Speaker 1: Welcome to behind the space bar episode five. Stop focusing on how and focus on this. Instead behind the space bar is a podcast for playback engineers, playback techs, musicians, music, directors, really anyone, uh, that uses able to live on stage. My name is will dog. We haven't met yet. Thanks for joy. Um, thanks for coming back. If you've been here before, I do wanna say a quick shout, uh, up front and at the top of this episode to my buddy, Kevin Milton, Kevin, I noticed, [00:00:30] uh, last week on apple podcast left review and I wanted to give him a shout. Uh, Kevin said, um, I've known will for a long time and partnered together for conferences at my church. His heart tell the local church is CLE year and his commitment to high quality content is inspiring churches that are struggling to worship production. Using tracks in Ableton should hire will to help them gain the excellence they are desiring.

Speaker 1: Kevin, thanks for that note. Um, if you leave a comment, if you leave, um, a review on, uh, apple podcast, then I'd love to give you a shout out on a future episode. [00:01:00] If I know who it is, obviously I get to out was Kevin, uh, cuz uh, Kevin's a buddy of mine. Uh, then I'll give you a shout out, if not, I'll just read your review. So, um, thanks for that, Kevin. I appreciate it. Um, if you were listening on apple podcast, do me a favor, leave a review. And again, like I mentioned, next episode, I'll give you a shout out. Um, also shout out to my daughter who, uh, did a little interior decorating before the episode. You could see if you're watching. Uh, and then there's another fun little piece that she put in. I figured I would at least leave it for, uh, for this episode [00:01:30] and then, uh, we'll go back to the normal setup, but I'm super excited for that.

Speaker 1: Um, I also wanna mention front before we get into this week's episode, if you, um, like Kevin, our worship leader to church or music director at a church at a church, um, I'd love for you to check out, uh, a new podcast that I just started this year 2022 is the first episode, uh, called volunteer friendly, volunteer friendly, um, is I, I would venture to say the most different worship or church focused podcast. I think I've ever listened to, uh, because it's [00:02:00] not a podcast, that's an interview with famous church, famous worship leaders. Uh, if you're not serving in a church, this podcast really isn't gonna make a lot of sense to you. Um, and it's also a podcast I don't think will be very popular because it will make people think and uh, will probably irritate a few people. So I'll just show you episode two here has excellence become an idol.

Speaker 1: Um, I think will stir up a bit of a ruckus for a few people, uh, is worship fails, beneficial, and then planning verse spontaneity. You can read the description for that. If you head over to the volunteer friendly [00:02:30] podcast, the best way to find that, uh, is go to volunteer friendly.com. Um, I'll leave a, a, a note in the show notes leak into that over on, um, apple podcast as well too. But if you're involved in, uh, in church worship in any PA music director musician, then that'll be super helpful. Uh, but today's show is, uh, is for everyone today's show is on something that I've seen is kind of a general trend that I've seen. Um, I think changing in the past few years, uh, [00:03:00] although it's a, it's a old story, it's a story we've all heard. Um, you know, for many, many years and something that I think people have struggled with for many, many years.

Speaker 1: Uh, and today we're talking all about fishing, uh, and you may know where I'm going with this. If you start to piece two and two together, um, but we're talking about something that I've seen. I think definitely grow in past few years as I wouldn't say a concern that I have, but it's something that I think differentiates people that tend to be really successful playback techs, people that tend to be successful in, uh, in a production [00:03:30] field, in a technical field, even in a creative field, I think they kind of get this. Um, and so here's, here's the thing I wanna start the, the really good part about this. Um, I think never before in history and that's a, that's a bold, bold statement, but I, I think never before in a time in history, uh, at a single place in the world, um, when you look at the timeline of the existence of the world, I don't think if we ever been a society that's been so blessed that we literally have the, there to any [00:04:00] question that, that we want at our fingertips.

Speaker 1: I mean, literally any single, uh, answer to any question you have, you think of any question you have, you can find the answer to that, um, on the internet. Um, if you wanna learn something, learn a new skill, figure out how to solve a problem. The answer is a Google search away and it's likely even free. Uh, we have a minivan and I remember, uh, a couple months ago, the seat in our minivan like got stuck and it wouldn't go back up. And so we're like, well, that's it, you know, it's time to finally buy a [00:04:30] new new van where that's just the life we're living. That's what we gotta do. And of course, after a little bit of Googling, my wife found, uh, a YouTube video of someone that said, here's how to fix this back seat issue in a Honda odysey van. Uh, and we fixed it and it was completely for free.

Speaker 1: I, I know folks that have completely learned how to code, how to create and develop apps. Um, simply by just Googling, uh, watching a YouTube video, maybe they even did pay to like join, uh, a community, a course, uh, to learn [00:05:00] how to get better at something. But literally if they wanted to learn how to program, how to code, to develop apps, the, the resources, the training are out there, um, from studio to stage, we talked about this a couple episodes again, you know, we're a community focused on helping people learn how to run tracks like a pro uh, focusing on helping people learn how to use able to live on stage, whether it's for keys to create a connected stage, uh, to control your production elements, um, to run tracks, whatever it is, you know, that's kind of the community that that [00:05:30] we're about.

Speaker 1: And so if you wanna learn how to run tracks like a pro, you can go to from studio stage and you can learn that here's the thing, that's an amazing time. Um, but while this is amazing, we've all got to learn to Phish. And that's you. Here's what I mean by that. I think we all know the old saying, and I think some of you kind of knew where I was going with this. Um, we all knew the old saying, you can give a man of fish and feed him for a day, or you can teach a man to fish and you can feed him for a lifetime right now. I don't like fish. So if you gave me a fish, I would [00:06:00] starve cuz I wouldn't eat it. So it's not a great analogy, but we as a society again, I see this developing more and more, but I think we're kind of trained to do this.

Speaker 1: Now we have a problem. We go to Google, how do I, why is this not working? How to fix, how to learn, blah, blah, blah. We search for the, how we're really good at that. Again, we live an amazing time that we have amazing sources that, um, that teach us the, how that, that, uh, give us the answers to that. But here's what I, here's what I really think [00:06:30] and believe. And I've seen this in my life and I don't always get it right. And I don't always do it well, but I've seen this in, uh, folks that I look up to, um, folks that, uh, I think are really good at their jobs at what they do. Uh, if we wanna make an impact, if we wanna grow, get a better gig, we've gotta stop asking how we've gotta stop focusing on how we've gotta learn to ask why.

Speaker 1: Um, I think if we wanna move beyond where we are, we want to grow in a skill. We want some master, a skill to become an expert at. [00:07:00] I dunno, Aon live at songwriting at recording at running lights, whatever it is, you know, whatever you're, you're listening to this, whatever it is. Um, I think if we wanna get better at that, we've gotta stop asking and focusing on the how and asking how do we do it? And we've gotta start, um, asking, but all we've gotta start learning why here's what I mean by that. I'll give you an example. This is hyper specific to my field, to something I've seen to content I've created. And so if you're, um, [00:07:30] if you're not in the tracks world and you just happen to be listening, maybe, you know, I don't know why you'd listen this if you're not in the tracks, but if you are then so thankful you're here.

Speaker 1: But if that happens to be you, this may be a little more technical, a little more in the weeds than you hoped, but, um, I'll share an example. So there's this concept in, um, using tracks and using able to live that I've taught a lot over the past few years, that's called using a virtual mini bus. And in particular, on the Mac side of things, it's, it's this, this [00:08:00] thing called the IAC driver. That's kind of the, the ticket, the thing to, to do that. In fact, actually, um, as I'm recording this tutorial, we have a tu tutorial going out on what day is that? I think Friday where I basically show three of my favorite kind of tips and tricks for using that. It's something I talk about a lot. You, if you Google I C driver Ableton, you'll, you'll find, um, mostly my content.

Speaker 1: Cause it's something I've talked about for a very long time talking about a lot more. Uh, so one of the concepts, one of the things you can do with the I driver [00:08:30] for example, is, um, how do you get able to live to, to stop? And that sounds like a silly thing, but you're in a range of view. You have your tracks loaded in, you go from track one to track two, it's gonna automatically just kind of flow. But, uh, what if I want to have it go and then I want it to stop? Okay. So, um, a lot of people Google, you know how to get Ableton live, to stop, how to create a stop track or something, you know, whatever the terminology is that gets you there, stop track, able to live. I driver mini, clip, whatever. Um, they Google that and they get there.

Speaker 1: Well, you, [00:09:00] if you're, if you approach this the way most of us approach it, you'll go and you'll watch that video and you will learn how to get able to live, to stop. And you'll in the midst of that. You'll learn how to set up the I driver. Uh, if it's a, a tutorial I've done, I'll talk far too long about what the IC driver is. I'll talk about how to set it up and you'll do that. You'll learn how to create a mini clip and map it to the stop button. And, and that's great. And those are all really good things. That's a good skill to ask, but if you walk [00:09:30] away from that and you, you only approach that tutorial and you only learn how to do that one specific skill, then you only learned how to create a stop clip, but they to live.

Speaker 1: Um, but if you learn what the I driver does, and if you understand why that works, you know, why at the core of me taking this mini clip and routing it, why does it work that way? And then you start to kind of process and you think through then you go, oh, okay. So the reason that works is basical like the, the mini clip I'm doing, I is basically functioning like a [00:10:00] mini controller. It's almost like I'm taking this physical mini controller. Uh, you could see the, the Oak board mini, uh, uh, over my shoulder there as my camera tries to focus and get into focus there. Um, that's my favorite, uh, mini controller. In fact, I just did a video, uh, that's airing this week where I talk about that mini control. It's my favorite mini controller. Um, I, I basically am creating my own kind of mini controller and I'm putting that, um, in Ableton live and, uh, but it's gonna be a mini clip is the way that that's gonna function and the way that that's gonna trigger.

Speaker 1: So if I start [00:10:30] thinking about that, then I can go, man. Um, I wonder if I could turn Ableton live metronome on and off. And then I start thinking, okay, if I can map, uh, my mini controller to Ableton lives, metronome to turn it on and off. And I just figured out how to create a stop clip into how to map a mini clip to Ableton live stop. Um, then I wonder if I could create another mini clip and map that to Ableton lives me and turn that on. And just like I did at mini controller, does that make sense? How I got there, [00:11:00] if I approach how to get able to live to automatically stop. And the only thing I walk away from that particular tutorial with is how to do that specific thing. Then I learn one thing and then I was fed for a day to borrow the overused much overused analogy.

Speaker 1: Uh, but two, if I look at that tutorial and I'll watch that tutorial and I go, okay, why does it work this way? What's actually happening? Uh, what's the, the, the core principle here, what's the first principle that's at play here. And I learned that and I figured that out [00:11:30] and I realize, oh, I can take a mini clip and anything that is in purple and live can be assigned to be controlled by mid. And I can actually create a mini clip in live then using the virtual minibus, assign that to anything that's purple that can be controlled via MII. So I can create mini clips. Well, then if I need to control this thing and it's controllable by MII, I can create a clip, send it to the virtual mini driver and do that. Right. Um, when we, we stop to think about the why, and we dig deeper and [00:12:00] we try to get to the core value, the core thing.

Speaker 1: Um, then we start to add tools to our tool belt. We start to add, um, a specific tool, specific resources, so that if we encounter a problem and the future, then we can stop and go. Um, do I have a skill? Do I have a tool that will help me learn this in the future, as opposed to just solving one specific thing? So, um, here's, here's three kind of specific things, three takeaways I wanna leave you with or three things to consider, um, that I think will, um, we will help. And then it will, we'll [00:12:30] wrap up this episode. Um, so number one, when, whenever you encounter a problem, whenever you find a solution to a problem, I think both of those, like one, there's a problem what's going on here. Two, you find the solution. I think so many times we find a solution and we move on and we, we stop to ask why did the thing we did solve it?

Speaker 1: I see that a lot. And I promise I'm not gonna go on a big Diri here in a, a big soapbox, but I see this a lot with a lot of, um, younger folks that create able to live tutorials [00:13:00] for YouTube. And that's something I've been doing for years. Um, and, and, um, I'll see a lot of times where they'll make a tutorial and they'll say, oh, you have to do this thing so that this will work. And just because I've done it longer than them, or, or I've made more mistakes than them, I'll go, actually, that's not why it works. The reason it works is because of this. And that's a, a, a situation that they had a problem. They found a solution, or they found a thing that solves it, but they didn't go that step deeper to go. Why does it work this way?

Speaker 1: So [00:13:30] when you encounter a problem, you find a solution to a problem. I want you to stop. I want you to dig deeper now, ask why, uh, why does it work? Okay. Um, if this works, then does this work? Oh, okay. Actually both of these methods work well, which one's the, the, the better method. Like if you're writing computer code, you know, there's a way to, to write code and to, um, develop something. Uh, and then there's another way to write code and develop something. Both of 'em are working. So, which one's the better way? Well, obviously the one that's the cleanest code, the least amount of steps is, [00:14:00] uh, is, uh, the best solution. The simplest solution is likely the solution that's, that's gonna exist there, but I want you to stop. I want you to dig deeper, ask why, why does it work?

Speaker 1: Why didn't it work? Okay. Um, if something stops working and then suddenly starts working again, that's never good enough for me. I hate solutions, uh, right. Raise your hand, leave, leave a comment. However, virtually you can do that. Let me know if you're like this in the sense of, uh, you have a problem, you find a solution, um, or maybe you don't find a solution, but you have a problem then suddenly it just starts working again. There's [00:14:30] nothing you did. There's nothing you changed. Um, there's, there's no structure that, that changed or whatever to solve of that problem. It just suddenly started working again. I don't like those problems. I don't like those problems because I like problems that, uh, I go, oh, the reason this didn't work is this the reason it now works is because of this. Therefore in the future, I'm gonna always make sure I've restart my wifi.

Speaker 1: I'm always gonna, uh, I'm gonna build a checklist to make sure I plug my computer in whatever it is, like, kind of go through your thing, uh, to figure that out and to process it and [00:15:00] to make sure everything works. The second thing would highly encourage you to do, and this is, I guess, this applies to more things, but I'm gonna make it very hyper specific to the world of able to live the world software plugins, um, for keys players, plugins for audio effects. We can even extend it to hardware, but I want you to ask the question, um, or I want you to learn the worldview of that particular software, that particular hardware. When I think about Ableton live, what is Ableton lives? Focus? What is Ableton lives, worldview as a company? What is Ableton about that's [00:15:30] gonna help me under stand? How and why they developed and created their software?

Speaker 1: The way they did, uh, Ableton is about creating software. That's quick and easy. Uh, it's adaptable. They are, uh, they highly highly value creativity, creativity, over engineering, creativity, over, uh, you know, a very specific kind of process. They have to do this to you that, so for instance, with live, to create a track, I hit command. I create a track, um, to create an audio track, to, to create a mini track command shift tee, [00:16:00] I create a mini track. It just works really, really quickly when it comes to warping. This is something, again, I'm getting hyper specific here, but when it comes to warping, that's something that, uh, I talk to people often and I say, what really helps with warping is understanding how live treats audio. I can just tell you how to warp a track and you're gonna go, okay, but you're gonna be frustrated cuz you're not gonna understand why you have to do this.

Speaker 1: You're not gonna understand this particular step, but if you understand the worldview, then you're gonna go, oh, as long as I put the tempo in first. And as long as I have a click with my stems, as long as my, [00:16:30] uh, when I have tempo changes my click also a stem bill changes. I'm fine. There's no reason for me to stress there. You know, I don't have a lot going on. I don't have, um, uh, it, it's just easy. And the reason it's easy is cuz I understand the worldview. So, um, take a moment, try to learn to understand the worldview of that particular software of that hardware. Is it built more for creativity for fast work or is it built more for fine tuned work, very engineered, uh, engineering driven as opposed to more kind of creativity, capture ideas quickly. [00:17:00] Um, what's it built for?

Speaker 1: And you'll understand, I guess one, if that software is right for you and if it's the, the correct software for you or hardware, uh, or, or two, you'll understand how the next time you have a problem, how you may be able to solve that because you understand the world view. Uh, third thing that I wanna encourage you to do here is, uh, pursue more than surface level knowledge. Um, I I'm preaching to myself here on this. Um, I am someone who enjoys learning things. I enjoy learning why things work. I, I enjoy, you know, [00:17:30] going deeper onto things and on subjects. Uh, but I have learned the all I've got. There's only so much time I have, uh, I have a family, I have a wife. I wanna spend more time with them than I, than I do with able to live. Um, but so I can't go really, really deep on everything.

Speaker 1: So I've realized I, I have to, it's necessary to be surface level at certain things, but I've found that things that are very essential to my skillset, things that are essential to my workflow, I, I can't be surface level on. You've gotta understand why something works the [00:18:00] way it works. You've gotta go beyond just plug this in, you know, do this certain Incan, snap your fingers twice, blink once and lift up your right leg. And as long as you do that, it's gonna work. You've gotta understand the reason it works this time and not that time is, is this right? Um, that's gonna be super, super helpful, um, when it comes to, to going beyond just the how and moving more into the why. So again, I think, um, to be successful, to continually getting, keep the gig, uh, [00:18:30] I think you need to move and shift from asking, um, how and trying to figure out how something works and shifting and asking, uh, why does it work the way it does?

Speaker 1: And I think, uh, we'll gain a lot of that. And again, as a reminder, three things that will super, uh, that I think will help us with this is number one, dig deeper, ask why, why does it work? Why didn't it work? And number two, learn the world view of that software or hardware that you're using. Um, that's really gonna help you understand how to potentially solve future problems or to understand why that problem happened in the [00:19:00] first place. And then three. And again, I'm preaching to myself here pursue more than surface level knowledge on things. Go deeper, dive deeper, really ask why to really understand. Um, that's all I got for today. Um, but here's the thing. If you're finding yourself in this situation, if you're listening to this and maybe you're a little convicted and going, um, I've very much looked at able to live at that surface level thing.

Speaker 1: Like, uh, I am, I'm just kind of do my thing. I build it, no one touch anything. Uh, I know a lot of us kind of create and engineer these solutions and go, no one change anything, no one looked at anything. Um, [00:19:30] uh, and we talked a couple episodes ago about humbly confident, humbly curious. Well, this ties into that, that curious spot, uh, is tied into understanding why, if you find yourself in the situation of, uh, when it comes to able to lie asking why hoping to understand, looking to dive deeper, um, then I would encourage you to head to from studio stage.com/free. That is a one really easy, simple step. Um, that's gonna, it's just full of, of free resources, free tutorials, free downloads that are gonna help [00:20:00] you get beyond surface level to help you go a little bit deeper. Um, and I think that's the first step for you.

Speaker 1: Now you may be ready to commit and ready to go. I'm ready to join a community. That's gonna help lead me along the way. Uh, if so, then go to from studio to stage.com. Um, I'll include a link below that takes you right to the subscribe page as well. Uh, but just go to the site, check it out, see if it's for you, but I definitely would encourage you from studio to stage.com/free. You'll see all our free resources there we have about running tracks templates, um, uh, [00:20:30] all sorts of stuff, uh, free tutorial. Those are things that are gonna help you go from the, how to the why, uh, to really kind of get going, uh, and using able to live in a successful way. So thanks so much for being with me again, everybody behind the space bar is super fun. It releases every Monday morning, 10:00 AM central.

Speaker 1: You can find us on any podcast platform. Do me a favor, wherever you're listening, hit subscribe, follow it's free. You don't have to pay for anything. Um, and you can also find us@behindthespacebar.com as well. You can watch on YouTube, [00:21:00] all of the sorts of places. You'll find us all over the place. Thanks for watching, listening to this particular episode, get us our, if you leave a review, um, even if it's a bad review interview, say, man, that will is a big fat, stupid, dummy head. I'll read it on the next episode. So leave those reviews. Hopefully they're positive and you don't say I'm a big fat, stupid, dummy head, but if you do, I'll read that as well, too. Thanks for watching everybody. We'll see you next Monday, 10:00 AM central. And the next episode of behind the spot,