Under-Desk Keyboard vs on Stand on the Side?

[QuestionAsker]

Figured I'd share my desk. As you can probably tell I'm a hobbyist using no outboard analog gear outside of some guitar amps that I place a mic in front of. Any 6ft+ table + a folding table both with adjustable height becomes a nested desk that is very cheap to put together. I've been a computer dork for 30+ years and have tried/destroyed all manner of keyboard trays and really need a 3 foot space to work optimally on the mouse of not more as I age and start to turn down the sensitivity. Wish I had discovered the nested desk sooner.

I agree, keyboard trays can be annoying, they always made me feel claustrophobic. The ones I had at work and at home would wiggle around as well. That's why the desk I'm planning on building, I'm going to make as stable as possible.

I was planning on making it about 70" x 35", and 26" high (which seems low, but would be the perfect height for typing on a keyboard.

Do you think a desk with those dimensions would work well?

The only thing I'd be worried about is whether monitors on a monitor stand would be high enough or not.

[QuestionAsker]

I use a wireless computer keyboard with a built-in trackpoint instead of a mouse. That means I can type comfortably with the computer keyboard resting on my lap, and I don't need a surface for a mouse. That frees up my desk for my MIDI keyboard and other music equipment.

I have my laptop and external monitor on arms above the desk so they are at eye level and don't interfere with the music gear.

Just curious, how deep is your desk?

That's one thing I'm trying to figure out. I'm thinking of making it 35 inches deep to be able to fit everything on there, but not sure whether that might be too big.

[QuestionAsker]

With that said, a 88-key keyboard could be heavy, so maybe I'd consider a sliding U-shaped stand on wheels, rather than a sliding shelf (if that solution is more robust), both going under the desk, of course.
My current desk is only 120 cm wide, so I can't put my digital piano under it, otherwise it would be on a sliding stand (my digital piano is about 20 Kg), but if/when I'll have the chance to change room (or the current desk will be in bad shape), I'll consider moving my digital piano under my desk.


Just my two cents, of course.


Oh, and I forgot to say that I don't like x-shaped stands, I feel like they are always in the way...

Thanks Sin Night, I agree, the x-stands look like they would get in the way.

For ergonomics reasons, I was thinking of making my table 26 inches high (66cm), to make it easier to type. That would be almost touching my knees, so a slide out drawer is out it seems.

I found a U-shape keyboard stand like the one you were talking about, they do look quite practical:

https://www.amazon.com/VANPHY-Keyboard- ... 4T257?th=1

It's 24 inches tall, and since my desk will be low (26 inches), doesn't look like it will fit under the desk, with a keyboard on it).

Though I was thinking of keeping it off to the side, and moving it in front of me whenever I want to use it with my DAW, might be a good solution.

[DrGonzo]

Another alternative if your space is limited is to create a wide shelf where you can push in and pull out the things you need at the moment. That's almost like a tray but on the topside of the desk. Maybe you thought of this already.

[thecontrolcentre]

I was planning on making it about 70" x 35", and 26" high (which seems low, but would be the perfect height for typing on a keyboard.
Do you think a desk with those dimensions would work well?

My desk is 46" x 35" and is 26" high with a height adjustable shelf (good for monitor & speaker placement). It works well for me, but no way it would take a slide-out draw. I have my 88-key midi board on a good, solid stand.

tcc_desktop_2022.jpg

[Gavincoolguy]

I would recommend if you can in anyway setup a table or something and measure where it feels perfect for you. Unfortunately where you want a keyboard and a mouse is basically the exact height you want to play a keyboard at. But you can get around that somewhat with a height adjustable chair if you measure everything and make sure the chair lifts as high as you want and as low as you need. For me monitors 3 feet back on a desk would be way too far for me to see comfortably in Ableton but a large tv in the wall would be perfect (I've only seen this done). If you put your monitors that far back out em on arms you can anchor through the table surface so you can bring them to you at least one. Even with a monitor right in front of my face I still use magpie to blow old plugins up to fullscreen.

Figured I'd share my desk. As you can probably tell I'm a hobbyist using no outboard analog gear outside of some guitar amps that I place a mic in front of. Any 6ft+ table + a folding table both with adjustable height becomes a nested desk that is very cheap to put together. I've been a computer dork for 30+ years and have tried/destroyed all manner of keyboard trays and really need a 3 foot space to work optimally on the mouse of not more as I age and start to turn down the sensitivity. Wish I had discovered the nested desk sooner.

I agree, keyboard trays can be annoying, they always made me feel claustrophobic. The ones I had at work and at home would wiggle around as well. That's why the desk I'm planning on building, I'm going to make as stable as possible.

I was planning on making it about 70" x 35", and 26" high (which seems low, but would be the perfect height for typing on a keyboard.

Do you think a desk with those dimensions would work well?

The only thing I'd be worried about is whether monitors on a monitor stand would be high enough or not.

[Constructed Identity]

Figured I'd share my desk. As you can probably tell I'm a hobbyist using no outboard analog gear outside of some guitar amps that I place a mic in front of. Any 6ft+ table + a folding table both with adjustable height becomes a nested desk that is very cheap to put together. I've been a computer dork for 30+ years and have tried/destroyed all manner of keyboard trays and really need a 3 foot space to work optimally on the mouse of not more as I age and start to turn down the sensitivity. Wish I had discovered the nested desk sooner.

I agree, keyboard trays can be annoying, they always made me feel claustrophobic. The ones I had at work and at home would wiggle around as well. That's why the desk I'm planning on building, I'm going to make as stable as possible.

I was planning on making it about 70" x 35", and 26" high (which seems low, but would be the perfect height for typing on a keyboard.

Do you think a desk with those dimensions would work well?

The only thing I'd be worried about is whether monitors on a monitor stand would be high enough or not.

I think those dimensions sound good. It is ideal if you can build your own, I ended up buying the desk that was the lowest I could find at 28" high, a height-adustable Flexispot. It could be lower, but I just raise my chair.

[jdoo]

For years, Ive been using a (computer) keyboard pullout drawer, under and attached to my desk to hold a controller. This setup has worked great but limits me, on what keyboards will fit the height and width of that space. Ive kept separate keys on keyboard cross stands.

Anyway, last December we decided to invest a little in cleaning up the home studio, so I researched and picked ups Wavebone Headquarter. Relevant to this thread… it has a separate keyboard stand that rolls under the main desk. If you’re going to build something, it might be worth checking their site.https://wavebone.com/products/headquarter%E2%84%A2 for ideas. The keyboard stand is on rollers, and tucks under the desk. Way more sturdier than the desk pullout shelf.

[rod_zero]

I would recommend if you can in anyway setup a table or something and measure where it feels perfect for you. Unfortunately where you want a keyboard and a mouse is basically the exact height you want to play a keyboard at. But you can get around that somewhat with a height adjustable chair if you measure everything and make sure the chair lifts as high as you want and as low as you need. For me monitors 3 feet back on a desk would be way too far for me to see comfortably in Ableton but a large tv in the wall would be perfect (I've only seen this done). If you put your monitors that far back out em on arms you can anchor through the table surface so you can bring them to you at least one. Even with a monitor right in front of my face I still use magpie to blow old plugins up to fullscreen.

You can get around that just having a large desk that has space to put the computer keyboard in front of the musical keyboard at the same height, it works quite fine if you try it. A slim computer keyboard and a kesington expert mouse also helps to make it even more compact.

[magog]

Just curious, how deep is your desk?

That's one thing I'm trying to figure out. I'm thinking of making it 35 inches deep to be able to fit everything on there, but not sure whether that might be too big.

Mine is 26" deep and 55" wide. It's actually an Ikea desk top that I mounted on a sit stand frame.

Another few inches of depth would actually be quite nice, but I have a very small room and this is as big as I can comfortably get.

[Kalamata Kid]

The reason I have not included an 88 midi keyboard controller in the setup is that I cannot get it to fit properly with my workflow. I will have to remove the touch monitor.

I started a thread to see if I would find a thin 88 key keyboard that had decent key action.
Which THIN midi keyboard controller to get?
viewtopic.php?f=102&t=555740&p=7948751#p7948751

I like the thin profile midi keyboard which will allow it to go into the drawer under my desk.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7760&p=7777146#p7777146
I had considered the Erae and the Linnstrument that would fit in the qwerty keyboard space or fit in the below the desktop drawer.

For the time being I have a multi-touch monitor which will be used as a midi keyboard. I use one of the following applications:
DawSound
https://markderricos.wixsite.com/dawsound
OR
Xotopad
http://feelyoursound.com/xotopad/