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No mention of Bitwig, which just keeps adding new features and modularity.
Bitwig is mentioned three times in the article.
That said, I don't think the article author would consider Bitwig to be substantially novel compared to the other mainstream DAWs that inspired the sentiment behind the article.
What I really miss in DAWs is a drum arranging tool that goes beyond scores or xoxo grids. Those are good for editing patterns in atomic ways, but I'd love something to quickly record new patterns played on drum pads on the fly, with arbitrary duration, create a new pattern that inherits parts of the one I just recorded (to make variations and fills) just by hitting one key and/or sending a MIDI note from a controlle…
No mention of Bitwig, which just keeps adding new features and modularity.
TFA starts down an important path - identifying different categories of users - but doesn't really get this quite right IMO. There are (at least) four categories of DAW users: 1. Professionals who are being paid to make music, and for whom time is essentially money. Tools that speed up the production of that music are both financially valuable to them, and also make their overall lives easier (if done right). 2. Musi…
5. People who record, but have nothing to do with music whatsoever. For example, I have literally no musical skills whatsoever, but have at least 15k hours in my DAW. I'm a Voice actor, who worked hard to customize my DAW to get rid of as much music making stuff as possible from cluttering my interface (Reaper FTW) It's a Digital AUDIO workstation, not a Digital MUSIC workstation
> Open a DAW from the year 2000 and it’s highly likely you’ll recognise the vast majority of the features — both functionally and visually — from any DAW you might use today.
This assertion that "old is bad" really, really needs to die. Change for the sake of change is bad. I don't see why all these new innovations can't be baked into existing workflows in a natural and intuitive fashion.
But then, in some cases, do I really want them? Like generative AI for music. I'm not sure but leaning towards no.
Look, FWIW, my favorite music making "stack" is
- Fruityloops (as in, sure I'll use FL Studio but it was pretty much solid for me when it was called that)
- Sony ACID. Still unbeatable to me for quickly layering/previewing multiple tracks of loops
- Cool Edit Pro/Adobe Audition. Still much nicer than Audacity. I don't know why Audacity remains so popular, it's way clunkier than the above
Ableton/Bitwig are also fun to play with and I could see them being indispensable for some, but what more do people need that you couldn't theoretically get "incrementally" or "with plugins?"
The umbrella topic to this is one of my favorite topics in all of software and one where strangely we as an industry don't seem to have internalized its lessons: That the right approach to building a software program (like a DAW, NLE, bitmap/vector editor) emerges early. This is why these applications have lifespans measured in decades, and it's extremely rare for a new player to be able offer anything new, different…
DAWs haven't converged on a "best" approach. Most use a traditional linear workflow that's essentially a digital multitrack tape, but Ableton and Bitwig use a clip-based workflow that tends to be better suited to improvisation and live performance. I think the factor you're missing is path dependence. The approach that becomes dominant isn't necessarily "best", just a stable equilibrium where switching costs are grea…
DAW version control is one of my dreams. If I could have a really tight git equivalent for reaper projects, it’d be so cool. Plugins are, as usual, the biggest barrier there. Doesn’t seem like there will ever be a good way to deal with different people having completely different plugin collections. Unless someone makes “Netflix but for plugins” or something. The other thing I saw the other day that I thought was coo…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
5. People who record, but have nothing to do with music whatsoever. For example, I have literally no musical skills whatsoever, but have at least 15k hours in my DAW. I'm a Voice actor, who worked hard to customize my DAW to get rid of as much music making stuff as possible from cluttering my interface (Reaper FTW) It's a Digital AUDIO workstation, not a Digital MUSIC workstation
Can you share your workflow? I've tried using Resolve and Audacity yet it all feels awkward and is painfully slow