Getting started
Start from a template or a blank grid, enter channels with the keyboard, name the DCAs and print the sheet.
On this page
PatchSmith is a grid on the left and a live sheet preview on the right. Everything you type is saved as you go and, when you are signed in, synced to your account. Use a tablet or a laptop — the grid needs the width.
Quick start
- Open PatchSmith from the dashboard. A patch called Patch is waiting; tap Rename to name it, or + New patch for another.
- Fill in Band / act, Venue and Date. They head the printed sheet.
- With an empty grid you are offered starter templates: 4-piece rock band, Singer-songwriter duo, Festival 24ch or Empty. Pick one, or tap + Channel to add rows by hand, or paste from a spreadsheet.
- Type into Source and watch the row fill itself: the Strip name, the colour, the icon and the 80 Hz low cut follow the instrument it recognises.
- Name your DCA groups underneath the grid, then tap Print above the preview.
The grid, column by column
| Column | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Ch | Console channel, 1 to 64. Edit the number to move a row; a taken channel is refused. |
| Source | The long name for the sheet — "Kick In", "Lead Vox". Drives the recogniser. |
| Strip | The console name, at most 12 characters. Derived from Source until you edit it; clear it to go back to automatic. |
| Mic / DI, Stand | Free text for the sheet. |
| 48V | A chip that marks phantom power on the sheet. |
| Low cut | An 80Hz chip. Set by the recogniser for vocals, guitars, snare, overheads, hi-hats and horns; tap to override. |
| Color | One of the console's colour tokens: OFF, RD, GN, YE, BL, MG, CY, WH. |
| Stereo | The ST chip starts a pair — see Stereo pairs. |
| ⋯ / ✕ | Open the edit card, or remove the channel. |
Keyboard entry
Tab moves across the cells of a row. Enter anywhere in a row jumps to the next row's Source — and on the last row creates a new channel on the next free number. Entering a 24-channel patch is a run of typing and Enter, no mouse needed.
Instrument recognition
The recogniser reads the source name — case-insensitively, including
German words and the abbreviations techs actually write (BD, SN, OH,
HH, Git, Vox, BGV, T1–T8 for toms) — and sets defaults:
- Colour: drums cyan, bass red, guitars green, keys yellow, vocals magenta.
- Icon: kick, snare, hi-hat, tom, overheads, percussion, bass, guitar, keys, vocals, horns and more.
- Low cut: on for vocals, guitars, snare, overheads, hi-hats and horns.
Once you change a colour, icon or low cut by hand, the recogniser leaves that field alone. An unrecognised name simply gets no preset.
The edit card
Tap ⋯ on a row for the full editor: Source, Strip, Mic / DI, Stand, Stagebox / physical input (sheet only), Notes, the Icon list, and chips to assign the row to any of the eight DCA groups. Insert channel above adds a row here and shifts the rows below down.
DCA groups
Eight slots, each with a name of up to 12 characters and a colour. Assign channels from the edit card; the sheet prints the DCA numbers per row and lists the named groups underneath.
Next
- Paste from a spreadsheet — import the patch you already have.
- Stereo pairs — odd→even, and what happens when you insert rows.
- Print the sheet — the preview, the columns and printing.
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