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Mic plot, stage plot, input list: what each sheet is for

Three sheets travel with every orchestral session, and the names get mixed up constantly — not least because theatre uses "mic plot" for something else entirely. Here is what each one is, who it is for, and what goes on it.

By Brian Losch, orchestral recording engineer · 9 October 2026

The short version

Sheet	What it shows	Who reads it	Question it answers
Mic plot	Where every microphone goes, how high, on what stand or rigging point, with its channel number	Stage crew, riggers, the engineer's assistant	"Where does this stand go?"
Stage plot	Where the players, risers, podium and furniture go	Orchestra operations, stagehands, the hall	"Where does the orchestra sit?"
Input list	Each channel in order: source, microphone, stand, preamp, gain, notes	Whoever patches and whoever mixes	"What is on channel 14?"

They describe the same session from three directions. The mic plot is spatial, the input list is electrical, and the stage plot is the ground truth both of them sit on.

The mic plot

An orchestral mic plot is a plan view of the stage with every microphone drawn in position. A good one carries, for each mic:

the channel number, so the plot and the input list agree;
a measured position — distance from the stage edge and from the centre line (or from the left or right edge), in feet or metres;
the height of the capsule above the floor;
the mount: which stand, or a rigging point for flown mics;
a short name ("Vln 1 spot", "Out L") rather than a model number, which the crew does not need.

Left and right are always as seen from the audience. Writing "stage left" on a sheet a rigger reads from the back of the hall is how a tree ends up mirrored. The mic plot guide goes through the rest.

"Mic plot" in theatre means something else. In musical theatre a mic plot is the schedule of which wireless pack and frequency each performer wears in each scene, and when packs are swapped between actors. It has no positions on it at all. If you search for mic plot templates and find cast lists and frequency charts, that is the theatre document. This site is about the orchestral and classical-recording kind.

The stage plot

A stage plot shows the ensemble, not the microphones: the string sections and their desks, the wind and brass risers, percussion, harps and keyboards, the podium and any soloist positions, with the stage dimensions. It is the document orchestra operations and the hall's stagehands work from when they set chairs and risers, usually the day before the engineer arrives.

For a band, the same term means the one-page diagram of instruments, amps, monitors and power that goes to a venue with the rider. The idea is the same; the contents are different.

A mic plot is only useful on top of an accurate stage plot. If the cellos are seated two feet further upstage than the drawing, every spot measured from the stage edge is two feet wrong. That is why MicPlot draws the mics over the seating rather than on an empty rectangle.

The input list

The input list (also channel list, patch list, or track sheet, depending on who trained you) is a table in channel order. For each channel: the source, the microphone, the stand or rigging, the preamp and its gain, phantom power, and any note the mixer needs. It is what the assistant patches from and what the engineer keeps beside the console. It carries no positions beyond a word or two, because positions belong on the plot.

The input list guide covers the columns and a channel order that holds up, and there is a free template in Excel and CSV.

Keeping the three in agreement

Most session-day problems with paperwork come from the sheets disagreeing: a channel renumbered on the list but not the plot, a stand moved on the plot but still listed as flown. Two habits prevent nearly all of it:

One source of truth. Draw the plot and generate the list from it, rather than typing the list separately. MicPlot prints both from the same session, so the channel numbers cannot drift apart.
Version every sheet. Put the date (and a revision letter if you send more than one) in the header of every page, and tell the crew which revision is current.

Questions engineers ask

Is a mic plot the same as a stage plot?

No. A stage plot shows where the players, risers and furniture go; a mic plot shows where the microphones go, with heights and channel numbers, on top of that seating. Orchestra operations read the stage plot; the stage crew and riggers read the mic plot.

What is on an orchestral input list?

Channel number, source (the instrument or section), microphone model, stand or rigging, preamp and gain, phantom power, and notes, in channel order. Positions stay on the mic plot.

Why do theatre mic plots look so different?

Because they are a different document with the same name: a schedule of which wireless transmitter each performer wears in each scene. Orchestral mic plots are drawings of microphone positions.

Which sheet should I send first?

The stage plot, because the hall sets chairs and risers before the microphones go in. Then the mic plot for the crew, with the input list for whoever patches.

Plan it in MicPlot, free

MicPlot puts real orchestral seating on a 3D stage, lets you place every mic with its height, and prints the mic plot, input list and stage plot. It works in the browser with no signup.

Open MicPlot

Related guides

How to make an orchestral mic plot
What goes on the plot, the order to build it in, and the mistakes that get a rig redone.
Orchestral input list template, with an example
The columns, a channel order that holds up, and a worked example for a full orchestra.
Free mic plot and input list templates
Session paperwork you can download and use today: a dimensioned orchestral mic plot and stage plot as PDF, and an input list in Excel and…