Sections - Tips & Tricks

Velcome to ze "Tips 'n' Tricks" bit - Here's a variety of tips from all areas of studio, midi & live work. The emphasis here is not just about tricks to get sounds, but also ideas to save money or time.

But surely YOU have soom real cool tips to share with your comrades in arms of the music world?! - Feel free to add your own money-saving or technique tips!

Check out some of the Tips below, or add your own & hey!... don't forget, there are plenty of FX-Tips in the Articles section too!

34 - No place to put your monitors?....cheaper than shelves or special

From: kilo
Email: here
Date: 04-Apr-99

OK.....The title says it all eh ?.....Sling your speakers up with chains. You can direct them any angle you like with this method, and it isolates the speakers from the walls and floor which will reduce some of the bass end waves ability to travel through.......You will need :

2 large ceiling hooks
6 cup hooks
2 Long bits of chain. (see below for length)
2 short bits of chain, half the length of the long bits

Now, screw the 2 ceiling hooks into....you guessed it....the ceiling ! Find the joists, (that's the beams that run in parallel across the ceiling, and to which the ceiling boards are fixed .
Ceiling joists are usually set every 2 feet, so it should be easy to get the speakers pretty much where you want them.

OK....Decide if you want the speakers vertical, (tweeter above the bass) or horizontal (on their side). If you put them on their side, make sure the tweeter is on the outside. This is because treble sounds are more directional.
Ideally, you want to be mixing with the speakers in front of you, an equal distance apart from your head, and level with your head. So, decide how far the speakers will hang below the ceiling.
Bear in mind here, that with this method you can angle the speakers down, at any degree; so you could have them hanging just below the ceiling, angled down towards where you sit or stand.....doing this, keeps them up out of the way, and because they are angled down, sends most of the directional reflections from the ceiling over your head.

Let's say the speakers are about 1.5 ft tall and you are going to hang them on their side, 2 ft from the ceiling.
2X the speaker length = 3 ft., plus about half again = 4.5 ft of chain. It doesn't matter if you get a bit more. So that's 4.5 ft for each speaker, plus 2 bits of 2 ft., one for each speaker.
Don't go mad and buy some fuckin great chain big enough to anchor an ocean liner, chain is strong, and the finer the link the cheaper the chain.

OK.......take the cup hooks, and screw one in the back,right in the middle of edge that will be uppermost....HEY they're only speakers...! Screw another into either END, at the top front side corner, ( not into the front facing you ).........Now take the long bit of chain and hook it to the ceiling at the center link, then hook the shorter length over. Now....lift up the speaker, and hook up the ends of the long chain to each corner, and the short bit to the back.

Adjust the angle down, with the short chain at the back by hitchin it up a few links, and rotate the whole speaker in any direction by twisting the ceiling hook round...Cool huh ? AND...It looks really cool too.... I used chains to hang up my Atari monitor screen as well..( this is done with a chain cradle )