Hi All,
First off, let me begin by offering an apology for going dark since my introduction. I’ve been deep in work, and at this point, I’m just stoked to have an opportunity to embrace community again. So here goes!
I wanted to share a bit of insight on something that, albeit subjective in nature, the bigger picture traditionally starts with habit. Habit, by definition, is a learned behavior. When we (composers/post-production professionals) think of organization, one of the first, and sometimes only things that come to mind is organization in deliverables. Organization in template. In bussing. In naming conventions. You name it. But what often gets overlooked - aside from aesthetics (we’re all guilty) - is the level of comfort you have in your space, and the navigation of the various pieces of equipment you may have at your finger tips. Especially when it comes to trouble shooting hardware related issues. Or even a move.
Which brings me to the beginning of something I feel could benefit everyone here, to even the simplest degree. I’d love for everyone to share some insight as to their organizational methods, no matter how big or small. As I said at the top of this post; habit is a learned behavior. Healthy organizational habits lend themselves to wellness, creativity, and even a few less headaches when problems arise.
With that, I’ll begin. I label everything. Literally, just about everything. All of my cable runs, DB-25 connections, and any control surface that doesn’t have a digital scribble strip. This way, If I have to move something, troubleshoot something, replace something, or otherwise - all of it is ready to go with guesswork and signal flow tracing removed. Surprisingly, one of the best pieces of gear I’ve ever purchased, was a $20 label maker from Office Depot. No Joke. Images included:
I look forward to seeing what you may do promote creativity, and bring peace to an otherwise chaotic mess of cabled rats nests.
~ Brett James
Disclaimer: I’m by no means negating the fact that some people do thrive in clutter and have no clue where 18 of their 36 MIDI cables are headed to or from, or which non-sequential outputs their monitors are coming from. Trust me, your thing is your thing. So I more than welcome the chaos images my dudes.
