What's in a Desk?

Until recently, my piano (a six-foot Grand) was on the left side of my 14’ x 10’ studio. Problem was, my recording gear was on the righthand side. To record anything on the piano, I’d have to set up mics, run cables across the floor, get up and down from the piano to check recording levels on the screen eight feet away, find the cable that wasn’t plugged in right, move a mic this way or that, and hope that after all that, I still remembered the idea I wanted to record. I’ve been dreaming of a set up that puts my recording gear right next to the piano. I want a space where everything is permanently set-up; that if the creative spirit moves me, all I have to do is press Record.

I’ve drawn it all out on graph paper: scale cut-outs of every piece of equipment, every size and type of surface I could choose, every arrangement of the furniture I already have. I’ve measured heights, widths, and lengths so many times, my brain’s in a knot. I’ve thought about solid core doors on filing cabinets, hiring a furniture maker, or buying an almost perfect pre-made desk at the studio equipment store. But I’m nervous about not getting it right, or spending too much money, or forgetting a critical detail – like the one about being a singer and wanting the vocal mic to be right there too.

In his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King tells a story about his own desk. He bought a big fancy one after his first million bucks. He promptly shoved his beat-up old garage-sale desk into a corner. It didn’t take long for him to realize the highfalutin desk put the kibosh on his writing. His ego had bought that desk. What he needed was his funky old desk back. I’ve got that story in mind as I think about my desk.

Yesterday, I found myself asking if the act of designing a desk is more compelling for me than the songs I’m hoping to write. When I shared that thought with my friend Sam who’s a woodworker, he told me he’d wondered the same thing when he was putting his woodshop together. A year ago, he spent 100% of his time figuring out where his equipment needed to go. Now, he’s making things 80% of the time, tweaking the space the other 20%. That’s a ratio I’m looking forward to.

This is the experimental set-up: Piano is moved around so the keys are in the center of the room, the computer’s to my piano-playing right. When I have my new desk, the smaller keyboard on the right will be in front of the computer monitor, and the vocal mic will be where the smaller piano is now. It’s cramped! But at least I won’t have to get up and down all the time to get anything done. Cannot wait! And for you WAMC fans, notice the bobblehead of Alan Chartok in the sunlit window.

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