It’s often overlooked, but the one piece of technology that has advanced the least in electronic music making in the past decades might be … the furniture.
Output, whom regular readers will know mainly as a software instrument maker, have decided to make something that’s harder – as in a desk. PLATFORM is a simple but elegant design at an affordable price that ticks a lot of boxes of things musicians have tended to miss. It’s a chance to upgrade from IKEA-level studio gear without spending too much more money. And it’s surprisingly sensible.
You’ve seen desks that look roughly like this before. But finally this is a desk where gear will fit perfectly, which is surprisingly rare outside custom furniture.
Talking points:
It looks modern, not just utilitarian.
It’s designed by an architect.
The spaces actually fit 3U rack space – some three of them.
It fits 500-series gear and Eurorack.
There’s a slide-out tray for a keyboard. (Common.)
— and that will hold up to 88 keys. (Not common.)
— and there’s a cutout in the tray so you don’t crush your knees. (Finally.)
There’s cable management.
It comes in two different stains: natural, kodiak brown.
Let me talk about how much I dig this thing without a conflict of interest: I can’t have one. Yeah, while this is great Scandinavian design, the realities of furniture and, like, geography dictate that it’s available in the US and Canada.
Fine. Enjoy, North American residents. Let me just go take a nice ride on a tram and then … uh … measure my flat in the Metric system, and maybe go on a train and visit Beethoven’s grave. Because Europe.
Prediction: with areas like plug-ins, mobile apps, and Eurorack modules fully saturated, now will be the time to think about electronic music accessories. Because what are we supposed to spend our money on, if not our music making? (Don’t answer that.)
Available now. Price: US$549+.
Obligatory splashy product page and Apple-style video, go!
https://output.com/products/platform