Table of Contents
Overview
A DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) is software – or even hardware – used to record, compose, edit and mix audio and MIDI.
The DAW is the control centre of your studio. What began years ago as a simple MIDI sequencer has grown to be the all-encompassing ‘brain’ at the centre of studios worldwide, big or small.
It is the DAW that tells the rest of your studio how, what, why, when and where to do…well, literally anything.
The ‘Project Management System’ of the music world
Producing any finished piece of music is a project, and most projects are composed of a number of separate elements that are united to achieve a particular result.
As with any project (even outside of music) we need a way to organise these various components, and ensure they are working in harmony towards the end goal.
In music production, that’s the purpose of the DAW. Think of the DAW as a kind of ‘dashboard’ for your musical project, where you pull all the pieces together.
What is a DAW’s main functions?
These days, Digital Audio Workstations wear many more hats in the production process than they used to. What is a DAW capable of nowadays? Plenty. Here are some of the ways a DAW can assist you:
Writing
Spontaneity plays a huge part in the writing process, and most DAWs facilitate this through a clear visual interface and by making it easy to capture and manipulate ideas, quickly and efficiently. Many DAWs even offer tools to prompt inspiration and get the creative juices flowing.
Recording
Back in the day, quality audio recordings at home were a fantasy. Even when 4 and 8-track tape recorders were introduced, it meant we could record at home, but with limited quality and a limited amount of tracks. Modern-day DAWs allow for professional-quality recordings, and as many tracks as your computer can handle.
Editing
DAWs provide the ability to process audio in a variety of ways. Where once upon a time you had to re-record a track until the producer decided it was a “perfect take”, we can now record multiple takes and easily edit together the best sections of each.
Arrangement
DAWs provide a clear, visual overview of a song structure that makes it easy to experiment with moving different sections around and trying out different ideas in a non-destructive manner. Want to see if that verse would actually make a better bridge? Cut, paste, done. Don’t like it? Undo. It’s that easy.
Production
Music production is about more than the song structure and instrumentation. It’s also about taking a “bird’s eye view” when putting it all together, and adding the tweaks and enhancements that breathe life into the track as a finished product. DAWs make this a piece of cake.
Mixing
Coupled with decent monitors or headphones to listen on, DAWs offer a variety of tools to create a well-balanced mix of instrument levels with richness and depth.
How do DAWs work?
There are 3 fundamental components to any modern DAW:
- Audio processing
- MIDI sequencing
- Plugins (virtual instruments & fx)
Audio processing
Any acoustic sound source you record into your DAW (via an Audio Interface) is audio data. Audio refers to any sound file that consists of a recorded sound.
Examples include:
- songs on Spotify
- a vocal recording on your phone
- a drum machine sample
- the startup sounds on your computer
All of these have been previously recorded and will always sound the same on playback (at the source).
MIDI sequencing
MIDI data is the information sent to sound-generating devices (synths, samplers, drum machines etc) that tells them what, how and when to play. MIDI data itself doesn’t have a sound.
Think of it like reading sheet music. The sheet music itself doesn’t have a sound, but contains the information (i.e. MIDI data), that tells you what to play on your instrument (i.e. the sound-generating device).
Much like sheet music, MIDI sequencing is arranging note data on a timeline. In fact, some DAWs can even convert MIDI data to music notation!
To learn more about MIDI, see the “what is MIDI?” article
Plugins
Plugins – most commonly “VSTs” – are modules that are fed MIDI data and perform one of the following functions:
- Generate Audio. These are ‘virtual instruments’ are emulations of acoustic and synthetic sounds (synths, drums, bass etc) that are controlled by MIDI data
- Process Audio. These are effects such as reverb, delay, chorus etc. These are applied to audio sources – recorded audio, virtual instruments etc
- Process MIDI. These are placed between MIDI data and the virtual instrument, altering the MIDI data in specific ways.
Learn more about plugins and VSTs here
The Timeline
Audio, MIDI and plugins all come together on the timeline. This is where we arrange our song.
The timeline of a song starts from the left and ends on the right. We lay out our audio and MIDI tracks across this timeline at various intervals according to where in the song we want them to appear. The speed at which the timeline plays back depends on the tempo (i.e. BPM) we set.
The Mixer
Similar to the concept of hardware mixers, this is where all audio tracks (including the outputs of MIDI-controlled virtual instruments) are assigned a mixer channel and eventually mixed down into a stereo output.
This is where we control the relative volume, panning, eq and effects for each voice/instrument in our song. DAWs have the ability to control these parameters (and many more) automatically via a process called automation.
What is Automation?
MIDI information isn’t just used to control instruments! MIDI can also control a variety of parameters within a DAW and plugins, including the DAW’s mixer.
This means you can record (or program) volume changes, panning, on/off states etc specifically for the mixer channels right there on the timeline, and it will repeat these actions on the mixer channel on playback. VERY handy indeed!
What is a DAW controlled with?
So with all this power at your fingertips, the question is: How do you interact with it?
Mouse and Computer Keyboard: The impractical way
Technically, you can just use a mouse or even your computer keyboard to control your DAW. You can use the mouse to draw MIDI note data and automation into the MIDI sequencer. Some DAWs allow you to play your computer keyboard like a piano keyboard, but you can forget about anything like velocity, aftertouch, or even playing over more than one octave.
This method is the slowest, most robotic and uninspired way to do it, particularly if you’re writing music.
MIDI Controller: The practical way
If you’re serious about music production – actually, scratch that. Even if it’s a hobby – a MIDI controller is a must.
A MIDI controller is a device that transmits a wide range of MIDI data, often through a variety of assignable buttons, knobs and sliders. This transmitted data can then be recorded into your DAW
The most common type is a keyboard, but there are a variety of other types depending on what functions you need.
DAW software
As you can imagine, we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to Digital Audio Workstation software. I mean, there are even completely free DAWs out there! These obviously won’t compete with the bigger names, but you’d be surprised at how capable they can be.
I’m not going to get into describing the differences between DAWs. In the end, they are all designed to perform basically the same function. The main differences are more in the workflow. Feel free to check them out for yourself.
Popular DAWs
Free & Open Source DAWs
Other Notable DAWs
Dive in!
Regardless of which DAW you choose, there is going to be a learning curve, so be ready for that. Thankfully, most paid DAWs offer free demos, or free fully-functioning versions, but with cut down features.
So check out some of the DAWs I’ve mentioned here. Grab a demo or a freebie, watch some YouTube videos to get started, and just start messing around to get a feel for it.
Even if you do decide to purchase the full versions of any of them, most are quite reasonably priced, considering the features you are getting.
What next?
You’ll want to use plugins with your DAW, so head on over to my VST and plugins guide to learn more about these essential addons.
You’ll also need a few other bits and pieces if you’re building a studio, so go and check out my article on the 9 essentials to setting up your own home studio.