Open mic running order generator

Pick a start and finish time, decide how many songs each performer gets (two is the usual at an acoustic night, three if it's quiet), and split the night into two halves with a short break in the middle. Take sign-ups as people arrive, then set slot lengths from how many names you've got and how much stage time is left. The fiddly part is the maths — and it changes every time someone new walks in. That's exactly why I built The List: performers scan a QR to add themselves and the running order recalculates live, so you can host the night instead of doing sums on a beer mat.

The old way is a clipboard by the door with numbered lines — it works, but you still have to copy it into a running order and redo the timings every time the lineup changes. The faster way: print one QR code, stick it on the door, and let performers add their own name and songs from their phone. The List does exactly that — it builds the sign-up sheet and the timed running order at the same time, and updates both as people sign up. Nothing for them to download.

Two to three songs is the fair standard — roughly 10 to 15 minutes a performer at an acoustic night. Work back from your total: a two-hour night with a break is about 90–100 minutes of real stage time, so eight performers lands around 12 minutes each. Fewer names, longer slots; more names, shorter. Use the generator above for the exact times in seconds, or let The List keep them fair automatically as the lineup grows.

It takes your total night length, splits it into halves, and divides each half's available stage time across the performers in that half. 60 minutes and 4 performers = 15-minute slots. Add a 5th, everyone drops to 12 minutes. The maths stays fair automatically.

The tool enforces a 5-minute minimum slot so you can't accidentally give everyone 90 seconds. If you push past the cap, the overflow is flagged with a warning — you then decide whether to extend the night, reduce slots further, or cap the lineup.

This page is tuned for open mic (2-3 songs per slot, halves, interval). For karaoke or comedy, use The List's karaoke preset (fixed slots per singer) or comedy preset (set-notes field + lottery randomise).

The form accepts up to 60 names at once. In practice the 5-minute minimum slot length is the real limit — a 2-hour single-half night caps at 24 performers before the tool warns about overflow.

Tap Copy as text to paste it into Notes or Messages, or tap Print / PDF to save a printable copy. For a live running order that updates as performers actually sign up, use The List — same slot maths, but performers add themselves via a QR code.

Free. No sign-up. The whole calculation runs in your browser — nothing is sent to a server, nothing is stored. The page carries non-intrusive ads once our AdSense review lands; that's how we keep the main tool (The List) free too.