datamusicata

Last night a friend of mine had a party to celebrate his graduation from college. I was asked to perform and readily accepted the invitation. I borrowed a sound system from my friend Courtney and took off for the gig at 5 pm. Getting there and setting up all the equipment—my ME-50 Roland pedal board, Roland Loop Station, LR Baggs Direct Box and cords was simple, as I have done it many times and as I am the one who breaks it all down and packs it away.

It was simple because I always pack it in the order that I need to lay it out and pack in reverse when I’m done, so that I never have to go looking for any piece. It’s all there in one bag and it is all in order. The cords come out last and on a TV date that I did with BB King and his band years ago, I learned how to pack away the cords so that they don’t ever get tangled. This is evidently some kind of industry secret, as I never see anyone else pack them like I was taught to do. When you pack cords this particular way, they simply unravel exactly as you need them. No unwanted overhand knots, no tangled loops—it’s really amazing and so simple.

The cords for the sound sytem, the power cable and the mic cord were all packed in the standard loop style. That’s where one just makes a loop and then another and another until it is all coiled and then tied off with a Velcro ribbon or some similar device. The problem with this is that there is no way to ravel that loop without having it become entangled and require actual untying of overhand knots that spontaneously show up when you loosen the coil, which is exactly what happened with the borrowed sound system cords. Here’s what you do about these coiled cordss. And this will work with every cord of every length that requires consolidation.

Take the two ends of the cord that have the jacks on them; hold them in one hand and with the other hand run the doubled up cord through your hand and then swing the remaining cord out until you have cord essentially folded into half of it’s original length. At one end are your two cord ends and at the other end is the bend.

Now pull the doubled up cord through your hands until you have the bend end and put that end with the two original ends of the cord. What you are effectively doing is halving the length of the cord and then repeating that two or three times until you have the whole cord folded to a length of about two and half to three feet.

Now like you would a wash cloth you were wringing out in the shower, hold the two ends of the folded cord and give a slight twist to the cord in opposite directions. Then fold the cord over itself and make a simple overhand knot of the cord. Don’t do it tight, as you don’t want to crimp the cord, just put it through itself so that it won’t unravel. I repeat this part. Do Not Pull the Cord Tight. You just want to make a simple knot that won’t come undone.

Do this to all the cords, mic cords, guitar cords, power cords and then put them all in one place. When every single cord that you brought is wrapped up like this, then put one Velcro ribbon thru the end of the cord that doesn’t have the two jacks. Put the ribbon through every single loop of that side and then do it to the remaining cords. Now all your cords are looped together in one place and held together by the Velcro ribbon. And you needn’t worry about leaving one behind as you’ve just collected them all after you’ve arranged them in this simple overhand knot. When you go to the next gig, they are all there. You don’t have to go around the studio, apartment, house or garage looking for the ones you need. They are all together.

To use the cord, simply unhook the Velcro, undo the simple over hand knot and take the two jack ends and hold them in your hand as you toss the cord out before you. It will unfold with nary a tangle if you’ve done it correctly. It’s been working for me for thirty years.

One other thing. I have cords that I use in the studio and cords that I take on the road. I don’t take the studio cords on the road as I don’t like going through everything and packing every time I tour. So I have a touring set and a recording set. And at least three spare cords for the road bag and at least one spare wall wort power supply. And batteries in my pedal boards so that I can always use them if they power supply goes out while I’m on stage. In the studio I have dozens of cords and power supplies and boxes of batteries and boxes of Elixir Strings. Everything that I need to continue working without leaving the session til it’s over.

Not a fun post today, but one that I promise you will make your life on the road and in the studio easier. Now I have to go practice.