A sharing of miscellaneous hints which might prove helpful in an electronic music studio but are not directly concerned with the Synthesis equipment.

STANDARD RING BINDERS STORE INSTRUCTION MANUALS

The small 9X6 inch ring binders available in most dime stores and office supply houses conveniently holds PAIA instruction and User's manuals in an easy to use book format which can be expanded as you add to your system.

Plastic index tabs, labeling individual manuals, give quick access to the desired information. Kept near your synthesizer it provides for easy reference while developing patches and tuning or servicing the equipment.

LOGIC TEMPLATES USED FOR PATCH CHARTS

If you are one of those synthesists that keep records of every patch you devise you've probably been looking for a quick and easy method for drawing them and still have them turn out neat and uniform.

School Bookstores and art supply houses carry plastic drawing templates. Computer logic symbol templates lend themselves quite well to drawing synthesizer patch charts.

EASY TO BUILD PATCH CORD HOLDERS

As synthesizer systems grow, the number and lengths of patch cords increase proportionally. Eventually, the problem of organization and storage of these cords becomes a problem that warrants special attention. The simplest patch cord rack shown in figure A consists of a rectangular piece of plywood which has a number of saw cuts along one edge. Patch cords can be slipped into the slots and arranged according to length.

If you'd like something with a little more class, try this idea submitted by Greg Leslie of Ponca City, Oklahoma. The basic idea is the same but the end product is more attractive, (see figure B).

A rectangular piece of wood is used as a back plate with a number of wooden dowels protruding from the panel. Bear in mind when selecting and mounting the dowels the amount of space that you will need to allow to keep the plugs from slipping through the dowels and still providing ample access to the patch cord plug.

The dowels can be mounted using glue and nails, screws from behind the panel or by drilling holes in the panel to allow the dowels to be tapped into place with a hammer. Pegging the dowels into the panel seems to be the sturdiest construction.