Writing a tech rider and stage plot that engineers love

An engineer who has never met you will decide in the first 30 seconds of reading your rider whether the soundcheck will be easy. A clear one-page rider with a stage plot and an input list gets you a patched stage, monitors labelled with your names, and a friendly person behind the desk. A vague one, or none, gets you 40 minutes of "which one of you is the DI?"

A rider is not a list of demands. It is a courtesy document that says exactly what you bring, exactly what you need, and exactly where everything goes. Here is how to write one that does its job.

One page, three parts

The whole rider fits on one A4 sheet, or two if the stage plot needs its own. It has:

1. Contact and summary: band name, line-up size, one contact with a phone number, and one sentence describing the setup ("five-piece, in-ears, own backline, need PA, monitors and engineer").
2. The input list: every channel, in the order you want them patched.
3. The stage plot: a drawing of where each person and each item stands, with power and monitor positions.

Then optional notes: monitor mixes, backline you need, power, lighting, timings. Nothing else. Hospitality (food, drink, parking) goes in the contract or the advance, not the tech rider. Engineers do not care about the sandwiches and it makes the page longer.

The input list

A table, one row per channel, in a sensible order (drums first, then bass, guitars, keys, vocals is the convention; engineers expect it). For each: channel number, source, what you provide, what you need from them, and any note.

Ch	Source	Mic/DI	Provided by	Note
1	Kick	Beta 52 or similar	Venue
2	Snare top	SM57	Venue
3	Hi-hat	Condenser	Venue
4	Rack tom	Clip mic	Venue
5	Floor tom	Clip mic	Venue
6	OH L	Condenser	Venue
7	OH R	Condenser	Venue
8	Bass DI	DI	Band (from amp head)	XLR out, post-EQ
9	Guitar	SM57 on cab, or DI from modeller	Band DI	Stereo not needed
10	Keys L	DI	Band	Stereo pair
11	Keys R	DI	Band
12	Lead vocal	Wireless SM58	Band	Rx at stage right
13	BV guitar	SM58	Venue
14	BV keys	SM58	Venue
15	Click / talkback	DI	Band	To in-ears only, never to PA

Fifteen channels for a typical five-piece. State the total at the top ("15 inputs, 2 stereo pairs") so the engineer knows instantly whether their 16-channel desk copes. If your setup can shrink for small stages, say so: "Minimum: 8 inputs (kick, snare, OH pair, bass, guitar, keys mono, vocal)."

Monitors

Say what you use and what each person needs. Three common setups:

• All in-ears, own system. "Band uses in-ear monitors on a personal mixer (own hardware). We need 1 stereo aux or 4 mono auxes from the desk to our splitter/mixer at stage right. No wedges required." Engineers love this sentence. See in-ear monitors for bands.
• Mixed. "Vocalist, keys and bass on in-ears (own packs, 3 mono auxes). Drums and guitar on wedges: 2 wedges, 2 mixes."
• Wedges. "5 wedges, 4 mixes: vocal (1), guitar (2), keys and bass share (3), drums (4). Drum fill preferred if available." Then one line per mix of what matters: "Mix 1: vocal, keys, a little guitar. Mix 4: kick, bass, vocal."

Do not write "everything in all monitors". Write what each person actually listens to. It is the difference between a 10-minute and a 40-minute monitor check.

Power

Where you need it and how much. Usually: "Two independent 16 A circuits on stage: one at stage left for backline, one at stage right for keys, in-ear rack and wireless. 4 sockets each. If we bring our PA: one further 16 A circuit at front of house." If you play outdoors, add "power must be earthed and RCD-protected; the band will not perform on unprotected supplies" and read stage power and safety.

Backline

Say what you bring and what you need provided. Function bands usually bring everything; festival and club gigs often provide a drum kit and amps. Be specific about what you need if provided ("drum kit: 22-inch kick, snare, rack tom, floor tom, hi-hat stand, 3 cymbal stands, throne; band brings cymbals, snare and pedal") and about what you will not accept ("no drum machine, no combo under 100 W for bass"). Backline explained covers negotiating this with venues.

The stage plot

A drawing, top-down, audience at the bottom. Boxes for each person with their name and instrument, boxes for amps, the drum riser, keyboards, the in-ear rack. Small symbols for power drops, monitor wedges (numbered to match the mix list) and DI positions. Dimensions: "Ideal stage 6 × 4 m; minimum 4 × 3 m."

Draw it in any tool, or on paper photographed cleanly. Free stage-plot web tools exist and produce something an engineer recognises in seconds. Keep the names on it real; engineers talk to musicians by name, and "more vocal in Lena's mix" is faster than "monitor 1".

Make two versions if you have two formats: full band and acoustic trio. Do not send the full-band plot to a wine bar.

Timings and notes

A short block at the end:

Load-in 30 minutes minimum before soundcheck; soundcheck 45 minutes for a full band, 20 for the trio. Set-up footprint 6 × 4 m plus a 1 × 1 m in-ear rack at stage right. Band brings its own lighting (2 uplighters, 2 bars) if the venue has none. Contact: Ben Schulz, +49 ..., available from 14:00 on the day.

What engineers actually want

• Names on everything. Person, channel, monitor mix.
• Consistency. The plot, the input list and the monitor list must agree. If the plot shows a keys player and the input list has no keys, they stop trusting the document.
• Honesty about what you bring. If the DI is yours, say so, and bring it. If you are not sure whether you will use the wireless mic, put it on the list anyway; a spare channel is cheap and a missing one is not.
• A version date. "Rider v4, March 2026." Engineers file these.
• Brevity. The best riders are read in two minutes and pinned to the desk.

Then, on the day, turn up on time with exactly what the rider says. The document buys goodwill; behaviour keeps it. See soundcheck etiquette.

Do this today

• Write the input list for your current setup. Count the channels.
• Draw the stage plot on paper, photograph it, and check it against the list.
• Put both on one page with a contact and a version date. Send it with every advance from now on.

Where expert.band helps

The rider travels with the advance, and on expert.band the advance is the gig page: put the venue's stage size, power and monitor situation in the gig description so that the printed gig sheet carries them with the address and the times, and members see them on their phones. What the rider says you bring is what the packing kit for that show type should contain: build one kit per format (full band, trio, festival with backline) and apply it to the gig so that the DI boxes, the in-ear rack and the wireless receiver are assigned to a person before the van is loaded.