RE: THE RACK. Keeping to together...

["Rainer Straschill" <rs@moinlabs.de>]

Hey kid,

I found out that these are the details that actually make the difference
between a crappy rack containing expensive gear and a pro rack. Some of the
ideas I adhere to to avoid the former and reach the latter:

        i) no tape. Use cable ties, solutions using metal objects and 
screws where
appropriate.
        ii) use self-built power-distribution strips. In the case of my 
main rack,
there are three of them; one of them with 8 sockets
            with switch, screwed to the bottom of the rack. Two more, 
suited for
being screwed to the wall, srewed to the sides, with custom
            cables (short ones).
        iii) avoid wallwarts at all costs. This can be done by a)cleverly 
shopping
for gear, b) custom power supplys (don't know if this exists as
             a commercial solution, but one can integrate a transformer, 
rectifier
and several of the low-power jacks to get rid of all external
             power supplies once and for all).
        iv) avoid external power supplies at all costs. This can be done 
by see
above. If you absolutely have to use one (the Repeater comes to            
 mind),
be sure to construct some mimic to fasten it securely to the rack as
described in i).
        v) make your cahles as short as possible. Have enough patch cables 
of
different lengths ready. Plan the arrangement of the devices in the
           rack by minimizing cable lenths (especially makes sense in 
those 20+ HU
racks).
        vi) floorboards are an issue of its own, and where I don't have 
extensive
experience. In my case, a few devices are on the floor, and                
 these are
not wired or held in place in a professional way. I suggest you do better.
        vii) When connecting external components with more than two 
cables, think
about some kind of multipin connector. Example: the keyboard               
  rack
with the SY85 and the Equinox connects to the main rack with 10 cables in
total. A huge time saver is a custom multicore...
        viii) Tie your external components to the rack with a firmly 
attached
string that is slightly shorter than your cables.

Some of this actually extends over the point of your question. Sorry. Yet I
can say of the things in my rack nothing will get pulled out. And using
point viii), nothing gets disconnected, either. This leaves only the
connections to the main mixer and the power feed for possible 
disconnection,
but this won't happen as I don't move around the main rack onstage. Of
course, I could still disconnect the cable from my bass's GK2B hexaphonic
pickup...

Rainer Straschill
Moinlabs GFX and Soundworks - www.moinlabs.de
digital penis expert group - www.dpeg.de
The MoinSound Archives - www.mp3.com/moinlabs


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Sottilaro [mailto:sine@zerocrossing.net]
> Sent: Dienstag, 16. Juli 2002 06:35
> To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> Subject: THE RACK. Keeping to together...
>
>
> Hey kids.
>
> So, I had a slight meltdown at the Santa Cruz loopfest.  Upon
> unpacking
> tonight, I realized that heat in my car had softened the duct
> tape that
> was holding some wallwarts into their powerstrips, and they
> fell out and
> took some cables with them.  It didn't matter much due to what I had
> planned to do, but it brings me to the question:
>
> How do people keep it all together?  It seems to me like
> every other gig
> SOMETHING is getting pulled out.  I'm not the only one, I believe Ted
> also had this issue at the festival.  Usually, I can recover,
> but with a
> quick setup time, I just gave up.  Regardless, it's a pain in
> the ass at
> any show.  Is there a tip or trick anyone has for such things?  Does
> anyone know where one can get generic computer style power
> cords in 1 or
> 2 foot lengths?
>
> Mark Sottilaro
>