Organization is everything when it comes to building an efficient home recording studio. Its about space relative to your body, gear relative to your hands, ideas and possibilities close to your mind. TweakLab at 4am, any given night The most critical variable in the computer based studio is having a keyboard near your computer keyboard. Ideally, you want to be able to press record and play at the same time your other hand triggers notes.

• Audio Patch Bay

You also want to hear your music in perfect stereo when your head is pointed to the computer monitor, and also when you are at your mixing desk. Having 2 sets of speakers helps.

I suggest near field monitors pointing at you when you look at your computer screen and larger mid field monitors when you are facing your mixing desk. You switch back and forth as you build the song. While you are editing the song on the computer you can use the near fields at a moderate-to-low volume to save ear fatigue, and as you do your final mix, you can use the big guns to critically evaluate depth, boominess, crispness, balance and other issues. Your tweeters should be at ear level. That's pretty important. Speakers sound different off axis. Build everything else around these considerations.

Whatever you do, avoid putting speakers in corners. Move them a few feet out if it has to sit in a corner so you don't get an unwanted bass boost. Rectangular rooms are better than square rooms. If possible have the big speakers pointing down the long side of the room to maximize the distance between the back wall and the back of your head. If your back is against the wall, the reflections off the wall will play some tricks on your ears.

With 12 spaces of rack rail, you can make sure that all the effects you need are right where you need them with Music People's easily portable 12-space rack stand. It's easy transport and easy to place on stage, studio, home, or wherever you need it. Tweak writes: Cheap n' Cheerful I have Two.

Perfect for a tabletop rack system. It's stronger than it looks and with no side, back or bottom panels you have full access Tweak's Rig in 2003 Re-rigging my rig in a 2006 downsize When setting up or rearranging your studio, think of every possible angle by which you may need to access your equipment.

This gets tricky with items that you may need to access from behind, as well as from the front-especially mixing boards. If the jackfield is against a wall in the middle of a table, I can guarantee you you won't be repatching very often. I recommend leaving at least 2 feet behind your racks free so you can get back there and troubleshoot. Get a good, comfortable chair on casters that is adjustable and supports your back properly. Many office supply stores have good ones. Make sure it does not squeak. (Though I have to admit, I've gotten some great really scary samples out of swivel chair squeaks, but normally you don't want these in the mix, lol.) Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames.

Now stretch your arm out and spin around 360 degrees in your new swivel chair. The circle your arm makes is your prime studio real estate. If there is an object in this space you never touch when working on music, move it back. Move objects you do touch into this valued inner circle. You will not believe the difference this can make. Move all your set-once-and forget pieces to the back. That might include room EQs, effects boxes, synth modules, amps, midi interface racks, etc.

Stuff that goes up front, obviously, you main keyboard, grooveboxs, synths with real time controllers, patchbays, and samplers (unless you edit them remotely). Tweak's DJ setup with slide out groove box door All that #$%@& DJ Gear. Hey, I like grooveboxs as much as anyone. Yet while they might be great in a DJ Coffin, they pose quite a problem in a home studio, namely, they take too much vertical space because they can't be racked. I mean if all my synths were 'desktop modules' I'd have to install a little jet pack to my chair to get to it all! Of course you could get rack drawers, but once you price those you might think different.

Audio Patch Bay

This is a must have for any studio-especially those using rack-mounted effects. Adding a patchbay keeps your studio neat, eliminates cable clutter, and puts an end to. Patch bays are used in the studio to enable. And instruments to be connected easily with recording equipment. A patch bay groups all of the input jacks.

An attractive yet inexpensive solution is a budget computer desk, the kind parents buy for school kids. They have a sliding drawer for a keyboard and are about 2-3 feet in length. Yep, you just put your electribe, your Kaoss pad, or whatever else that is thin in the drawers and pu your heftier grooveboxs on the top. And you get space underneath to store your mics, cds, zips, on one side and have some stackable space on the other side for stuff like amps, tape decks, whatever else you have that can't be racked.

You can even store books there, like your manuals, which you have read cover to cover, right? Dimmers and florescent lamps may induce hum into your audio system. Invest in lo wattage bulbs if you like to work with low light.

Make an atmosphere of lighting to make your studio a creative place that's easy on the eyes. Besides, VST looks better in low light.

Ambient lighting is good, it saves eyestrain, especially if you are spending long sessions staring into a computer monitor. Avoid all situations of glare reflected from the monitor, it will save you headaches, and we don't need pain when we create something beautiful, do we? Keep a well-stocked box of adapters. Go to Radio Shack.

You have my permission. Don't let those smirking pros in the corner stop you.

Do you have a Patchbay? Don't think you need one? Take this little test. Have you ever run out of mixer channels? (Who hasn't!) Is there ever an unused mixer channel in any of your mixes because it was tied up with a synth you didn't need for the piece?

Do you ignore the sub outs on your synths and run everything from the main outs? If you answered all 3 of these as YES then you NEED a patchbay and if you answered yes to 2 of the three you will really appreciate having one. Sure it's a bit of a pain to set up and you have to buy lots more cables, but it is very much worth it because you can make your studio as flexible as you want. Get all your old gear out of the closet and patch it into the bay. If you ever want to use it again, it will be about 2 seconds away from being live and patched into your board.

Using the sub outs of synths and samplers dramatically increases your mix quality. If you dedicate a mixer channel to just the bass drum alone you improve your mix greatly. If you do go with a Patchbay, make a list of what gear is connected to each in and out. A standard 24 point patchbay has 96 jacks on it. Don't trust yourself to remember all of them. When you change your rig, update the list. Kill the Hum.

When laying out your studio, route all the AC cords first. Put them in a pathway that will cross audio cables at a 90 degree angle. Should you use cable ties?

I say no, though clearly your studio will look neater if you do. However, you might find that if you ever want to move a piece of gear you have to undo the harness and it's a pain. Avoid all situations where an audio cable travels parallel with an a/c cable as the audio cable will pick up dreaded 60 cycle HUM. Keep audio cables away from wall-warts (adapters). At a normal listening level, with nothing playing, gates switched off, your audio should be silent. Now, carefully put all your faders to 100% and slowly turn up your amp till you hear noises, hums, rfi. Isolate the most offensive of these noises to single pieces of gear and see if moving the ac/audio cable paths helps.

Usually, you can improve your signal-to-noise ratio substantially by running this test, and you learn which pieces in your studio are the noisiest. This helps during the mix as you can make better decisions about boosting a single level or cutting everything else to make an instrument cut the mix. Acoustics: the really simple way. Treat the walls in your studio. Clap your hands loud in your studio. No, not to find the remote, but to listen for any ringing or resonance.

You don't want resonance here, you analog filter heads! Do the foam thing till the only ringing you hear is your tinitus. I mean till you clap and the sound does not bounce back.

Shoot for a room where instruments sound full and clear, neither sproingy or muffled. Half dead, half alive. You know, the way you feel after 2 weeks of all night sessions. Half and Half rule. If you have carpet, don't treat the ceiling. If you treat the north wall, don't treat the south wall, ditto for east and west. Square rooms are not good as they create standing waves where a certain frequency will resonate.

Of course this is all a simplification to get you going. A more scientific way is place some of them where they will diffuse the early reflections coming off the walls and ceiling over your head and on the wall area your ears point to. But even just adding some foam will help. Sound travels fast (at the speed of sound!) and the more diffusion you add, the more dead the room will sound. You don't want totally dead, but a room where things sound good. A professional approach will carefully analyze the room and place a variety of bass traps and sound absorbers/diffusers at strategic locations. Bass is a problem, particularly in small studios.

Bass frequencies bounce around the room in such a fashion to give uneven bass response, depending on where you sit or stand. A Bass trap is normally put close to the corners, where they can be effective at 'trapping' the bass frequencies. But this is just to foreshadow the, which will deal with acoustics in more detail. Keep you cables where you will need them. Behind your rack is a great place.

Keeping it clean. You'll be happier in your studio if you dust it every now and then. I use cotton cloths with either a little Windex or Endust for electronics sprayed on them. Just a little. Best not to spray on the gear directly.

A featherduster is very useful for getting dust off of mixers, where the knobs are so close together its hard to get the surface. Invest in the absolute best all purpose Phillips screwdriver you can find. Get a good pair of needle nose pliers, jewelers screwdrivers, and wire cutters.

Heavy drapes over windows will keep outdoor noises from ruining your tracks. Also, tell the neighbors to keep it down after 3am, you're trying to make music in here. Every time you burn a CD don't forget to write down what's on it on the cd itself. You will thank me 10 years from now when you have thousands of songs. Access is everything. Think like this: Anything you fail to mark is lost. It's hard to get professional-sounding tracks without the right equipment, but zZounds has you covered.

This Multitrack Accessory Package provides everything you need for a tight, efficient recording experience. You get dead-on accuracy with KRK's studio monitors, comfortable Audio Technica headphones for long studio sessions, industry-standard recording microphones, and all the extras you need to take your tracks from good to great! Includes: Behringer PMP5000 powered mixer, Behringer EP1500 monitor amplifier, Yamaha S115V speakers, Yamaha SM12V stage monitors, Stagg speaker cables, On-Stage speaker stands, Shure SM58 microphones, CBI LowZ mic cables, CBI TRS (for monitors) cable, and On-Stage 7701B tripod/boom microphone stands. Monster, the industry leader, now offers the safest and best way to protect your entire system. Studio-Central Member's Link You can learn a lot about Room acoustics and solutions to common problems at Also see by Ethan Winer Have fun in your studio!

Go to the Go to the. Want to talk about Studio Setup? Benefit from other's experiences! Want to read more about soundproofing and building a great studio room? Read, courtesy of Auralex Cool Quote: 'Music has its own alphabet of only seven letters, as compared with the twenty-six of the English alphabet.Several words form a phrase, and several phrases a complete sentence, and the same thing is true in music.' Sigmund Spaeth (1885–1965), U.S.

Tweak's Articles on Essential Studio Concepts Studio setup in a Nutshell ©2010 TweakHeadz.com.

Setting up a Patchbay in your Home Studio by TweakHeadz lab Tweak's Guide to Recording Success Store Links s Setting up a Patchbay in your Home Studio Increase your creative options with flexible signal paths by Tweakheadz Lab Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. Y our significant other barges in your studio and screams the usual blood curdling scream at that always annoying pitch. There you lay on the floor, under the desk, and you aren't moving.

The SO probably thinks you electrocuted yourself again. But you know you are alright, just trying to plug your new synth into inputs 7-8 of your audio interface. 'Don't scream so loud, I've almost got it in.one more inch.c'mon baby get it in there.' 'What ARE you doing down there?'

'Now I'm fixing my dongle after it got pulled out!' 'That's it, I'm going to your mother-in-laws', pervert! Oh there they go. There are a thousand reasons never to go behind your studio desk. You were just trying to connect equipment so you could record it. In the process of going back behind the desk, you stepped on a few cables and tripped over a power strip or two. In short, you have now upset the studio's delicate wiring balance and it will now punish you for your clumsiness.

You should have been more careful. Its dangerous back there. You knocked out one of the thin little usb power supply cables and all your copy protection dongles lost power. That meant a reboot. More lost time. Then dongle reinitialization.

Culminating in the dreaded trip to iLok, where you remember that you forgot your master password and username. But it could have been worse. If you step on any cable at all it might stop working.

Or worst of all, once you sit down in the chair again you might realize a new untraceable 60HZ hum has been instantiated. Now that might take all night to trace. Thank goodness the S.O. Left you alone to figure this out.

OK, I promise there will be no more dongle jokes on the site. There are many reasons to get a patchbay and only a few why you should not. First, lets start with a definition. What is a Patchbay? A patchbay is a hardware device that features ins and outs for analog audio gear.

It allows you to easily patch the outputs of one piece to the inputs of another. A patch cable is a short cable, usually 1.5 to 3 feet that is used on the front of a patchbay.

Usually the patchbay is in a rack mountable case. The most common is the 48 point patchbay of TRS jacks, though other versions exist with RCA, XLR, TS and other kinds of connectors. While patchbays may seem like utilitarian pieces of gear as they produce no sound of their own, they actually allow the creation of unique signal paths that could not be done as easily without a patchbay. By putting so many inputs and outputs in close range, it makes it easy to experiment and find novel audio effects without leaving one's chair in front of the console or computer monitor. Why you should not get a patchbay 1. You are controlling cables by getting More cables. More cables increases the odd of one going bad, ruining tracks, or just degrading the signal.

The shortest analog signal path is always the best (that is a rule) and by adding a patchbay and cables you are lengthening it. You already have more inputs and outputs than you need and access to them is easy. Then forget it, you don't need a bay. Why you should get a patchbay 1. You have more gear than you have inputs on your mixer or audio interface. The fewer inputs you have, the more a bay becomes a blessing.

Lets say you have only a 2 input soundcard and you want to plug in your preamps when you record vocals and your synth when you want to record instruments. The back of your audio interface or soundcard is in a remote, inaccessible place. You have an analog mixer with inputs, busses, sends, returns and a lot of outboard gear, like effects units, compressors, pedals, samplers, synths and standalone audio recorders.

You want total flexibility connecting them in a unique fashion for each project you do. You need a way to split the audio signal to go to various processors. You use hardware samplers, vocoders, harmonizers and want to route the output of your sequencer to the input of these devices while not disturbing the original signal path. You have a modular multi track recorder with discrete channel ins and outs and want flexibility patching channels to your analog mixer. (This may require several bays).

Basic Patchbay RULES Most basic bays have 24 ins and 24 outs on the front and back. This is called a 48 point bay. It has 96 jacks total. With all these ins and outs things can get confusing, even for professionals. Its important that you follow a few basic rules to keep things organized in your mind.

Rule #1: The top jacks are always for outputs. That is you take the outputs of your audio interface and other gear and plug them into the top jacks on the back of the bay. Rule #2 The bottom jacks always go to the inputs of your audio interface and to inputs of other outboard gear. Rule #3 You never connect a front panel output (top) to another front panel output. Likewise you never connect a front panel input (bottom row) to another front panel input.

When you look at a patchbay from the front you should automatically think. 'The top jacks (the 'a' jacks) are ALL outputs', The Bottom row jacks (the 'b' jacks) are ALL inputs. Let the Fun Begin By following the 3 rules you should be able to connect different paths with confidence that nothing is going to blow up. You can then patch away. When you are in the heat of creation, take a moment to pause and scan the front panel of the bay and think 'Is there anything special I want to do here?' Using your unique audio paths. Patching in a new path takes about 3-4 seconds. What can you do?

Sure thing, slam the guitar track back through your amp and record with your mic; route the synth through another synth's filter; chain up and casacade your effects boxes in a huge effects loop; sample that vocal phrase straight off the audio track into your MPC and whack the crap out of it with your thumbs. We are talking hardware plugins here. Heh, you never know what you've never heard till you bust out a bit and a patchbay is one great way to do that. Some Tips Here is a tip before you set up your own bay and it defies common sense. As long as you label things, and you must label things somewhere, don't get all hung up about the order of devices. While you SHOULD connect the ins and outs of your audio interface (s) you don't have to always connect the in and out of everything.

Like on a synth, you only usually need the outs connected, unless it has a sampler or vocoder in it. In a word, don't make your patchbay BORING with stuff you are unlikely to ever patch. Plug in the stuff you know you want accessible, even if its a $30 crap distortion pedal with the bottom taped on, even if you have to leave out that $250 rack of preamps that you hate.

You set up the back of your patchbay to configure your studio's 'default' signal paths, the way you want things wired most of the time. When you want to change or patch in other gear outputs to inputs, you do it on the front of the bay. You want to never have to go to the back of the bay, and only patch things into your recording paths with short patchbay cables or directly from gear you don't have plugged into the patchbay.

The 3 modes, NORMAL, HALF-NORMAL and THRU defined To keep it simple we are going to talk about the bay set up in NORMAL mode for 1-12. 13-16 are in Half Normal Mode, 17-24 are in THRU mode. What do these things mean? Deep breath now, here we go: In Normal mode the output (top back) jack automatically flows to the input (bottom back) UNLESS there is something plugged in the front 'a' (top) jack. As soon as the plug is inserted in the top front jack, then the signal path is broken. In the HALF Normal Mode where the output signal to the inputs jacks is NOT broken when you insert a plug. Basically, half normal mode splits the signal where you still have the original path and a new path. In THRU mode, the signal in the top back goes thru to the top front only.

It does not go to the lower back inputs. In thru mode you must patch from the 'a' output to a 'b' input to have any audio connection at all. Note: some bays may be different and may not have all the above modes Ok, to help some of you new guys out I am going to set up a perfectly functional patchbay with common gear in the example below. I'll give examples of all the modes and attempt to inspire with some patching ideas. Tweak's Example Setup for a 48 point patchbay Top Back-Outputs Bottom Back Inputs Top Front A Outputs Bottom front B inputs 1. External Mic preamp Line out 1 (Normal Mode) 1.

Audio Interface in 1 a1: If you want your preamp to go to somewhere other than audio interface In 1 then plug in a patch to the destination, like b13, b 15, b17, b1: Any top row jack can be plugged in for recording 2. External Mic preamp Line out 2 (Normal Mode) 2. Audio Interface in 2 a2: To sing through your synths analog filter patch a2 to b24, then take the output of the synth and plug into b2 b2: Any top row jack can be plugged in for recording 3.

Multi effects box OUT L (Normal Mode) 3. Audio Interface in 3 a3:You want to send the effects to your Motif input for sampling plug a3-4 to B13-14 b3: Any top row jack can be plugged in for recording 4. Multi effects box OUT R (Normal Mode) 4.

Audio Interface in 4 a4: take a4 to the distortion pedal at b22, then take the out of the pedal back to b4 for recording b4: Any top row jack can be plugged in for recording 5. Yamaha Motif out L (Normal Mode) 5. Audio Interface in 5 a5:You want to sample the Motif on your MPC plug a5-6 to b17-18 b5: Any top row jack can be plugged in for recording 6. Yamaha Motif out R (Normal Mode) 6.

Audio Interface in 6 a6: Plug nothing in a5-6 and the motif always goes to audio interface Input 5-6 where it can be monitored and recorded in your sequencer. B6: Any top row jack can be plugged in for recording 7. Compressor output Left (Normal Mode) 7. Audio Interface in 7 a7:Becuase we are in Normal Mode inserting a plug in a7 breaks the connection to the audio interface and the compressed signal sourced at b14-15 can be routed to another 'b' pair of inputs. B7: Any top row jack can be plugged in for recording 8. Compressor Output Right (Normal Mode) 8.

Audio Interface in 8 a8: as above b8: Any top row jack can be plugged in for recording 9. Audio Interface Out 1 (Normal Mode) 9. To Monitor switcher L IN a9: You could patch to b19 to record to the 2 track b9: patch from a19 to monitor the 2 track 10. Audio Interface Out 2 (Normal Mode) 10.

To Monitor switcher R IN a10: You could patch to b20 to record to the 2 track b10: patch from a20 to monitor the 2 track 11. Audio Interface Out 3 (Normal Mode) 11. To Multi effects box IN L a11: To bypass the Multi effects box plug a11 to any other B destination, for example to the sampler at b17 b11:Patch in b11-12 whenever you want the multi effects box in the chain 12.

Audio Interface Out 4 (Normal Mode) 12. To Multi effects box IN R a12: To bypass the Multi effects box plug a12 to any other B destination, for example to the vocoder at b21 b12: as above 13. Audio Interface Out 5 (Half Normal Mode) 13. Motif input Left a13:With NO plugs in a13-14 AI Out 5-6 will automatically go to the Motifs sampler inputs and they are always ready to sample, just as in normal mode b13: To sample or use the FX processor on your Motif plug in your 'a' level source here 14 Audio Interface Out 6 (Half Normal Mode) 14.

Motif Input Right a14: In Half Normal Mode: AI out6 still goes to the motif but also can be connected to another destination by plugging a14 to a b jack. B14: To sample or use the FX processor on your Motif plug in your 'a' level source here 15. Audio Interface Out 7 (Half Normal Mode) 15. Outboard Compressor Input L a15: In half Normal Mode you will automatically route AI Out 7-8 to the compressor but can still route the pre-compressed signal somewhere else b15: You want a Mic preamp to go through the compressor before they are recorded plug a1 or 2 to B15 or 16 16. Audio Interface Out 8 (Half Normal Mode) 16. Outboard Compressor Input R a16: Send a patch to your guitar amp line in at b23 b16: 17. Akai MPC Output L ( In THRU mode so the sampler output does NOT go to the sampler input -which would be crazy) 17.

Akai MPC input L a17: Connect to b1-9 when ready to record b17: plug in any 'a' level source to sample to the MPC 18. Akai MPC output R (In Thru Mode) 18. Akai MPC input R a18: Connect to b1-9 when ready to record b18: plug in any 'a' level source to sample to the MPC 19. 2 track recorder Out L (Use Thru Mode) 19. 2 track recorder In L a19: patch to B9 to monitor the deck b19: Record any top output by plugging into b19 20. 2 track recorder Out R (Use Thru Mode) 20. 2 track recorder In R a20: patch to b10 to monitor the deck b20: Record any top output by plugging into b20 21 Vocoder Line Out (Use Thru Mode) 21.

Vocoder line input a21: You would patch this vocoder output to b1-8 when you were ready to record it b21: Any line source you want vocoded gets plugged in here, such as from a1,a2, a5, a6, a11-16 22. CD Turntable Out L/R (Use Thru Mode) 22. Distortion FX pedal input a22: patch a22 TRS to b17-18 with a TRS to dual TS adapter to get some chop n screw samples to the sampler b22: Try routing a vocal through an old guitar distortion pedal.

Then take the output of the pedal to B1-9 23. Stereo Synth Module Out L/R (unbal) (Use Thru Mode) 23. Amp Line input a23: To record your module as audio connect a TRS to dual TS cable and plug into b1-2, b3-4, b5-6 or b7-8 b23: Send any output you want to you amp, then re-record it with your Mic and preamp for that 'cab' sound.

Amp Line out (Use Thru Mode) 24. Analog Synth filter input a24: When you want to record the signal from your amp, plug to b1-9 b24: plug in any 'a' level source to route to the filter After looking through the above chart you should be getting a sense of all the different creative options that open up just by being able to easily connect one piece of gear to another.

Some Final Connections: 1. Note you can plug in TRS stereo jacks into a single jack if the gear is unbalanced. You might adapt your RCA jacks on DJ gear line level gear with an RCA to TRS adapter. Then patch with a TRS to dual mono TS to adapt to gear with 2 outputs. Doing this has no penalty and allows you to connect more gear to the bay 2.

Oh yeah, make sure you write down what is plugged into the back of your patchbay. You will refer to it often. You certainly do not want to go back there to see what you plugged in. After all, we never want to get the significant one more upset than they need to be. Leave feedback on this article at Studio-central Cool Threads Go to the Go to the Tweak's Articles on Essential Studio Concepts How to setup a Patchbay ©2010 TweakHeadz.com.