Behind the Space Bar

Three years ago I made one of the most controversial videos I've ever put out: What's Wrong With Using Ableton to Run In-Ear Monitors? Looking back at the comments, I think I made the wrong video.

So this week I read the pushback out loud — the people running everything from one machine, the keyboardist who's done ten years and multiple European tours from one Logic session and whose only two failures were a photographer stepping on a power cable, and the guy whose bassist and drummer felt latency he couldn't — and I say what I should have said the first time.

It comes down to two things. It isn't can you, it's should you. And what happens when that computer crashes — which isn't a matter of if.

Next week: how we practically apply redundancy and division of labor when we don't have unlimited budget, aren't traveling, and aren't playing arenas with giant teams.

The video this episode is about: What's Wrong With Using Ableton to Run In-Ear Monitors?

Listener-exclusive: a 14-day free trial of a full paid Pliris account — fromstudiotostage.com/pliris/friend. It isn't linked or advertised anywhere on the site; it's for people who listen.

Chapters

0:00 The video I got wrong

0:53 Why I made it — and why it was off-subject

1:44 The eight reasons, and what they missed

3:15 "I run IEMs through my interface without problems"

4:02 Ten years, one Logic session, European festivals

5:19 It's not can you — it's should you

6:40 The line I should have opened with

7:35 What a stepped-on power cable actually costs you

10:08 When your drummer feels latency and you don't

11:05 What it really takes, part one: 32 inputs

14:20 Ten outputs — and the problem front-of-house can't fix

16:35 The split snake

18:22 Scaling it to a full band

20:10 Why would you manage all of this?

21:32 Where this video ended up: the bootcamps

23:20 It comes down to two things

23:46 A listener-only offer

26:01 Jonny's comment — and what's next week

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Nate Day and Mat Landry got hired on the same artist in 2021. Neither was a playback engineer. One of them had to become one — and that accident became Eights Creative, a Toronto company now doing music direction and playback systems for artists around the world.

We talk about the path a lot of you are already on: you play an instrument, somebody asks if you can "do playback," and suddenly you're the one who keeps getting called. Nate and Mat break down what music direction actually is — taking an artist's album and deciding what it becomes on a stage — and why playback engineers so often make good MDs.

Then it goes somewhere I didn't plan. I asked how highly skilled, hardworking people avoid getting bitter when the thank-yous go to everyone but the tech. Their answer reframed the job for me: you're not there to serve the artist so much as the person who bought the ticket, paid for parking, and found a babysitter. And the real deliverable isn't a working rig — it's a client who feels confident.

We finish practical: how they run arrangements and approvals, why they'll tell an artist to rent instead of buy, and how one sub drummer and an afternoon of stem exports led them to Bands.

Eights Creative: eightscreative.com · @eightscreative

Chapters

00:00 Intro

02:56 Meet Nate and Mat from Eights Creative

06:09 The ELIO gig and the birth of Eights Creative

11:28 Playback is the skill that gets you the gig

16:17 What music direction actually is

22:13 The playback + MD combo role

25:47 How involved is the artist, really?

28:26 Staying un-jaded when nobody thanks the tech

31:50 "We're not curing cancer" — serving the audience

35:04 Campfires, RTP ports, and why live performance matters

43:43 Inside Eights: creative clients vs. systems clients

48:36 Why we tell artists to rent instead of buy

51:47 How we prep a band before rehearsal

53:54 The Isaiah story — hours of exports, solved

1:00:57 Thanks and wrap

Listeners get a 14-day free trial of Pliris, which we don't offer anywhere else:

https://fromstudiotostage.com/pliris/friend

Join as an annual All Access member and I'll personally help you migrate your entire catalog — first 50 only.

More about Pliris: fromstudiotostage.com/pliris

Docs: fromstudiotostage.com/docs

The Bands app: bands.fromstudiotostage.com

Questions? support@fromstudiotostage.com or @fromstudiotostageig on Instagram.

Mentioned: ELIO · The Beaches · Metric · Toronto Metropolitan University · Ableton Live · iConnectivity PlayAUDIO · DirectOut PRODIGY · Roland SPD · RTP-MIDI

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After 327 days away, I'm back with a lot to share.
In January 2025 I took a full-time road gig as TobyMac's playback engineer. In the same stretch I got rid of my office and the three people who helped me run this business, all left.
Meanwhile, AI was changing how everyone learns, I was struggling with what being a creator on social media means, and re-focusing on my mission to make complex things simple.
So I started building a vibe-coded app to keep my own band organized became Pliris: upload your stems, get back song sections, key and tempo, LTC, lyrics, chords, and a downloadable Ableton set.
Overnight, it compressed five weeks of Playback Method curriculum into a single upload.
Here's my path forward, and what I'm working towards till the end of the year.
Chapters
00:00 Back after 327 days
02:21 How the TobyMac gig found me
04:09 "Prepare to be amazed"
07:27 What a road gig did to a solo business
11:15 The ChatGPT answer that was half wrong
13:46 The mission: making complex things simple
16:12 The Ableton app I never shipped
17:44 Vibe coding the Bands app
20:11 Becoming Pliris
23:07 The top secret master plan
26:08 Five weeks of curriculum in one upload
36:34 Why I went quiet: the influencer problem
42:44 1,000 members by the end of 2026
48:27 Sneak peek: the Files app

Listeners get a 14-day free trial of Pliris, which we don't offer anywhere else:
https://fromstudiotostage.com/pliris/friend
Join as an annual All Access member and I'll personally help you migrate your entire catalog — first 50 only.
Grab the free tracks template: fromstudiotostage.com/template
Read the master plan: fromstudiotostage.com/blog/the-from-studio-to-stage-secret-master-plan
More about Pliris: fromstudiotostage.com/pliris
Docs: fromstudiotostage.com/docs
The Bands app: bands.fromstudiotostage.com
Questions? support@fromstudiotostage.com or @fromstudiotostageig on Instagram.
Next week: Nate Day and Mat Landry of Eights Creative.

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This week we're talking Apple products. Specifically, the differences between Apple silicon and intel processors, and which one you should consider for playback.
Take your first step towards becoming a world-class Playback Engineer, download our free Playback Template!
Download for Free
https://fromstudiotostage.com/template
Send us a question on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/fromstudiotostageig/
Links & Resources Mentioned in this Video
https://pages.fromstudiotostage.com/backline

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This week we discuss how to use Ableton with Lightkey. Specifically, using Ableton and MIDI to preprogram your lights for easy recall.
https://lightkeyapp.com/en
Take your first step towards becoming a world-class Playback Engineer, download our free Playback Template!
Download for Free
https://fromstudiotostage.com/template
Send us a question on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/fromstudiotostageig/
Links & Resources Mentioned in this Video
https://pages.fromstudiotostage.com/backline

★ Support this podcast ★