Get your patch in
Paste it, open a CSV file, or pull the input list straight out of your stage plot — then check every row before anything is applied.
On this page
Most patches already exist somewhere: a spreadsheet, an email from the band, or the stage plot you drew last week. PatchSmith takes all three, shows you every channel it found, and imports nothing until you've looked.
Paste it, or open the file
- Copy the patch — a spreadsheet selection (with or without its header row), or plain text lines. Or save it as a CSV.
- In PatchSmith, tap Import or paste… under the grid.
- Paste into the box, tap Choose a file…, or drop a CSV / TSV / text file anywhere in the dialog.
- A review table lists every channel that was read: number, source, mic, stand, 48V, the recognised category and notes. Every field is editable. Rows the reader was unsure about are highlighted; untick a row to leave it out. Lines that aren't channels are listed underneath, never dropped silently.
- Tap Add to patch to add the rows to what is already in the grid, or Replace patch to start from the imported sheet.
An .xlsx, .numbers or .ods document cannot be opened directly —
those are compressed archives, not text. In Excel, Sheets or Numbers
choose File → Save As / Export → CSV and pick that file. PatchSmith
says so rather than reading the file as gibberish.
What the reader accepts
- Spreadsheets (tab-separated — what Excel, Sheets and Numbers put on
the clipboard) and CSV with
,;or|. Quoted cells are fine, including separators inside quotes. - A header row decides what each column means — English or German:
Ch / Nr / Kanal, Source / Instrument / Quelle / Signal,
Mic / Mikrofon / DI, Stand / Stativ, 48V / Phantom / P48,
Stagebox / Patch, DCA / Group, Colour / Farbe, Notes / Bemerkung.
Without a header the columns are guessed from their content (numbers →
Ch,
x/✓/ja→ 48V, mic model names → Mic) and the rows are highlighted so you check them. - Plain lines, the way people write them in a mail:
12 Lead Vox SM58 tall 48V,Ch 3: OH L - KM184 hoch +48,Bass DI Radial J48. The number, a known mic model (with its brand), the stand and 48V are picked out; what is left is the source.
What happens on import
- Every row runs through the instrument recogniser, so colour, low cut and the strip name are filled in as if you had typed it.
- Add to patch keeps every channel number that is free. Only a row whose number is already taken is moved to the next free channel — and the summary names it. A collision on channel 1 no longer shifts the whole sheet.
- Rows with no free channel left (the grid ends at 64) are skipped, and the summary says so.
Stereo pairs are not detected from a paste. After importing, tap ST on the left channel of each pair — see Stereo pairs.
From your stage plot
If you also use Stage Plot Generator, the input list is already drawn. Tap From Stage Plot… under the grid.
- The plot is read from your account first, so it works on any device you're signed in on, and from this browser second.
- Multi-channel elements expand: a drumkit with 8 channels becomes 8 rows, each carrying its sub-label.
- Mic, stand and 48 V ride along from elements that carry them, and the per-row notes come with them.
- Rows you excluded from the tech rider in the plot are still shown — tagged not in the rider and unticked. Nothing is dropped behind your back.
- Monitor wedges, IEMs and other outputs are not input channels. They are counted and named in the dialog, never imported as channels; set those up under Outputs & routing.
As with a paste, every row runs through the instrument recogniser, and nothing is applied until you press Add to patch or Replace patch.
If you don't have Stage Plot Generator on your account, the dialog says so — see Licences and paid tools.
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