Quasi-portable recording racks

Started by jwl on 19 October 2007. 1 reply.

Originally posted at johnlsayers.com, topic 9614.

Well, my studio build got sidetracked. Rather than put my (very) limited resources into building a room, I decided to make some upgrades and build a portable recording rig. This way, I can launch my business, get a cash flow going, and use proceeds from that to build out the room when the time comes. Additionally, I'm rethinking whether I want to build out my garage at all. So, I thought, 2 portable racks that connect via a single firewire cable, and I'd be pretty agile. The racks will be big and heavy, but I can get a 4-wheel dolly, and I'm a pretty big, strong guy. No worries there. However, they won't fit into my car! Doh! Serious engineering oversight there. I don't think I can make this rig much smaller without having to rewire it every time I set up, so I decided to go for it. The current plan is to use a small cargo trailer (luckily my car already has a hitch installed) when I get a gig. This rig consists of 2 racks, identically sized. One rack will contain my Mackie Onyx 1620 mixer in the angled top portion. Below that is a drawer containing my Mackie HMX56 headphone mixer. Below that, 8 rack spaces where my preamps/compressors will live. The other rack will contain 2 - 20" LCD monitors, stacked one on top of the other, in the angled top portion. Below that will be a drawer for the mouse and keyboard. Underneath that, 8 rack spaces where the computer (in a new rack case) and future upgrades will live. This way, I can arrive on location, connect the 2 rigs together via a single firewire cable, run my heavy duty extension cord to power, boot the computer, and be ready to listen and begin mic placement within the space of a minute or two. I've begun construction on the racks. My pictures are 800px wide, more than the forum rules of 700, so I'll post thumbnails here and link to the large ones. My 10-year old daughter is in one of the pics for size reference. One is in a greater state of done-ness than the other; one is just the framing, the other has the half-inch plywood skin on, the bottom and side panels permanently attached, and the front and back panel removeable. There will be a lid that goes over each rack to protect the [mixer | LCD monitors]. I haven't decided if the covers will be basically cubic, or whether they will be angled the same way the case itself is. Eventually the racks will be painted black, and covered with black carpet, and will have hardware trim added (corners, handles, latches, etc). [url=http://www.craftedrecordings.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/100_1769_jpg.jpeg]
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Best of luck! I did a similar thing several years ago, and my only regret was that it was heavier than an elephant! Hopefully, this rig brings you in tons of gigs and tons of money so that you can build your new place and make it a palace!