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Looper's Delight
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Hi Rainer, Here's a different view. Have you considered not to go with a rack but with a Peli Case? The model used by me and Jeff Kaiser takes a lot of gear in one safe box. A picture here: http:// www.peliproducts.co.uk/CaseProducts/images/1650.jpg. Web link: http:// www.peliproducts.co.uk/cases.htm With modern laptop based performance rigs there really isn't many cables to connect to get your system up and running. I don't see that a rack is optimal for that, because the idea with a rack is that you should have everything patched up and ready to go - like on a normal tour. But fact is only normal artists go on normal tours (with transportation taken care of, tour leader etc). For people like us other aspects also weight in: You may go low budget with aircraft to a gig and need to take out some devices for your cabin luggage, to prevent damage or to match over weight or security regulations, that tend to differ between airlines and countries. You may also need to lock up your your precious gear safely after a gig with no backstage area and no provided safe gear deposit area provided by "the man" (maybe there is no "man" on those typical underground gigs, just a chaotic situation of busy people from whom you cant tell in the darkness who is working for the venue, who is drunk and looking for his girlfriend, who is next performer desperately hunting for a missing cable or who is a thief looking for something small and valuable to bring out under the coat). I find the Peli Case very practical: snap a locker on it after the gig and go for the bar, match air travel regulations on a shoestring, sit on it while waiting during travel, heck - we even had dinner on mine; using it as a table while sitting on the floor at Rome airport ;:-) When you buy a Peli Case you get it filled up with soft foam inside. This temporary foam is pre-perforated in small cubes that you can easily rip out to create larger blocks to fit in equipment. That way you can work out a design hands-on and when you are satisfied you order (or build by yourself if your are poor and handy) the final inside design in a harder foam that will last for decades. I guess you can also have many alternative interior design foam blocks to use the case with different content on different trips. I used to have this rack for touring some years ago http:// www.looproom.com/bilder/looping_rack.gif. I still have many outboard gear devices that I use for studio recordings, if I can afford the time to patch them up for a particular sound. The old stuff I keep are typically analog gadgets that are either not available as software or have a unique, intuitive although non-compatible interface for being used by the musician. One cool thing with the Peli Case: When you come strolling down the pavement with the box on wheels, using the telescope handle, no one can tell that you are a musician. You could as well be a NASA Chemist, a Scuba Diver or an Alien Terminator. Greetings from Sweden Per Boysen www.boysen.se (Swedish) www.looproom.com (international) http://tinyurl.com/fauvm (podcast) http://www.myspace.com/looproom