Technical rider example
A technical rider is really just a clear note to the venue: this is what we need to sound the way we should. Below you'll see exactly what one looks like, with a fully worked example for a four-piece band — plus a free template to turn it into your own rider in minutes.
Plenty of musicians copy a rider from a bandmate and swap out a name or two. That half works: you inherit their mistakes and their outdated gear along with it. It's better to understand what a rider is made of, see one good example, and then build your own version that matches your actual setup.
What goes into a technical rider?
A complete technical rider has roughly six parts. Together they tell the engineer everything they need to know before you arrive:
- Contact & header — band name, line-up, and who the venue calls with questions (usually the tour manager or whoever handles tech).
- Input list — which channel is which source, from kick to vocals, including microphone or DI and whether you need 48V phantom power.
- Stage plot — a simple top-down drawing: who stands where, plus amps, monitors and power points.
- Monitoring — how many monitor mixes you need and who wants what in their mix (in-ears or wedges).
- Backline — what you bring yourself and what you expect from the venue (drum kit, amps, keyboard stand).
- Tech & extras — wireless frequencies, an optional lighting note, and practical remarks.
A worked example: four-piece band
Say a band with drums, bass, guitar and a singing guitarist. Here's what their rider looks like at its core.
Input list
| # | Source | Mic / DI | 48V |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kick | Shure Beta 52 | — |
| 2 | Snare | Shure SM57 | — |
| 3 | Overhead L/R | Condenser (pair) | 48V |
| 4 | Bass guitar | DI | 48V |
| 5 | Guitar (amp) | SM57 | — |
| 6 | Vocal | SM58 | — |
Below that sits a stage plot showing the drums centre-back, bass beside them, the guitarist stage left and the singer front-centre — with two wedges up front aimed at vocals and guitar. And a short backline line: "We bring: guitar and bass amps, cymbals and snare. Please provide: drum kit (shells + hardware), 4 monitor wedges, 4 DIs."
That's it. No twenty pages, no jargon to impress. An engineer reading this knows how to patch you in thirty seconds.
Build your rider in minutes
With RoboRider you answer a few questions and automatically get a clean input list, a drag-and-drop stage plot and a professional PDF — free to try, no account needed.
Start your rider →Why a template beats a copied PDF
An example PDF is handy for seeing how it should look, but a loose PDF goes stale fast. You switch microphones, your singer moves to in-ears, you suddenly play as a trio — and you're back in a word processor nudging boxes around. A template you fill in and save fixes that: change one line and export a clean version again.
That's exactly why RoboRider works with questions instead of a blank document. You build your rider once, and per show you only change what's different — a bigger venue, an extra guest musician, a new date.
From example to your own rider
Use the example above as a checklist and walk through your own setup: which sources you have, which mic or DI belongs to each, how many monitor mixes you want, and what you bring yourself. Turn that into an input list and a stage plot, and your rider is complete. If you'd rather let the tool do the layout and the counting, just start with the builder — you'll have an exportable PDF in a few minutes.
Read next: How to make a technical rider →
Read next: How to make a stage plot →