Tim Corpus
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New Custom DIY Composing Studio Desk

Over the last year I have been building a new composing studio in my home and I finally made my dream custom standing desk.

I’ll get into the space and its development more in a different post, but for now we’ll focus on the desk.

A Standing Desk

At first I was planning on making the desk, with a keyboard drawer, on top of some new audio racks. I don’t have a ton of outboard gear, but I was thinking it would be nice to have a desk right over the interface and outboard gear and then add in some drawers for pens and stuff like that.

In the end, I was convinced by composer and friend Jeff Meegan to go for the standing desk, if for no other reason than the future…when my back will appreciate it. Honestly, my back already appreciates it. That’s why I invested in a fancy studio desk chair a few years back because I was feeling the pain of sitting all day…with bad posture.

But anyways, I looked into standing desk frames and my research led me to the conclusion that I need to build the desk top myself and attach it to the frame.

An important marker about this project and the entire home studio project is that this is not a recording studio. This is a composing studio with the goal of building a space that is comfortable and inspiring for creativity and working quickly. I wanted a desk that was ergonomic and functional in making music…easier.

Studio Desk Features:

  • 🎹 A sliding drawer for my Arturia Keylab-88
  • 🎚️ I built in my Icon QconPro G2 mixer
  • 🎛️ Space for my TouchOSC iPad
  • 🏋️ Standing desk frame from Uplift Desk
  • 🎼 Lots of space for holding a 12×18 or 11×17 full score
  • I also wanted an inset space for my keyboard and mouse, so I added some faux leather along the sides.

Having a lot of space to open a score on the desk, or have all the monitors out…or also have my keyboard and my mixer out, it’s a dream come true.

How I Built This

Something I’ve seen in a lot of studio desks is a keyboard drawer for either a typing keyboard or a playing keyboard, then on top of the desk is space for the other. As I looked at these desks, there was no space for a mixer. So what I found was I could have a mixer, typing keyboard, or 88-key drawer, but not all three.

So that’s when I decided to go custom.

So the key sizing plans came from the pull out keyboard drawer for the Arturia keyboard. The keyboard is 51” wide, so I needed the desk to be even wider than that to support the drawer. The keyboard is actually pretty heavy, something like 25lbs. So I ended up going with a desk that was 62” wide.

Depth was also important. I wanted to in-set my Icon Qcon G2 digital mixer in the desk so that I could have it in front of me. In addition to the faders, there’s so many quality of life buttons that help with recording and just the whole process within a DAW.

Attaching the top face of the desk.
Attaching the "wing" for the keyboad drawer

Then I needed a space for my typing keyboard…which is rather large. I have a specialty gaming keyboard that isn’t even made anymore. The Steel Series APEX is so old that the keys have completely faded off and I can’t see the W A S D keys. But this keyboard has a ton of extra function keys that can be set with hotkeys or macros. This is so useful to have these tactile buttons on the typing keyboard. There are buttons set for copy, paste, select all, italicize, bold…all sorts of things. I even have different color markers for Reaper hot-keyed in to extra keys above my function keys. This keyboard is rather large, so I needed space for it on the desk and building it lower than the mixer was key to making it fit.

To make the typing keyboard and mouse space a little more comfortable, I also added some faux leather around the sides of it and then at the bottom underneath it. The aesthetic fits the room, fits the green walls, and also fits the wooden styling of the other furniture I’m building (something I’ll talk about later).

Materials

If I had more money in life I would have used more solid wood instead of plywood, but maybe some other day…

But what I went with was three tiers of plywood. I used highest quality red oak for the top, quality ACX for the bottom and then some simple BCX for the inside supports. The desk top is actually pretty heavy with all three chunks of wood.

I also added some red oak pieces around the sides to make it a bit prettier.

The standing desk frame is from Uplift Desks. I did a lot of reading about standing desk frames and I liked their price, their reviews, and also the three stage hydraulic system. This frame can hold 300+ lbs and this desktop is nowhere near that…but it’s heavy…and it’s big. The total desk top is 32”x62” so I needed a frame that could really support that and Uplift Desks really offered what I needed.

The frame was around $500 and the materials were a few hundred dollars (lumber is really expensive right now). In total the desk probably cost me about $750 with the extra materials (screws, faux leather, drawer slides, etc.) that I picked up.

What I Learned

Standing is actually really nice.

I really enjoy being able to take video calls standing and also just be able to stand during mixing, listening back, or just watching a playback. The monitors cover the speakers when it’s in standing mode, so it’s not perfect, but if I need to “seriously” mix, I can just sit back down. It’s better for my back, my posture…and apparently my sanity.

The hardest part of this whole project was space. Every time I build something I have to put away the tools and lumber at the end of the day. I don’t have a workshop (or space), so it’s all a bit of work to take out and put away. I also was building this in sub-zero Chicago weather…so that was fun in the garage.

This was certainly a labor of love and I’m really proud to have this custom desk that fits my life and workflow. It’s not perfect as I’m not a professional woodworker and I was working with plywood, but it works and that’s what is important.

The desk is made you can see here:

”Corpus’s writing is consistently inventive: It’s never quite clear whether the soloists are teasing one another or casually trying to one-up each other, and you’ll never hear a xylophone sound more mournful than it does at the middle of the movement. I’s always a high endorsement, to both performer and composer, when people start hooting in the middle of a classical music piece like they’re at a stadium show.”

Hannah Edgar Chicago Tribune

Tim Corpus is a composer with a genuine lyric impulse. He writes music that is at the same time challenging and appealing - which should be the ideal of any composer. He has a wonderful ear for sound and for shape. This is a composer with a real and important voice.

Henry Fogel Retired Dean of the Chicago College of Performing Arts and CEO/President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

...`{`Three Pieces for Five Timpani`}` is an outstanding addition to the literature for timpani and great for advanced recital programs.

George Frock Professor Emeritus, The University of Texas

Tim Corpus is a wonderfully skilled composer who has important things to say with his music. His debut album, Breath, is extremely impressive. Beautiful and exciting music to be sure!

Larry Alan Smith Composer

Tim Corpus' music is complex, original and steeped in tradition. His Three Pieces for Five Timpani is clearly an extension of the composers, such as Elliott Carter, that came before him. The pieces are challenging but fulfilling to learn and perform. Possibly the most important thing about Tim's timpani writing is that audiences will enjoy listening to his compositions. He is taking solo timpani writing to the next level.

Ed Harrison Timpanist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago

The melodic gestures in Tim Corpus' masterful piece for strings, ``Breath``, are paced so that a listener’s respiration pattern aligns itself instinctively with the slow and even pulse of the piece. Breath creates a powerful performer/listener symbiosis, a remarkable accomplishment on the part of the composer.

Steven Gryc Composer

Tim Corpus’s music is beautifully lyrical, nicely voiced and technically well-realized. In person, he is a pleasure to work with. We very much enjoyed recording his first two string quartets and hope to see more from him in the future.

Jen Leckie Violinist, Grant Street String Quartet

I recently had the pleasure of conducting the premiere of First Flight. It is artfully written, fresh, unique, and best of all – a beautiful piece of music! Tim is a major talent with big things in store for his future. It clearly deserves a permanent place in the repertoire of any serious wind ensemble. I can't wait to program it again!

Stephen Squires Conductor, Chicago College of Performing Arts Wind Ensemble

I have worked with Tim Corpus as a performer, composer and teacher. He brings passion and energy to his craft. He is a young lion who is making his mark on the Chicago music scene.

Kevin Miller Retired Band Director, Schaumburg High School

I've had the pleasure of knowing Tim for years now, and I learned very quickly that his passion and talent as a performer and composer are unquestioned. Everything he does is handled with a rare combination of intensity and care, and his works display such attributes. His lyricism in particular, along with his rich, beautiful harmonies and intricate polyphony set him apart from many of his colleagues. In a world littered with simple, non-intellectual music, Tim is breaking through and creating a new, exciting, accessible, and, most importantly, intelligent style of music that is imperative to the future of our art form.

Matt Bronstein Axiom Brass Quintet

Breath is very professionally produced, and the overall impression is of a lyrical and rhapsodic voice. I think Breath is a great starter, very ample and serene, even ecstatic. The second quartet is lively and engaging throughout.

Dr. Robert Carl Composer

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