The POWER TRAY story as told by Founder Bobby Kunkel
When my band NOMaD (North Of Mason-Dixon) was gigging extensively, we had a box truck for all of our gear and I had this large, Odyssey DJ rack case on wheels, which had a sliding computer tray on the top and held a 16-channel mixer, a headphone amp, a power conditioner, and line splitters. This way, If we ran into a bad monitor mix, I could split my clicks, tracks, vocals, kick, and snare and at least have the gig not be an utter nightmare.
As time passed and we started traveling less, we found it wasn’t very cost-effective to have a box truck with insurance, upkeep, etc. So that meant the DJ case had to go...the thing was too big to put in a small SUV, so it was sold. But that meant reconfiguring my monitoring system to make it more compact. The solution was to use a smaller, digital mixer on a utility tray that I could clamp to a cymbal stand. I just bring in clicks, tracks, an aux send, etc. into the mixer and take the cue through the headphone output. Problem solved.
In doing that, I thought that it would be great to have a recessed power strip in a utility tray so that I didn’t have to pack a separate power strip, or worse, forget to bring one to a gig, then wonder how I am going to power a sample pad, computer, a mixer, my phone…?
So, I purchased a recessed power strip with a long cord, cut a piece of plywood, and put an e-percussion mounting post on its underside to mount to a stand with a rotating multi-clamp on its top. Seemed to work pretty well! In April of 2023, I was hired to do a gig with the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh performing an evening of the music of Queen and Freddie Mercury. For the gig, I needed my sample pad to trigger loops, sound effects, etc., as well as a mixer for my IEMs, a music stand light, a small amplifier, and a place to charge my phone. With the tray I made, I was able to power all of that stuff without needing a separate power strip. And I had a nice stable place for my mixer.
That led to the eventual decision to make the tray from ¾-inch birch-laminated plywood. Upon adding a coat of stain, I found the tray was way more attractive than conventional existing plastic utility trays with the “rat fur” on the top, and far more durable. The power strip has a 6 foot power cord so you can reach an outlet from anywhere on the stage and features three standard outlets with two USB ports so you can power smart devices and other electronics. We had our friends at Send Cut Send fabricate specially designed heavy-duty clamps for the tray, and eventually, we developed drum key holders, guitar pick holders, and IEM monitor hangers for added convenience for not only drummers, but guitar players, horn players, singers, and indeed any musician.
And that….is the POWER TRAY story!
Learn more about the creation of the POWER TRAY using the button below