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What Is the Future of the DAW?

djmag.com

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Re: What Is the Future of the DAW?

#211

Post by imbnwa »

scarecrowbob wrote: post #127
pdntspa wrote: post #105

To be honest, I really like existing tools and workflows and I don't really want that to change. > 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…

More or less, this. I've worked in a lot of studios with 2" tape or, like Radar or an HD24. In all of those, the engineer had really great chops. Functionally, for most "traditional" (I do a lot of folk, jazz, and country) I just do what they did, and Logic is just a glorified tape machine + mixer + processing. I am still mostly doing stuff in single takes until I like what I have and then maybe punching in a note or…

>Also I (and a lot of other folks) aren't super stoked about harmonies sung by one person overdubbing a bunch of lines. I'd be interested in some workflow where I could, like, sing a harmony and it would change my voice in a credible sounding way.

This would be a godsend

Re: What Is the Future of the DAW?

#212

Post by b33j0r »

ta988 wrote: post #154
gnulinux wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really??? Uh, it's probably my fault but as a hobbyist composer (day job software engineer) I can personally say that tools I use absolutely and utterly suck. They're immensely buggy. My workflow includes: - LilyPond for writing the final notation - MuseScore 4 for playing around, MuseScore 3 for playing MIDI - REAPER as DAW, SFZ plugin for midi soundfonts - Audacity for processing WAV files - music21 python lib if I…

There is bitwig that is much more comparable to Live in term of features.

“Now with timelines!”

Heh, been using it for years before that feature (which is admittedly now years ago).

Synth graphs are sweet. But I kept going back to Logic to compose compositions ;)

Habit has stuck, unless I have something bitwig-y in mind.

Re: What Is the Future of the DAW?

#213

Post by squarefoot »

bandrami wrote: post #95
squarefoot wrote: post #73

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…

Have you ever looked at Non? It has a recording mode that is a lot like what you described if I understand you right. Development is kind of moribund but that can be an advantage in some ways.

Unfortunately it requires Jack, which for me has always been a source of frustration. I can get very low latencies and excellent stability using Alsa alone, so don't feel the need to change. Unfortunately as much as Jack is incredibly powerful, its UI to organize and connect stuff together is an example of how terrible usability choices can ruin an otherwise great software.

Re: What Is the Future of the DAW?

#214

Post by dusted »

> DAWs are built on legacy code that can’t easily be pivoted as user expectation adjusts,

As opposed to "non-legacy" code which is obviously malleable and easily adjustable to whatever new user expectation may arise?

Re: What Is the Future of the DAW?

#215

Post by tomduncalf »

DevoidSimo wrote: post #174
tomduncalf wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the top 100 is super weird, it’s all these commercial EDM DJs but the weird thing is the magazine doesn’t otherwise really seem to target that audience. I don’t read it but I have come across some good long form pieces like this from them online, so actually I think they are trying to do some good stuff.

I'd imagine that it's because the DJs ask people to vote for them. A lot of the DJs I follow do that every year. If the big commercial DJs with the biggest following do that, then they would naturally land at the top.

Yeah I guess what I mean is that it seems to go against the rest of their brand, the magazine usually covers slightly more underground dance music it seems - not super underground, still big names, but not stadium EDM stuff.

Maybe their philosophy is that the Top 100 should be an open thing and they shouldn't restrict who can enter based on music style... to me, it makes DJ Mag way less credible, but I guess they probably make money out of the Top 100 being so big.

Re: What Is the Future of the DAW?

#217

Post by pdntspa »

fragmede wrote: post #196
pdntspa wrote: post #105

To be honest, I really like existing tools and workflows and I don't really want that to change. > 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…

We'll see. Companies like Abelton aren't going to throw out their whole codebase and start from scratch, just to accommodate advancements in technology. But if I can just talk to the LLM, and say "hey, gimmie a drum beat, now add in a bass line, no not like that, like ", do I really need the overhead of the traditional view of separate tracks and midi and plugins? When making music is as easy as describing something…

That sort of thing is only going to accelerate the amount of crap, derivative music that is already flooding the market

The difference between music and driving a car is that music is art. Many of those who labor in the space enjoy creating from scratch. Technological progress does not automatically make things better

Re: What Is the Future of the DAW?

#218

Post by plussed_reader »

wormius wrote: post #145
plussed_reader wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing will homogenize pop like LLM inspired filters; the new presets of the dx7.

But that bass is so classic and tight!

Don't you worry; Daniel E. and the streaming cartels will happily plug something like that into your sound hole.

Re: What Is the Future of the DAW?

#219

Post by dimgl »

twangist wrote: post #203
gnulinux wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't work for me because I do a lot of algorithmic composition and a huge part of my music making involves programming and it's very hard to write code anywhere that's not linux. Also I truly hate using windows or osx.

> it's very hard to write code anywhere that's not linux. Oh nonsense -- in fact, bullshit. No, it is not. This is a personal problem; seek help. >Also I truly hate using windows or osx. And we truly hate hearing about it, and how things don't work well on your platform of non-choice. So suffer it in silence please.

Okay, this is a matter of opinion, and yes I do agree that it being hard to write code anywhere that's not Linux is hyperbolic. But Windows is _truly_ a terrible OS for DX. I dread every single time I have to do any kind of development on it.

Re: What Is the Future of the DAW?

#220

Post by eternityforest »

jimmaswell wrote: post #80
delgaudm wrote: post #78

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

If you're only recording lines, why isn't Audacity a lot more convenient?

I use Ardour when I do sound design. A lot of the time you want to be able to automate volume changes, or add a reverb or an EQ(With real-time controls instead of the annoying batch "Change it, then test it" workflow), etc.
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