How to make a patch list that your whole crew will actually read

A good patch list is worth a thousand emails

A patch list is the single document that tells your crew, the venue, and your future self where every signal is going. Microphone 1 to channel 1 on the desk. Camera 3 to input 3 on the switcher. Lectern computer to HDMI 4 via a USB-C adapter.

When the patch list is good, you can hand it to a freelancer at 7am and walk away. When it is bad, you spend the morning answering questions you have already answered twice. Here is how to write the first kind.

What goes on a patch list

A patch list is, at its core, a table. Each row is one signal. Each column is a piece of information about that signal.

The columns you almost always want:

• Channel or input number (Ch 1, HDMI 2, NDI source name)
• Source (the device producing the signal, like “Shure SM58 lectern”)
• Destination (where it lands, like “FOH desk ch 1”)
• Cable type and length (XLR 25ft, HDMI 6ft, Cat6 50ft)
• Notes (phantom power on, 48V, locked at -10dBu)

For audio shows, also include:

• Mic stand (round base, boom, lectern)
• Position (centre stage, drum kit, lectern)
• Phantom power required or not

For video shows, also include:

• Resolution and frame rate (1080p59.94, 4K60)
• Tally / camera number as shown on the multi-view

Anything beyond this tends to be noise. The more columns you add, the less likely anyone will read it.

Put it in the order the crew will use it

This is the bit most patch lists get wrong. They are written in the order the desk is laid out. They should be written in the order the crew sees the signals.

For an audio show that usually means by position on stage, left to right. Drums first, then guitars, then keys, then vocals. The drummer’s kick is row one, not whichever channel of the desk it happens to land on.

For a video show, group by physical location. Stage cameras first, then control room sources, then playback. The director’s eye moves around the building in roughly that order, and the patch list should match.

Number the rows the same as the desk

The patch list, the desk, and the labels on the stage box should all use the same numbers. If channel 12 on the desk is the bass DI, then row 12 of the patch list is the bass DI, and the stage box port plugged into that bass DI is labelled 12.

This sounds obvious. It is also the single most common source of confusion on a show. Someone repatches at the desk without updating the list, or the list and the labels do not match, and an hour of soundcheck disappears into trying to find the disconnect.

Spell out the gotchas

The notes column is where you save your future self. Use it for anything non-obvious:

• “48V on, condenser”
• “Mono sum, post-fade”
• “Active loop, do not unplug”
• “USB-C only, bring dongle”
• “SDI from CCU, not from camera”

If you have ever had to explain something twice on a show, it belongs in the notes column.

Send the right format to each person

The patch list lives in different formats for different audiences.

• The audio engineer wants it as a printed sheet at the desk, large enough to read from a metre away.
• The video engineer wants it on a tablet they can scroll through.
• The crew chief wants it as a PDF on Dropbox before the day starts.
• The venue wants it as a CSV or spreadsheet they can import into their own system.

A good patch list source supports all four. Write it once, export in whatever format the moment needs.

Update it on site, not after

The patch list will change on site. The talent will swap a wireless lav for a handheld, the venue will ask you to use their snake instead of yours, the third camera will be moved to the back of the room.

Make the updates as they happen, on the same document everyone is using. The patch list that is two hours out of date is more dangerous than no patch list at all, because someone will trust it.

The plan-and-patch workflow

The reason H2R Gear has a patch list feature built in is that the patch list and the plan are really the same document, just looked at two different ways. The plan shows you where everything is and how it connects. The patch list shows you the same information as a sortable table.

Build your plan with cameras, mics, gear and cables. Open the patch list view, and every signal is there. Sort it, add notes, export to CSV for the venue, print a copy for the desk. Make a change to the plan and the patch list updates with it.

That last part is where most patch lists go wrong on show day, and it is exactly the gap that having one source of truth fixes.

For more on the patch list feature, see the patch list documentation.