Protecting Your Music Equipment: Keep Dust Away by Covering Studio Equipment

Ever been to someone’s studio to do a song and you notice that all of their music equipment is dusty? This is the result of what happens when people don’t take the time out to care for their studio equipment. Any experienced music producer or artist will tell you that if you don’t take care of your equipment, it won’t take care of you.

Look at all of the sliders and open spots on your music equipment such as mixing boards, keyboards and audio interfaces and you’re sure to see a great place where dust would love to hide. Dust loves to get in the cracks and crevices of your music equipment. By dust getting into these areas, not only will your equipment run slower, it will also build up dirt and grime on the inside of the equipment.

For instance if you get tons of dust in the spaces of your mixing board sliders, not only will it make it difficult for the sliders to slide smooth, it can also effect the way your track comes out. You may find yourself having to push extra hard on slider to get them on the level of your choice. With keyboards, dust will settle in between the keys rather than on the outside of the board. If you have a black keyboard, prepare to attract dust like a magnet! Black music equipment collects 10 times as more dust than off white or grey colored pieces.

So you just had a studio session and don’t plan on recording in your studio for another week? If that’s the case, you must cover up all of you music equipment. This can be done with professional covers or can be done by simply using a soft blanket, pillow case or sheet.

There’s no real big secret when it comes to keeping all of you equipment looking new, all you have to do is take care of it the right way. For keyboards, if you don’t have the proper covers that can with them, use a towel or lightweight sheet to drape across the area. It doesn’t matter if the sheet touches the floor at the bottom; it matters about the top of the keyboard being covered.

Microphones and microphone stands require the same amount of attention! If you leave your microphones, hooked up on the stands, cover the entire stand and microphone with a blanket or sheet to protect it. A lot of times you can find microphone stand cover for under $20 at stores such as Guitar Center and Musicians Friend. Although it may be hard to cover all of the interfaces on your music rack, try to look for music rack covers or create one of your own by joining sheets or soft towels together, your equipment will thank you for it!