Patchbay setups

If you normally use Aux Sends on the imixer only, there should be no issues. If you patch synths directly into effects, start patching and start making notes of what sounds good and what doesn't. If you have problems with certain effects, pull the manual or schematics and check the input and output wiring recommendations. Make sure if the effects unit is balanced you have the correct hot pin XLR 2 or 3, depending on age, manufacturer and you are doing the correct thing with the cold connection i.

Sometimes the inputs and outputs have different recommendations. Once all that is sorted out, solder up the appropriate cabling and then you are done. What I tend to do is keep the patchbay wiring exactly the same for all connections if possible.

So if a synth needs to be unbalanced, I will change the wiring in the connector at the synth end of the cable and not at the patchbay. That way, I know that if I change the synth or add a different thing, I only have to look at the synth end of the cable in all cases and I can leave the patchbay in the rack. Hope that helps. Bringing this one back to life as I want to know whether or not people are using new solutions. It may sound like I'm being a bit Escher about my signal processing, it may sound like I can't be bothered getting off my chair, and good, because it's both.

Last edited by Perotinus; 12th September at AM.. Reason: Pour spelling. Top Mentioned Manufacturers. You'll have your gear grouped by frequency of use, but other than that don't worry about concepts like keeping your preamplifiers together.

Because what happens is you'll get a new piece of gear This is why we label the jacks! Group by how often you use them, not by type. Don't Match Top-to-Bottom: This is a typical rookie mistake that stems from not knowing how to use the three main modes as discussed next. People tend to want to have the output and input of a piece of gear stacked vertically, but that's actually not the most efficient way to use a patchbay.

We'll look at why in the next section. Use Short, Color-Coded Patch Cables: The next best thing you can do for organization is to use short, color-coded patch cables. These tend to come in the seven colors of the rainbow, plus white, black, and gray. So you can divide the possible number of inputs and outputs you're trying to trace down by 10 when you're wondering where each cable leads.

Some people tape paper labels or use colored rubber bands wrapped around the jacks, but that doesn't help you quickly visually identify where the cable is going. Colors, on the other hand, are a piece of cake. Also, if you use the least length possible, you'll have that much less jungle behind your rack. Now that you're organized on the exterior of the patchbay, let's see what we can do on the interior by changing the modes of the jacks.

We just resolved a lot of confusion, but we're about to add some back. Once it makes sense for you, it actually reduces the chaos and makes your bay faster to use.

There are three ways the jacks are wired together that represent the three main modes of usage. Some patchbays let you change modes with a switch. Some require you to physically manipulate the jacks. Some don't let you change the mode. It's fine, though. You can stick with Normal mode and be perfectly happy, you'll just need more patch cables.

But if you learn to use the other two modes you can really dial in the magic to save you effort and cabling time. Let's discuss each mode:. Most of us hang out in Half-Normal Mode, where we record and do simple mixing and clean-up equalization work out of the box and then send the signal to the interface, where we finish up the mixing in the box meaning in a software, preferably one of the best DAW's like Pro Tools or Logic Pro. We can then pass back out of the box if we like.

Half-Normal is preferred because you can use it like a send to an auxiliary bus on a mixer. It's the most complicated to understand, but once you have it in your head, you're good to go. So why is Normal and Half-Normal even a thing? Why are they useful? That can be explained by walking through an example set-up, which we have below.

We're going to walk through a simple set-up only using an imaginary 12 point patchbay. If you can wrap your head around 12 points, you can deal with as many as you want. The key is to be able to trace the signal out and in, out and in, through the jacks and your gear. Let's forget about Thru Mode, because it's self-explanatory. We'll place the first three set of jacks top and bottom in Normal Mode and the second set of three in Half-Normal Mode.

First, take in a quick overview of the table below, which represents our patchbay turned on it's right side and all cabled in and ready to go, with the front and back both visible for explanation's sake.

Let's say you're a solo singer-songwriter with a digital piano and some vocals. You've got this patchbay setup on stage with you in your mini-rack so you can do the mixing yourself so the sound guy can't butcher your performance.

So you have two main inputs: your keyboard and your voice through a microphone. Your keyboard has weighted and pressure sensitive keys so you don't worry about mixing it.

You dial in a little reverb on-board and forget about it. You can also label the cables themselves. Cable ties and split looms will keep cable clutter under control behind the desk, as well. For cables not in use yet, rather than stuffing them somewhere or having them sprawled around, you can invest in a cable holder to keep your space tidy and your cables quickly accessible. To purchase Hosa patch bays and other organization tools, visit our Shop page.

Happy patching! What is a Patch Bay? Full-Normal Patch Bays For a full-normal patch bay, the traditional setup includes running your device outputs to the top row on the back of the patch bay, allowing you to then route through the corresponding inputs below it.

Half-Normal Patch Bays Much like a full-normal patch bay, a half-normal patch bay routes the output on the back through the corresponding input below it. Using this patch bay set up, signal always runs from the top row to the bottom row by default, and every connection you make should be made between a jack on the top row and a jack on the bottom row.

In this way, signal always cascades, or waterfalls, down the front panel of the patch bay. Simple enough, right? Signal from the top jacks runs down to the bottom jacks beneath them by default, and you can choose to create customizable signal processing chains using patch bay cables. This lets you plug in microphones and manipulate where their signal gets routed quite easily. My last piece of advice is to label your patch bay. Join the Black Ghost Audio group on Facebook to connect with musicians and producers looking to network and pay for your freelance services.

Leave a comment below if you have any questions regarding this article. Your feedback is always appreciated! Log In. All Posts. Try a Free Lesson. Disclosure: This post may contain "affiliate links," which means that if you click on the link and make a purchase, Black Ghost Audio makes a commission.