Meet Disguise Programmer and Operator, Ed White

Ed White is a seasoned live production professional who’s spent over two decades behind the scenes of some of the world’s most iconic music shows. For the past 13 years, Ed has been bringing his technical expertise and musical intuition to live productions as a freelance Disguise programmer and operator.

A journey from music to media servers

Ed’s route into the world of video was far from traditional. “I grew up loving both music and technology,” he explains. With a background in music and acoustics, Ed started out as a studio engineer and session musician. Along the way, he began designing playback systems for touring artists and working as a lighting designer, which ultimately introduced him to the world of media servers.

That introduction turned into a passion. “I’ve been hooked ever since,” says Ed. “While video is my main focus now, I still enjoy the occasional lighting or playback job. Keeping those skills fresh is important, especially as integration across disciplines becomes more central to live shows.”

From arena tours to world stages

Ed’s career kicked off in the Christian music scene, working on large-scale arena and stadium tours with acts like Hillsong, Passion Conferences, and Chris Tomlin. These early experiences sharpened his skills across show design, lighting, and media server programming.

Today, his resume reads like a who’s who of global music. He’s contributed to tours, festivals and broadcasts for artists including Queen + Adam Lambert, Adele, Dua Lipa, Glass Animals, Peter Gabriel, Kylie Minogue, Lewis Capaldi, Foals, and many more. He’s also touched upon the worlds of in-camera VFX and awards shows, programming servers for a wide range of formats and platforms.

Kylie Minogue's concert 

Discovering Disguise

Ed’s first encounter with Disguise predates even the name itself. “I remember reading about U2’s 2005 Vertigo tour and seeing a screenshot of the visualiser,” he recalls. “It showed how video was driving LED outlines via UV-mapped 3D objects, something I’d never seen before. I had to immediately look up what a UV map was!”

It wasn’t just the tech that caught his eye; it was the musicality. “Disguise’s bars-and-beats timeline really resonated with my musical background,” he says. “Even now, I sometimes quantise timelines to audio tracks. It makes repetitive musical programming fast and precise.”

Inside the show: Glass Animals

One recent highlight was Ed’s work on Glass Animals, collaborating with Cassius Creative and FRAY Studio. “The band doesn’t use timecode, tracks, or even clicks,” Ed explains, “so everything had to be manually operated while still hitting key moments.”

To meet the challenge, Ed designed a GX3-based server system with deep integration across multiple protocols: sACN from GrandMA3 consoles, audio feeds from monitor world, MIDI from instruments, OSC to TouchDesigner, and PSN tracking via Zactrack.

“It was one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve worked on,” he says. “Every department came together to create a streamlined show network with multiple VLANs. And when people come up after the show and say, ‘Wait, that wasn’t timecoded?!’ That’s incredibly satisfying.”

Glass Animals : Tour of Earth

Highlight moments

Another standout for Ed was Queen + Adam Lambert: The Rhapsody Tour (2019–2024). The production was operated live and featured extensive integration, including TAIT Navigator PSN data tracking 25 axes of LED screen automation.

A particularly innovative segment was a real-time Notch-generated opera house, rendered across 14 surfaces. “We exposed the Notch light parameters to Disguise so the lighting director could program them like real fixtures,” says Ed. “It was a true collaboration between departments.”

He also recalls Foals’ 2023 headline slot at Reading & Leeds Festival. “We had to scale up their touring show for massive wraparound screens,” Ed says. “Thanks to Disguise Designer, we could pre-program and reformat everything in advance. It looked stunning and worked flawlessly on site.”

While he’s proud of many projects, some of his most meaningful moments are quieter. “It’s when someone calls needing urgent help on a show. Knowing people trust me to solve problems, that’s something I’m really proud of.”

Making the tech invisible

Despite his deep technical knowledge, Ed’s goal is to keep technology in the background. “I want to remove any technical obstacles from the creative process,” he explains. “The best shows don’t feel like technology demos, they’re immersive experiences where everything works seamlessly behind the scenes.”

Advice for the next generation

For those just starting out, Ed offers some simple but important advice: “Be kind.” Live events are intense, and being someone others enjoy working with can make all the difference.

On the technical side, he encourages up-and-comers to go wider than the Disguise ecosystem. “Learn protocols, video standards, and everything a media server can plug into. That knowledge makes you invaluable.”

Looking ahead

So what’s next for Ed? “I just want to keep doing what I love: programming unique, ambitious shows and learning from the incredible people I work with,” he says. “I’m not ready to stop touring just yet!”