What is a technical rider?
A technical rider is a document or document package that communicates the technical requirements for an artist, performance or show to the people preparing the production.
Read the answerKnowledge field / Technical Riders
Technical Riders
Artist technical requirements, stage plots, input lists, substitutions and the production advance process.
A beginner’s guide to technical riders as production communication documents: what they contain, who uses them, and why their requirements still need to be reviewed and advanced.
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EXPLAINER · BEGINNER
What Is a Technical Rider?
A beginner’s guide to technical riders as production communication documents: what they contain, who uses them, and why their requirements still need to be reviewed and advanced.
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Learning paths
Learn Technical Riders
Choose a route for what you want to understand. Read in order, or go directly to the question you are working on.
3 guides / suggested sequence
Understand artist technical riders
Read the requirement, physical layout and audio inputs as connected documents.
3 guides / suggested sequence
Turn requirements into an agreed plan
Clarify the current show, approvals and the backline requirement.
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Knowledge map
Explore Technical Riders
Concepts
- Artist Advance
- The pre-show coordination process used to connect an artist’s current performance requirements with the receiving event, venue, suppliers, carried equipment, local provision, schedule, approvals and unresolved actions.
- Backline
- Performance equipment used by musicians on stage.
- Backline Substitution
- Changeover
- The coordinated work required to move a live production from one performance or programme segment to the next, including relevant changes to people, equipment, technical arrangements and readiness conditions.
- DI
- Equipment QC
- Festival Changeover
- Input List
- A structured, current list of the audio sources required for a performance or programme, with the identity, capture or connection information and notes needed to prepare their entry into the live-sound system.
- Live Sound
- The system and workflow used to capture or receive, control, mix, route, monitor and reproduce audio during a live performance or event.
- Production Advance
- The pre-show coordination process used to review current requirements, clarify responsibilities and interfaces, record decisions and keep unresolved questions visible so a live production can be prepared for load-in and delivery.
- Production Schedule
- A production schedule is the working timeline for preparing, building, checking, operating and removing a live production. It connects venue access, load-in, setup, rehearsals, soundcheck, doors, show operation, strike and load-out with the people and dependencies needed for each stage.
- Shared Backline
- Signal Flow
- The path an audio signal follows from its source through inputs, processing and routing to one or more destinations.
- Stage Plot
- A current visual plan showing the intended positions of performers, instruments and important stage equipment, with orientation and supporting notes needed to review and prepare the physical layout.
- Technical Rider
- A document communicating production requirements.
Common questions / 73
Who reviews a technical rider?
The people coordinating and supplying the production review the sections relevant to them, which may include production management, venue teams and sound, lighting, video, staging or backline suppliers.
Read the answerWho prepares a technical rider?
It may be prepared by an artist's production manager, tour manager, technical director, engineer, designer, musical director or the artist, depending on how the production is organised.
Read the answerWhat if a technical rider is incomplete?
Identify the missing or ambiguous information and consolidate it into a clarification list for the artist or technical representative.
Read the answerIs an input list part of a technical rider?
It often is. An input list may appear inside the rider or as a separate companion document describing the audio sources and related channel information.
Read the answerWhen should a technical rider be requested?
Request it early enough for the production team to review requirements, clarify gaps, agree alternatives and prepare before load-in. The useful lead time depends on the production.
Read the answerIs a technical rider the same as a stage plot?
No. A stage plot is the visual layout of performers and equipment on stage. It may be one part of, or an attachment to, the wider technical rider.
Read the answerWhat information is included in a technical rider?
It may include a written specification, stage plot, input list, sound and monitoring needs, backline, lighting, video, power, communications, timings and details of what travels with the artist. Contents vary by production.
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Backline
The instruments and performance equipment artists rely on.
Event ProductionThe planning, technical systems, people and operations that turn an event brief into a live show.
Live SoundThe systems, equipment and techniques used to capture, mix, monitor and reproduce live performance audio.
Production ManagementThe coordination of requirements, suppliers, schedules, people and production interfaces across a live event.