Photo courtesy of xyz_man007

July 28th, 2010 – According to an article in Psychology Today, ceiling height affects productivity. Based upon my own experiences with cramped spaces, I can see how this would be true. When I feel closed in, I get distracted and irritable which clamps down on my creativity. I know that many music producers like working in a cave-like atmosphere, but along with the potential negative psychological effects for some individuals, low ceilings are generally detrimental acoustically.

Early reflections are a big concern when dealing with small spaces. At the same time however, many of us hobbyists cannot afford to work in spaces with tall ceilings. Aside from acoustic treatment to manipulate the acoustics of a room, how might we also improve the psychological aspects of a small space? Warning, the following suggestions are more home-decorating than home-studio, but if you feel cramped in your space, they may help you out.

The colours of your room can make a big difference. While some dark colours may help you feel more creative, lighter colours will make your room seem bigger. A white ceiling makes a big difference, and I find that white floorboards also work together with the ceiling to make the room feel bigger. As well, try to get as much natural light as possible. If your room doesn’t get that much light, use soft ambient lighting, preferably on a dimmer switch so you can turn down the lights if you want a little atmosphere.

As well, putting in lots of storage units will free up floor space and provide more room for moving around. Of course, the offshoot is that your room will look cleaner and more professional. Ok, enough with the interior design tips; long story short is that the organizing the aesthetics of your space can make a big difference in your creativity. While most of us design studios for purely function, taking into account acoustic design and pure ergonomics, putting some time into the aesthetics can help put us in the right mindset to create.

What are some of the ways you’ve designed your space to feel at home making music?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 11:33 pm.
Categories: Engineering.

2 Comments, Comment or Ping

  1. Rick

    I just lost my “space” to my 3 daughters :) . Totally worth it, but obviously it presents some challenges now.

    For starters, my wife graciously let me move a computer desk and my 88key synth into our bedroom. It’s all in a corner though, and since I mainly work on music late at night after everyone is in bed, I don’t really make much use of the space.

    What *has* been working, though, is taking my laptop out to the dining room table. Basically, I’ve gotten a ton done (writing wise) in less than 2 weeks.

    The first iteration of the mobile rig consisted of laptop, interface, Novation 25 key controller, mic with boom stand, and headphones. Slim enough, but still added set-up/teardown time to the evening.

    Nowadays I fire up laptop, Korg nanoKEY, use the internal mic of my MacBook Pro (sounds much better than I would have expected), and ear buds. I have over a dozen songs started. Most won’t turn into anything or will be combined, but at least I am getting work done.

    And having a more “open” space is huge for that, IMO. Less gear = less distractions and more space puts my mind at a good place to be creative.

    Thanks for validating my own findings!

    Jul 29th, 2010

  2. Sean

    @Rick: I’m totally with you on scaling back the gear. I’m in the process of minimizing my set up too!

    Aug 7th, 2010

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