The Man Behind Sting 2 On Why You Shouldn't Fight Creative Blocks

Iftah Gabbai lied to get his first Max gig. A sound artist asked if he knew Max for Live, and Iftah said yes. He didn't. That night, he downloaded a cracked version on his Pentium 3 laptop and learned it anyway.

That necessity-driven approach shaped everything Iftah creates today. From Sting 2 to CV Tools to Pyra, his Max for Live devices have become essential tools in electronic music production. But this conversation went deeper than gear talk.

We discussed his decision to go 100% into device making, leaving his touring days with Skinner Box behind. The shift happened during the pandemic when he realized he was more interested in making things that make music rather than making the music itself. Meta music, as he calls it.

His pay-what-you-want philosophy stands out in an industry obsessed with paywalls and demos. Money shouldn't be a barrier to creativity. His devices work with screen readers and assistive technology because accessibility means one solution for everyone, not specialized tools for different people. The support has been overwhelming, and he's never looking back.

The creative advice hit differently though. When inspiration doesn't flow, Iftah doesn't fight it. He learned this lesson late in his music-making days, but it changed everything. Forcing creativity when it's not there just leads to exhaustion and frustration. January and February are hard months anyway.

We also nerded out about ultrasonic field recordings and how slowing down bird calls 16 times reveals entire worlds we normally miss. A toothpick falling sounds like a wooden log. A cat pitched down three octaves becomes a tiger. It's about scaling the world, understanding relationships between things on an existential level.

Learning Max for Live? Iftah's advice: build something you actually need instead of following ring modulator tutorials. Motivation comes from necessity.

Stay creative,
Milan (KVNDRA)

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