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Advice on Technical Spec Sheet


Clarebear68
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I'm hoping someone can help me out.
The Smiths Tribute I recently joined, has been picked up by an agency and they've asked us to put together a technical spec sheet as ... 'bigger venues will need full tech specs which consist of stage plan and channel listings' ...
There's no chance of our drummer or guitarist doing this, so it's been left up to me to sort out.
I know I need to do stage layout drawing including any monitoring and I need to list mics used for the drums/vocals/cabs and any effects but does anyone have any examples I can work from to get the format right?
Also, what else needs to go on there?
Any help would be much appreciated 😃

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When I did this I did it on an excel spreadsheet - so I could draw boxes indicating where each band member was on a rough stage layout plan on how we lined up. I then filled in each box with "Lead Vox" "Drums" Bass" etc. Immediately underneath each box wrote whether vocal mic needed or not.

I then at the bottom of the page listed each instrument/band member in turn, and how many mics/DIs would be needed for that instrument, for example with drums, 1 snare mic, one hi-hat mic, 1 bass drum mic, 1 rack toms mic, 1 floor tom mic - you get the idea.

With guitars and bass I advised what the amp head and speaker cab was, and again if needing a mic, DI, or both (some nice venues will do both on bass, chance it).

Lastly on all of the listed band members I indicated as to whether lead vocals or backing vocals.

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Hi Clairebear

you basically need everything on there which you will require for a show from a technical standpoint you'll need

Backline requirements - you may bring you're own in the UK, but for dates abroad you'll need a list of all equipment you need to do the show including makes and models of amps required (best bet is to give two or three options for example mine are Markbass EBS or Ampeg and its best to pick fairly common models. The hire company in Romania isn't going to have your guitarist's lovely boutique valve amp which is number 3 of 15 in the world ;) ) Drums need to have makes, sizes and all hardware required including drum throne (assume a complete lack of common sense) and whether you are flying breakables (kick pedals/cymbals) with you do you need keyboard stands or any music stands or any other miscellaneous stuff to do the gig

PA requirements - This can be a bit tricky if you aren't traveling with your own sound engineer but the common line is "Clear, hum free and capable of producing 110DBa at front of house and sufficent to cover the entire audience" also what you will require in terms of monitoring on stage whether people are using in ear monitors or wedges how many of each you'll need ect

channel list - this is purely a list of mics you need for the biggest gig you're ever going to do its important to state if you bring any specific mic's with you or have any special requirements this may be subject to change if you aren't using your own sound engineer but it gives the engineer doing the gig a rough idea of what you expect

Stage plot - this is fairly self explanatory but it should have how many monitors you need and where everything goes. Also power requirements where you need them, how many what voltage (110V or 240V) and if you need them to provide local to british adapters (this might also go in the backline section)

Hospitality rider - this is food and drink for dressing rooms and also water and towels for stage use. how many people are in your band and any extras that you bring along including sound engineers/ tour managers you get the idea. (this part depends on how big you guys are and how much promoters are willing to spend on you)


I hope this isn't too overwhelming i write and read these for a living so you're more than welcome to pm me with any questions

i have a couple of examples kicking around if you'd like to have a look give me a PM with your email address and i'll send them over

chris

Edited by Chrismanbass
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List the kit with all shells and cymbals.
List the Gtr stacks and gtrs and pedals.
List Keys and what sort of feeds he will send
List bass rig and bass and pedals.
List an acoustics which will likely need a DI box.

List BV's and Lead Vox..and if wireless mic req'd..
List what needs to go to each monitor.

And then ask what Tech spec the venue provides.

Put minimum spec requred, ie mics and standards or monitors.
This may well be ignored for a support band, but touring acts will
detail a min spec... and the idea is to marry up your expectations to theirs.

If you say you require EAW and up, and they suggest PV..then draw your own conclusions.
You will need a min of 4 stage mixes so insist on it, even if you could get away with 2.

Tell them how big the stage size and the drum riser must be.

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Remember to do a separate tech sheet for any lighting requirements you may have, with fixture type, positions, colours, strobes etc. If there's a running commented set list for the lighter, that's a bonus. Just sayin'.

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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1432836877' post='2785512']
Remember to do a separate tech sheet for any lighting requirements you may have, with fixture type, positions, colours, strobes etc. If there's a running commented set list for the lighter, that's a bonus. Just sayin'.
[/quote]
Cheers 😀... Looks like I might need to get this sorted pretty quickly, its been announced tonight that we're one of the support acts for the Clone Roses at Manchester Academy in December! 👍

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[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1433153152' post='2788214']
This is our audio reqirements sheet, it may give you an idea of what's required. [url="http://www.manfredmann.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MMEB-Audio-2015.pdf"]Audio Spec[/url]
[/quote]
Great gig you have Steve!

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[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1433153152' post='2788214']
This is our audio reqirements sheet, it may give you an idea of what's required. [url="http://www.manfredmann.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MMEB-Audio-2015.pdf"]Audio Spec[/url]
[/quote]
👍 cheers - these are all much better than what I'd put together myself!

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[quote name='hairychris' timestamp='1433507254' post='2791674']
Very silly, but also has a good description of specs for equipment & stage:

[url="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/iggy-pop-2006-rider?page=0"]http://www.thesmokin...06-rider?page=0[/url]
[/quote]

Well worth reading, for both the above reasons :)

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[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1433153152' post='2788214']
This is our audio reqirements sheet, it may give you an idea of what's required. [url="http://www.manfredmann.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MMEB-Audio-2015.pdf"]Audio Spec[/url]
[/quote]

Now [i]that's[/i] comprehensive! In bands I've played in, we're lucky to get enough room to set up, and an adequate, safe mains electricity supply.

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I use a piece of software called Stage Plot Pro. It's really simple, has loads of pre drawn instruments, monitors and mics.... You can add input lists and monitor mixes and save it as a JPEG or pdf.

www.stageplot.com

Edited by woodster
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