Traveling Rack Cases

A durable rack case that keeps all your gear organized and stage ready is a must for the travelling crew that needs to setup quick and breakdown even quicker. How does one keep all the cables, patches and other numerous accessories needed to let the show go on without going mad.  Successful roadies will all tell you that keeping everything organized is the biggest factor in keeping things moving.

The first step is to recognize that you are disorganized and need to take some steps to fix the mess.  The next step is to figure out exactly how to get organized but this can be accomplished with a few tricks to eliminate the overwhelming spaghetti setup.  Take inventory of all the equipment you must carry to any gig to make it a success.  This will give you an idea of how many cases you need and how big they should be to fit your rack mount gear.

Once you have a list of items start grouping items that are the same depth you know what will fit in a rack case.  Next you will want to place the heaviest equipment near the bottom of the rack and stack lighter equipment on top. Place items like monitors and keyboards at the appropriate height for ease of use.  Then you will usually attach a cable patch bay to the back of the rack and wire each piece of hardware to the patch bay.  Now it is easy to use patch cables to easily wire everything together.

Now that you have everything grouped you will have a good idea if you need one rack case or five.  The next step is to make sure you have cables to hook everything up once in a case without switching cables around during the middle of a show.  Always make sure the cables have some slack since each venue is a bit different you need to have some wiggle room.  Also ensure that the cables used are high quality since a short, noise interference or lack of signal will kill a great show faster than a fish out of water.  Finally keep in mind how rough the ride might be for your equipment.  You may need a rack case that absorbs the shock from travelling; also known as a shockmount rack.

Once you have determined how many cases, how large and necessary accessories you are ready to purchase the perfect rack cases.  Finding the cases locally may prove much more difficult since every industry has its own standards and music stores usually carry a limited selection.  Thanks to the internet you can find all the rack cases you need no matter what your needs or industry.