I have been pondering posting something like this for a little while now, having been witness to the old and new skool often (and rightly so) complaining that their technical requirements were not met by the club and/or sound engineer when performing.
I have experienced these issues myself as a DJ and also as a TM when it has either been I, or the agent that has been a part of the booking process and provided a comprehensive technical rider.
In most cases an artists agent will send over a technical rider to the promoter when the booking takes place, the promoter is then responsible for handing this over to the venues sound engineer and both are responsible for ensuring that this happens. Often however, the technical riders are overlooked, unless of course you’re a top tier headliner bagging over £3k a set…. then all will bow down to your every whim, along with various other totally unnecessary requests (don’t get me started on steamed fish and broccoli).
But here we are fighting to not have the MC coming out of the DJ monitors on our set and the MC to be coming out of their own monitors, at the very least!!!
IF you are a DJ that hosts, MCs or sings over your own set… this is going to be a slightly different kettle for you as you want to hear yourself in those DJ monitors (and you probably have your tech rider nailed already, right). Although there’s no reason why both set up’s can’t be rigged up.
All we can do as artists and your agent respectively, is to ensure that we are equipped with a fully comprehensive technical rider and that it is delivered to the booker/promoter and pray that the rest is handled as it should be.
If you are an artist who handles their own bookings it will do you no harm to have a technical rider in your artillery, you will be asked for one when you go to an agent who will be handling your bookings, so you need to know what you need in order to do your job to the best of your ability.
So I thought I would create some basic resources here which will include a club standard DJ set up, and a club standard MC set up and a basic invoice template.
Tech wise for the DJs I will be referencing the club standard Pioneer set up of the CDJ-2000NXS2 (however we are moving more and more in to CDJ3000 territory, which is awesome IMO) and the DJM900-NXS2 mixer.
For the MCs this will be even simpler and will include a club standard mic on the rider, however MOST MC’s have their own mic and a personal preference on their monitoring (SOUND ENGINEER TURN UP MY MICROPHONE PLEASE etc).
Often cordless mics are offered to the MCs by the sound engineer and some more seasoned MC’s bring their own box to adjust their vox themselves. You will know what tools you need and what ratio you want to hear of the music and you coming out of your monitors.
Let us begin…
STANDARD DJ TECHNICAL RIDER
1. One (1) Pioneer DJM-900 NXS2 DJ Mixer.
2. A minimum of TWO (2) Pioneer CDJ-2000’s NXS2 (updated to the latest firmware), linked via Ethernet hub.
TWO IS AN ABSOLUTE MINIMUM, THREE or FOUR CDJs MAY BE REQUIRED – SIX IF YOU’RE CALYX AND TEEBEE
3. Two (2) monitor speakers – Mackie SRM-450 or similar, adjustable through mixer.
4. One (1) Shure SM58 microphone or similar, connected via the mixer
OPTIONAL – IF YOUR A DJ THAT LIKES ACCESS TO A MIC
STANDARD MC TECHNICAL RIDER
- One (1) Microphone – Shure Beta SM58 or similar
2. MC Monitor(s) channelling both the DJ and the MC at a ratio of 50/50 (50% Mic and 50% Music) THE ARTISTS WILL NOT SHARE THE DJ MONITORS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES
THE RATIO OF MUSIC TO VOX HERE IS AN EXAMPLE, PERHAPS YOUR MORE OF A 30/70 VIBE.
The MC monitors are usually a wedge speaker or a few wedge speakers situated away from the DJ (so that you can both hear your own monitoring) which with your communication the sound engineer will be able to get tweaked to your preference.
Obviously these are the basics and also the bare minimum, if you are a DJ that uses multiple CDJs and/or a laptop or a MC that brings your own vox box, this will need to be adjusted accordingly. But you get the idea, copy, paste edit into a word doc or email, add more tech and detail if you need to and you’ve done all you can to get your ish right on the night.
Remember, one of the most important people for you to find in the venue after the artist liaison and stage manager is the sound engineer, if they are all on their ish then they will have received your technical rider and already have an idea what you are about to request from them.
So you’ve got your tech set, but what about da monies…
Ok, does anyone really like talking money. Whatever, it’s time to get used to it particularly if you are handling your own bookings.
Most promoters will require an invoice to pay you, an invoice is basically your bill which details your fee and where it should be paid into and when.
This will include your name, address, the job, the fee for the job and your bank details… lets go….
INVOICE EXAMPLE
Your Real Name
At Your Real Address
In Your Real Town
In Your Real County
REAL POSTCODE
Invoice Date: THE DATE YOU MADE THE INVOICE
Invoice Number: YOUR OWN REFERENCE FOR THIS BOOKING
To:
THE PROMOTER
AT THEIR BUSINESS ADDRESS
VAT No: IF THEY HAVE ONE
Company No: IF THEY HAVE ONE
INVOICE
For:
Artist: YOUR ARTIST NAME – DJ/MC services for THE EVENT AND VENUE, THE DATE OF THE EVENT
Fee: YOUR FEE
Total
£ YOUR FEE.00000
Payment Terms:
To be paid on receipt of invoice.
Made Payable To:
Name: YOUR NAME
Bank: YOUR BANK
Bank Account: YOUR BANK ACC
Sort Code: YOUR SORT CODE
And that is it my friends! Copy, paste, edit save to a word doc, create your own invoice reference code system, use your artist name, the date or the event name, whatever helps you to get organised and remember what invoice relates to what booking and when should you ever need to check back or chase.
I hope this has proved useful for you and if not it has been somewhat cathartic to get this off my chest, again LOL! Be on your ish 🙂
Peace and Love
Promo ZO x
