Mic the Snare and The Secret Technology Behind Every Major Concert

The most important part of any live show

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TIMESTAMPS00:00 The most important part of any live show00:46 What are in-ear monitors?01:20 I need some help02:38 Who invented in-ear monitors?05:04 The one thing tying the "inventors" together06:20 How important are in-ear monitors?08:33 How playback tracks impact live music09:43 Are artists lonely on-stage?12:35 Mike's documentary about in-ears

Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

What if I told you the most important

0:02

part of any live performance is

0:06

this thing? That might surprise you.

0:08

Concerts are huge endeavors. They

0:11

feature massive stages, robust sound

0:13

systems, dozens of musicians and

0:15

dancers, hundreds of crew members, and

0:17

all of those matter, of course, but I

0:20

could still argue this matters most.

0:23

This is an in-ear monitor. Most artists

0:26

you see live wear a pair and if they

0:28

fail the whole show can be derailed.

0:31

Mariah said she couldn't hear her tracks

0:33

because of a faulty earpiece.

0:35

Sorry guys, my ears are going. Can I get

0:37

rid of this please?

0:38

So today I want to dive into in ears,

0:41

why they matter, and the surprisingly

0:43

loose story of how they came to be.

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SO What are in-ear monitors?

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

0:46

In-ear monitors are monitors that go in

0:51

your mouth.

0:52

Trust me, I have a degree in music.

0:53

They're basically earbuds that are

0:55

specifically designed for live

0:57

performances. You can get them from

0:59

various audio manufacturers or you can

1:01

get them custom molded for your ears.

1:04

When you're wearing them on stage,

1:05

you're able to hear the other musicians

1:07

clearly. Plus, they act as hearing

1:09

protection when the speakers are all

1:11

like

1:12

that's the surface level debrief. But

1:14

going to Defcon ear will require a more

1:17

thorough understanding of the in-ear

1:19

space. And to do that properly, I'll need some help

1:22

need some help.

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MIKE DIAS TALKING

My name is Mike Dus. I

1:25

have been in Pro Audio for over 25

1:27

years. And right now, I'm making a movie

1:30

about the world's greatest headphones,

1:31

— the birth of in-ear monitors —  and how

1:34

those impacted the global headphone

1:36

revolution.

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

Mike has worked with top performers and

1:39

engineers for decades, mostly through

1:41

his time building up Ultimate Ears, one

1:44

of the largest in-ear manufacturers

1:46

today.

MIKE DIAS TALKING

What I got to see wasn't just the stage

1:49

itself. It was the people who are

1:51

invisible by design, who support all

1:54

that infrastructure, that ecosystem,

1:57

all the sound engineers who are

2:00

emotional security blankets for the

2:03

artist on stage, right? Everybody who is

2:05

there behind the scenes working

2:07

tirelessly, effortlessly to create the

2:10

illusion, to create the magic, and to

2:12

bring it to all of us music fans.

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare)

I feel I should also disclose that Mike was my

2:18

boss at my last full-time job. He is

2:21

also loosely responsible for this

2:23

channel even existing after the year

2:25

2020, but that's a whole other story.

2:27

MIKE DIAS SPEAKING

We worked together for five plus years

2:31

yet. I don't think we've ever covered

2:32

any of this or talked about any of this,

2:34

right?

Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

I only know it in like small pieces.

2:37

Never heard the full legend. So, let's

2:38

start the story here. Who invented in

2:41

ears?

2:43

Uh, I mean, we can rule out salamanders

2:46

cuz they don't even have ears. Turns out

2:48

this is a really tricky question to

2:49

answer. In ears are a lot like karaoke.

2:52

There are lots of people who could claim

2:54

to be the inventor because they all came

2:57

up with part of what the end product is.

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MIKE DIAS SPEAKING

3:01

You have these few major players. There

3:05

was Steven Ambrose as the future Sonics

3:08

team.

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

Steven Ambrose was the first

3:10

person who could be described as the

3:12

inventor of the in-ear. In 1965, when he

3:15

was just 13 years old, he put tiny

3:18

speakers into bubblegum so he could

3:20

listen to country music without his dad

3:22

hearing. Over time, he would develop

3:23

that design further and make in- ears

3:25

for artists such as Diana Ross and Simon

3:28

and Garfuncle. Oh, and he also replaced

3:30

the gum with clay molds. In case you

3:33

thought he kept the gum, or I guess

3:34

artists could request the gum if they

3:36

wanted it, but that would be kind of

3:37

gross. Fast forward to the mid 1980s.

3:40

Sound engineer Chris Lindup modified

3:42

Steven's design while he was out on the

3:44

road with Stevie Wonder. Chris's big

3:46

innovation was using an FM receiver in

3:49

tandem with typical earbuds. In other

3:51

words, Chris made in-ears that were

3:53

wireless, allowing performers to move

3:56

around the stage. His design would later

3:58

be used by Rod Stewart and Peter

4:00

Gabriel.

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MIKE DIAS SPEAKING

4:00

And then there was Dr. Michael Sanuchi

4:03

very much of the hearing health camp

4:06

like Dr. Tentuchi now works for the

4:08

World Health Organization on hearing

4:10

health conservation on a global scale.

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

4:12

He founded Sensophonics in 1985 as an

4:15

advocacy firm for hearing conservation

4:17

and later moved into designing in ears.

4:20

But the man who was most known for

4:22

commercializing the in-ear monitor is

4:24

Jerry Harvey. Jerry was the monitor

4:27

engineer for Van Halen. And in 1995,

4:30

Alex Van Halen walked up to Jerry and

4:32

said, "Look, Jerry Bubby, it's way too

4:34

freaking loud up there. We can't hear

4:37

each other. Help us out. So Jerry went

4:39

and built his own in- ears from various

4:41

electrical components and a pacemaker.

4:43

The resulting design was soon adopted by

4:45

other rock musicians. But the key

4:47

difference in Jerry's story is what

4:49

happened next. After some time, Jerry

4:52

decided to start his own in-ear

4:54

manufacturer, Ultimate Ears. And over

4:56

the following three decades, UE i- ears

4:59

would be used by the Rolling Stones, Red

5:01

Hot Chili Peppers, Faith Hill, and

5:03

several more. While each of these people

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5:05

took their own routes to come up with in

5:07

ears, they all had one thing in common.

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MIKE DIAS SPEAKING

5:10

Nobody set out to change the world or to

5:14

create trigger the global headphone

5:16

revolution. Everybody first approached

5:18

it like, "How do I do my job better? How

5:22

do I deliver a show better? How do I

5:24

support my artist better?" Audio guys

5:27

take literally zero pictures or

5:30

recordings of anything. And it it makes

5:32

sense because it's just the job, dude.

5:35

It's just the show goes on and this is a

5:38

tool to make it better. Nobody thought

5:41

they were changing the world while they

5:43

were doing it. They're just trying to do

5:46

their job better.

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

This is kind of wild,

5:48

right? Imagine the cure for cancer being

5:50

invented and when someone asks who's

5:52

responsible, you're like, "Oh yeah, I

5:53

think that was Bob. He just whipped it

5:55

up during his lunch break." Crazy, bro.

5:57

Ludicrous.

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MIKE DIAS SPEAKING

These are people who are next

6:00

to fame and arguably more famous than

6:04

the artists themselves in the

6:06

behind-the-scenes circles,

6:08

but yet who have never been on that side

6:11

of the glass or have told their story.

6:14

They've just been very content and very

6:16

proud and very happy to be the support

6:19

that enables the show.

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

Now, that all explains how the in-ear came to be, but

6:23

they are far more important to concerts

6:25

than most people today realize. Let's

6:28

first make this distinction. What you

6:30

hear at a concert is not the same as

6:32

what the musicians hear. We hear the

6:34

front of house mix which is done by the

6:36

front of house engineer in his front of

6:38

house house with his front of house

6:40

mouse. But the musicians are hearing a

6:43

monitor mix done by the monitor

6:45

engineer. And it's not the same across

6:47

the board.

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MIKE DIAS SPEAKING

If there are five band

6:49

members playing, there are five

6:51

different mixes for five different

6:52

humans needing to focus on five

6:55

different things. A drummer is going to

6:58

typically want to hear click, is going

7:02

to want to hear playback, is going to

7:05

want to hear bass, little vocals, a

7:08

little guitar, but they need to stay in

7:10

their world -  in their pocket, right? A

7:12

guitarist just wants to guitarist just

7:15

wants to hear themselves, right? And a

7:16

vocalist just really wants to be able to

7:18

stay in tune and key and, you know,

7:21

whatever they're tuning off of.

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

It's that ability for a monitor engineer to

7:25

create mixes for each performer that

7:27

allows each performer to perform.

7:31

Hearing Mike describe that situation

7:33

made me wonder, what if the monitor

7:35

engineer is the most important person in

7:38

any live show? Now, did I just say that

7:40

to gain political favor with any monitor

7:42

engineers watching so I can be elected

7:44

the president of monitor engineers? No

7:46

way.

7:49

But they are a lot more important than

7:51

most people would think.

7:52

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MIKE DIAS SPEAKING

A monitor engineer is not just great at

7:54

doing sound. They're great at reading

7:56

minds. As such, the modern engineer

7:58

becomes this conduit. Like, how do I

8:01

help you perform better? And how do I

8:03

keep you safe? Because the flip side is

8:07

when the artist doesn't feel like

8:09

they're killing it or they're not

8:10

delivering or they're having a bad show,

8:13

they also need somebody to blame. Yeah.

8:15

And so it's really easy to look side

8:18

stage and mother f your mom and

8:20

everybody else to right there. It's your

8:24

fault, not my fault. It's not the

8:27

crowd's fault. I didn't miss the beat.

8:30

You miss giving me the queue. You're

8:32

fired. Next guy.

Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

Because there's a lot writing on a

8:35

monitor engineer to do his job right.

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MIKE DIAS SPEAKING

concert prices are so high that most

8:40

fans want the concert to feel exactly

8:43

like the stream of the the music itself.

8:46

But to get that, there's a ridiculous

8:48

amount of tech that goes into it, right?

8:50

There's so much playback. Tracks that

8:52

are not visible on the stage that were

8:56

pre-recorded but still fed in. That's

8:58

playback. And you really have to be in

9:01

time and in sync with the invisible

9:03

players or nothing's going to come

9:05

together. And this is the chicken or egg

9:07

debate because does the artist want that

9:10

or does the audience want that?

9:13

And I don't know, right? It goes back to

9:16

what the band and what their ethos is.

9:19

Is it pop where you go for the spectacle

9:22

and the performance and the dancing and

9:24

the music is great but secondary to the

9:27

spectacle or are you going to hear the

9:30

Rolling Stones play the song as they

9:33

interpret it and feel it in that moment?

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

Now that's a hefty piece of conceptual

9:38

stake to chew on. And while you're at

9:39

it, I'm about to send in the airplane

9:41

with another hefty idea. Lately, I've

9:44

been thinking about isolation when it

9:46

comes to music. Folks are always talking

9:48

about how wireless earbuds and Spotify

9:50

algorithms have allowed people to stay

9:52

put in their own musical bubbles. I even

9:55

came across an article recently that

9:57

bemoaned a future with no socializing at

10:00

all due to personalized music. The

10:03

article was from the 80s and it was about

10:05

the Walkman. Look at him go. But during

10:08

our talk, Mike brought up a fascinating

10:10

point. Concerts are seen as the antidote

10:12

for musical isolation. It's impossible

10:15

to not be social at a concert as an

10:17

audience member.

10:19

But what if you're a performer?

10:21

Mike Dias Speaking

I don't know about you, but I don't like

10:23

to stand in front of 10,000 people or

10:27

100,000 people. It makes me very

10:29

nervous. It takes a lot of training to

10:32

be able to stand in front of people and

10:33

to feel really comfortable. And I'm not

10:36

even sure if it's training if you ever

10:38

get used to it or if you just develop

10:40

the muscle memory and the nerves to deal

10:42

with it. And so one really nice thing

10:45

about tuning the world out and going

10:47

into your own little safe space

10:50

is it's a great way to deal with nerves.

10:52

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

It's an interesting contradiction. Even

10:54

when they're performing for hundreds or

10:56

thousands of people, putting on the most

10:58

social event you can do in music,

11:01

their inears keep them at a distance.

11:04

Now, of course, musicians do interact

11:06

with each other on stage, and they

11:08

sometimes interact with audience

11:10

members, but given the amount of

11:11

planning and playback tracks, at least

11:13

for major tours, there's only so much

11:15

wiggle room available for unscripted

11:18

moments. So, while in ears allow the

11:20

show to happen as intended, they do also

11:23

play a part in personalized earbuds

11:26

dominating so much of everyday life.

11:29

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MIKE DIAS SPEAKING

Going to a concert is one of the last

11:32

things where we are together

11:36

regardless of race, religion,

11:40

creed. We are so segmented in every

11:42

layer of society now. Concerts are the

11:46

one place where we go and overlap and

11:49

mix and we're all there together to have

11:51

the same shared experience of our

11:53

favorite artist blowing our minds

11:55

together. So in ears are a tool to

11:58

enable this joy and community and

12:01

connection.

12:02

And yet 25 years later in the headphone

12:06

revolution and the everybody having

12:09

unlimited access to every bit of content

12:12

they want in their pocket in the world

12:14

sealed off from reality and in their own

12:17

world of bubble

12:19

is exactly the opposite effect of what

12:22

the intent of the tech was to begin

12:23

with. which is crazy, right?

12:25

Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

I know we've taken this to esoteric a

12:29

but I want to stress that in ears are a

12:31

net positive for live music and

12:33

especially for the people who put shows

12:35

on. In fact, Mike's upcoming

12:37

documentary, Can I get a little more me?

12:39

Is all about the folks who put shows on,

12:42

their behind-the-scenes stories, and how

12:44

they've contributed to in ears and live

12:46

music at large.

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MIKE DIAS SPEAKS

Once I started filming

12:49

the it's been a landslide of everybody

12:53

jumping on and wanting to be part of it.

12:54

Like it's a story that wants to be told.

12:58

It has jumped out of my own head and now

13:01

is everybody's story. Every band from

13:03

Maluma to the Doobie Brothers, Blue Man

13:06

Group, uh people who started Coachella.

13:09

What I love is that it's completely

13:11

international in scope. That's life.

13:14

That's the world we live in now. And

13:15

that's the universe that we all music

13:18

transcends the entire globe and people

13:22

and regions. And I don't need to flatten

13:24

that and translate that. It's been a

13:27

real honor to get to put this together.

13:29

It's been a labor of love.

13:32

It's my love letter to the industry

13:35

itself for everything that the

13:37

industry's given me. And I hope that it

13:40

stands as my way of giving back.

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Nick Canovas (Mic the Snare) TALKING

Can I get a little more me? is currently being

13:45

edited, but if you want to learn more

13:47

about it, you can check out its website

13:49

linked in the description. And I want to

13:50

hear from you now. Have you ever worn in

13:52

ear monitors? Do you use them for work?

13:54

Let me know in the comments. And if you

13:56

enjoy learning about the behind the

13:58

scenes of live music, check out this

14:00

video about what it really takes to be a

14:02

roadie.

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