Members mstreck Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 I have two keyboards on stage.... so that means two power cables, two cables to my monitor amp, two cables to a DI box, two MIDI cables, and a cable leading to a control pedal. I bought cables of appropriate lengths and made a snake out of the pedal/audo cables for quick setup -- I'm able to clip it onto my stand so that cleaned things up a little, but eventually they all need to go in different directions so they're still kinda unruly. I hate seeing that kind of crap on stage. Any suggestions for a nice, clean stage setup without the keyboard cable spaghetti? Thanks!Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 I use these velcro cable ties on every cable.http://www.homedepot.com/p/Velcro-8-in-x-1-2-in-Reusable-Ties-50-Pack-90924/202261940?keyword=velcro+cable+ties#.UlIkXKjn_csNot only can I tie up each cable before I pack it away, but since they easily slide up and down the cable, I then have all sorts of ties than I can use to tie things together with whether they are running in groups of two or four or ten or every which way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dan88z Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 why do you need 2 midi cables? are you controlling sounds on each board from the other board? I have everything zip tied together. When a cord reaches it's destination it branches off from the snake while the rest continue on. I run the power and audio in separate snakes. My cable management isn't the best but my setup time is like 10 minutes tops because of the way I have everything grouped together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SeniorBlues Posted October 7, 2013 Members Share Posted October 7, 2013 guido61 wrote: I use these velcro cable ties on every cable.http://www.homedepot.com/p/Velcro-8-in-x-1-2-in-Reusable-Ties-50-Pack-90924/202261940?keyword=velcro+cable+ties#.UlIkXKjn_cs Not only can I tie up each cable before I pack it away, but since they easily slide up and down the cable, I then have all sorts of ties than I can use to tie things together with whether they are running in groups of two or four or ten or every which way. Ditto . . except I also found a pack that's color coded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted October 8, 2013 Members Share Posted October 8, 2013 I've spent quite a bit of time (and money) on the cabling used in my rig. My rig is described in my signature block. Not mentioned in the sig is the custom 8 channel snake I had made by www.redco.com. The custom snake carries all the signal sends and MIDI connections on the back of the 2 keyboards back to the rack. It carries the Left & Right output signals back to the SM10 line mixer (via TRS - TRS connections) from each keyboard. It also carries the MIDI IN and MIDI OUT connections back to the MOTU MIDI ExpressXT MIDI interface via 5 PIN Din connectors (which actually use only 3 leads). All the connectors on the keyboard end of the snake user right angle connectors. All the connections at the rack end are prepatched to their destination devices. The snake "lives" in the empty rack space at the bottom of the rack during travel and storage.The rack is completely prewired. In addition to the connections coming from the keyboards described above, connections for the Motif ES Rack unit to the SM10 line mixer and MOTU MIDI interface are prewired. The connection from the Wireless MIDI receiver unit is also prewired into the MOTU MIDI interface. The connections to external devices are also prewired - using a patch panel and appropriate leads (also custom spec'ed from www.redco.com ) for Left & Right FOH sends (TRS to TRS connections), Left & Right "Main Output" signal sends to 2 power staged monitors (XLR) , a single TRS input patched to a channel of the SM10 line mixer for an AUX send from the FOH which I mix and amplifiy through my stage monitors along with my keyboards. Finally, there are two TRS jacks patched to the SM10 line mixer to support the connection of any 1/8" device (iPad, Laptop, iPod, etc.) All of the above is a part of my rig and in use now. My current project is a pedalboard. I use 5 control pedals in my rig - an expression pedal (Yamaha FC7) and a damper pedal (Yamaha FC4) for each of the two keyboards - with 2nd damper (switch) pedal (Yamaha FC4) connected to my Kronos to trigger a Leslie sim. The design I'm using premounts all five pedals to a rather large board that's been painted with so many coats of black high-gloss enamel that it looks more like it's been dipped rather than painted. Also mounted to the board is a small (L-6"x W-3" x H-2") cast aluminum box. The box has been drilled and fitted with 10 TRS jacks (fitted opposite of one another on each of 6" sides). The jacks are wired "straight thru". The factory cables on each pedal have been shortened and mounted with a Neutrik "Right Angled TRS" connector. The length of each pedal's cable is custom lengthed to run directly from the pedal to a jack on the aluminum box. Each pedal's cable is routed and attached to the board itself so that they don't move around. Collectively the cables follow a neat and tidy path along the board. There is a thin piece of plywood (with the same paint treatment as the base of the pedalboard) that sits on spacers so that it covers the majority of the routed cables. When you look at the board - there's roughly 1 inch of exposed cable running from each pedal to where it "disappears" under the cover - and another approximate 1 inch of exposed cable running run under the cover to the box. Finally there is a cast aluminum "quad box" to provide power connections for both keyboards plus any other "toys" used at the keyboards such as a light, laptop or an ipad charger. I've purchased appropriately length AC cables for each of the two keyboards in order to eliminate excess cable. The "quad box" on the board has a cable whose length is designed to bring it back to another quad box (the "rear box") that sits behind me to provide power to the rack and the 2 powered speakers. The "rear" box has a cable that long enough to reach a venue power outlet within 10-12 feet of the box. I've constructed a 25' extension cable that when needed can extend the range of the "rear box" to 35 ft. The finishing touch of this design will be another custom snake with custom "fans" similar to the Keyboard snake that cleanly route to the pedal connections at the keyboard - and right angled connectors on both ends. This snake will carry the pedal signals from the aluminum patch box on the pedalboard to the pedal connections on the keyboard itself. All the snake cabling and destination connection points on the keyboards or pedalboard connection box is/will be color coded with electricians tape. All the cabling gets dressed along the supports of my keyboard stand using the same Velcro straps that Guido recommended.The pedal board is still under construction - but getting near done. I've acquired all the parts and have completed assembly of the individual pedal board components and AC electric cables and boxes (i.e., aluminum patch box, pedal cables shortened and connectors installed, etc.) All that's left to do is to assemble the pedal board. Once the pedalboard is assembled - I'll measure and order the custom pedal snake (more Redco). I'll post some pics when I finish the project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted October 8, 2013 Members Share Posted October 8, 2013 I, too, hate messy cabling, especially on stage. Couple of tricks -- you can use automotive split-loom in conjunction with black zip ties to make very nice looking snakes. They also make sort of nylon sock things for that, too. I play organ, and I've modified my main gig rig to have a door with 3" holes on the back. I can coil up unused cabling (Leslie cable is a big offender) under there, close the door I made, and it looks nice. You can see what I mean here (the disaster in front of the organ is mostly the venue's): http://drbombay.ca/albums/Mustangs-Mar-8-2013/Bob_MacKenzie_100_2473.JPG I'm also planning to build a custom snake for my Leslie mic rig, three mics on one stand. I don't like having to coil three mic cables in front of the snake box for that. Wes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SLScott86 Posted October 9, 2013 Members Share Posted October 9, 2013 I wish I could help. Sometime gave me a cool stand with excellent cable management inside and I usually run mono. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joshmac Posted October 9, 2013 Members Share Posted October 9, 2013 Carpets, velcro, and black gaffers/duct tape. And good cables That's all ya need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted October 9, 2013 Members Share Posted October 9, 2013 Show us your rig! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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