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| Customized Electronic Music-Stand |
So a tremendous advantage to existing in this liminal period between graduation and the 'real world' is the amount of time I've had to work on projects that
I want to do. Before graduation, I had 8 posts to my blog over the course of two years. Now, after backBlogging, and with the work I've done this year (17 posts in January so far) I have officially made it to 50 posts (actually the most recent post was #50, but who besides me is really counting?). Another advantage of all this time is that I've been able to tackle some DIY projects I had been putting off.
Electronic Music-Stand:
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| Front of Hardware |
I have a customized music stand that I made some time back (featured in my article on
Scoring for Film). Instead of just being a music stand, I added some hardware that I harvested from an old flatscreen monitor. This lets me mount it to the stand. The clever part of all of this is that there is a release button on the backside of the monitor that would normally be blocked off. So I drilled a hole for the button so that it can be pushed from the other side of the stand. (Notice I did a lot better job the second time). I can then see what is on my computer screen without being hunched over a laptop... very convenient. However, when I first built it, I placed it to far off to one side, and the whole stand was very unstable, sometimes threatening to fall over onto some of my other instruments.
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Back of Stand and button
release - you can see
holes from the previous location |
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So this week I finally moved it over a few inches towards the center. The balance is much better now. And drilling the holes went much smoother than before. I also added some threadlock to the already stripped screws, so this is now its permanent location.
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| Memory lock for height |
Finally, I was unhappy with the height of the stand. It was purchased as a standing string stand, so its lowest point was probably around 4.5 feet. Using a
Dremel, I cut off an extra 4" to give the stand some more flexibility (in addition to the 6" I had already cut off before). However, I still need the stand to be tall sometimes, and the weight of the monitor eventually drags everything back down. So I found a memory lock from the
Boulder Drum Shop, and with a little gaff tape to tighten the grip, my music stand hack was complete.
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Look, it can even hang upside down!
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Auxiliary DJ Table:
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| Table hardware |
Also in the mix was the need for another table for some of my DJ controllers and interfaces. My actual table is the perfect size for two turntables and a mixer, but I still have an interface and some other things I'd like to have at ready access. At first I just got a board to place between the rungs below the table, but this only gave me 2" of clearance... and my interface needs just over 2". So I went to Home Depot and found the perfect combination of hardware: a U-bolt and a carabiner with an eyehook in it. Attaching these to the board allows me a portable, quick-release solution to my aux table problem. Plus I now have 6" of clearance across a 48" span...
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| Final Product - surprisingly stable |
Thriftstore Toolbox:
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| GoodWill toolbox |
Finally, while looking for a toaster oven at GoodWill, I stumbled across a rustic old toolbox. At $15, this antique was a great find. I don't plan on changing the outer appearance much, if at all. The 'patina' and scratches give it a lot of character. I am going to replace the lock, so I can actually use it, and fix the handle, which is probably the reason it was donated in the first place.
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One of the pins to hold
front panel in place |
The real magic of this box is in its front panel. When the top lid closes, it pushes two small steel bars into the front cover, protecting the drawers inside. Genius. The drawers range greatly in size and only one is missing. I plan on replacing the bed liner in each drawer, and maybe working on making the tracks a bit smoother, but thats probably it. This will be an awesome replacement for my plastic electronics toolbox, which I always feel is about to fall apart. I'll post some more pictures after I finish this work, which shouldn't be long with all this free time I have :)
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| Box with Drawers |
