If you were to walk (or crawl) around the back of your gear, what would you see? Are your cables as organized as you would like them to be? How old are your cables and are they performing up to your standards? Are your patch cables always within reach?

The following are just a few ideas that will help keep your cables where and how you like them.

- Cable Organizers: If your cables look more like a rat's nest than a grouping of cables, then simple and affordable cable organizers from Hosa, Raxxess & Middle Atlantic just might be the trick! Plenty of tools are available to help you clean up the mess, such as plastic wire ties, fabric Velcro cable wraps, plastic tubing and others.

Additionally, you might try the CLAW from Middle Atlantic for keeping your patch and other cables hung nicely on a wall or any flat surface. Keeping your cables organized with one of these solutions keeps your whole studio tidy and makes tracking down faulty cables a snap!

- Snakes: Whether you're using a multitrack digital recorder, a computer audio interface and/or a patch bay, multi-cable snakes are a great way to clean up your cable nightmare. Because a snake, by design, takes care of cable management, you'll take up a WHOLE LOT less space and keep your cables in better order than you would if you used the same number of individual cables respectively!

- Upgrade: If your cables are not performing up to your standards, or if you're tired of soldering older cables, you might consider upgrading your cables to a larger gauge, better made cable, or from unbalanced to balanced cables where appropriate. The cables you use in your studio have a large cumulative effect on the overall sound you produce; more often than not, the better the cable, the better the results.

Sometimes the "better" results could simply be in that they perform better over a longer period of time. Often, however, there is a real, palpable sonic improvement. This could be a result of better connections, larger gauge, better materials, stronger shielding, or just better manufacturing.