Mic Cable management (for racks)

JasperGTR

Senior Member
So I've moved to a rack setup, trying to tidy up the kit, plus the other three dozen reasons I switched from stands. And as I go to different venues, I try and run the mics in a similar fashion. In the end, there are a few mic cables draped for the toms, snare, hihats, etc... (overheads are actually pretty clean, and bass is what it is).

I noticed the Gibraltar cable management piece for their rack (or other round tubes), but I'm using a 3-sided ICON (so far quite pleased). Are there any solutions recommended, other than a bunch of short velcro strips wrapped every so often?
 
Here is What I did with mine. Since my rack doesn't move from gig to gig, thinking about getting out a drill bit and running them in the tubes. Might be a bear though.
 

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How good are you at soldering? I made custom mic snakes to fit my rack as seen below...

attachment.php
 
Here is What I did with mine. Since my rack doesn't move from gig to gig, thinking about getting out a drill bit and running them in the tubes. Might be a bear though.

If you're going to drill, it's best to file the edges of the holes and attach rubber grommets to the inside of the hole before passing the cable through. That way, you won't cut the cable on any rough edges.
 
The nice thing about the velcro strip thing is that you can easily re-do the cable runs as your rack configuration changes. But, I do not wrap onto my bars. I wrap the cables together like a pseudo-snake and drape them across the rack clamps, and the the "snake" falls into position behind the cross bar, so it can't be seen from the front. Upon breakdown I coil them all together as one, and since I made my mixer a certain way so that I can keep them connected to the mixer and hang them in the back of the rack. Keeps them safe, and eases setup and breakdown.
 
The nice thing about the velcro strip thing is that you can easily re-do the cable runs as your rack configuration changes. But, I do not wrap onto my bars. I wrap the cables together like a pseudo-snake and drape them across the rack clamps, and the the "snake" falls into position behind the cross bar, so it can't be seen from the front. Upon breakdown I coil them all together as one, and since I made my mixer a certain way so that I can keep them connected to the mixer and hang them in the back of the rack. Keeps them safe, and eases setup and breakdown.
May I ask why you don't velcro to the rack?

If you say resonance, I'm going to throw my drums away.

(I'm still secretly looking for a rack/mic mounting solution - may need noise gates, but I'm okay with that)
 
May I ask why you don't velcro to the rack?
1) The same reason I switched to chrome multi-clamps - presentation. I don't want to see the velcro wrapped around the crossbar. Looks cleaner without it.

2) I don't want yet more things to attach/unattach upon setup and breakdown.

I started going this way since putting my Mapex Saturns on the rack. Surprising how much a few wires can really make a setup look unorganized, and cluttered, even when they are bundled together or strung nicely. Wires are just unsightly.

If you say resonance, I'm going to throw my drums away.
LOL. I'll PM the address to ship them to, so you don't have to worry about the garbage man. :)

(I'm still secretly looking for a rack/mic mounting solution - may need noise gates, but I'm okay with that)
It wasn't only the resonance that prevented me from mounting mics to my rack, although that kick drum experience sure raised red flags for me in that regard. There were several other reasons, that when combined together, made it so that it just wasn't worth the headache:

When a tom is struck and the tom flexes down, and back up again, the changing mic-to-drum distance surely can't be helpful to sound, to say the least. And, while Gibraltar has these offerings, they are all based upon the same adapter I was talking about. While it's ok for overheads and vocal mics to jiggle a bit due to the rubber in the mount, I didn't think adding some mic jiggling to the tom flex equation would make sense.

http://www.gibraltarhardware.com/?fa=partsdetail&curcat=2&bnd=11&cid=115&sid=437&pid=1469

This said, perhaps the Gibraltar rubber shock mounts will help enough to tame the vibration just enough for you, and you can use drum-mounts on just the larger toms, which flex much more than smaller toms. I, personally, wanted a consistent look, so did not try this, and it's likely I did not spend much time researching other vibration-reducing options. (Who am I kidding? Of course I did!)

I do understand where you are coming from, and you will probably try even things I already tried, just to know for sure yourself.

Also, extra mic boom arms makes for even more hardware to deal with, and I'm all about trying to minimize setup/breadown efforts, within reason.

I certainly know about space issues, too, because if you recall, I used to run two rows of drums/triggers, so fitting mics was definitely an issue there, for sure. So, when you said you didn't like the placement of the mics when drum-mounted, maybe a different mic clamp would help in that regard? I researched the heck out of drum-mount clamps, and there are a ton of options out there, and while I could've spent a ton of money trying them all, in the end I compromised, and ended up with a very good solution for my needs. Maybe these will help?

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showpost.php?p=891239&postcount=6
 
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1) The same reason I switched to chrome multi-clamps - presentation. I don't want to see the velcro wrapped around the crossbar. Looks cleaner without it.

2) I don't want yet more things to attach/unattach upon setup and breakdown.

I started going this way since putting my Mapex Saturns on the rack. Surprising how much a few wires can really make a setup look unorganized, and cluttered, even when they are bundled together or strung nicely. Wires are just unsightly.

LOL. I'll PM the address to ship them to, so you don't have to worry about the garbage man. :)

It wasn't only the resonance that prevented me from mounting mics to my rack, although that kick drum experience sure raised red flags for me in that regard. There were several other reasons, that when combined together, made it so that it just wasn't worth the headache:

When a tom is struck and the tom flexes down, and back up again, the changing mic-to-drum distance surely can't be helpful to sound, to say the least. And, while Gibraltar has these offerings, they are all based upon the same adapter I was talking about. While it's ok for overheads and vocal mics to jiggle a bit due to the rubber in the mount, I didn't think adding some mic jiggling to the tom flex equation would make sense.

http://www.gibraltarhardware.com/?fa=partsdetail&curcat=2&bnd=11&cid=115&sid=437&pid=1469

This said, perhaps the Gibraltar rubber shock mounts will help enough to tame the vibration just enough for you, and you can use drum-mounts on just the larger toms, which flex much more than smaller toms. I, personally, wanted a consistent look, so did not try this, and it's likely I did not spend much time researching other vibration-reducing options. (Who am I kidding? Of course I did!)

I do understand where you are coming from, and you will probably try even things I already tried, just to know for sure yourself.

Also, extra mic boom arms makes for even more hardware to deal with, and I'm all about trying to minimize setup/breadown efforts, within reason.

I certainly know about space issues, too, because if you recall, I used to run two rows of drums/triggers, so fitting mics was definitely an issue there, for sure. So, when you said you didn't like the placement of the mics when drum-mounted, maybe a different mic clamp would help in that regard? I researched the heck out of drum-mount clamps, and there are a ton of options out there, and while I could've spent a ton of money trying them all, in the end I compromised, and ended up with a very good solution for my needs. Maybe these will help?

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showpost.php?p=891239&postcount=6
It definitely sounds like you crossed these bridges that I'm just arriving at (actually arrived years ago, just never wanted to cross 'em).

I'll take a closer look at the mic clamps.

But, again - thanks! Definitely makes sense, regarding the cables. I am trying to make the appearance as clean as possible.
 
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