A Bright Idea

[Dom Franco]

My studio is very well isolated from the upper level of the house. So I cannot hear the door bell.... This is of course a good thing when I am tracking vocals or accoustic guitars. However; when my musician friends arrived at the house they had no way of letting me know that they were standing out in the cold.
So I hooked up a doorbell switch to a little 12 volt wall wart and an automobile running light, but it wasn't bright enough to catch my attention, unless I was looking right at it.
REVISION A: I used a 12 volt strobe light (Also made for automobile use) and WOW! It flashes so brightly that it reflects on every surface in the room. I can't miss it!
One more thing.... I also got a phone that lights up rather than ringing for the same reasons...

JUST FYI;

Dom Franco

 

[Wallycleaver]

Good idea! Only thing is, for me at least, I would be laying down "THE ULTIMATE" track that would change the world, when some door to door salesman rings the bell, causes the flashing, scares the crap out of me and BAM. The greatest track ever ruined. I guess I'm a little jumpy.

 

[Tom Cram]

One of my favorite non-audio studio modifications are those fisheye truck mirrors.
I kept getting the bejesus scared out of me by my wife coming up behind me while
I was mixing. I attached one of these mirrors to my computer monitor. I can now
see movement in the mirror, and know somebody has come into the room.

The strobe attached to the doorbell is an awesome idea. I think I'll wire it up this
weekend.

Tom Cram
dbx Senior Technical Support
(801) 568-7530
tcram@dbxpro.com

 

[John Sayers]

Tom - you just put the fisheye up so you can quickly get rid of the girlie pics when your wife walks in --- be honest

cheers
John