Setlist & Stage Plot Maker

A setlist is a small document with a big job: it tells the band what to play, in what order, in what key and at what tempo, and it tells the venue when to expect the break. Written by hand it is quickly messy; a spreadsheet does not print well for a dark stage. This page builds the list, adds up the time and produces a PDF whose second page is a stage plot for the sound engineer.

Building the running order

Add a song and fill in its title, key, tempo in BPM, length in seconds and notes. The page shows the length as minutes and seconds under the field. Move a song with the up and down arrows, or remove it with the bin button. A Break row has its own label and defaults to 10 minutes. The line of totals shows the number of songs, the music time and the time with breaks, which helps to fit a slot.

A worked example

Press Sample to load a four-song set with a break after the second song. The music adds up to 16 minutes 18 seconds, and with the ten-minute break the total is 26:18, shown as With breaks. Changing a song from 210 to 240 seconds adds exactly 30 seconds to both totals. Download PDF produces two pages: the setlist, then the stage plot.

The PDF

Titles are set in large type so they can be read in the dark. The Song title size has three options: Small at 16 point, Medium at 22 and Large (stage) at 30. The key, tempo and length are at the right of each line, and your notes underneath, for example “short intro” or “capo 2”. A break is printed in smaller grey type with its label and length. The show or band name is at the top, and under it the venue and date, the number of songs and the music time. The PDF uses a basic Latin font, so characters outside it become a question mark in the file.

The stage plot

The second part is a map of the stage. It starts with boxes for drums, bass amp, keys, guitar amp, vocal mic and a monitor, which you can drag with a finger or the mouse, relabel by typing in the box and remove with the cross. Add more from the list of drums, bass amp, guitar amp, keys, vocal mic, DI box, monitor and power. The audience is at the bottom of the plot, as the sound engineer expects, and the plot becomes page two of the PDF, so an engineer can see where everything goes before arriving.

Planning a set

Open strongly and finish on a favourite, and keep the changes of key and tempo flowing, so that the band is not retuning or swapping instruments between every song. Writing the BPM beside each title helps a drummer count in. Real songs run longer than the recording once you add intros and chatter, so add a margin, especially for the last slot before a curfew.

Edge cases

With no songs and an empty stage plot, the PDF button is disabled. Song lengths can be zero if unknown, in which case the totals are lower than the true time. Everything is saved in your browser only, so clearing site data erases it; download the PDF to keep a copy.

Limits

Times are the figures you type, not measured from audio. The PDF is a plain layout with no logo or colour. There is no sharing between devices.

Related tools

• Tap Tempo finds the BPM of a song to enter in the list.
• Chord Transposer changes a song’s key before you write it down.
• Guitar Tab Maker prints the parts the band needs to learn.
• Online Tuner gets the instruments in tune before the first song.