MOTM

Well, here're my 2-cents, for what they're worth:
 
 
Many people have had perfectly good experiences using cables of all one
color (usually black, I would guess).
 
Because there is now a wide range of colors to choose from, the desire is
there to "do" something with this available dimension, to put the colors
into some kind of useful scheme.
 
At first, it's an attractive idea to make them color-coded by function. But
in reality, I don't think this is fruitful at all. It's just one more thing
that an anal retentive person (like myself) will "worry about" when
selecting cables for a patch, an aspect that adds nothing to the final
sound, but slows down the 'process.' Think about it---MOTM modules use a
uniform plug/jack type for audio, control voltages, triggers, and gates. So
why try to mess UP that flexibility by limiting your red cords "only" to
gates, for instance? MAYBE in a classroom situation, this could be useful,
but it seems to me that you'd need a LOT more cables to have varying lengths
in every color.
 
So the other alternative is to color-code by length. Now, this may offer
only a 'minor' aid in selecting and organizing your cables, but since it's a
"free" option, and every little bit helps, it seems like a logical way to
go. I mean, ultimately, the whole thing is arbitrary, but as long as you
have a choice of colors, why NOT make it easier to untangle them when they
are in a big ball on the floor? I hate to admit it, but as careful as I am,
when I'm in a patching frenzy, cables are everywhere, and if I'm crazily
thinking, "Where's a 2-foot cable?? Where's a 2-footer??" and I know my
2-footers are green, then it just helps me that little bit. You know? That's
just 8 brain cells that I do not need to switch from right-brain to
left-brain activity.
 
So bottom line, my opinion is that it doesn't matter a whole lot, but as
long as the option is there, why not put it to use, and it seems to me that
with few specific exceptions, color-coding by function doesn't help at all
(may even hinder), and color-coding by length at least helps a "little." So
why not go that way?
 
Now, as to which-colors-are-what, that *IS* extremely arbitrary and up to
personal taste. The "rainbow/wavelength" idea seems a logical as anything to
me. I hadn't thought about that idea, but it's interesting. I may adopt that
myself, and I'm glad folks on this list mentioned it.
 
KT
 
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Brousseau, Paul E (Paul) [mailto:noise@...] 
Sent: Tuesday, 18 February, 2003 4:08 PM
To: motm@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [motm] Cable color scheme advice?
 
I'm a little unclear regarding the advantage of this.  I can see it making a
difference when you're patching in a new cable out of the jumbled mess on
the floor... but when you're already patched in... it seems to me that it
would just tell you how far away the next module is.  Am I missing
something?
 
--PBr
-----Original Message-----
From: jwbarlow@... [mailto:jwbarlow@...]
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 11:57 AM
To: motm@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [motm] Cable color scheme advice?
In a message dated 2/18/2003 5:21:27 AM Pacific Standard Time,
synth1@... writes:



I color-code to *length*, not by function.


Me too!