Since purchasing the excellent Fireface 400 interface a few months ago, I've been bothered by balancing the unit on the top of my keyboard, with wires crossing over the higher octaves. The last proper gig I played, I had to leave the thing on the floor- it looks awful and chances are I'm going to damage the thing, even though it is built like a tank.

So I had the idea of attaching it to the keyboard somehow, so that it would be permanently attached, giving easy access to the sockets. The fireface is rack-mountable, being a half-rack 1U standard size. I don't have enough units yet to warrant purchasing a rack, and even if I did I'm not going to be able to take one round to gigs. So I purchased a 1U wall-mount bracket, designed for servers to hang from a wall. It works just as well for horizontal surfaces, so I decided to get one. Thanks to a pal with a welder at home, I was able to get it cut in two and re-welded together to fit the width perfectly. I could have got those 'ear' extenders, but it would have meant more weight, and would be more difficult to attach to the keyboard.

Miraculously, two mounting holes on the bracket corresponded almost perfectly over the two screw-holes for the keyboard's feet, so I unscrewed the feet and simply screwed the half-rack bar into the base of the keyboard. It doesn't quite sit flush due to a bit of overhanging metal on the keyboard and the heads of other screws, but it seems to be alright, and I have the option of gluing on some wood and screwing into it for the arms of the steel bar for added strength. I've kept a nervous eye on the unit for an hour or so, but it doesn't seem like its going to budge, so I'm tentatively going to say its a done job.