NEW YORK― Jesse Zuretti is a musician and award-winning composer whose passion and work in the game development and music industry speaks for itself. Zuretti got his start composing for Marvel in 2018, earning a few Webby awards along the way. He is also co-founder of Nocturne & Heretic, a full-scope audio production and audio branding team that serves video game and anime studios, bands, record labels and TV/film companies, among others. In 2023, Zuretti signed a contract with Riot Games and is currently composing an original soundtrack (OST) for the studio’s upcoming game “2XKO,” a team-based fighting game with League of Legends and Arcane Champions (to be released in 2025).
Passionate about having the best equipment to enhance the creative workflow for his home studio, Zuretti found Ultimate Support Systems’ Apex Series Keyboard Stands to be an unrivaled solution for storage, support and more, and utilizes them for all his projects, including the “2XKO” soundtrack. The composer credits the sleek design of the keyboard stands as one of the standout features.
“The stands helped me get my synths in order, and they don’t take up a lot of room; they fit nice and close to my session prep area where I write my compositions,” he says. “Whenever you have to move from one work area to another, you take time away from your creativity, so having the keyboards right there next to me is just really great. This has been paramount to my workflow.”
Zuretti also praised how the Apex stands helped set the tone of his home studio and maintain his need for organization. “I can’t work in a studio that is disorganized,” he adds. “The Apex stands hide any visible wires and don’t take up valuable real estate. For so many reasons, there’s nothing else like these Apex stands. With no visible means of support, they produce such a cool, clean look.”
Additionally, Zuretti commends the brand for designing the stands with an easy storage and assembly process. “They can be packed away really easily, which is especially beneficial for gigging keyboard players,” he explains. “I moved this year, and disassembling and reassembling the stands was super simple. In my old studio, I had set them up on the floor and was trying to figure out how to make them perfectly stable on my uneven hardwood floors when I noticed the little bumper in the back. I lowered the bumpers, which immediately fixed the stability problem.”
In addition to putting the stands to use while working on the “2XKO” soundtrack, Zuretti says he is sure he’ll make great use of them in the future considering their versatility. “The Apex are the only stands that I’ll use,” he says.
Zuretti also credits Ultimate Support Systems for its well-thought-out intentions behind the product, adding: “There are many companies that make stands, but Ultimate Support Systems decided to go the distance and make these right. Every little thing about these keyboard stands is well thought out―adding arms that hold the keyboards but also using nice foam to prevent the potential for subsequent scratching and slipping. There are different lengths of arms and clips for managing the cable system, and I could keep going; everything is just perfectly thought out. That’s why I have two of them.”