Strategies for Wiring a Studio Rack
Most of what I'll describe here is common sense, but it may help to have a check list. If you are planning on assembling a studio, the information here can avoid costly mistakes. Larger versions of any of the pictures can be viewed by clicking on the thumbnail.

Before you begin, gather the following items and keep them close at hand:

a stool to sit on tie wraps - various sizes drill or powered screwdriver flash light a lamp or source of light clippers - for clipping tie wraps dust cloth and/or Swifters printed layout of patchbays printed layout of MIDI config printed layout of rack order

Controlled Demolition Strategies
I find myself rebuilding my rack every 12-18 months for various reasons - mostly rack-rot. This makes the demolition process an important consideration in the overall strategy. The first step is to unwire your current rack. The temptation is to start ripping wires out and sort them later. This works, but you may spend a disproportionate amount of time untangling cables. If possible, try a controlled unwiring. If you've wired your rack according to the directions on this page, it should be possible to start with the power cables and power strips. This will clear things up a bit for you to unwire in reverse order. The smaller the cable is, the more likely it will tangle with something. Remove all delicate cables first (optical, etc) Unplug all the MIDI cables from your MIDI modules. Then it should be easy to use your MIDI interface as a central point to jiggle loose individual cables. I have many TRS (Neutrik) to XLR cables wired with thin mogami snake cable. These things are murder to detangle. If you have any cables like this (heavy connectors, thin cable), carefully unwire them so they don't become a problem later.

Overall, your goal should be to handle a module as few times as possible, so put it where it will be out of the way until you need to rack it again. The best possible arrangement is to have a staging area to place all your gear. Unrack from the top down so when you rack your gear again, you can naturally work from the bottom up. If you have any 5-disc CD changers, make sure you've removed all the CDs before you move the unit.

Planning
Larger projects require the examination of numerous details. Some considerations:

Logistics	Do you wish to place non-rackable items on top of a racked item? Is it deep enough?
Ergonomics	Put your most active modules in the most ergonomic place. Place expanders or modules with no user interface in the least accessible areas. Can you see the tray of the CD player when you are sitting down? Trust me, with a five disc changer, this can be seriously annoying.
Heat	Is it necessary to leave some venting room around some items?
Rack depth	Will you be able to get at connectors for a shallow piece of gear, like a multiport MIDI interface, if it is racked between two deep pieces of gear?
Cable length	Can you reach the patch bay with the cables you have available? Can the cables from your MIDI and audio interfaces reach your computer?

Patchbays
I use Rean patchbays because they are cheap, balanced, and they can be individually configured for normalization. The top two patchbays provide access to all the line mixer I/O. These are normaled to the outputs of synthesizers and the I/O of digital effects processors. The third row provides access to other signal processor I/O. The fourth row is for monitoring – patch points to the monitors and a 5.1 volume control and aux signal processing inputs (Microwave, Virus, sidechain inputs on the gate). The final patch bay provides mults and 1/8" conversion access the Doepfer modular. I simply have eight 1/4" to 1/8" adapters that live in the patchpoints of that portion of the patchbay.

Spreadsheets are perfect tools for planning patchbays. Here is a tutorial. Print the finished spreadsheet because chances are your computer is going to get torn apart at the same time as your racks. Plus, a hard copy is easier to reference when you're behind a rack. An alternate idea is to keep a laptop open beside you. This way, changes can be updated on the fly.

Cleaning
I live in a dusty area so when I'm rewiring my rack, I find I'm cleaning steadily as I go. Swifters are fantastic for trapping dust, and they're disposable. Because they're soft, Swifters are ideal for most electronic equipment. Static is another issue, so take care. Removing a bunch of cables and moving gear around invariably kicks up a lot of dust, so I run an HEPA air cleaner while I'm working. If you're moving into a clear area for your studio, consider Scotch Guarding the rug. I've spilled red wine on a natural fiber rug and it just sort of floats on the surface until you soak it up with a paper towel. Amazing stuff.

Re-racking is a good time for preventive maintenance. Sometimes it is difficult or impossible to replace batteries while gear is racked, so do this now. Make sure you have an up to date serial number list of all your gear.

Populating the Rack
Normal screwdrivers can be used in a pinch if you have a helper, or if you can lay the rack down on its back, so the piece you are securing is held in place by gravity. A better option is to use a powered screwdriver. This will allow you to hold a piece of gear in place with one hand while you operate the screw driver with your other. Still, an even better option is a cordless variable speed drill with adjustable clutch. I find powered screwdrivers to be underpowered and slow. The advantage of a variable speed drill is you can start slow, then speed up the drill once you are sure you have the screw threaded correctly. The clutch allows you to set a torque threshold at which the drill will give up. This prevents stripping screws. If you strip a screw, throw it away immediately so it won't find its way back into your pool of available screws.

Always use washers for rack gear. Without a washer, it is possible to screw something in that can never be unscrewed save sawing off the screw head. The washers will also protect the appearance of your rack gear. You may not care about the appearance, but someday you may wish to sell it and cosmetics count. Over time, gravity exerts pressure on the rack contacts. It is amazing how warped the washers become.

Work from the bottom up. Most of the time you can use a piece of gear already placed as support for the next piece. If you need to rack something higher, place a temporary support item to help position. I find direct boxes are very handy for this.

In the back of my rack, I've attached an inexpensive lamp. This helps during the wiring process and is also useful when I need to get back and check things out.

If you're short on space in your rack, consider mounting something in the rear section of your rack that you don't need to access the front panel. Rack-mounted hard drives, MIDI and audio interfaces are good candidates.

Wiring Power
Keep the power lines isolated from audio lines. This will minimize hum. I'm using a double rack with a cable chase so I've designated the outside edges of the rack for power so I can use the space between the racks for excess audio cable. If you have a single rack, pick a side for power and a side for audio.

Install power strips first. Add more powerstrips than you think you'll need.

I have some items in my rack that require 220v. I've added a step up transformer that feeds a 220v powerstrip. I've covered the unused outlets on the powerstrip so I don't accidently plug something into it which is expecting 120v. By the way, a good place in the United States for voltage converter stuff is www.voltageconverters.com.

I have several types of power in my rack. There are two front panel switches, one for the monitoring system and CD player – in case I just want to listen to a CD, one for all of my rack, which takes its feed from a uninterruptable power supply, and a third which feeds the lamp inside the rack so I can turn this on when the rest of the rack is off. The switch that controls my monitoring system has an output power feed that connects to the Genelecs. Now that the power infrastructure is in place, it is time to route power to all the items in the rack.

Sort all the detachable IEC power cables for length. Use shorter cables for your rack and reserve longer cables for items outside your rack such as powered monitors or keyboard controllers. The shorter cables you use, the better. If you have any two prong Roland style cables, set these aside for when you'll need them.

All wall warts and line lumps should be placed in a separate pile. Wire them last as they are more delicate.

If possible, try to tie in gear with attached power cables or wall warts as minimally as possible, in case you need to remove that piece. The nice thing about IEC cables is you can grab a spare anywhere and keep the original tied into the rack.

Monitor power cables, the kind that are used to patch through the power supply of a computer, can be used to extend a standard IEC power cable. This can be handy if you don't want to use a power strip because it is cumbersome and unnecessary, or if you don't have a short extension cable available.

Wiring Audio
Now the difficult part is done and all power lines are isolated to the outside edges of your rack, it is time to start running audio.

It is critically important to provide strain relief to connectors by tying off the weight of the cable with a tie wrap. Doing so will extend the life of your cables and avoid crackly connections. Snakes are heavy, but individual cables should also be tied off as the weight of other cables will stress their connections.