3 Things that will IMPROVE your Home Studio and Workflow 

What's something that changed how you work in your studio?

I made the mistake of building up a home studio instead of a space to do what I ACTUALLY DO. I was so focused on the "if a person came in and wanted to XYZ..." but I don't bring people in to do anything at all. I just want to be able to pick up a chosen instrument and put great sound into my own ears, maybe record something here and there. So my setup has exhaled recently, and I am MUCH happier.

Technically, there's 5 things (and the list/video is great, btw): 2:01 -- 1. create a comfortable space 2:36 -- 2. plan the workflow 3:17 -- 3. plan for efficiency and quality 4:38 -- 4. make use of "unusable" space (not really part of the 3 things, but hella important) 4:58 -- 5a. studio ZONES (zone 1 - engineer zone) 6:06 -- 5b. studio ZONES (zone 2 - guitarist zone) 7:10 -- 5c. studio ZONES (zone 3 - drummer / engineer zone) 8:20 -- 5d. studio ZONES (zone 4 - vocalist) 8:56 -- implementing these ideas to each zone (cable management, modular stands, etc) 12:49 -- remote control from different zones 14:07 -- mobility / cable management 16:12 -- bonus tips Andrew, sometimes you REALLY need timestamps in your videos. Every single person will appreciate this. If you spend as much time editing, add the timestamps! :)

i'm not even in music production, but just enjoy your vids and have a massive appreciate for the work you're putting into this channel. nice work m8 👌

Just finished my new studio after losing my entire studio in a divorce 20 years ago. I live and work in a 400 square feet apartment, my studio area is 5x7 feet, but I have a solo piano setup replacing my kitchen table area now. I am 100% hardware, recording digital solo piano, acoustic guitar and electronic instruments. I record Vangelis style, all in one take, to a 24-track hardware recorder through an analog 32 channel mixing board (some tracks are shared instruments). I track live (wet) with all levels, sound design, compression, effects, EQ, panning/stereo field set before pressing record and beginning. I perform like an organ player using both hands and both feet to play as much live as possible but filling in with my own recorded sample sequences and sample clips and MIDI sequencers for the full and big passages. My floor is full of pedals for all types of control of the keyboards: switches, sustain/hold, expression. It can take up to a week to set up a song, then a week to practice it under the current configuration, then press "record" and go... with only mix down to stereo finished song for completion. My new solo digital piano area is now recorded on the piano (USBdrive) and mixed and mastered on a DAW all at 16/44.1. Okay, I am no longer 100% hardware :-)

It's neat that you got to record Ghost. (I think it was their second record?) -- You were one of the few people who got to actually see who Tobias was years before his identity was revealed. Neat!

I so needed this video…thanks Andrew!!!! The extra monitor/ keyboard is so smart.

This is my favorite type of video from you. You’re like an advocate and beta tester for the rest of us home studio guys. You have the unique benefit of touring and discussing others’ studios, plus hookups for gear loaners and good discounts that allow you to test gear and workflow on our behalf 👍🏻

Andrew, your workflow efficiency was definitely the thing that impressed me the most when I came to your studio, dude. You absolutely nailed the planning and this video is a confirmation of that. As always, very inspiring content. Keep it up!!

Comfort, workflow, efficiency/quality, create Zones, incorporate best practices …. My takeaway from your great video - I have enjoyed creating the best (ever evolving) workflow zones adapted to my space and functions … there is a great quote by Stravinsky - “no art without limits” - fantastic information, Andrew - thank you!

This is sooo much more meaningful than the usual "content" that the You Tubes get flooded with. Organization is DEFINITELY my biggest weakness and I'm probably not alone. Thank you for putting some thought into how we can create more meaningful content that actually helps people who are into recording to get better at what they are doing.

The one thing I never see anyone talk about is power. How many power conditioners do you run, do you have everything on one switch so you walk in hit it and good to go, do you have 97 outlets and a special electrical box at your house, do you have to hit a hundred switches every morning when you walk in, what can I leave on constantly without harming it, stuff like that would be super helpful. Really enjoy these videos and studio tours, keep em coming!

You made yourself the perfect home studio, mate! Loving it, and love to watch you videos! Cheers...

Seriously one of my favorite videos! I'm currently working in the smallest room of my house until I remodel the garage. A lot of gear is waiting in my shed. It has been a fun challenge to see what I can do in a small room. I was used to working out of my old daylight basement. I don't take space for granted, and having a studio set-up is a must for me! I really enjoyed this video and have a similar approach and way of thinking. Rock on bro!

Currently changing my home studio after buying a new studio desk. I will recommend that you label all your wires that you don't unplug on a regular basis, on both ends. Including electrical, instrument, midi, everything. You might not be looking at it often, but when you one day have to unplug something, it's a lifesaver not having to play maze puzzle with all your plugged in wires. Another is to remove all your wires from the floor, and attached them under your tables instead by screwing in some velcro straps. It both looks clean and makes it more easy to clean!

I’ve been mapping out my studio for optimizations and upgraded for the last 6 months. I still have a lot of work and even more saving to do but I found this video to be a nudge in the right direction. Thanks Andrew!

Excellent video! Thank you for distilling down all of your key learnings and passing them to us so we can benefit from them too.

your studio is amazing dude and the way your set up is stage around the different zones are dope you give us lot of good ideas for ours at home

Wow Andrew, THANK YOU. My wife and I just swapped creative spaces in our home. One of the challenges for me as is for you and I'm sure LOTS of your viewers is managing mics & mic stands. Triad-orbit is about to get an order from me so I can free up floor space around my desk. I also need a new desk so maybe, MAYBE Dangerfox just got a new customer as well. And as per usual, I always get something helpful from your vids, even though I only see your stuff now and then. Keep up the good work man! I'm so happy you're able to be successful in this biz.

Always love your videos man. I've adopted the "right side at the computer" thing, and turning to the left for critical listening / mixing stuff.... but also computer screens there, as well. There's a lot to be said for the "U-shaped" studio setup, which is largely what I've done for years. Also! Forgot to add-- I have the whole slanted-ceiling thing happening in my studio too (3rd floor of shared house). It's completely asymmetrical, but... not much I can do. Trying to get the cables managed better... negative space / walkable space. Tough to do in an 11x15 foot area, but we manage. :)

Love the channel. I’m slowly setting up a home studio. Your videos have been very inspiring !

Super nice pro studio. Stream Deck was a game changer for me for computer workflow. Didn't get it at first but now having all keyboard shortcuts from Windows and Daws custom assigned in one place does wonders for workflow.

Happy to see someone else using that Triad-Orbit clamp on their desk. I have a similar setup where I can rotate it down to record acoustic guitar, or boom it out to get to some guitar amps if I want another mic on them. Also use if for a top mic on a Djembe. Just super useful. Their stuff is very expensive but by far the best stands/mounts out there.

Thank you and God bless you! You are a great help to those of us just getting started!

Love everything about this!!!

Well done Andrew. Awesome setup

Thanks for this video. I love this type of video. Gear is cool but videos about optimizing your space is what always helps keep me motivated

❤your content Is great as usual ,right up my alley ,building my zones right now

Congrats on your amazing career and the studio!

amazing space and very practical.

Man You've got your studio laid out to perfection seems like. Lotta money in that room doc. Great accomplishment.. even with the former location you had which I thought was just perfect.. however what your showing is it's about one's ability to perfect whatever space your in. I stay proud of and inspired by you man. Your like a musical hero to guys like me

Thank you for all of what you do. Your videos have helped me so much in setting up my own writing spaces work for me. :) You’re awesome.

Love it! 😍

excellent informative video. you can def tell your studio is a labour of love. subbed

that was very helpful sir This video is going to be in my fav list to be a reference to my next project . Thank you very much 👍

Perfect timing on this video, I just bought a new house last week and I'm all over the place trying to figure out how to layout the new studio.

You’re the man dude!! Love this one

This video has a ton of very useful information. Thank you, Andrew :)

Man, absolutely rich with goodness, one of my fav's of yours yet! I'm building a home studio on a budget currently and I'm definitely taking away some ideas here. Triad orbit, delicious, but boi they aren't budget friendly although I thoroughly believe they're worth it.

There isn't much that motivates me to get up out of my chair and start moving stuff around in my studio like a work workflow video. Thanks again!

Great video 😊 ! I’ve learned a lot watching your videos.

Such important advice here. Great video! Loved every minute of it.

My small home studio have the same exact layout with the two controllers on the side and the monitor controller and surface control in the center. It's great!! Also, I want to incorporate a space for the printer and paper document with my work laptop dedicated to that only when I'm in the studio, and my desktop tower running audio work (with the occasional gaming break). Also think about a second chair as a minimum as well! I also use the sidecart method for my own drum recordings!

Light colored rugs on dark wood floors to create separation is a great tip. Looks good too.

There have been some really small things that I have gotten lately that made my workflow so much better. Basically everyone says how beneficial patch bays are for moving audio around. Midi “patch bays” are just as useful. I use the Conductive Labs MRCC which allows me to get midi from anywhere to anywhere with no more than six clicks of the mouse although there are many products that work. Another relatively basic thing is quick release clips for microphones. There are a ton that work, I use the Gator ones, but being able to cycle through microphones quickly makes a lot of things easier

I've watched quite a few of your videos.Enjoy when you go to other peoples studios.Those Triad Orbit stands are what I need in my basement studio.Seems I change up things down here every couple years.Your having,set it and ready to record in each area is the way to go.Having 3 patch bays has helped me the most with workflow.I'm using ideas from your videos this time around.Getting my new Ultimate Support 36" stands from Sweetwater tommorrow.Thanks for the Tip. Best Regards

The thing that made my studio more comfortable was putting my studio desk up on cinder blocks so i would stop hunching over to comment on your videos!

this video exceeded my expectations in every way. Subscribed and looking forward to more!

Keep everything simple.😊

I’m doing something very similar to you. Open space with areas, I like to interact with musicians and to have a nice space to chill 😊

Great video Andrew! I'd love to know about the nuts and bolts behind an 'always ready to go' set-up and how someone with a more basic setup could achieve something similar. I'm tired of having to set stuff up each time I want to use it (as I'm sure a lot of people watching are), so I'd love to hear your tips on this. Power, cable management, patching, organisation etc etc. Cheers!

Those mic stand look amazing! I need to pick a couple up!

Awesome! 👍🏻👏🏻💪🏻 Next: tips&tricks on wiring and such... Please? 🙋🏼‍♂️🍻🍻

All those mic stand hacks are incredible!! Definitely something I’m going to get for my studio some day. Thank you for sharing inspiring tricks and time/sanity saving solutions! My one question is couldn’t you just use the Earthworks clip on mics for drums? Then you wouldn’t have to do the mic stands at all. Or do you just want to be able to use any mic at any point?

Great layout you have there… and wise words! Too many people build what they think OTHER people will find “cool” or “vibey”. It’s only good if it works for YOU. BTW, your approach to workflow and instantaneous creativity reminds me of Bütch Walker; his room is set up to track a song idea at a moment’s notice.

I do struggle with my recording workflow big time. My studio spaces are between two rooms on my house, firstly drums are in a soundproofed room in my garage external and separate to my house. Then my room for guitars, bass and mixing is in a bedroom inside my house. As I regularly play live I’m constantly stripping down/packing up my drums/hardware, so if I mic up my kit I have to tear down everything for a gig. This means I have to spend the time to set up all my mic’s and stands and can’t always just jump into recording whenever I want. I also have my interface and mic pre’s in flight cases that I have to bring into the room to record. When I want to record guitars and bass I have to pull my interface and outboard rack back into the house and record inside. Then to track vocals I need the soundproof room again so have to pull my rack gear back into the garage again. I think you get the problem here… The ideal solution would be leaving a permanent studio kit set up and a dedicated interface in the drum room. But that would mean buying a whole new kit setup just for live work and a new interface/recording setup to remain static. Ideally I could just work from the single garage room, but it is too small, has no heating whatsoever and is freezing cold in the winter and roasting hot in the summer. For now it looks like I just have to keep struggling on with constantly moving between the two spaces.

is that a dedicated drum-tracking computer, you absolute genius?!

I want to know where the snacks are hidden! I'm building a small room for my studio and though it won't be grand like some of you past videos, mind will be sufficient for my needs. Thanks for the tips and keep posting more ideas!

I'm just finishing moving my studio to our new home. Sadly, the ceiling is only at 6 feet. But I'm 5'9" so it works for me and since I"m probably going to be the only one working in here, it works. I use a Presonus StudioLive 32SC mixer but it's mainly for inputs. I hate patching and re-patching. I have a bunch of keyboards that I want to use at any time, a couple of mike inputs. And since most of my electric guitars and bass are recorded in the box, a guitar line that first goes through a Boss tuner. 2 pairs of studio monitors for comparing mixes. A bunch of microphones with my best being a Warm Audio WA47jr. 13 or 14 guitars including a steel guitar. It's got lots of adjustable lights and a comfy chair! And a lava lamp too. Fairly decent acoustic treatment and it's painted a nice pastel blue. Easy on the eyes. It's paradise!

Those triad orbit stands are awesome! super outta budget right now, but obviously such a quality of life improvement

Nice set in small space

Inspiring video! Thanks so much! I often get bogged down with inputs, outputs of signal flows and it inevitably eats so much of my time and energy that I loose any kind of music making. It's exasperating!! So frustrating for me!!

What makes a studion run? Cables, cables, cables. I just discovered the other day that my beautiful Prophet 6 was so quiet because I used balanced cables for an unbalanced output. After I switched those cables (and also the ones going from my patchbay to my summing mixer!), the output was twice as loud. Now you could run all your synths through some SSL preamps - if you're Andrew Masters and money plays no role - but I'd really recommend to do some very thorough cable planning first!

Some great points in this video on workflow and set up - love the idea of being able to run the Pro Tools session from the drum kit. Is this just an addition monitor and Bluetooth keyboard connected to your main Mac Studio computer?

Love the vid! Thank you! - 2 QQ if I can, what are you using for your headphone amp (I checked the gear list and didn't find), and are you using something to wrap all your drum cables? The way you have it set up is so nice!!

My nucleus desk by ultimate support really change the game for me

Keep forgetting you also have a JUNO-X! 🔥

Very cool, I like the zones idea. How do you hide all the drum mic cables?

Neat and tidy. Logic Remote on an iPad saves having more than one ‘pooter set up

Hope your holiday season is going well. I was wondering, what is the benefits of connecting studio monitors to the patch bay?

Knowledge. That’s it.

The real key to all of this is having a supportive wife. 😁😁😁👌🏼

I like the wraps you got on the mike stands. I'll buy a shitload of them and cover my entire stands. I have foam pipe insulation now. I works good but I like the look of that stuff better. Does everyone have those. I get most of my stuff at Zzounds. I'll check them. If you get a sec let me know about the mic you think is better and where u got those wraps. Thanks my friend. Nice room. Your tutorial picture is Killer Crisp ass Video on my M1-Mac in 4K. I use a Thunderbolt3 to DisplayPort cable to my 32 inch 4k LG it looks insanely crisp. I 1st hooked it up with a killer HDMI cable a Forest Magnolia cable but theTB/ DisplayPort cable connection SMOKES IT!

You should do an update about your signal flow. I have sooo many questions

Hey Andrew!! Awesome content! Can you please share the link for the mic clamp on the desk for recording guitars

After working in home studios all my life, it feels like I could never work in a big commercial studio with people there judging my mistakes constantly. lol

Hey Andrew, I love the big lights you have over your console, where did you get them?

Good videos

no isolation booth? Would love to hear pros and cons in todays recording environment

not cheap, but I agree on and use Triad Orbit for studio efficiency.

Can you comment on your lights and stands above your console?P60X lights? Those stands look great.

Thanks for sharing. I did not see a link for the cool desk/table by your drum kit. Can you share that link, please. Thanks

Hey Andrew I have a slanted roof as well, do you think the slant is bad for over heads in drums? Like one mic is getting reflections earlier? Love your videos!

Andrew is that desk mic stand from Sweetwater I need one. Even though I'm currently moving my studio to my living room which is alot bigger, there's always ways to save space and it'll look better on camera

Hey man! So you use multiple keyboards and mice at the same time? (Desk / drum area) are the all Bluetooth. If so how does this work?

Your space is outstanding and quite unique. Can I ask why I don't see any acoustic treatment on the walls?

Hey Andrew- Great video! I noticed you don't seem to have the Powerplay Headphone Monitors anymore and are now using the ProCo's. I am working on a similar setup and was just curious. Do you find the ProCo's a simpler solution? Any issues with the PowerPlay?

cool video. how do you remote the drum computer to the main computer. what is the hardware and how is it set up?

Great video,silly question,how often and how do you clean your studio?any tips would be helpful 😅

You should have your subs send in their mixes and give advice etc. would be interesting

i would work with a controller for the daw in the center and the analog console as a side car.

Great video! Are efficiency and workflow not basically the same thing?

What's that keyboard stand at the 11:55 mark holding the Juno? Looks kinda like the K&M Omega but a bit sleeker. I don't recognize the logo on its two clamping knobs.

How do you have the monitor by the drums running your main computer? Is it a long hdmi cable?

Love your vids! there was a studio tour (I think it was on your channel, but I might be misremembering) the studio did a lot of tape recording as well as tape mastering and selling tape machines. I can't find it now though, what was the name of the studio? (if it was you vid, sorry if not!)

I have been trying to figure out being able to control DAW from two different locations with a sidecar and looks like you figured it out. Can you let us know what you use to extend control of DAW to a remote location/sidecar?

Seeing so many reactions here, I hope my question gets answered.... Where do you buy the soft leather-like corner material that you can see on Adrew's desk???? (where you rest your wrists on) I'd like to upgrade my desk with this material because now I look like a wanabe emo kid after a long mixig sesh

I don't see many people I know with the 414 on the rack tom. What inspired that mic choice?

the crucial handicap (for me) is... the money,... (to create it (as) good (as I want it)... lol

I'm curious! I don't see a ton of acoustic treatment in the room... how is all that working, Andrew?