Many readers of the blog will know that I had an extended downtime when my studio flooded. After 14 weeks I eventually got it back up and running and it gave me the chance to start with a clean sheet.
In some ways it has been a blessing in disguise and has helped me improve my workflow.
Here are 5 things you might want to think about doing, without the need for a flood to prompt you.
Organise your stuff. I went out and got a load of plastic boxes, the kind they sell at Staples and now I have all my hard drives, data cables, small audio leads and various power supplies in their own boxes. In smaller boxes I have audio converters. The depth of this sorting is up to you.
Sort out your cables, tidy them then neatly wind them and use cable ties to keep them that way. I then got some nice wall hangers to keep them at hand on the side of a set of shelves.
Go through all your drives and organise them, get rid of software and samples you’re never going to use. I know how easy it is to be a magpie, but hanging on to a sample of a mouse being pushed through a cheese grater, on the off chance you might need it for a song, is plain silly.
Sell some stuff on eBay and raise some cash, even home studios are sitting on several hundred dollars worth of unused stuff and often one man’s shit is another man’s gold.
Re-cable your studio, I put back my studio after the flood in exactly the same way as before and ending up with half a dozen cables that were unused, tidiness may not be next to godliness, but it is close to sanity!
The cost to do all of this was around $40, but the cost to my time by not doing it even greater!
5 simple ways that make your life in your studio a lot easier. These tips should give you more time and less stress and messing around and perhaps even more cash.
So take my advice, it may be time to rip it all apart and start again, you may thank me!
Any ideas from other community members are always welcome.