SoundGirls.org: An audio rider is essential to every gig. There can be a lot of confusion over what it should entail and how best to present the information, so here is how to make a clear, concise rider and the pitfalls to avoid. Much of this might seem obvious, but even people on arena tours make some of these mistakes. If you already know everything in this post, share it with your musician friends who don’t have an engineer yet so they can make great riders too.
1 comment:
This is a great article for those in a band or looking to start playing music at venues. The biggest thing about playing live music at a venue is clear communication and preparation. Not every venue is equipped like a Metallica concert, but that doesn't mean it can't be worked in the band's favor. The article really cuts to the chase by outlining how to 'trim the fat' so to speak. Sure, it can be fun to include certain things like beer preference and guitar models, and it is sometimes easy to believe that providing more information is helpful. However, as the article notes, often the house engineers will have a good sense about their space, equipment, and setup, so providing that extra info may just clutter the page. Keep it simple. When it comes to the plot, the same mantra applies. The only thing I would say is that it is nice to have a digital copy of the layout, even though a hand sketch will do. Nowadays there is so much free software (I particularly like draw.io for stuff like this), and it just eliminates issues of clarity. Plus, you can print out several in the inevitable event something gets spilled on it, and can easily be manipulated from venue to venue which can maintain consistency from show to show.
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