If we don’t bring a technician, do we still need a technical rider?

Yes, absolutely! That’s as clear as it gets. A technical rider is not the exclusive property of a technician, but a (technical) document that provides practical, technical information about what the band needs for the performance. Whether you do or do not bring a technician (sound, lighting, etc.) makes no difference. In fact, the only major difference is that you must state explicitly that you are not bringing a technician.

Knowing how to define the limits

Technical riders for bands without a technician are often copies of other documents or even the same rider the band used back when it did have a technician (typically in the first gigs or in earlier periods before trying to optimize costs). But when you decide to travel without a technician, you must be more careful when deciding what equipment is truly essential. In practice, you need to find a way to provide maximum information to the person who will act as your technician during the show, without limiting their work.

The structure should be the same as any other rider, but you must specify what is essential. Or, in other words, do not make essential those elements that are more of a technical-artistic decision for the supposed technician who, in reality, won’t be there.

For example: it is more important to define the musical elements on stage than the exact desired microphone models. We must clearly define that the drum kit (placed at the back of the stage on a 2x2 m riser, for instance) will include kick, snare, hi-hat, two rack toms, a floor tom and overheads. This allows the company or staff who will set up your show to prepare the microphones, the riser and the general setup correctly. In the patch you will need to specify again that channel 1 is kick, channel 2 is snare, etc., but for microphone choices you should be as standard as possible.

It’s better to add as a note in the patch that the band’s musical style is “jazz” than to demand an Electrovoice RE-20 on the kick: in 99% of cases, the technician who mixes you will be able to achieve the desired sound with their usual microphone.

Demanding specific microphones on certain sources is often a tactic used by a band’s sound engineer to achieve a specific sound not only via the microphone, but via their experience and knowledge of the band. When the technician is not part of the band, that knowledge and experience are completely different.

The same applies to lighting: it is more useful to briefly explain what you expect from the lighting system (for example, describing the musical style, the band’s attitude, etc.) than to demand a specific rig.

Without a technician, the rider matters even more

When arriving at a show, the band’s technical crew usually gets there before the musicians precisely to resolve any remaining setup questions. When there is no technician, the technical rider itself must resolve questions about itself. Making it complicated makes things harder. Making it clear and well written makes everything much easier.

This is where the services we offer at Kinosonik Riders can also be tremendously attractive. First, because Kinosonik Riders can do part of the work your sound engineer (whom you don’t have) would normally do for you: rider repository, technical validation and version tracking. In just a few minutes, you can send your updated rider (a band member changed, we added a keyboard, etc.) and make your clients’ work even easier.

With Kinosonik Riders, your band has a “virtual” sound engineer up until showtime.

So, does that mean we’ll never need a technician again?

The answer is: yes, you do (or will) need a sound engineer. And then a lighting engineer. And then, perhaps, a video technician. What a technician can bring to a band goes far beyond what even an excellently written technical rider can provide — in the same way that sheet music does not replace the band’s guitarist. But until that is possible (due to budget or whatever the reason), the rider is the only technical reference that will accompany you.

A good technical rider, without being inflated, that clearly defines the setup, microphones, lighting, etc., is the best way to make your client’s job easier.