MOTM

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