Dealing with Down Time by Craig Anderton Maintenance is a necessary part of life. Sure, it's more fun to spend time creating rather than maintaining, but paradoxically, a well-maintained studio will actually let you create more because it will run smoothly and cause fewer interruptions. A wonderful studio doesn't seem so wonderful when there's an equipment breakdown-it's frustrating, costly, and can stomp on inspiration faster than just about anything else. Some aspects of maintenance are obvious, like cleaning the heads on a tape recorder or defragmenting a hard drive.
Preventive maintenance is perhaps the most important maintenance of all.
This may sound simplistic, but the best way to avoid having to repair equipment is not to have anything break down in the first place. Sure, random failures will crop up, but there are many steps you can take to insure that down time is the exception, not the rule. So, let's look at a bunch of tips designed to help you prevent problems before they happen, as well as ways to keep your workspace well-maintained. Many electronic component failures occur within the first 72 hours of operation. Therefore, when you first get a new piece of equipment, run it continuously for a few days to weed out any failures before the warranty period is up.