At the office I try and keep a tidy space, somewhere healthy between OCD and a rats nest. I can typically clean house in 5 minutes to get the room presentable for clients. But I must say, I do like piles. They remind me of what needs to be done, and eliminating a pile equals accomplishment.

At the console I always need a legal pad within reach. Sharpies, highlighters, pencils are usually strewn about. A work order usually sits atop a stack of Mix & EQ mags. But that's about all the desk space I have in my immediate area. To the right we have a client desk and that's played host to a pile or two in its time. Two guitars and a bass stand in the corner, next to the MIDI keyboard that I set up when the need arises. Guitar pedals line the floor just below the patch bay for when I either a) have a free moment or b) need some inspiration.

I try and keep anything that makes noise up by me. Only quiet items should fall into the client domain, coffee table books, Sudoku and other silent time-occupiers. But if we're done with a mix, and you want to kill some time while I'm making files or whatever, sure, you can play my guitar.

I do like to streamline things. Reaching awkwardly over my keyboard for a fader too many times resulted in a new, apple low-profile keyboard. That ache in my right shoulder went away when I unplugged my mouse and started using keyboard shortcuts. Direct result? I got faster both at editing and mixing.

In an attempt to focus my attention a bit I have started using "Spaces" on my Mac. Pro Tools and only Pro Tools gets space 1. Email, internet, and other eyeball drawing distractions get put away in one space. Productivity apps (calendars, ftp, toast, etc.) get another.

But the number one thing that is key to my workspace is a solid, sound-proof door. Not only because it shuts out the noise (distractions) from the hall. But when it's closed, I have my own experimental performance stage. It's total playtime, and nobody but me is there to judge it. I can make all the mistakes I need to in order to get to the right answer, and when I emerge a genius it's only because no one else heard all the failures. ;) Plus, no one wants to hear you rocking out during your free moment when they aren't as lucky!

I like to keep my floor carpeted and clean. I get tired easily when I'm editing so I always end up taking a nap on the floor. For some reason I continue to tell myself that because the floor is hard and uncomfortable, I'll wake up at some point to continue working. :D

I like to put toys on my desk and speakers too. When I do some late sessions and the director wants to sit in, I ask them to buy me a Happy Meal from MacDonald's for me for supper, and keep the toy around to play with.

And when I'm starting out on a project, usually setting it up, cleaning the dialogue or whatever mundane task, I like to have a film running in the background. Usually with the director's, sound designer's or composer's commentary switched on. I think this kinda started when I was in uni and whilst attending lectures, I would listen till I got inspired by something and then start working on my project work then and continue drifting in and out of what was being said.

I aspire to minimalism but fail regularly, and I've heard people say things like 'tidy mind, messy workspace' and vice versa... which makes me feel better. But my goals of minimalism are thwarted by (cue technical term) 'doing stuff' - you simply do not find interesting sounds from a pile of metal (or whatever) through having a tidy workspace. Show me a tidy foley room and I'll show you someone who hasn't done much work lately.

Organised and seemingly chaotic, is different to actually chaotic. If you have to record ADR in your foley room (god/jah/buddha forbid) or have commercial clients or anyone who doesnt really appreciate that sound design is a messy, experimental business that requires you to get your hands dirty, then it is your job to educate them. Every director I've worked with gets a big smile on their face when I demonstrate some VERY random props that are going into their soundtrack, especially when they hear them in context.

But I aspire to minimalism. I would LOVE to have the budget to have someone design my dream minimalist cliff top studio.... but two weeks later it would be cluttered with inspiring (to me) sound generating props directly relevant to my current projects/obsessions....

c'est la vie

Oddly, the only thing I find a real constant is that I'll rearrange my setup from time to time. This varies from simply removing a MIDI keyboard so I have more space on my desk, to mounting my iMac and monitor on a shelf above my interface and hard drives.

I THNIK this helps with my creativity but in honesty, I might just be imagining it!

Apart from this, I make sure the rest of the room is clinically neat and tidy (but not necessarily clean, a bit of dust doesn't disturb me), making sure everything is tidied away.

Would love to hear about how other people approach "studio feng shui"...

Joe

I've recently converted from sitting to standing up, something I've been wanting to try for many years. It came about mostly because I find myself either seated or laying down for the majority of my life, which just can't be good. So far I've had mixed results, partly due to the fact that my space as it exists right now isn't really designed for standing, so it's a bit Mickey-Mouse regarding monitor height, speaker distance and angle, etc. However, I do find my energy is WAY up and mid-afternoon slumps to be diminishing, and my feet are finally starting to not ache so much (the 1st 2 weeks were killer!).

My studio is in my bedroom and I always work better if I have the bed made unless I'm really putting in some hours and then the rest of life kind of vanishes/disappears.

I think I currently work in an environment that is a notch or two more clinical than I would like for sound design, but works really well for hosting clients.

Like Tim, I believe that the tools in front of you greatly influence your creative flow. As such I'd love a sound design specific space that was moderately messy. keyboards, mics, props, patchbays, cables, etc. All out in space and ready to grab.

Actually messy is a bad word to use for what I'd like. More like hyper-functional.

• I like a clean desk, especially behind me.
• I'd like a nice mic on a radio boom arm that I could swing around to record stuff on said clean desk.
• I'd like a small keyboard controller on a rolling surface that I could push in and out as needed.
• I'd like another controller device or two within arms reach
• I'd like a mediumish cabinet in the room that I could use to house props
• I'd like nice variable lighting that I could use to set "vibe"
• I'd like a couple of "beater" computers in the room with their own video monitors and keyboards. Maybe even laptops. I could use them for specific processing tasks or to try experimental software on without worrying about my main rig.
• I'd like a DSLR on a tripod in the room to videotape stuff with
• I'd like a couple of speaker systems to check mixes on, and a laptop monitoring rig as well.

I absolutely MUST have the area to the left of my keyboard clean so I can put stuff there, like whatever bricabrac I'm playing with, or whatever I'm drinking. I'll pile things on my midi keyboard and turntables (like they are now) before I let that area become unusable.