks.

There is an issue right now with the default nuendo plug ins.. some of which are very useful. Automap, automatically gathers rtas and vst3 plugin from the places they are supposed to be. But even though there is 64bit support, automap is not looking where 64bit default vst3's are stored. This includes the surround panner that is built into every channel in nuendo. I have work arounds for this at the moment, but I'm hoping that this can be fixed and I'm talking to tech about it now.

The scribble strip display on this unit SUCKS. I really debated keeping it until I found a work around. Basically, unless you are right in front of it, you can't read it. There are no brightness or contrast controls. Also, the more rings of LED lights that are illuminated, the dimmer the scribble strip gets.. it's basically useless. However...

Automap has a little feature called, auto view. Autoview is easily engaged and disengaged and when it's on all you have to do is touch the controller.. whatever plug in is mapped at that time will pop up on the window that is pictured below. That window will stay upfront for as long as you're touching the unit and disappear about 3 seconds after you let go. For me this nulls out the scribble strip issue. I can touch the unit and whatever I'm touching will highlight in the window with out actuall moving the control. this makes it really easy to fumble around in the dark and get the control I'm after.

The Zero also has a USER mode. This is a generic midi control that can be engaged by one touch on the surface. When switched to user mode, the surface can control anything in Nuendo the same way my Traktor units do. I have not gone into depth with this mode yet other than a quick test of a few controls to see if they work.. and they do

Novation Zero SLmkII

Pros
Inexpensive but very powerful controller. sturdy plastic construction and good resistance on the controls. Totally customizable. LED rings, touch sensitive, plug in mapping, lots of illuminated soft buttons.

Cons
Scribble strip and design of the controls layout. No surround pan control at the moment.

[Dan Smith]

I looked awhile at getting some of the novation products, specifically the Zero and the Nocturn for controlling plug-ins. While I like the features that Automap offers, I found that it wouldn't work well in my setup. One, I'd seen the scribble strip and like you said, its junk. With the Nocturn there isn't one at all. But that's not a huge deal since its smaller and would be used to tweak the plugins where a readout wouldn't been as needed.

The deal breaker for me was the session compatibility with others. I do a great deal of collaboration with others and I do quite a bit of freelance work and do almost all my final mixes in various studios and stages in the area. Unfortunately, Automap requires you to have Automap installed on every system when you open the session. At some studios they might accommodate but having others on sound teams etc, or at school where I don't have administrative rights on the computers, it seems like it'd be too much of a hassle.

Jesse was there a reason you went with the tools you did instead of something like the C4 Pro from Mackie? Seems like it would have been a logical addition to your setup.

I know you mostly use Nuendo but mentioned you had Pro Tools. How is controlling plug-ins with the Mackie MCU?

Wonderful thread and I really enjoy reading your in-depth reviews.

[Jesse Peterson]

Thank you Dan ,

Up until I starting working on this, I did all my plug control with the mackie faders in flip mode. Originally it was just the main MCU for many months. Occasionally I'd grab a pot but in general, I like the feel of the faders better. Fader has much better definition as opposed to a notch click of the rotory. Even with all this stuff in here, I still grab the faders when I need to make dynamic moves.

I personally have never touched a C4, but I assume that pots are all the same style as the MCU and I didn't feel like I'd be able to get the control I really wanted. My primary concern with plug in control was that it be localized since I'd be doing it a lot. After adding the EXT faders, my arms would be sore at the end of the day from flailing all over the place down the line of controls. So with both of those issues at hand, I knew I'd have to come up with something else.

I use protools primarily to ingest and export when I need to and that is about it. Any mix/plugin work I've done with it was done prior to having any sort of remote and was mostely editing. I did try the mackie set up briefly with it just to experiment. The combination of HUI mode and different default button set up etc etc.. and the fact that I don't care for protools.. just sort of put a damper on it. So to answer your question, I don't know how well the mackie controls plugins in protools and I haven't had the need to explore it further.

I'd bet that mackie +automap would be a great combo though if your mixing in one spot like I am.

I do not collaborate with others very often. When I do, it's usually someone I'm teaching and it's usually in Nuendo. I am the end of the line and I work here and no where else. Until there is a Nuendo film room in NYC.. I'll start holding my breath now.

[Jesse Peterson]

Right when I was getting ready for finishing and staining etc...

I started getting offered protools mixing gigs and this Frankenstein beast I created just did not cut it. I found it very difficult to work with the same confidence and it was just a huge deal breaker for me. Simultaneously, one of the scribble strips on my mackie mcu went dark and didn't wake up. Such a simple little Achilles' heal. My whole space ship was about to blow up because of an O ring.

It quickly became obvious that was about to lose more money in missed opportunity than I actually put into it if I didn't replace it with something else. So I did.

I picked up avid control, mix and transport. Between the 3 pieces they more or less do everything I wanted out of the original idea as well as a few things I couldn't do. But now give me multi platform support. I kept the novation controller. It fits a little better now since the avid's aren't as deep as the mackies. I kept the traktor controllers also but they don't actually do anything in pro-tools.

The avid system with Nuendo is like peanut butter and jelly. It's a total extension of my brain and I'm really enjoying it. It's faster, better feedback. Protools has a ways to go in general, especially with Eucon. I imagine PT10 is on it's way with 64bit support and great eucon coverage. I'm feeling well armed right now.

There is a sequence of events unfolding before me a split second before I can dream it up. Never ending lucid de ja vu. It's almost like I think to myself "hmm, you know what would be cool?..." and there it is right in front of me.

I'm finding it very difficult to describe how that relates to the desk but it does. What it was, what it is now and what it's leading up to next is just tangible physical evidence of an insanely enjoyable journey where every little detail comes full circle, every mistake has a lesson and every move brings me close to awareness of how much more there is to know. Along the way I get to make people's stuff sound good. I win

[philper]

Congrats on getting busy. Notice how that always seems to happen just as you are about to implement a big change in your setup! (I have an entirely new DAW set up ready for testing, but the hits just keep on coming, as the saying goes: "The freelancer makes hay while the sun shines..."). I liked your door-rig a lot--and I'm unclear on what became of your rig? Are you still using that routed-out door, but now with little Euphonics type controllers instead of the Mackie and the Faderport and Novation stuff? Or did you bail on the whole deal and start over with a new setup with the new controllers?

phil p

[Jesse Peterson]

I bailed on the mackies and routed out door.

I got a new door and screwed wrist wrest thing on to it, but for now it's just a table top, no cuts will be made for a while. I've sort of restarted the whole quest and centered it around the avids. Most important to me is being able to talk to multiple pieces of software. and I'll get back to tinkering soon.

[Jesse Peterson]

Here's the initial design of The Desk V2 built around the avid controllers. It is designed to comfortably work with in any phase of a project. Many thanks to Bobby Summerfield and his transformer desk idea.
The panel the controls are mounted on will be on rails and can slide back revealing a keyboard and mouse underneath. Above the avid units is a 4u rack on the left and a mounted Novation zero on the right. In the center there will be a QWERTY keyboard for quick access when the panel is foward. There will also be a fancy Human Scale tray underneath for flexibility. The little rectangles on the front are trays that will slide out and lock into place. They can hold coffee, a mouse, whatever. The center tray will be a bit larger and is design to connect a flight simulator yoke lol.. but will also support a midi keyboard. The sidecars will hold the Traktor Kontrol 1 controllers represented by the black rectangles and an iPad (not shown). On the back angle you can see where the monitor arms will clamp. I want room to tuck them low and out of the way. The legs can be used for storage. All wiring will be hidden internally and it will have a built in A/C outlets, USB hub, Cat5 and firewire connections on the front for clients with a main hookup on the back. I'm considering turning one of the legs into an iso box when I figure out how to do that correctly.

I made these designs using google sketchup, it's free.

[insomaniac]

Nice, V2 looks pretty slick! Are you going to base it around the door as in version 1?

[jahtao]

Maaan. Ergonomics have got to be in the top 3 or 5 most important parts of our job. For realz!!

[Jesse Peterson]

I'm not sure what the future of the door is at this point. Since I started this quest a lot of things have changed technologically. I sold the whole mackie system and now that I have full Eucon coverage in Pro Tools, Nuendo and everyone else, I get the serious controller I was after for just a few thousand dollars. Add an iPad and pretty much anything is possible. I do miss the layout of my original mackie desk but the added functions of the Avids make up the difference. So now the focus is mostly ergonomics. I have a herniated disc in my neck, it acts up a couple times a year and it's very painful. I've been building this desk in my mind for while now because it's been bothering me a lot.

The 2nd major goal is portability. Currently, my door is sitting on top of a $150 P.O.S. from ikea. This desk is not design to be moved because it can not support it's own weight unless it's just sitting still. It will literally fall apart if you pick it up while it's assembled. Desk v2 will be made of 4-5 separate sturdy parts and can more or less be taken apart and moved by one person if needed. Living and working in NYC, I feel like this is a must.

I was inspired in a huge way by this TRANSFORMER MUSIC DAW TABLE - YouTube

[Jesse Peterson]

My wife and I moved to a new place last week and I've had a chance to start from scratch. I spoke with a contractor and what I want is still a little bit out of reach financially so I'm back to the door+spare parts..



Here's the door, just a desk topper for now while I continue to work out what I need. It's sitting on top of two ikea pieces that are exactly 27.5" tall. New molding trim on the front. The rounded trimworked great in most ways but it prevented me from clipping on peripherals when I needed too. This weekend, it will be upholstered in black faux leather over foam.





This is the top of the old shitty desk from Amazon that everything used to sit on top of. Since these units aren't built to stay together when you move them, I just gutted it for parts. It is tilted up using a 2x4 in the back to deal with reflections, also to increase the visability of the Avid Control touchscreen without using the risers. Also pictured is the Kensington ergonomic keyboard tray. It's cheaper than Humanscale and it's pretty clear why. It does work though and it is comfortable. It will tuck away completely under the desk with out sacrificing leg room.





I drilled holes in the top of the brown piece to run cables and keep it neat. I think the ethernet and power design on the Avid units is really messy. This way the mess can stay hidden under the angled top.




From the back with the controllers attached





Here's a little shelf that is also built from parts of the old desk. It's not long enough and will be replaced, but this is the main idea. It is screwed into 2 small pieces of 2x1 and fits perfectly over the ethernet/power cables to conceal them. On the far side is just a make shift extension of the shelf for now.




I added my Novation Zero to the shelf as well as another keyboard. I had always had a problem with the novation. It's a really useful unit but it just never really fit anywhere. I think this is solved now. When I'm editing, the tray is out and I have decent access to the faders if I need to do something quickly. When I'm mixing, the tray goes away and my faders are right up front. The additional keyboard (2nd mouse not pictured) is right there for easy access instead of having to deal with the tray. The Novation and traktor units are with in arms distance and I do not have to lean forward at all unless I'm slouching.




Here's what it looks like at the moment. I have these floor to ceiling moving blankets on order that will cover the walls and it will be another couple weeks before I'm actually mixing anything in here. But I'm really pleased for now. The monitor off to the side has proven to be awful on the neck. My current monitor arm does not stretch as far as I need and it's position is also temporary. There is another arm I have my eyes on that I will mount in the front. It'll be right up in my face-ish when editing and tuck down below the center speaker when mixing.

[Jesse Peterson]

Here's a shot of the new wrist pad. Finally got it all wrapped, feels nice and looks pretty

[philper]

Originally Posted by Jesse Peterson

Here's a shot of the new wrist pad. Finally got it all wrapped, feels nice and looks pretty

Looks great! Tell me again what the silver fader box is, and what you use it for?

phil p

[Jesse Peterson]

Originally Posted by philper

Looks great! Tell me again what the silver fader box is, and what you use it for?

phil p

It's a novation Zero SLmkII. It works as a midi controller and also works with plugins that are wrapped with it's Automap software. In a nutshell, when a plug in is open on the screen, that unit will automatically update itself to be a controller for it. It's midi control is really flexible too, you can very quickly assign hardware to software functions and instruments. Learn mode is very similar to the D control plug in mapping.

Automap version 3.7.4 is what I use, they just came out with v4 and broke everything that was good about it..

[Dan Smith]

its funny how a simple wrist pad can make something that is so awesome and make it that much better. haha. And that much better comfort-wise as well. As always good work sir. So I am assuming you have surrounds in there as well since I can see you have LCR and a sub. But I thought I'd ask. How is it working in the new space. Looks a little tight. Have any plans for treating the room or is this just a temporary space? Again, very nice job.

[Jesse Peterson]

Yes I do have surrounds and it is a little tight compared to commercial rooms I have been in, however, it looks smaller in these picture and it's way bigger than what I just spend the last 5 years in. New place is 14x12 and I will be treating the walls with moving blankets and corner traps. Found this company that makes extra large floor to ceiling moving pads with grommets already built in. They are on back order and should show up in the next 2 weeks. I have done one short easy gig in here this weekend and it needs help, but I'm excited. I really like the physical layout of stuff. I really like having the space to to make it work. I finally have all my speakers at ear level instead of shooting down from above the screen. There are so many thing I like about it. I had just about given up in the other room, too small to put another dime into it. I'll keep posting pics as it comes together.

The angled shelf made from spare parts rocks, I going to build something more permanent and finished down the line. I'll be adding a 2nd MC mix to the set up at some point and I'll probably do it then.

[stangroom]

Jesse, check out the Ergotron LX Arms for your monitor! That's what's in Studio B over here, and I just bought one for Studio A as well cause I love them so much.

The new setup looks great dude!

[Jesse Peterson]

Originally Posted by stangroom

Jesse, check out the Ergotron LX Arms for your monitor! That's what's in Studio B over here, and I just bought one for Studio A as well cause I love them so much.

The new setup looks great dude!

HAHA awesome, that is exactly what I just ordered the other day! Thanks Chris.. so long Vicodin!! Hello full range of motion!!

[Jesse Peterson]

Monitor arm is here. Here is some pics.

In edit mode, the monitor easily sits right up front with the keyboard and mouse. I still have access to the touch screen on the control and the jog wheel on the transport.

In mix mode, the keyboard is gone, and the monitor tucks back and below. I'm happy with this. I can still clearly see the edit window and it is below the center speaker. This LX monitor arm cost me about $120 on amazon and it has all the reach and stability that I was looking for. Right now it is clamped to the back of the desk, but it also shipped with a kit where you can drill a hole and mount it anywhere.

At the end of the day.. no more irritation to my neck.


This keyboard tray is doing exactly what I want, but it is temporary. I still have to change my seat position when I switch modes. The sliding desktop on rails that will replace most of what I built from spare parts will be the next major upgrade.

[NReichman]

Bringing this back for special thanks to everyone and GGegan especially. I just made a beautiful standing height table for my home editing studio with Kee Klamps, fence post and plywood. After staining and putting poly on the wood and metal, it looks great.

This height is terrific, too. Considering bringing it to the studio and raising my entire mix room up to standing height. We'll see...