Wiring a Recording Studio Control Room
- Views
- 555,625
- Likes
- 5,887
- Length
- 25:27
- Published
- Category
- Music
In this video, we’ll be giving the control room at Black Range Recording a complete wire overhaul. Throughout the journey, you’ll learn some pro audio tips and tricks such as:
• How to map out a studio’s signal flow
• How to organize and group analog recording gear in racks and sidecars
• How to neatly run cables between equipment
• How recording studio equipment connects together
• How to wire a recording console
• Why a patchbay is a critical piece of studio gear
• How a patchbay works
• How to label a patchbay
• How to test all the connections and patch points
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:06 - Behind the rewire
02:29 - Striking the control room
03:30 - Building the sidecar racks
05:26 - Installing gear in racks
09:02 - Running audio cables
14:36 - Connecting gear/wiring equipment
16:14 - Patchbay configuration
19:38 - Testing the connections
22:06 - Software and routing configuration
23:20 - Labeling the patchbays
24:35 - Final sendoff
🎛️ Gear used in this video:
• Gear Hive Studio Racks
• Audient ASP8024 Recording Console
• Antelope Orion Gen 4 Interface
• Redco R196 Patchbay
• Behringer P16 Headphone Distribution
• Drawmer 1971 EQ
• SSL Bus+
• Avalon 737 Channel Strip
• UA LA-610
• Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor
• Audioscape XL-305R
🎥 Filmed at Black Range Recording by Corey Zack and Joe Victor.
🎨 All graphics, animations, illustrations, and editing by Corey Zack.
Other Studio Wiring Tips 👉🏼 https://youtu.be/plIAJpCwxoI?si=e38Conh9Axpt7Z-o
Building Black Range Recording 👉🏼 https://youtu.be/V8WbeI-xIp0?si=I3Dh0L2sg95NufBX
Cool Patchbay video 👉🏼 https://youtu.be/7iZR59N5ao4?si=hM6MTWeIyky4OpkS
Free Patch Bay Template: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_ujw2KNTSYkhrMLh4…
Wanderboom’s Channel 👉🏼 https://youtube.com/@Wanderboom?si=5gg_pBOr9sSbiKfx
• How to map out a studio’s signal flow
• How to organize and group analog recording gear in racks and sidecars
• How to neatly run cables between equipment
• How recording studio equipment connects together
• How to wire a recording console
• Why a patchbay is a critical piece of studio gear
• How a patchbay works
• How to label a patchbay
• How to test all the connections and patch points
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:06 - Behind the rewire
02:29 - Striking the control room
03:30 - Building the sidecar racks
05:26 - Installing gear in racks
09:02 - Running audio cables
14:36 - Connecting gear/wiring equipment
16:14 - Patchbay configuration
19:38 - Testing the connections
22:06 - Software and routing configuration
23:20 - Labeling the patchbays
24:35 - Final sendoff
🎛️ Gear used in this video:
• Gear Hive Studio Racks
• Audient ASP8024 Recording Console
• Antelope Orion Gen 4 Interface
• Redco R196 Patchbay
• Behringer P16 Headphone Distribution
• Drawmer 1971 EQ
• SSL Bus+
• Avalon 737 Channel Strip
• UA LA-610
• Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor
• Audioscape XL-305R
🎥 Filmed at Black Range Recording by Corey Zack and Joe Victor.
🎨 All graphics, animations, illustrations, and editing by Corey Zack.
Other Studio Wiring Tips 👉🏼 https://youtu.be/plIAJpCwxoI?si=e38Conh9Axpt7Z-o
Building Black Range Recording 👉🏼 https://youtu.be/V8WbeI-xIp0?si=I3Dh0L2sg95NufBX
Cool Patchbay video 👉🏼 https://youtu.be/7iZR59N5ao4?si=hM6MTWeIyky4OpkS
Free Patch Bay Template: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_ujw2KNTSYkhrMLh4…
Wanderboom’s Channel 👉🏼 https://youtube.com/@Wanderboom?si=5gg_pBOr9sSbiKfx
@cocoonrecording
Free Patch Bay Template 👉🏼 docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_ujw2KNTSYkhrMLh4O…
Building Black Range Recording 👉🏼 https://youtu.be/V8WbeI-xIp0?si=I3Dh0L2sg95NufBX
7 likes
@GoTeamScotch
Fun video. Thanks for sharing!
The AI images were distracting
257 likes
@chuckbabygorilla
Excellent video. The AI illustrations add nothing, but you do you.
132 likes
@ronleik1648
Easily the best video I've seen on studio wiring. Thank you for the clarity of communication.
76 likes
@FreqElement
One of the best times in my life was wiring up my first commercial studio. It was mostly analogue (1990), so there were snakes of cable everywhere on reels. I had trenches cut in the floor and wall to keep them all hidden. It took weeks of soldering plugs on everything. I had a big rack on the ceiling with loads of outboard gear as well as floor-standing racks. I was immensely proud when I stood back and looked at it all working. An amazing feeling I'd forgotten until I watched this video. Good job!
40 likes
@mjklein
Back in my day, I had to hand solder all those patchbay connectors. No sub-D connectors!
7 likes
@cc11studio
I'm so happy there are over a half million people who like geeking out on this stuff like me :)
@tekvax01
Those are some really nice bulkheads you have there! I can never overstate the need for good terminations and functional patch bays! Excellent work guys!
For added fun, include cable numbers and design the functional diagrams in AutoCAD. You can pull out the text cable numbers and search by number inside the drawing.
Makes troubleshooting so much easier!
9 likes
@Aquana01
0:41 Talking about everything two people talk about during a drive 😂😂 Nice summary
5 likes
@midwestconcertvideo
20 minutes in, we finally see a soldering iron! Back when I was doing this stuff in the '80s, I was soldering right from the very start, building every cable in the studio. One other thing I didn't see in the video was any barrier strips for things like a DBX160 or an LA2.
Otherwise, excellent work. The only thing I would question was the usage of electrical tape around the bundle of CAT-5 cables. That just seems like something that's going to gather dust and rug fuzz. I would have used split loom or some other type of jacketing.
9 likes
@RedBankVintageAudio
Now that brings me back. 34 years ago I was wiring Southern Sky Recording Studio in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. (It's changed names and hands a few times since then.) I ran something like 2.5 miles of Belden cable in the control room, live room, amp room, and vocal room. Lots of soldering, lots of wire ties. Hand made our mic cables. I loved it. Couldn't do it now, because if I ever got on my hands and knees like I did then, it would take two people to get me back vertical. We made a lot of music, though.
3 likes
@RecordingStudioLoser
So satisfying. Me next! 😂😂
14 likes
@wackerburg
I witnessed several of the LA cabling wizards doing their thing in major LA rooms. That was really something to remember! It's a mix of great foresight, thorough preparation and solid workmanship. And just staying at it, no matter how many thousand connections were still to do. Great video! Practical and relatable approach.
4 likes
@etranje
At first I thought that the rack wheel looked HUGE, but in the end, they made perfect sense...
@koenvgilss
"lifetime warranty, my lifetime" cracked me up
@pwc102
Nice job dude. There's something very satisfying and cathartic about wiring up a studio exactly as you need it. I used to record years ago and watching this video definitely makes me wanna build out a studio again.
3 likes
@drumaddict89
little tip fpr rack mounting ... always start with the lower 2 screws - this way the rack unit will fix itself through its natural sag and you do not have to hold it by hand to screw in the rest of the srews
3 likes
@Chyuuch
This the kinda content I come on the internet for!
9 likes
@bjarnefedt
I love work. I can watch it all day.
Well done. :)
9 likes
@nebulablackmusic6057
This is great. This exactly how I setup my studio. I didn’t have anyone to show me. I just thought out the most logical way to do it was to have a plan before hand, with all of the wiring drawn out on a diagram. Then I just followed the diagram.