MOTM

(Apologies in advance if this duplicates; I sent it 8 hours ago and it never
appeared to have gone through.)

Let's say a guy who was vehemently planning to build his own custom cabinets
for his MOTM gear to make his *dream* synthesizer exactly the way he wanted
it woke up tired after a whole day of eating turkey.
Feeling lazy, he suddenly entertained the notion of quicker gratification
and a little compromise rather than all the work neccessary to design and
build his own cabinets from scratch. He's at the crossroads now; he really
needs to make a decision that will shape the future of his synthesizer soon,
as he already has 12u of MOTM modules in the works and growing that are just
sitting on his dining room table waiting for a home.
He really yearns for that custom design, but he dreams of eventually owning
a *lot* of these modules and therefore imagines spending a *lot* of time in
the basement building cabinets over the coming years that would be better
spent soldering or composing if he went with off-the-shelf racks.
Here are some of the questions that he might ask others who own the same
equipment and have gone down a similar road.
First, are there any mass-produced 19" racks that aren't 2-feet deep that
would be appropriate? 10" depth max is really preferred. 8" would be better.
SKB supposedly makes "mixer racks" but they might be a little too shallow
for MOTM gear, no? Would one have to buy a 2' deep Raxxess rack or something
and take the circular saw to it? Seems just as bad as making a cabinet from
scratch.
Second, the MOTM home page shows "dress ears" for lack of a better term
covering the rack rails and the mounting screws for the horizontal rails.
This is a decent look, but I don't think these are really available, are
they? I seem to remember someone else some months back commenting that he
had a good solution. Seems like some plates of this sort might be a nice,
low-cost item for Synthesis Technology to offer.
I'm posing this hypothetical situation for 'a friend.'
Thanks in advance for comments. I know cabinetry hgas been discussed here
almost as much as the modules, but I wanted to hear from those that might be
using store-bought racks as well.

Interesting--thanks for the info!

		

		They work fine (the "pop-up mixer rack"). MOTM was
*specifically* designed
		to fit in there.

> First, are there any mass-produced 19" racks that aren't 2-feet deep that
> would be appropriate? 10" depth max is really preferred. 8" would be
better.
> SKB supposedly makes "mixer racks" but they might be a little too shallow
> for MOTM gear, no?


They work fine (the "pop-up mixer rack"). MOTM was *specifically* designed
to fit in there.


>Would one have to buy a 2' deep Raxxess rack or something
> and take the circular saw to it? Seems just as bad as making a cabinet
from
> scratch.

People have done this.

> Second, the MOTM home page shows "dress ears" for lack of a better term
> covering the rack rails and the mounting screws for the horizontal rails.
> This is a decent look, but I don't think these are really available, are
> they? I seem to remember someone else some months back commenting that he
> had a good solution. Seems like some plates of this sort might be a nice,
> low-cost item for Synthesis Technology to offer.


I made some, messed up the dimensions, and am in the process of making more.

Paul S.

> SKB supposedly makes "mixer racks" but they might be a little too shallow
> for MOTM gear, no?

As was already stated, the MOTM was designed specifically for **this** rack.
I have one and it works great!  I am planning on buying another in a few
weeks.  Great investment.  Makes my modular truly portable.

As you probably know, the Pop-Up Mixer Rack is 12U.  2 rows of MOTM gear and
2 traditional 2U spaces for MICI-CV converters, patch pays, mults, effects,
etc.

Ciao!
Shemp

You can see pics of a 3 panel Serge system in a pop up mixer case at:

http://www.wwa.com/~johnp/gallery.html

Dave

> From: "David Bivins" <dbivins@...>
>
> Some thoughts on the pop-up mixer case:
>
> I'm using one, and I pretty much use it in the "closed" position, standing
> on end on my desk/workspace. The reason is that this thing takes up a huge
> amount of table-space when it's "popped-up." The problem with this is that
> the handle is on the bottom in this configuration (makes no sense
> to me why
> the handle is there--you have to carry your gear upside-down!).
>

Ha! I like the idea of using VCOs as comparative currency!


		-----Original Message-----
		Or, order one new and OPEN up your pocket book REAL wide
(about 2 VCOs worth).

> From: "Tkacs, Ken" <Ken.Tkacs@...>
> First, are there any mass-produced 19" racks that aren't 2-feet deep that
> would be appropriate? 10" depth max is really preferred. 8" would be
better.

If you are looking for a portable rack, I think the SKB that others have
confirmed is probably a great choice.  If you are not looking for portable,
I have one I am using now for my MOTM.  It is 44 spaces tall (yep, almost 7
feet) and stands self supporting from the floor.  It is like many of the
"open" racks you may have seen. And this one is "designed" to be open, but
they just happened to make it 8" from front to back lips with both sides
set up with rack holes.  Mine has Paul's rails in it and is all set for 60
units of MOTM with 14 spaces for regular rack gear if you are willing to
have some of it near the floor.  I got some of that VERY thin project
aluminum 2' X 3" sheets at the hardware store and cut a back that just
bolts on to the regular rack holes with about 6 screws for each piece so it
is fully dust proof yet easily accessible for the back.

If I was smart, I would leave my MOTM in this rack.  It takes VERY little
floor space and is almost the perfect size.  However, I am a dumb stooge
and plan to build a cabinet soon (soon being defined as before the weather
gets warm again).  So, by next summer I hope to sell this rack to some
lucky MOTM'er who is not planning to gig his stuff.  I mean you could, but
you would need a station wagon to haul it.

These racks are commercially available, but expensive.  I got mine from the
"we don't need it anymore pile" at work.  Check in with your local utility
or telephone company to see if they are getting rid of any.  Or, order one
new and OPEN up your pocket book REAL wide (about 2 VCOs worth).

Larry (cabinet making stooge) Hendry

Some thoughts on the pop-up mixer case:

I'm using one, and I pretty much use it in the "closed" position, standing
on end on my desk/workspace. The reason is that this thing takes up a huge
amount of table-space when it's "popped-up." The problem with this is that
the handle is on the bottom in this configuration (makes no sense to me why
the handle is there--you have to carry your gear upside-down!).

I can't think of what to put in the 2 extra slots. I have a rack for other
gear, and now I'm thinking I'd just like MOTM in this case (and those that
follow). So if you're doing JUST MOTM, and no MIDI->CV converters or
what-not cased with your MOTM, the mixer case is going to be 2 spaces too
long.

The best thing about the case is that it's shallow. I would really love it
if SKB (or someone similar) would make cases that are like SKB's 3 and 5
space shallow cases (with the rails in the back as well so you can mount
power supplies back there) but in 10U size. Then I could buy a couple of
those and be very happy.

Finally, the frame into which you screw your rack stuff (or the rack bars
that are MOTM-specific) isn't perfectly square (it's just every-so-slightly
flexible). It takes some pressure to align things while you're screwing them
in. As far as I know, I'm not running into any problematic tension as a
result, but it's not a "perfect" product in my experience. Has anyone else
had this problem? Maybe it's just the one I bought.

Best,

David.