A Stage Plot provides all used instruments and tools for planning your show. Any techrider will have a line up which gives an overview of the band. In this section all available items are listed together with a. Stage plot is important when you’re playing in big events along with other bands like in music festivals, concerts, and other large-scale shows. This helps the sound guys keep your music projected in good quality and minimize technical glitches. Jul 27, 2011 Granted I rarely need a stage plot. We usually play the bar/club circuit where no stage plots are needed, and when we do do larger gigs (Earth Day festivals, Street dances ect.) the stuff at free stage plots looks a lot better and is easier to read than the hand drawn and scribbled stage plots on notebook paper that most bands hand in. Stage plot software: Band Helper (Android app) Stage Plot Designer (free) Stage Plot Maker (for iPhone and iPad) StagePlot Pro (best software but costs $5) Tecrider (free) Input List Creating an input list (article + free template). Use our stage plan builder to create the exact stage plot for your gig. After that all you need to do is send the provided URL to the engineer of the venue. You can enter your instruments, monitors, DI boxes etc, scale and rotate and provide full details of what you want. Use our online stage plot creator to create as many stage plans as you like.
A well-crafted stage plot – customized to the lineup and tech needs of your band – can go a long way towards setting yourself up for success once you hit the stage, especially for a multi-band event.
Whether you’re playing a one-off show at a local theater or a multi-venue international club tour, venues usually need details ahead of time about what sort of audio needs they should expect. The simplest way to communicate this vital, technical, pre-gig info is with a stage plot.
Stage plots are simple overhead diagrams that show how many musicians will be performing in your group, what gear each player uses, how everything needs to be positioned on stage, and other key details.
A well-crafted stage plot — customized to the lineup and tech needs of your band — can go a long way towards setting yourself up for success once you hit the stage, especially for a multi-band event. Here are some tips to get you started.
Use the right tools
To help you craft an effective stage plot, check out free or inexpensive programs like www.stageplot.com, www.stageplotguru.com, www.freestageplots.com, and www.mystageplan.com.
Alternately, when creating stage plots, many indie artists (me included) turn to more general-use programs like PowerPoint, CorelDraw, Gliffy, or other graphically-oriented software. When working with programs like these, use basic geometric shapes to indicate instruments, people, and gear, and make sure that everything is clearly labeled.
If you prefer it, there’s nothing wrong with drawing your stage plot by hand — just make sure that everything is clearly sketched out and labeled and that your handwriting is easy to read. Before you send a hand-drawn stage plot, give it a test run by scanning/photographing it and printing it out, just to make sure that everything will remain legible when your sound person does the same.
“I really don’t care how pretty a stage plot is,” says veteran sound engineer Dave Loop. “I would rather have a napkin sketch that is pretty accurate than a beautiful graphic plot that is off.”
Be thorough
Make sure your stage plot includes every piece of gear, instrument, and band member that you can think of. Try to check in with your bandmates for as many details as possible — their setups may have idiosyncrasies that you’re not aware of.
“Get the plot as close as you are able,” says Loop. “Sound engineers would like it to be perfect, but if you show that you have given a great effort, our crew will respect it. You can’t know everything about your audio setup,” he continues. “We know the band leader can be in the same situation as we are when it comes to figuring things out on the fly.”
List your inputs
Sound engineers want to know not only what gear you have and where it will be placed, but how many cables, DI boxes, and mixer channels they need to provide. To help, indicate on your stage plot whether your four vintage keyboards need mono or stereo quarter-inch DI inputs, and whether you want one or two mics on your Marshall stack. Do you need extra mono XLR inputs for a piece of outboard gear or any other special input setup for your laptop and DJ rig? Put it all in the document.
Mention monitors
Loop recommends including monitor placement in your diagram, so your sound engineers know how many wedges or other monitors are needed, and where they should be set up in relation to the band. Does anyone on stage use in-ear-monitors? Include that information on the diagram as well.
Think about the little things
When I perform with the Michael Gallant Trio, I like to have my keyboards at roughly a forty-five-degree angle when compared to the bass player, so I make a point of visually representing this in my stage plots for the group. If you have small but important details like that — you want your music stand on your left side and not your right, you need a boom microphone stand instead of a vertical one, you do better with a wireless mic than a wired unit — note it on your stage plot so your engineer knows what to expect.
Include variations
Loop has had situations where bands send their standard stage plot, but then show up, day of, with an unexpected guest artist sitting in for the second set, or an entire additional horn section. For sound engineers, last-minute additions like these can be a challenge to deal with.
Are you bringing in a local ukulele virtuoso to help with your opener, or a gospel choir to take your tunes to the next level? Make sure all relevant info makes it onto your diagram before you send it in so your engineer can prepare accordingly and avoid having to scramble to accommodate.
Identify yourself
A simple but important consideration: be sure to include your band or artist name and contact info on the diagram. If you’re playing a festival or a complicated, multi-act show, you want to make sure your sound engineers know which stage plot is yours. And if the engineers have any questions about technical details or unexpected issues, you want them to know how to get in touch.
Keep it simple
Your stage plot is meant to communicate necessary information about your band, setup, and gear so your sound engineer can dial you in — and that’s about it. Don’t waste time making it a work of art, coming up with the perfect graphic for your vintage Yamaha DX-7, and so on. Keep everything as simple and instantly readable as possible.
Loop affirms the importance of a straightforward document. “The simple stuff really helps,” he says. “If you are a good audio guy, you can usually fill in the blanks, just using common sense.”
Learn More
To see a few examples what other bands do, check out these samples:
Bump City Brass
DIY Musician’s Chris Robley also has some good tips
Disc Makers’ regular contributor Michael Gallant’s debut trio album Completely received a four-star review from DownBeat magazine and a five-star review fromCritical Jazz, which stated: “This, my friends, is the future of jazz. Fresh, invigorating, progressive – there are simply not enough positive adjectives to list here.” Learn more, download through iTunes, jam along with the new JamBandit app, or purchase through CD Baby. Follow Michael on Twitter at @Michael_Gallant or on Facebook.
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When you're playing in a band, you want everything to be perfect. You want to look good, sound good and have a day that's easy with no technical problems. Many bands don't realize that they can make this process so much easier by generating a Stage Plot online. Tech Riders are essential for every band and enable everybody to have a much easier show experience. On your Stage Plot you can show where each member of the band and each instrument will be positioned on stage, including the locations of the mics, amplifiers, monitors and possibly the cable positions. The key is to create a clear but specific Tech Rider, so everything is set up accordingly and everything is prepared for you, get it right and you will find your checks will go smoothly with very little hassle. A good Stage Plot will save you a lot of stress in the long run.
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Stage Plot
What is a Stage Plot?
A Stage Plot (or technical rider) is a document that details exactly what your band needs to make a show fantastic. It details the equipment and instruments of every band member, the input you will need from the venues that you're playing and how you want your stage to look and sound.
What Can You Include on a Tech Rider?
If you're a small band and you don't have much equipment or instruments with you, your Stage Plot will most likely mainly cover the gear that you're using onstage. As your band grows, your Tech Rider will start to include any FOH consoles that you bring with you, the lighting rigs you're touring with and any pyrotechnics that you have onstage. A Stage Plot is constantly updated as you continue touring and continue growing as a band.
How Do You Create a Stage Plot?
You can search for bands who have a similar sound to yours, as they will more than likely have a similar Tech Rider to the one that you'll need. When you don't have a good idea of what you need to include on your Tech Rider, then make a list of the equipment you have for your band and the make and model that this equipment is. When you've done this, you can use an online Stage Plot generator to create your full Tech Rider online.
Band Stage Layout Template
What Do You Do With a Stage Plot?
Once you've created your Tech Rider, you can send it out to all venues that you will be playing in advance of you doing your shows there. They will know exactly what equipment to expect from you and your day will run a lot more smoothly. You'll soon see what a difference sending this Tech Rider out to venues in advance makes to the quality of your live show!
Don’t forget your name and contact details. Preferably you want to have someone as your technical contact, it can be any members of the band who have the best knowledge and set up experience.
Hospitality Rider
First off let us just explain that a rider is a set of requests and criteria made by the performer prior to the performance. Everyone has a Hospitality Rider and everyone uses them, from Adele performing in concert to Hugh Jackman performing in theatre.
Free Stage Plot Template
What is a Hospitality Rider?
A Hospitality Rider is just as it sounds, a set of requests to welcome the performer and make them feel at home. They can also be contractual, so if the needs of the rider aren't met the performer has the right to cancel the performance and the fees be paid regardless.
What sort of requests are in a Hospitality Rider?
Within reason anything can be written in the rider, from the hotel they stay in to the food they eat and the furniture they sit on. The bigger the name, the more demands you can get away with it seems.
The hotel - In some riders a price for accommodation is specified and sometimes a location.
Food and drink - Most performers stipulate a certain set of beverages, maybe part of their routine is to have a nice cold drink before or after the performance and it has to be a particular brand. Food is also a popular request, some request they must have fruit in their room or strictly forbid deep fried foods. Vicious Cycle for example stipulated a hot meal for the artists and crew but no fried food.
Transportation - Do you need a car to and from a show or to take you to somewhere after a show? Of course you do.
Free Stage Plots For Bands 2000s
The majority of the Hospitality Rider are requests made for comfort and to help the performer relax but there are times where the big names become 'divas' and demand outrageous requests and god help the organisers if these demands aren't met.