FROM DUSK 'TIL DAWN: TO DAW OR NOT TO DAW.

"I stare at a computer screen all day.  When I make music, I want to play instruments, not do work on my computer."

"The last thing I want when being creative is having to be on a computer and getting email notifications."

"A mouse and a keyboard are not musical instruments.  Making music that way is unnatural."

"I make music on a DAWless setup.  I'm all about hardware, and that's it for me."

Ah, these are a few of the most common arguments against using a DAW, or Digital Audio Workstation.  Some artists prefer to go "DAWless," as in they prefer to keep everything in the hardware domain and as far away from computers as possible.

On the other hand, there are musicians and producers who would think the following:

"I can have a production studio that would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build in real life, all in software format, on my laptop.  I could take my studio anywhere I want."

"DAWs can be setup in such a way that your studio conforms to the project you're working on."

"I can share projects with friends and collaborators, and bounce them back and forth between us and work on the same thing despite being on opposite ends of the planet."

"Because of their digital nature, DAWs can give me a cleaner signal than if I only used hardware, and I can do anything I want on a DAW."

 

WELL, DAW!

What exactly is a DAW?  Well, imagine it's a complete production or music studio that resides in your hard drive.  Do you need a 64-channel mixer, a large visual representation of your arrangement or session, an on-screen musical notation interface, and several send and insert effect chains?  It's all there.  

Need effects like reverb, delay, distortion, an amp profiler, 5.1 surround sound mixing, quadraphonic mixing, spectral analyzers, oscilloscopes, or multiple choruses stacked on top of each other?  Whatever you can imagine, it's most likely there.  In my own studio, I use Bitwig and Cubase.  They each have their benefits, and while I learned on Cubase a few years ago (more like many years ago! lol), I am intrigued by all that Bitwig has to offer, including its unique ability to work with modular synths and ease-of-use for live performances.  Each has its own workflow, along with a very, very wide range of effects and other sonic tools.  

 

LET IT DAW(n) ON YOU.

At first, DAWs can be challenging to set up and tricky to maintain.  Computers eventually become obsolete, and both software and OS updates are continually released... until they aren't!  Prior to getting a maxed out Apple Mac Studio M1 Ultra just a couple of years ago, I was still using my Apple PowerMac G5 Quad 2.5, which was the best Mac you could buy in... 2005!  When the liquid cooling system on it finally gave out two years, I literally wept because I loved that computer dearly and I will always be grateful for it being a part of my life.  It was the first serious DAW that I ever had, and I ran Cubase 4.5 on it forever (for some context, I think Cubase is on version 14 at the time of this article's writing).  I hadn't been able to enjoy modern VSTs (an acronym that stands for Virtual Studio Technology, which is commonly used to refer to plugin effects and software synths that run in .VST formats), so I became dependent on hardware.  Basically, my old G5 was a digital recorder, mixer, and MIDI sequencer.

With a modern computer, you can get a DAW like Bitwig or Cubase, install your audio and MIDI interface, set up and save your DAW template, and have a fully customizable and blank project waiting for you when you turn your computer on.  Shut off all the nonsense and notifications, keep your computer as focused on music and creative projects as possible, and you have a production environment that's built to your taste.  

All routing is done within the DAW, and depends on your audio and MIDI interface.  There is no need to reconfigure a patch bay if another project calls for different routing between instruments, effects, and recording media.  

Software effects and synths (aka "VSTs," "AUs," "plugins," etc.) typically offer relatively affordable solutions when compared to their hardware counterparts, and a DAW like Bitwig or Cubase could host them for you, save their settings for each project, and allow you to run multiple instances.  For example, imagine running 4 instances of Valhalla DSP effects, 3 Zynaptiq audio processing VSTs, and multiple instances of software synths like like Eric Persing's masterpiece Omnisphere, or the ever-popular Serum in just one project.  Then, customize your audio interface so that you can also play any and all of your hardware synths, drum machines, samplers, and effects processors, all while routing the output of some of your VSTs into your hardware for further processing.  You can also sequence your entire setup on a large screen, thereby optimizing visibility of your entire project to edit MIDI parts and tracks.  All in all, the DAW is a complete studio and makes music production available to more artists, musicians, and creatives than ever.  It can be as broad or as minimal as you want, and can leverage your computer's processing power to help you make beautiful music.

Again, bear in mind that the initial setup of your DAW could take time.  Once you have it all configured how you like (if you own a Mac, PLEASE make sure to go into Audio/MIDI Setup in your Utilities and tell your computer what each audio and MIDI input should be called and where it's going... it is such a timesaver!), creating new projects is very easy, and resuming others is just as straightforward.  To use a Larry David-ism, "That being said," DAWs can get pretty complex, depending on how you go about things, and may require some prior knowledge of how to work with drivers, troubleshoot computer problems, and other basic-yet-technical knowledge.

Be good to your eyes, and always hit "Record" for audio tracks when you are jamming.  You never know what you'll come up with!  Also, make sure to do the same for MIDI tracks (assuming you either have a MIDI interface, have instruments connected by USB, or have an audio interface that has a MIDI in and out), since by recording the MIDI, you can save your automation curves, "parameter locks," and all notes for future reference.  Imagine you improvise the best chord progressions and melodies ever, but even when you play back the audio you cannot recall which notes you played!  MIDI is perfect for that, and it preserves essential data about your performances.  You can then go back and change tempos, quantize or shuffle notes, and have other instruments or patches on your synths play back the same notes while you choose the right patch or preset for those particular tracks.  

 

DAWless FLAWLESS.

Alright, so the other option is to go DAWless.  These setups are fun, too!  Plus, they can be efficient and productive, depending on your style.

Record your audio onto a tape machine, a digital recorder or field sampler, or onto a USB drive, all while either playing your instruments live in one take, or sequencing any number of synths, drum machines, or samplers from a hardware sequencer.  The DAWless setup can be a lot of fun because of its physical nature: everything is tangible, for the most part.  You would likely have a hardware mixer, recorder, sequencer, and any combination of synths, samplers, and drum machines.  It can be portable, depending on your hardware choices, more immediate than the software-based interface of the DAW, and be the most hands-on of the two approaches.

Your routing could be more limited than what you would find in a modern DAW, and you might have to work with large-ish mixers and patchbays.  If you are unfamiliar with the latter, imagine a 19-inch-wide panel with a bunch of (usually) 1/4" jacks arranged in a horizontal line, with some functioning as inputs and others as outputs.  All routing between your synths, drum machines, samplers, hardware effects units and pedals, monitors, mixers, recorders... everything... is manually set by interconnecting your devices.  This is the oldest method, and makes for a more physical connection between yourself and your setup.  Patchbays, though, can get pretty complicated and could slow you down if you need to connect, reconnect, or disconnect certain instruments or music machines at any given point.  

These types of setups can also help you remain in the analog domain as much as possible while minimizing how much analog-to-digital conversion you are doing in your signal chain.  For some, this is very important, since digitization of an analog signal, especially when done multiple times, may degrade audio signal quality and result in a lower fidelity mix and master.  A purely analog and DAWless setup doesn't always prevent this, though, and could also introduce analog noise (don't you just love analog hum?  I sure don't).  To curb your enthusiasm, digital setups such as DAW-based systems that depend more on computers could bring another type of noise.  Digital noise (a high-pitched whine) and aliasing could creep into your signal if there's an over-reliance on USB connections or digital instruments.  

Which is "better" depends on how you like to create.  There are pros and cons to going DAWless, just as there is when you opt for a DAW, and each can get you where you need to go.  With the DAWless setup, it is worth noting that your sequencers (the music machines and tools you would use to compose a song and control hardware synths, drum machines, samplers, and effects) will likely form the core of your setup.  Whether it's a MIDI-based sequencer that tells your hardware what to play and when to play it, or a CV-based sequencer that sends voltages to more analog and modular/Eurorack-based setups, you will likely have a much smaller screen or interface when compared to a DAW's computer monitor.  You will find that some functions have abbreviated names or references that save space on the user interface, and a workflow/user experience that is entirely based on the sequencer's hardware capabilities, its OS, and its size.  The connection here between artist and hardware must be deep and logical, and takes time to develop.  It is, though, all visible on your creative surface and a very physical experience.

 

FROM DUSK 'TIL DAWN AND BEYOND.

All in all, it will take time for you to determine which approach is right for you.  Some bands and artists in the 1960s only had 8 tracks to record on before having to bounce audio to a separate track to free one up.  Back then, others could get access to studios with 16-track recorders, and some folks today simply record straight to a USB drive connected to a 12-track mixer.  

With a DAW, you are only limited by budget and your computer's processing power; on the other hand, DAWless setups are also capable of doing lot more than artists from the past had at their disposal.  In the end, the key is to understand the following:

• You don't need to break the bank to build the right DAW or DAWless setup
• Overall, today's technology is orders of magnitude more advanced than anything some of our musical heroes from the past could ever dream of using
• Like mentioned in Part 1: it's not about the equipment, it's about the artist
• Stay up, be patient, and take your time learning how to use your equipment and instruments before either quitting or getting frustrated
  • You don't need to learn how to use every single function of either type of setup; rather, if you are a beginner, just discover the meanings of different settings as the need arises, lest you could get confused and either frustrated or intimidated by the tech (it happened to me when I got started)
• DAWs can do so much and offer producers an environment that resembles a complete recording studio
• By comparison, DAWless setups can be more limited in scope, but easier to keep focused
• DAWs can be convenient for their flexibility, and for their mobility when utilizing a laptop
• DAWless setups are more immediate, though less flexible in terms of connectivity
• DAWs may require some knowledge of how computers work and how to troubleshoot minor issues
• DAWless setups require much less knowledge of computers, but will push you to connect with the main sequencer's logic and its UI/UX in order to make music as comfortably as possible
• Nothing is stopping you from having a hybrid setup where you combine the DAW with external hardware sequencers

I have used both, and have recently broken down my DAWless setup in order to integrate it with my larger DAW-based rig.  This is being done because of the new project I am working on, and I might just go entirely DAWless in a future project.  Still, my setup now is more of a hybrid, and the best way for me to work.  

What do you think?  Which approach is best for you?  If you have any questions, please let us know!

Please join us next time for the following installment in this series, titled, The Synth Space-Time Continuum (Part 3: How Much is Too Much?)