I've recently been setting up my studio in a new space and I found a few
new tricks that might be of use.
First, go see Matthew Davidson's Project Studio Tips at
http://www.apocalypse.org/~matthew/resources/tips/index.html. There are
lots of very valuable tips there that I've not seen elsewhere.
While out at the mall, I found an LED lamp at the Discovery Channel store
that can fit on your head easily. It is very light, takes 3 AAA batteries,
and has surprisingly bright white LEDs. It isn't the most comfortable
thing to wear on your head but it sure makes life easy when trying to work
behind dark racks. It is much better than a lamp hanging over the
rack. Mine cost ~$35 which is pricey but it has already paid for itself in
reduced frustration.
If you are going to be doing lots of wiring, you owe it to yourself to go
out and get a Brother P-Touch labeler and several widths of laminated
tape. You can stick labels on racks, cables, wherever. I'm using mine to
label snakes and other cables. Make sure to learn how to use the little
tool that comes with the P-Touch for separating the back from the sticky
label. It saves lots of time trying to peel those things off.
I wouldn't use a P-Touch for labeling patch bays. I used to use a
spreadsheet but if you have a PC, download the patch bay labeling program
from the Neutrik web site. It prints in color with spacings for the
standard Neutrik patch bays. I just print them on paper and glue then onto
the bay with rubber cement. You could also print them on Avery adhesive
paper but each bay would require one sheet, the way the program works. It
isn't the absolute best patch bay labeling program but it works well enough.
I have enough space and stuff that I can't arrange everything within arms
reach in my studio. So, I create little "areas" for different tasks or
synths. I put a small submixer and a patch bay in each area. I'm finding
the Alesis Studio 12R mixers to be handy for this application and they can
be picked up cheaply these days. Everything connects to the patch bay
which has the synth outputs normalled to the submixer inputs. I run an
8-channel snake from the area to the central console rack. The outputs of
the submixer are normalled to the first two channels of the snake. These
are normalled to inputs on the main console. I don't use this signal path
for recording but it allows me to have everything available on the main
console without repatching.
For recording, I have a rolling rack with a nice preamp/DI and effects that
I like to use when recording. I connect the synth I want to record from
the patch bay in the area to DI and any effects. The output of this is
usually balanced and I can route it via the extra snake channels to the
main racks and into a converter/sound card.
For controlling my sequencer when I can't reach it, I use a Keyspan Digital
Media Remote. It is the same technology as a TV remote but has a base with
a USB connector and an application that lets you program what the keys do
on an application basis. It has the usual play, stop, rewind, fastforward,
buttons and some cursor controls. I'm still working on the optimum set of
button mappings to use with Logic.
That's enough for now. I'm sure I'll think of a few more...now back to
wiring up my patch bays.
Eric