How to Make a Stage Plot (And an Input List Sound Engineers Actually Want)

You get 15 minutes for changeover. Ten of them disappear while the engineer figures out that your keys player runs stereo, your second guitarist needs a DI nobody brought, and the drummer's kit is set up on the wrong side of the riser. By the time anything comes through the PA, soundcheck is over and you're playing the first song as your line check. Nothing about that was a talent problem. It was a paperwork problem.

A stage plot and an input list are the two documents that fix it. Together they're a single page that tells the person running sound exactly what your band is and where it goes, before you show up. Bands that send one get faster setups, better mixes, and a reputation with bookers as the act that's easy to work with. Here's how to make both.

What a Stage Plot Actually Is

A stage plot is an overhead map of your band on stage. That's it. It is not a tech rider, it is not a contract, and it does not need to look designed. It needs to be legible at a glance by someone reading it on a phone in a dark room.

• Positions. Where each member stands, labeled by name and role — "Mara / lead vox + acoustic," "Dev / bass." Names matter more than you'd think, because the engineer will be calling for you by name during line check.
• Backline. Amps, the drum kit, keyboard stands, pedal boards. Note anything unusual: a Leslie cabinet, a double kick, a second snare, an amp you mic from the back.
• Monitors. Number each wedge and say who it belongs to ("Mix 1 — lead vox, mostly vocal + a little kick"). If anyone's on in-ears, say that instead, and say whether they're wired or wireless.
• Power and DI needs. Where you need outlets, and where you need a DI box supplied versus where you're bringing your own.
• Orientation. Write "audience" along one edge so nobody has to guess whether they're looking at stage left or stage right. This one word prevents the single most common stage plot mix-up.

Put your band name, the date if it's show-specific, and one contact phone number at the top. If the plot gets printed and separated from the email, it should still say who it belongs to and who to call.

How to Build the Input List

The input list is the half engineers care about most, because it's what they patch from. It's a numbered table, and every row is one channel.

• Number in patch order, drums first. The convention is kick, snare, hi-hat, toms, overheads, then bass, then guitars, then keys, then vocals. Following the convention means the engineer's muscle memory works in your favor.
• Name the source precisely. "Gtr 1 — Fender Deluxe, stage left" is useful. "Guitar" is not. If you have two guitarists, number them and tie each to a name on the plot.
• Say mic or DI, and whether you're supplying it. You can request a preference (SM57 on the snare, a large-diaphragm condenser on overheads) as long as you note that you'll take whatever the house has. Requests read as helpful; demands read as difficult.
• Flag phantom power and stereo pairs. Active DIs and condensers need +48V. Stereo keys or a stereo playback rig take two channels — write them as a pair so they don't get patched as two unrelated mono sources.
• Declare backing tracks and click. If you run playback, say what feeds the PA, what feeds the click, and how it's split. This is the single most common thing bands forget and the most disruptive to discover live.

Keep the whole thing to one page with the plot. Two documents get separated; one PDF doesn't.

A Simple Stage Plot Template

If you're starting from nothing, this structure covers a standard four- or five-piece and scales fine either direction.

• Header: band name, contact name and phone, one line on what you are ("4-piece indie rock, 35-minute set").
• Diagram, upstage to downstage: drums center or slightly off-center at the back with the kit orientation noted; bass and guitar amps behind their players; keys with its stand and DI count; vocalists downstage with their mic positions; monitor wedges numbered along the front edge and at the drum riser.
• Input list table: channel number, source, mic or DI, phantom power, and a notes column for anything weird.
• Footer notes: what you're bringing (your own DIs, your own snare mic, a spare cable pack), what you need from the house, and how long your changeover realistically takes.

Save it as a PDF with a filename an engineer can find later — BandName_StagePlot_2026.pdf, not final_v3_actually_final.pdf. Keep an editable master so you can update it the week a member or a rig changes, and update it the same day it changes rather than the night before a show.

Who to Send It To, and When

• The booker, at confirmation. Reply in the booking thread with the PDF attached and one sentence: "Here's our stage plot and input list — can you pass it to whoever's on sound?" That's the whole ask.
• The house engineer, in the advance. A few days out, confirm receipt and ask whether they want anything changed. Engineers almost always have an opinion about their own room, and taking it makes the night easier.
• Your own hired engineer, if the room has none. Small spaces, breweries, private events, and some festivals have a PA but nobody running it. The same document is what you hand the person you bring.
• Every other band on the bill, when you're headlining. Shared backline and changeover order go a lot smoother when everyone's plots are in the same email.

Keep it attached to your press materials too. If you have a press kit, a link to your current plot sits naturally alongside your bio and live video — bookers and production staff often go looking there first rather than digging through old email.

Mistakes That Cost You Soundcheck

• Sending a plot that's a year out of date. You added a keys player, dropped an amp, switched to in-ears — and the engineer set up for the old version. An inaccurate plot is worse than none, because it's confidently wrong.
• Requesting gear you didn't confirm exists. Asking for eight monitor mixes in a room with four is a conversation you want to have by email in advance, not at load-in.
• Leaving out orientation. Without "audience" marked, half of stage-left and stage-right gets flipped and the whole diagram reads backwards.
• Burying it in a file everyone has to request access to. Attach a PDF or an image. A share link that needs a login gets ignored.
• Treating it as a rider. A stage plot describes your setup. Hospitality, guarantees, and gear you require are separate conversations — mixing them in makes an easy document feel like a negotiation.

Using Bandry to Line Up the Rest

A stage plot only helps if there's someone competent reading it. If the rooms you play don't come with a house engineer, live sound engineers post offering listings on Bandry's bulletin saying they're available for gigs and runs of dates — and because live sound only works with someone physically at the board, you can keep the search local so you find people who can actually make your shows. When a listing fits, tap 🔗 and your contact info goes to them; the conversation happens off-platform from there, with nothing skimming a cut in between. Need a fill-in player before a date, a rehearsal room to run the set in, or a session musician to cover a part? Those are seeking posts on the same board. Start at Bandry's find page to see who's posting right now. (And once the plot is done, here's everything else to handle before the show.)