Patch Cable - Music and Sound Recording

Music and Sound Recording

A variety of cables are used to carry electrical signals in sound recording studios and with electronic or electrical musical instruments. Microphones are typically connected to mixing boards or PA systems with XLR microphone cables which use three-pin XLR connectors. A huge range of electric or electronic instruments use 1/4 inch mono patch cords to connect the instrument to the amplifier, such as the electric guitar, electric bass, synthesizer, electric piano, or electronic drum machine. Musicians playing electric or electronic instruments often use longer cables (from 10 to 20 feet) between their instrument and their amplifier, and then use shorter patch cords (from a few inches to one or two feet long) to connect chains of effects devices, "stomp box" pedals, or other signal processors.

DJs using record players connect their turntables to mixers or PA systems with stereo RCA connectors. DJs sometimes have to use equipment with multiple cable types, which can create connection difficulties; for example, the DJ's record players and DJ mixers all use RCA connectors, but if they use a drum machine or a bass synthesizer, it may have a 1/4 inch mono connector. To resolve this problem, DJs can either use adapters or special cables (e.g., RCA to 1/4 inch mono). Heavier-gauge cables are used for carrying amplified signals from amplifiers to speakers (both in a PA system and with instrument amplifiers). ¼" TRS phone connector cables can carry stereo signals, so they are used for stereo headphones and for some patching purposes (e.g., inserting an effect into an insert connection in a mixer).

Music venues, concert halls, and recording studios also use a thicker, hose-like cord called a snake cable (or a "snake"), which consists of a bundle of many individual cables with patch bays at either end so that audio gear can be connected. The patch bay is a flat panel of audio connectors where XLR cables (often both "male" and "female") and 1/4 inch jacks can be plugged in. The "snake" cable makes setup more convenient, because if a sound engineer did not have a "snake", she or he would have to run 20 or 30 individual microphone and instrument cables from the stage to the mixing booth. The cables could get tangled or mixed up, and it would be hard to know, when faced with 20 connectors at the end of the cable run, which cable was associated with which microphone or instrument. The patch bay is numbered, so that the engineer can note which microphone or instrument is plugged into each numbered connection.