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Digital audio workstation

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A digital audio workstation (DAW) is a system designed to record, edit and play back digital audio. A key feature of DAWs is the ability to freely manipulate recorded sounds, much like a word processor manipulates typed words.

The term "DAW" simply refers to a general combination of audio multitrack software and high-quality audio hardware — the latter being a specialized audio converter unit which performs some variety of both analog-to-digital (ADC) and digital-to-analog (DAC) conversion. For example, a digital 8-track system could have eight discrete inputs, and a certain number of outputs — perhaps only stereo output for playback and monitoring.

Because "tracks" are symbolic in the digital medium, multitrack systems could have only a pair of mono inputs and outputs — the discrete audio inputs and outputs provide for simultaneous multitracking capability, whereas limited inputs require audio mixing or later overdubbing.

A professional DAC performs the same function as a common sound card, but is generally an external and sometimes rackmounted unit which offers the advantage of far less noise, higher recorded resolution, and better dynamic range, when compared with its consumer cousin.

While almost any home computer with multitrack and editing software can function somewhat as a DAW, the term generally refers to computer systems which have high-quality external ADC-DAC hardware, and some form of audio software; some of which is commercial proprietary software such as Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Samplitude, Cubase, SONAR, ACID Pro, FL Studio (formerly Fruityloops), Ableton Live, Tracktion or Digital Performer, some of which is free software such as Audacity and Ardour. Besides having high-end sound cards most DAWs also require a large amount of RAM and fast CPU(s)

Varieties

A Quad Monitor Audio Workstation

DAWs generally come in two varieties:

  • Computer-based DAWs consist of three components: a computer, an ADC-DAC, and digital audio editor software. The computer acts as a host for the sound card and software and provides processing power for audio editing. The sound card acts as an audio interface, typically converting analog audio signals into digital form, and may also assist in processing audio. The software controls the two hardware components and provides a user interface to allow for recording and editing. Many radio stations in the U.S. prefer using computer-based DAWs over integrated DAWs.
  • Integrated DAWs consist of a mixing console, control surface, and digital interface in one device. Integrated DAWs were more popular before personal computers became powerful enough to run DAW software. As computer power increased and price decreased, the popularity of the costly integrated systems dropped. However, systems such as the Orban Audicy once flourished in the radio and television markets. Today, some systems still offer computerless arranging and recording features with a full graphical user interface, such as the Roland MV-8000, Roland MV-8800 and recent Mackie HDR-series hard disk recorders.

History

The first digital audio workstation was developed by Soundstream in the late 1970s, using a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11 minicomputer running a custom software package called "DAP" (for Digital Audio Processor) for digital audio editing and audio effects such as crossfades. A storage oscilloscope that was connected to the minicomputer acted as the audio waveform display. Edits were made by typing in three-letter commands on a separate computer terminal, using the waveform display on the storage oscillioscope as a reference.

Audio on the system was stored on disk pack drives, with the audio transferred onto the drives from Soundstream's proprietary digital audio tape recorders using a Unibus tape-to-disk interface also of the company's own design. Soundstream also developed a digital-to-analog interface for this system for interfacing to conventional analog tape recorders as well.

In 1981, recording engineer Roger Nichols built a digital audio workstation of his own design, using a S-100 bus-based computer with a Micropolis 8" form factor 32 MB hard disk used for storage of digital audio data. It interfaced digitally to a 3M multi-track digital audio tape recorder in his studio, and was used to edit audio from the recorder. Nichols' system was used during the recording and production of Donald Fagen's 1982 album, The Nightfly.

In the late 1980s, computers that were available on the consumer level, such as the Apple Macintosh, started to have enough power to handle the task of digital audio editing.In 1986 appears Soundedit software for Mac, by Macromedia company. The first major capitalization on this fact was done by a company called Digidesign, who in 1987 introduced one of the first hardware & software packages for a personal computer for editing audio (and the predecessor to the now-industry standard Pro Tools system) called Sound Tools for the Macintosh, which would later be renamed to Pro Tools I. Many major studios finally "went digital" due to the fact that Digidesign had modeled its Pro Tools software after the traditional method and signal flow present in almost all analog recording devices. In 1990 a company called OSC allong with Digidesign technicians launch a 4 track editing-recorder software called DECK II, (only $399,95), employed in the Resident's "Freakshow" LP.

Development

Musicians and composers long had a desire to integrate stereos, turntables, recording equipment, MIDI keyboards and even electric guitars with computers. Serious computer-based composition tools began to appear with the Atari ST and Amiga computer systems. Enthusiasts continued to seek more integrated, easier-to-use and higher-performance tools for audio creation tasks. Many current DAWs even support integration with video streams allowing full A/V production.

See also: digital audio, digital audio editor, VST (Virtual Studio Technology)

Common functionality of computer-based DAWs

As software systems, DAWs could be designed with any user interface, but generally they are based on a multitrack tape recorder metaphor, making it easier for recording engineers and musicians already familiar with using tape records to become familiar with the new systems. Therefore, computer-based DAWs tend to have a standard layout which includes transport controls (play, rewind, record, etc.), track controls and/or a mixer, and a waveform display. In single-track DAWs, only one (mono or stereo form) sound is displayed at a time.

Multitrack DAWs support operations on multiple tracks at once. Like a mixing console, each track typically has controls that allow the user to adjust the overall volume and stereo balance (pan) of the sound on each track. In a traditional recording studio additional processing is physically plugged in to the audio signal path, a DAW, however, uses software plugins to process the sound on a track.

While DAWs are capable of mimicking the functions of a traditional recording studio, there are areas where they excel, and in some cases they can do things that are impossible without a DAW.

Perhaps the most significant feature available on a DAW that is not available in analogue recording (some other forms of digital recording do have this) is the ability to 'undo' a previous action, which makes it much easier to avoid accidentally erasing or recording over a previous recording.

Commonly DAWs feature some form of automation, commonly performed through "envelope points." Each dot represents one envelope point. By creating and adjusting multiple points along a waveform or control events, the user can specify parameters of the output over time (e.g., volume or pan).

Commercial systems

There are many DAW programs that can facilitate recording and editing audio, recording and editing MIDI data, sound processing and synthesis. These are often designed to run on Macintosh or Windows operating systems and are usually developed for profit.

Consolidation and compatibility within commercial spaces, along with the early adaptation by many major recording studios has bolstered the user base and reputation of Digidesign's Pro Tools for recording and editing audio. Apple Computer's Logic Pro, MOTU's Digital Performer Steinberg's Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar, FL Studio, and Ableton Live are all common choices for music production.

For details of each commerically available software platforms click on its name. Pro Tools Cubase Nuendo Logic Pro Digital Performer Sonar Ableton Live Sony ACID Samplitude Tracktion

Other professional DAWs that use a combination of hardware and software include; Sonic Studio SADiE Radar Fairlight

SADie and Sonic Studio offer both LPCM and DSD production tools.

Free and open source software

Audacity screenshot

There are many free and open-source programs that can facilitate a DAW. These are often designed to run on a variety of operating systems and are usually developed non-commercially. The LADSPA plugin architecture, the JACK API and the ALSA soundcard driver represent the 'cutting-edge' in free and open source DAW development for professional audio production.

The development of digital audio for Linux and BSD fostered technologies such as ALSA, which drives audio hardware, and JACK or aRts (audio Real-time synthesizer). JACK allows any JACK-aware audio software to connect to any other audio software running on the system, such as connecting an ALSA or OSS driven soundcard to a mixing and editing front-end, like Audacity or Rosegarden. In this way, JACK acts as a virtual audio patch bay, and it can be configured to use a computer's resources in real time, with dedicated memory, and with various options that minimize the DAW's latency. This kind of abstraction and configuration allows DJs to use multiple programs for editing and synthesizing audio streams, or multitasking and duplexing, without the need for analogue conversion, or asynchronous saving and reloading files, and ensures a high level of audio fidelity. Linux and BSD also support the aRts platform, distributed with the K desktop environment, KDE. The aRts system is a modular software synthesizer and soundserver that handles system sounds, recording, playback, and other audio tasks within KDE. aRts modules may be assembled in custom configurations using aRts Builder and used in audio production. A comparable proprietary product is ReWire.

There are several non-commercial and open-source front-end programs that can facilitate a DAW. Audacity is a free and open-source digital audio editor that can run on Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux; it is particularly popular in the podcast community, and also has a large following among the visually-impaired due to its keyboard interface. Rosegarden is a multi-featured audio application designed for KDE that includes audio mixing plugins, a notation editor, and MIDI matrix editor. The MusE Sequencer is a similarly featured audio application that includes an audio mixer, MIDI sequencer, and soundserver that has been developed for Linux systems not running the K Desktop Environment. Other open-source programs include virtual synthesizers and MIDI controllers, such as those provided by FluidSynth and TiMidity. Both can load Soundfonts to expand the voices and instruments available for synthesis and expand the ports and channels available to synthesizers. Such virtualization allows users to expand the traditional limitations of ADC-DAC hardware.

The Linux Audio Development mailing list, LAD, is a major driving force in developing standards, such as the LADSPA plugin architecture, for free and open systems. The VST plugin standard is supported as an option by some such programs but is generally implemented as a separate plugin, not a built-in option, due to Steinberg's licensing scheme. Among others, the creators of Audacity provide an optional, somewhat minimalist, VST-to-LADSPA bridge plugin for their software, but it is a separate download.

See also

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