Change in rack design philosiphy

I have decided I am going to change the wiring of my studio rack to reflect a radically different philosiphy.

Thus far, I have been trying to maximize bandwidth to the MIDI modules. My current topology looks like a star, with two MOTU midi interfaces giving me 16 busses, and each bus talking to one module.

The problem with this is it requires computer console work every time I want to change routings, and it’s, frankly, very confusing. I have to remember which port reflects which module.

As I see it, a more sane topology would be to program all the rack-bound modules to each respond to some limited number of channels, with the number of channels assigned to them reflecting the amount I used those particular modules in my musical meanderings. Using the MIDI THRU jacks on the back of each module, this would enable me to construct a single MIDI bus which all traffic from controllers would be routed to. By determining the channel a comtroller was sending on, it could easily choose what instrument to play. Not only would this be much easier during live performance (jamming), it would also considerably simplify finding the right instrument during session work.

There are of course a few exceptions to this. My stage controller (KZ-9000) is not smart enough to not respond on all channels, while the lighting board is not smart enough to not respond on channel one. In addition, since the 505 and 307 are not really bright enough to cope with different MIDI channels, they would seem to need their own bus as well.

The resulting topology should look something like this:

BUS 1:

Channel 1 & 2 = P2K
Channel 3 & 4 = Audity
Channel 5 & 6 = QSR
Channel 7 & 8 = 4500 [if I ever get off my ass and put a new HDD in it]
Channel 11 = ?

BUS 2: Korg N1
BUS 3: Mixer
BUS 4: Lighting

BUS 8: KZ-9000

Okay, I’m going to wander downstairs and impliment this. Wish me luck.

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