MOTM

My layout reminds me of the Smithsonian.  I had a great organization 
and then I outgrew my structure and have expanded into two overflow 
buildings.

I started with oscillators grouped together on the left in the 
middle cabinet and filters on the right in the middle cabinet.  The 
lower cabinet was for my control and modulation sources so keyboard, 
envelope generators, lfos, etc.  The top right cabinet I reserved 
for +5 modules (since that's where the triple supply is) and my more 
complex modules so ribbon, MIDI-CV, Miniwave, TimeMachine, etc.  I 
also put my VCAs so they'd be close to my filters.

Then the order ended.  I had my analog interfaces on the left to be 
close to the reel-reel which is now on the right.  My overflow 
cabinet has filters, lfos, controllers, preamps, and mixers.  I did 
put both of my programmable controllers in one case on a dedicated 
power supply.

I found with my cabinets that the physical aspect of the module had 
a lot to do with placement.  My spring reverb needed to be on a side 
so the reverb tank was as far away from the power supply as 
possible.  My deeper modules needed to be in specific locations to 
avoid the power supply and power distribution boards.  The short 
modules needed to be in front of the power supply. +5 modules need 
to be in the cabinet with the triple power supply.

In retrospect, the only thing that made patching easier was to group 
the modules that tend to have dedicated interconnects.  The envelope 
generators all need triggers and gates.  The filters and vcos all 
need 1v/oct CVs so I put multiples in the centers of these module 
groupings.

I tended to move modules around to try and keep a logical order but 
eventually decided this was too much work for too little gain.  I 
did replace all the screws with 5/16" and plastic washers to not 
mark up the panel faces.

I'm running five power supplies so I did try to keep the filters and 
vcos on a single supply without any other modules that could 
generate noise or current variations (as in blinking leds).

Dave


--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "wjhall11" <wjhall@...> wrote:
>
> All - we want to develop a page on our site to present 
philosophies 
of
> synth layout.  We want to present your expert thoughts on the 
subject
> (and thus also benefit from them <G>).  So - for instance - when 
you
> put your modules into your synth cases, what do you group together 
and
> why?  Do you put your Oscillators at the top, filters below?  Why? 
> What have you found to be most intuitive / ergonomic?  Can you 
point
> us to publications on the subject that have influenced you?  Thank 
you
> all.  Bill and Will
>