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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 12/27/2006 : 09:28:24 AM
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Now that Christmas is over and the New Year is rapidly approaching, I am in a great house cleaning/organizing mode. Any ideas on how to organize a music room? Paul has several guitars, a banjo, two dulcimers, plus my Clavinova is in the room, along with all the music books, CD/DVD cabinet, computer, bookcases, amplifiers and all the other accoutrements. Any suggestions on how to make some sense of order in this messy room? Guitar cases are just sitting on the floor - no room to walk.
Mahalo.
Wanda
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 12/27/2006 : 12:05:38 PM
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Wanda, I created a guitar rack (holds 9 guitars in their cases) out of prefab aluminum tubing (of the mic/speaker stand type) and clever modular joints (all called Tinker Toys)that the company makes. The design was created by a guitarist who posts on the newsgroup called rmmga. I will try to find his web site, if it still exists. If it doesn't, I will try to get jpgs to you, if it appeals to you. It will hold `ukes in their cases, too. For movable stuff, like recording gear, I got a Rubbermaid 2 level wheeled cart on which the mics, mixer, cables, etc. lives. Bookcases are bookcases, and nothing is better. The desktop tower computer in that room lives in the big kneehole of the desk, which is an old mahogany one that I bought used years ago and refinished, and all the other computer related stuff (router, cable modem, speakers, surge protectors, etc.) live under the desk. Amps and other things live in an old but nice refinished cherry cabinet that I drilled big vent holes in, as well as taking shelves out of it so that I could stack electronics, but the doors can be closed when they are not used, and you can't see them, but all the cables are accessible. It ain't perfect, put nothing is in danger, everything is to hand and easy to get at. The room has a closet that holds big stuff as well as misc. junk, but everything is out of the way. This is all in a smallish 12x12 ft. room.
The guitar rack and the cart were the keys, BTW
...Reid |
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RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 12/27/2006 : 12:52:00 PM
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Please note that some members may not agree with this idea at all. Keep in mind too that this is a philosophy as well as a storage option.
Keola advocated this general idea at a workshop that I attended not long ago. I have also been of the same mind since day one.
Store your cases somewhere and put your instruments out ready to play. Tripple stands will save a lot of space for the guitars. Let your instuments live your life with you and make them available on a whim. If they are available you will play them more, so distribute them safely around the room. I have seven instruments out on tripple stands all the time and I play them all every week because they are easy to get to.
The other option is to store the instruments in another place and bring them out one at a time. But, hiding instuments away in a case, stored under your bed and locked up (under video survielance?) may turn you into a caretaker.
I know everyone that has a Grimes, Goodall, Ramirez, etc, is getting a case of "the vapors" right now, but I would put the instrumnts out and clustered together no matter how much they cost.
Bob |
Bob |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 08:51:05 AM
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I suppose the next question to ask is: organize it for what?
If you'll be inviting friends over for jam sessions, then you need lots of space for their instruments and cases.
If it's for personal practice, then you need easy access to your instruments, tuners, books, music stands, etc.
If for recording, there's a whole other big lot of factors to consider; like monitor placement, isolation, yadda yadda.
Just for ducks, here's what my personal music space looks like at the moment:
Picture a great huge DAW (digital audio workstation) desk crammed with 2 computers, 2 patch bays, various bits of rack gear, 2 sets of monitors, a mixer... plus all the junk I'm working on & reviewing: so another mixer, a second audio interface, piles of papers, piles of CDrs, piles of cables (USB, mic, guitar, patch), more papers, dead batteries, picks, 3 or 4 tuners, pens, capos, a phone (somewhere), sticky notes, candles (mood lighting), an ulu (Eskimo walrus knife -- great for opening boxes), more papers, nail files, headphones, a broken mouse, more papers.....
Directly behind the desk are 2 wall-mounted bookcases w/ CDs, books, extra printer ink, a squeaky dinosaur toy, a painted camel-bladder lamp (more mood lighting), boxes of floppies (in spite of the fact that I haven't owned anything that can read them in years) boxes of syquest drives (ditto) ADAT tapes (ditto, ditto), a 2 gig SCSI hard drive (ditto ditto ditto), 2 boxes of DAT tapes (ditto, di... oh, nevermind).
To my left is a Fender bass on a stand, two mic stands w/ dangling cables, my Taylor 414K on a stand, a bookcase & 2 metal cabinets crammed with stuff and piled w/ more stuff; two wall racks for cables, a bunch o' guitar & dulcimer cases along one wall (some full, some empty) & the Gummy bass, bendir & 1 dulcimer hanging from wooden knobs.
To my right: a rolling rack (now mostly empty), another cable rack, bookshelf (this one has books in it!) w/ a printer & udu drum on top (the udu drum is holding a magnifying glass & a t-square), a stool w/ a paper cutter on top, a futon w/ 1 `ukulele, 1 mini keyboard, 1 travel guitar, a mandolin (in case) and more boxes piled on it, a wall shelf w/ cassettes (!) & boxes full of penny whistles, a nose flute & a tape de-magnetizer left over from god-knows-when...
1/2 back wall has another 2 bookcases (mostly books) piled wth CDs, boxes & loose paper. Electric dulcimer, another ukulele hanging from wall hooks, extra wall hooks for the stuff that's on the futon, one of Annie's old fiber art pieces and more hooks festooned with little bags full of various bits of gear. Far back wall has bodhran (in case), berimbau, plus assorted Brazillian & African percussion instruments hanging from hooks.
All the window casings have small instruments, pens, art & stuff on every flat surface. In spite of all the boxes, cases, cables & gig bags strewn around the floor, there's actually room to walk from the door to my rolling chair, from which I can grab any of this stuff as needed.
So you see, everything is neatly organized for optimal usefullness.
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Edited by - Mark on 12/28/2006 08:54:34 AM |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 09:48:19 AM
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| a painted camel-bladder lamp? |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 10:30:36 AM
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Raymond, knowing Mark, he ventured to a camel (ab?)using country, and extracted it himself with that Eskimo walrus knife (using only his right hand, of course, because the left hand in that country is used for other functions, sometimes including fretting stringed instruments), blew it up like a balloon so that it could dry in the proper shape, painted it with a motif of a petroglyph playing a dulcimer, and fitted it with a glowing triode from a favorite tube preamp in lieu of a bulb, with output to magnetosrictive guitar pickup operating in reverse, which he glued with some hide glue he got from Dennis L. to the inner surface. Thus, having created a spherically oblate speaker that radiates in all directions, it was most certainly connected to one of his recording amps and used as a monitor whilst recording.
And the dinosaur squeaky toy can be heard, on some of his recordings used as plaintive, counterpoint... Don't ask how he got the bones that are used to strike the bodhran.
...Reid
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`Ilio Nui
`Olu`olu
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 10:31:07 AM
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Mark,
I've been in your studio. You make it sound organized!!!!!
Yes, "a painted camel-bladder lamp". Mundane compared to some of the other (cool)stuff.
Dawg |
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Podagee57
Lokahi
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 10:45:49 AM
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Bob, I have to agree with you regarding leaving the instruments out. When they are readily available, I do indeed find myself picking them up more often...almost irresistable. Besides, they are such works of art. Here in the high desert area of Oregon it is very dry, so humidity is an issue. So that does need to be taken into consideration.
Wanda, if you are inclined to leave the instruments on display, you could use wall hangers. I plan to do this in the near future. Then you can arrange the instruments on the wall much as a music store does. It gets them up off the floor and makes for wonderful wall decorations. Just be aware that it is not a good idea to choose an exterior wall. The cold outside air (and I know it gets cold there) cools the wall that is exposed to that air. That cool wall and the warmth of the room places uneven expansion/contraction stresses on the instruments. |
What? You mean high "E" is the TOP string. No way dude! That changes everything! |
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Larry Goldstein
Lokahi
267 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 11:04:10 AM
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Forgive me, but I can't resist sharing this story.
My Gibson Mastertone banjo (RB-800) was always on its stand for many years in the corner of the living room. One day I needed to move it so the wall could be painted. I put it in the corner of my bedroom late afternoon.
That night there was a strong wind, and a Bigleaf Maple branch broke off and came crashing down through the bedroom ceiling - right above the banjo. The instrument was severely damaged.
Moral of the story - location, location. Oh, and I moved, away from any trees. |
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Julie H
Ha`aha`a
USA
1206 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2006 : 4:36:03 PM
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Then, of course, when you live in EARTHQUAKE country as I do (California), you leave all your lovely instruments snug in their little jackets for when the next big one hits they can theoretically all survive their take-offs and landings!
I learned my lesson after the big quake of '89, when I lost all my crystal and most other knick-knacks, so I now live with mostly acrylic dishes and cups. 
AND! I make sure every spring that I trim the trees away from my house. Now if I could only get my neighbor to trim his sick Monterey pines. But those will only hit the cars on the driveway.
Oh Mark, I have a very old camel shaped footstool that we bought in Egypt going through the Suez Canal in 1958, which sits in my living room, much to the dismay of my son who finds it embarrasing. I'll tell him about your lamp...
Julie |
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GUke
Lokahi
188 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2006 : 03:07:31 AM
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I keep my ukuleles and backpack guitar out, but instead of stands I use hanging hooks. And I agree that when the instruments are out not only do you appreciate the beauty of the instruments, but they remind you of your monetary investment and cry out to be played. I do use a stand too.
Genaro |
Genaro
Should I? Itʻs only $, and where Iʻm going itʻll burn or melt. |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2006 : 7:08:02 PM
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Mark,
May I share your story with my wife, who somehow thinks anything less than absolute order is analagous to armageddon?
I have a few gitar wall hooks, and a closet, but most of my guitars are just scattered around in easy reach. I just have to keep my wife away from the door so she leaves it all there.
I have a minimal of recording and amplification gear and it is all just crammed in a corner of the "music" room. It happens to be the nicest room in the house but fortunatley is on the second floor where few enter because of the steepness of the stairs, and the stairs being in a closet so no one can see 'em anyway. |
Karl
Frozen North |
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Bd1
Lokahi
USA
114 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2007 : 2:42:01 PM
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Stairs in the Closet?? Any resemblance to "Hogwarts" is intentional???? |
BD1 |
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Pua Kai
Ha`aha`a
USA
1007 Posts |
Posted - 01/02/2007 : 2:44:39 PM
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Hey Karl, what happened to the pix of us in front of Platform 9 3/4?
n |
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javeiro
Lokahi
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - 01/04/2007 : 09:06:56 AM
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| I also second the motion to keep instruments out within easy reach and you will definitely play them more. I keep three of my guitars out on stands and two ukuleles on a bookshelf. One of the benefits of living in the Pacific Northwest is the relatively high humidity. The furnace takes out most of it but I find that the inside humidity stays right around 45 degrees most of the time which is pretty good. At any rate, the've all been out for the nearly five years I've lived here with no problems. I kept them out of the cases when I lived in Hawaii too. I have plans to put some of them on wall hooks but haven't gotten around to it yet. |
Aloha,
John A. |
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Karl Monetti
`Olu`olu
USA
756 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2007 : 2:43:53 PM
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My daughter was only on4e year old when i built the cabin, did not want her climbing the stairs to the loft which had no railing, hence the stairs in the closet.
Nancy, lost that picture during portkey travel to east coast over Christmas...decided to skip Hogsmead |
Karl
Frozen North |
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