Digital audio workstation
Encyclopedia
A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic system designed solely or primarily for recording, editing and playing back digital audio. DAWs were originally tape
-less, microprocessor
-based systems such as the Synclavier
and Fairlight CMI
. Modern DAWs are software running on computers with audio interface hardware.
, control surface, audio converter, and data storage 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 with console automation
dropped. Systems such as the Orban Audicy once flourished at radio station
s and television station
. Today, some systems still offer computer-less arranging and recording features with a full graphical user interface
(GUI).
, a sound converter (also called a sound card or audio interface), a digital audio editor
software, and at least one input device for adding or modifying musical note data. This could be as simple as a mouse, and as sophisticated as a MIDI controller keyboard, or an automated fader board for mixing track volumes. The computer acts as a host for the sound card and software and provides processing power for audio editing. The sound card (if used) or external audio interface typically converts analog audio signals into digital form, and for playback converting digital to analog audio; it may also assist in further processing the audio. The software controls all related hardware components and provides a user interface to allow for recording, editing, and playback. Most computer-based DAWs have extensive MIDI recording, editing, and playback capabilities, and some even have minor video-related features.
Simple smartphone
-based DAWs, called Mobile Audio Workstation (MAWs), are also available, used for example by journalists for recording and editing on location.
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. However, a DAW can also route in software or use software plugins to process the sound on a track.
DAWs are capable of many of the same functions as a traditional tape-based studio setup, and in recent years have almost completely replaced them. Modern advanced recording studios may have multiple types of DAWs in them and it is not uncommon for a sound engineer and/or musician to travel with a portable laptop-based DAW, although interoperability between different DAWs is poor.
Perhaps the most significant feature available from a DAW that is not available in analogue recording is the ability to 'undo' a previous action. Undo makes it much easier to avoid accidentally permanently erasing or recording over a previous recording. If a mistake is made, the undo command is used to conveniently revert the changed data to a previous state. Cut, Copy, Paste, and Undo are familiar and common computer commands and usually available in DAWs in some form.
Commonly DAWs feature some form of automation
, often performed through "envelopes
". Envelopes are procedural line segment-based or curve-based interactive graphs. The lines and curves of the automation graph are joined by or comprise adjustable points. 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). Automation data may also be directly derived from human gestures recorded by a control surface
or controller
. MIDI is a common data protocol used for transferring such gestures to the DAW.
MIDI recording, editing, and playback is increasingly incorporated into modern DAWs of all types, as is Synchronization
with other audio and/or video tools.
(who previously came to prominence in the early days of digital audio by releasing one of the first commercially available digital audio tape recorders in 1977), built what could be considered the first digital audio workstation in 1978, using some of the most current computer hardware of the time. The Digital Editing System, as Soundstream called it, consisted of a DEC
PDP-11/60
minicomputer
running a custom software package called DAP (Digital Audio Processor), a Braegen 14"-platter hard disk drive, a storage oscilloscope to display audio waveforms to be edited, a video display terminal for controlling the system, and interface cards that plugged into the PDP-11's Unibus
slots (the Digital Audio Interface, or DAI) that provided analog and digital audio input and output for interfacing to both Soundstream's digital recorders and conventional analog tape recorders as well. The DAP software could perform edits to the audio recorded on the system's hard disks, as well as provide effects such as crossfades.
By the late 1980s, a number of consumer level computers such as the Apple Macintosh, Atari ST
and the Commodore Amiga began to have enough power to handle the task of digital audio editing. Macromedia
's Soundedit, with Microdeal's Replay Professional
and Digidesign
's "Sound Tools" and "Sound Designer" were used to edit audio samples for sampling keyboards like the E-mu Emulator II and the Akai S900, and soon went on to be used for simple two track audio editing and CD mastering purposes. In 1994, a company in California
called OSC produced a 4 track editing-recorder application called DECK that ran on Digidesign's hardware system, and which was employed in the production of The Residents
' "Freakshow" LP; this combination of audio software and hardware was one of the earliest examples of what we today would call a DAW.
Many major recording studios finally "went digital" after Digidesign
introduced its Pro Tools software, modelled after the traditional method and signal flow present in almost all analog recording devices. At this time, most of the DAWs were Apple Mac based (e.g. Pro Tools, Studer Dyaxis, Sonic Solutions
). Around 1992, the first Windows based DAWs started to emerge from companies such as Soundscape Digital Technology
(which was later acquired by Mackie
then by SSL
), SADiE
, Echo Digital Audio
and Spectral Synthesis. All the systems at this point used dedicated hardware for their audio processing.
The first Windows based software-only product, introduced in 1993, was Samplitude Studio (which already existed in 1992 as an audio editor for the Commodore Amiga).
In 1996, German company Steinberg
introduced Cubase VST
, which could record and play back up to 32 tracks of digital audio on an Apple Macintosh without need of any external DSP
hardware. Cubase not only modelled a tape-like interface for recording and editing, but also modelled the entire mixing desk and effects rack common in analog studios. This revolutionised the DAW world, both in features and price tag, and was quickly imitated by most other contemporary DAW systems.
There are many free and open-source software programs that can facilitate a DAW. These are often designed to run on a variety of operating system
s and are usually developed non-commercially.
The development of digital audio for Linux
and BSD fostered technologies such as ALSA, which drives audio hardware, and JACK
. 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 Ardour 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
.
Other open-source programs include virtual synthesizers and MIDI controller
s, 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 (LAD) mailing list is a major driving force in developing standards
, such as the LADSPA
, DSSI
and LV2
plugin architectures. The Virtual Studio Technology
(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.
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
-less, microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
-based systems such as the Synclavier
Synclavier
The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...
and Fairlight CMI
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI is a digital sampling synthesizer. It was designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, and based on a dual-6800 microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia...
. Modern DAWs are software running on computers with audio interface hardware.
Integrated DAW
An integrated DAW consists of a mixing consoleMixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
, control surface, audio converter, and data storage 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 with console automation
Console automation
Modern digital audio consoles or mixers use automation. Automation allows the console to remember the audio engineer's adjustment of faders during the post-production editing process. A timecode is necessary for synchronization of automation.- Types of Automation :...
dropped. Systems such as the Orban Audicy once flourished at radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s and television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
. Today, some systems still offer computer-less arranging and recording features with a full graphical user interface
Graphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
(GUI).
Software DAW
A computer-based DAW has four basic components: a computerComputer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
, a sound converter (also called a sound card or audio interface), a digital audio editor
Digital audio editor
A digital audio editor is a computer application for audio editing, i.e. manipulating digital audio. Digital audio editors are the main software component of a digital audio workstation.-For use with music:...
software, and at least one input device for adding or modifying musical note data. This could be as simple as a mouse, and as sophisticated as a MIDI controller keyboard, or an automated fader board for mixing track volumes. The computer acts as a host for the sound card and software and provides processing power for audio editing. The sound card (if used) or external audio interface typically converts analog audio signals into digital form, and for playback converting digital to analog audio; it may also assist in further processing the audio. The software controls all related hardware components and provides a user interface to allow for recording, editing, and playback. Most computer-based DAWs have extensive MIDI recording, editing, and playback capabilities, and some even have minor video-related features.
Simple smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
-based DAWs, called Mobile Audio Workstation (MAWs), are also available, used for example by journalists for recording and editing on location.
Common functionality
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 recorders 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 waveformWaveform
Waveform means the shape and form of a signal such as a wave moving in a physical medium or an abstract representation.In many cases the medium in which the wave is being propagated does not permit a direct visual image of the form. In these cases, the term 'waveform' refers to the shape of a graph...
display. In single-track DAWs, only one (mono
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
or stereo
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
form) sound is displayed at a time.
Multitrack
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
DAWs support operations on multiple tracks at once. Like a mixing console
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
, each track typically has controls that allow the user to adjust the overall volume
Loudness
Loudness is the quality of a sound that is primarily a psychological correlate of physical strength . More formally, it is defined as "that attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds can be ordered on a scale extending from quiet to loud."Loudness, a subjective measure, is often...
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. However, a DAW can also route in software or use software plugins to process the sound on a track.
DAWs are capable of many of the same functions as a traditional tape-based studio setup, and in recent years have almost completely replaced them. Modern advanced recording studios may have multiple types of DAWs in them and it is not uncommon for a sound engineer and/or musician to travel with a portable laptop-based DAW, although interoperability between different DAWs is poor.
Perhaps the most significant feature available from a DAW that is not available in analogue recording is the ability to 'undo' a previous action. Undo makes it much easier to avoid accidentally permanently erasing or recording over a previous recording. If a mistake is made, the undo command is used to conveniently revert the changed data to a previous state. Cut, Copy, Paste, and Undo are familiar and common computer commands and usually available in DAWs in some form.
Commonly DAWs feature some form of automation
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
, often performed through "envelopes
Envelope (disambiguation)
An envelope is the paper container used to hold a letter being sent by post.Envelope may also refer to:In mathematics:* Envelope , a curve, surface, or higher dimensional object defined as being tangent to a given family of lines or curves In science:* Viral envelope, the membranal covering...
". Envelopes are procedural line segment-based or curve-based interactive graphs. The lines and curves of the automation graph are joined by or comprise adjustable points. 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). Automation data may also be directly derived from human gestures recorded by a control surface
Control surface
In the domain of digital audio, a control surface is a human interface device which allows the user to control a digital audio workstation or other digital audio application. Generally, a control surface will contain one or more controls that can be assigned to parameters in the software,...
or controller
Controller (computing)
In computing and especially in computer hardware, controller is a chip, an expansion card, or a stand-alone device that interfaces with a peripheral device...
. MIDI is a common data protocol used for transferring such gestures to the DAW.
MIDI recording, editing, and playback is increasingly incorporated into modern DAWs of all types, as is Synchronization
Synchronization
Synchronization is timekeeping which requires the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. The familiar conductor of an orchestra serves to keep the orchestra in time....
with other audio and/or video tools.
History
The earliest attempts at creating digital audio workstations in the 1970s and 80s were limited by factors such as the high price of storage, vastly smaller slower processing and disk speeds available. But in the face of this, the company SoundstreamSoundstream
-The Company:Soundstream Inc. was founded in 1975 in Salt Lake City, Utah by Dr. Thomas G. Stockham, Jr. It was the world’s first audiophile digital audio recording company, providing commercial services for recording and computer-based editing...
(who previously came to prominence in the early days of digital audio by releasing one of the first commercially available digital audio tape recorders in 1977), built what could be considered the first digital audio workstation in 1978, using some of the most current computer hardware of the time. The Digital Editing System, as Soundstream called it, consisted of a DEC
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
PDP-11/60
PDP-11
The PDP-11 was a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Digital Equipment Corporation from 1970 into the 1990s, one of a succession of products in the PDP series. The PDP-11 replaced the PDP-8 in many real-time applications, although both product lines lived in parallel for more than 10 years...
minicomputer
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
running a custom software package called DAP (Digital Audio Processor), a Braegen 14"-platter hard disk drive, a storage oscilloscope to display audio waveforms to be edited, a video display terminal for controlling the system, and interface cards that plugged into the PDP-11's Unibus
Unibus
The Unibus was the earliest of several computer bus technologies used with PDP-11 and early VAX systems manufactured by the Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, Massachusetts.-History:...
slots (the Digital Audio Interface, or DAI) that provided analog and digital audio input and output for interfacing to both Soundstream's digital recorders and conventional analog tape recorders as well. The DAP software could perform edits to the audio recorded on the system's hard disks, as well as provide effects such as crossfades.
By the late 1980s, a number of consumer level computers such as the Apple Macintosh, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and the Commodore Amiga began to have enough power to handle the task of digital audio editing. Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
's Soundedit, with Microdeal's Replay Professional
Replay Professional
Replay Professional was a sound sampling product for the Atari ST. This was released in 1988.It included a suite of offline DSP functions , MIDI sequencing and a drum machine....
and Digidesign
Digidesign
Avid Audio is an American digital audio technology company. It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks. The company began as a project to raise money for the founders' band, selling EPROM chips for drum machines. It is a subsidiary of Avid Technology, and during 2010 the Digidesign...
's "Sound Tools" and "Sound Designer" were used to edit audio samples for sampling keyboards like the E-mu Emulator II and the Akai S900, and soon went on to be used for simple two track audio editing and CD mastering purposes. In 1994, a company in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
called OSC produced a 4 track editing-recorder application called DECK that ran on Digidesign's hardware system, and which was employed in the production of The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
' "Freakshow" LP; this combination of audio software and hardware was one of the earliest examples of what we today would call a DAW.
Many major recording studios finally "went digital" after Digidesign
Digidesign
Avid Audio is an American digital audio technology company. It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks. The company began as a project to raise money for the founders' band, selling EPROM chips for drum machines. It is a subsidiary of Avid Technology, and during 2010 the Digidesign...
introduced its Pro Tools software, modelled after the traditional method and signal flow present in almost all analog recording devices. At this time, most of the DAWs were Apple Mac based (e.g. Pro Tools, Studer Dyaxis, Sonic Solutions
Sonic Solutions
Sonic Solutions, acquired by Rovi Corporation in 2010, was a computer software company headquartered in Novato, California. In addition to having a number of offices in the U.S., the company also maintained offices in Europe and Asia.-History:...
). Around 1992, the first Windows based DAWs started to emerge from companies such as Soundscape Digital Technology
Soundscape Digital Technology
Soundscape Digital Technology pioneered Windows based multi-channel studio recording, editing and mastering from the early 1990’s, becoming one of the most widely respected Digital Audio Workstations.- Soundscape SSHDR1 :...
(which was later acquired by Mackie
Mackie
Mackie is a brand of the United States-based company LOUD Technologies. The Mackie brand is used on professional music and recording equipment, such as mixing consoles, loudspeakers, and DAW control surfaces....
then by SSL
Solid State Logic
Solid State Logic is a manufacturer of high-end mixing consoles and recording studio hardware headquartered in Begbroke, Oxfordshire, UK.- Company information :...
), SADiE
Sadie
Sadie, , a black Labrador Retriever, is a recipient of the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross. She was awarded for detecting an explosive device outside the United Nations headquarters in Kabul in November 2005, and was awarded by the Princess Alexandra on 6 February 2007...
, Echo Digital Audio
Echo Digital Audio
Echo Digital Audio designs and manufactures various digital audio recording interfaces, audio test equipment, custom professional audio products, and audio software...
and Spectral Synthesis. All the systems at this point used dedicated hardware for their audio processing.
The first Windows based software-only product, introduced in 1993, was Samplitude Studio (which already existed in 1992 as an audio editor for the Commodore Amiga).
In 1996, German company Steinberg
Steinberg
Steinberg GmbH is a German musical software and equipment company based in Hamburg. It mainly produces music recording, arranging and editing software as used in digital audio workstations and VSTi software synthesizers.- History :...
introduced Cubase VST
Virtual Studio Technology
Steinberg's Virtual Studio Technology is an interface for integrating software audio synthesizer and effect plugins with audio editors and hard-disk recording systems. VST and similar technologies use digital signal processing to simulate traditional recording studio hardware with software...
, which could record and play back up to 32 tracks of digital audio on an Apple Macintosh without need of any external DSP
Digital signal processor
A digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with an architecture optimized for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing.-Typical characteristics:...
hardware. Cubase not only modelled a tape-like interface for recording and editing, but also modelled the entire mixing desk and effects rack common in analog studios. This revolutionised the DAW world, both in features and price tag, and was quickly imitated by most other contemporary DAW systems.
Free and open source software
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s and are usually developed non-commercially.
The development of digital audio for Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and BSD fostered technologies such as ALSA, which drives audio hardware, and JACK
JACK Audio Connection Kit
JACK is a professional sound server daemon that provides real-time, low latency connections for both audio and MIDI data between applications that implement its API...
. 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
Open Sound System
The Open Sound System is an interface for making and capturing sound in Unix or Unix-like operating systems. It is based on standard Unix devices...
-driven soundcard to a mixing and editing front-end, like Ardour or Rosegarden
Rosegarden
Rosegarden is a free software digital audio workstation program developed for Linux with ALSA and QT4. It acts as an audio and MIDI sequencer, scorewriter and musical composition and editing tool...
. 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
Real-time computing
In computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"— e.g. operational deadlines from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within strict time constraints...
, with dedicated memory
Flat memory model
Flat memory model or linear memory model refers to a memory addressing paradigm in low-level software design such that the CPU can directly address all of the available memory locations without having to resort to any sort of memory segmentation or paging schemes.Memory management and...
, and with various options that minimize the DAW's latency
Latency (audio)
Latency refers to a short period of delay between when an audio signal enters and when it emerges from a system...
. This kind of abstraction and configuration allows DJs to use multiple programs for editing and synthesizing audio streams, or multitasking
Computer multitasking
In computing, multitasking is a method where multiple tasks, also known as processes, share common processing resources such as a CPU. In the case of a computer with a single CPU, only one task is said to be running at any point in time, meaning that the CPU is actively executing instructions for...
and duplexing, without the need for analogue conversion, or asynchronous saving and reloading files, and ensures a high level of audio fidelity
High fidelity
High fidelity—or hi-fi—reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts to refer to high-quality reproduction of sound or images, to distinguish it from the poorer quality sound produced by inexpensive audio equipment...
.
- AudacityAudacityAudacity is a free software, cross-platform digital audio editor and recording application. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and BSD.Audacity was created by Dominic Mazzoni while he was a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University...
is a free and open-source digital audio editor that can run on Mac OS XMac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, and Linux; it is particularly popular in the podcastPodcastA podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
community, and also has a large following among the visually impaired due to its keyboard interface. - Macaw is a public domain source code music program that runs on Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. It features a large number of built in instrument synthesizers and effects, and it can load and play SoundFontSoundFontSoundFont is a brand name that collectively refers to a file format and associated technology designed to bridge the gap between recorded and synthesized audio, especially for the purposes of computer music composition...
s. - RosegardenRosegardenRosegarden is a free software digital audio workstation program developed for Linux with ALSA and QT4. It acts as an audio and MIDI sequencer, scorewriter and musical composition and editing tool...
is a multi-featured audio application that includes audio mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
plugins, a notation editor, and MIDI matrix editor. The MusEMusEMusE is a free software MIDI/Audio sequencer with recording and editing capabilities. It was originally written by Werner Schweer and now is developed by the Muse development team....
Sequencer is a similarly featured audio application that includes an audio mixer and a MIDI sequencer.
Other open-source programs include virtual synthesizers and MIDI controller
MIDI controller
MIDI controller is used in two senses.*In one sense, a controller is hardware or software which generates and transmits MIDI data to MIDI-enabled devices....
s, such as those provided by FluidSynth
FluidSynth
FluidSynth, formerly known as iiwusynth, is a free open source software synthesizer which converts MIDI note data into an audio signal using SoundFont technology without need for a SoundFont-compatible soundcard. FluidSynth can act as a virtual MIDI device, capable of receiving MIDI data from any...
and TiMidity
TiMidity
TiMidity++, originally and still frequently informally called TiMidity, is a software synthesizer that can play MIDI files without a hardware synthesizer...
. 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 (LAD) mailing list is a major driving force in developing standards
Standardization
Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....
, such as the LADSPA
LADSPA
LADSPA is an acronym for Linux Audio Developers Simple Plugin API. It is a standard for handling filters and effects, licensed under the GNU LGPL. It was originally designed for Linux through consensus on the Linux Audio Developers Mailing List, but works on a variety of other platforms...
, DSSI
DSSI
DSSI is a virtual instrument plugin architecture for use by music sequencer applications. It was designed for applications running under Linux, although there is nothing specific to Linux in the interface itself...
and LV2
LV2
LV2 is an open standard for plugins and matching host applications, mainly targeted at audio processing and generation.LV2 is a simple but extensible successor of LADSPA, intended to address the limitations of LADSPA which many applications have outgrown.Currently there is support for LV2 in...
plugin architectures. The Virtual Studio Technology
Virtual Studio Technology
Steinberg's Virtual Studio Technology is an interface for integrating software audio synthesizer and effect plugins with audio editors and hard-disk recording systems. VST and similar technologies use digital signal processing to simulate traditional recording studio hardware with software...
(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.
Commercial systems
- Ableton LiveAbleton LiveAbleton Live is a loop-based software music sequencer and DAW for Mac OS and Windows by Ableton. The latest major release of Live, Version 8, was released in April 2009. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool for...
- ACID ProACID ProSony ACID Pro is a professional digital audio workstation software program. It was originally called "ACID pH1" and published by Sonic Foundry, but is now developed and sold by Sony Creative Software....
- Adobe AuditionAdobe AuditionAdobe Audition is a digital audio workstation from Adobe Systems featuring both a multitrack, non-destructive mix/edit environment and a destructive-approach waveform editing view.-Origins:...
- AMS NeveAMS NeveAMS Neve Ltd was the result of the amalgamation in 1992 of AMS with Neve Electronics.-Background:Neve Electronics was a British manufacturer of mixing consoles that originated in the work of Rupert Neve in the 1960s...
Audiofile SCX - Cakewalk SONARCakewalk SonarCakewalk SONAR is a digital audio workstation made by Cakewalk for recording, editing, mixing, mastering and outputting audio. The latest versions of the software are SONAR Home Studio 7, SONAR Home Studio 7 XL, SONAR X1 Producer Edition, SONAR X1 Studio Edition, SONAR X1 Essential Edition, and...
- Chaotic DawChaotic DawPrimarily a composing tool Chaotic is a program for fast music creation and experimentation. Currently it is at beta phase of development.-External links:**...
- Dub Turbo
- Digital PerformerDigital PerformerDigital Performer is a full-featured Digital Audio Workstation/Sequencer software package published by Mark of the Unicorn of Cambridge, Massachusetts for the Apple Macintosh platform.-Ancestry:...
- Energy XT
- FL StudioFL StudioFL Studio is a digital audio workstation developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface based on a pattern-based music sequencer...
- GarageBandGarageBandGarageBand is a software application for Mac OS X and iOS that allows users to create music or podcasts. It is developed by Apple Inc. as a part of the iLife software package on Mac OS X.-Audio recording:...
- Logic ProLogic ProLogic Pro is a hybrid 32 / 64 bit digital audio workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform. Originally created by German software developer Emagic, Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought Emagic in 2002...
- MadTracker
- MAGIX SamplitudeMAGIX SamplitudeMAGIX Samplitude is a computer program made by MAGIX for recording, editing, mixing, mastering and outputting audio. The first version was released in 1992 for the Amiga and three years later for Microsoft Windows...
- MAGIX SequoiaMAGIX SequoiaMAGIX Sequoia is a digital audio workstation. It is the most powerful of the MAGIX audio software family, essentially offering a superset of Samplitude's functionality...
- MixcraftMixcraftMixcraft is a multitrack recording application for Windows. The software functions as a Digital Audio Workstation , MIDI sequencer, virtual instrument host, non-linear video arranger, and as a music loop remix program....
- MU.LABMU.LABMU.LAB is a digital audio workstation for Mac OS X and Windows developed by MUTOOLS. It is available in three flavors: a free version, which is restricted to four tracks, and XT and UL versions which have fewer restrictions...
(free version available) - MultitrackStudio
- n-Track Studio
- Orion PlatinumOrion PlatinumOrion is a music production suite developed by Synapse Audio Software for Microsoft Windows.The software supports all stages of music production, from composing and arranging music to mixing and mastering. Its features include multitrack audio recording, audio generation, audio effects, and a...
- PreSonus Studio OnePreSonus Studio OnePreSonus Studio One is a music creation, production and mastering application for Mac OS X and Windows made by PreSonus.-Early development:In 2006, KristalLabs Software Ltd., a start-up company founded by Wolfgang Kundrus and Matthias Juwan, began working on Studio One in cooperation with PreSonus...
- Pro ToolsPro ToolsPro Tools is a digital audio workstation platform for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, developed and manufactured by Avid Technology. It is widely used by professionals throughout the audio industries for recording and editing in music production, film scoring, film, and television...
- Pyramix
- REAPERREAPERREAPER is a digital audio workstation created by Cockos. It is distributed with an uncrippled evaluation license with a nag screen explaining the license cost. It is currently available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X...
- RenoiseRenoiseRenoise is a contemporary digital audio workstation based upon the heritage and development of tracker software. Its primary use is the composition of music using sound samples, soft synths, and effects plug-ins. It is also able to interface with MIDI and OSC equipment...
- Reason
- SAWStudioSAWStudioSAWStudio is a Digital Audio Workstation. SAW is the acronym for Software Audio Workshop. SAW was one of the first DAW products available for PC at a time when Protools for Mac had virtually all industry market share. SAW's lower price appealed to budget-minded professionals, and SAW quickly...
- Soundtrack ProSoundtrack ProSoundtrack Pro was a music composing and audio editing application made by Apple Inc., which includes a collection of just over 5000 royalty free professional instrument loops and sound effects...
- SSL Soundscape
- Steinberg CubaseSteinberg CubaseCubase is a music software product developed by Steinberg for music recording, arranging and editing as part of a Digital Audio Workstation. It is one of the oldest DAWs to still enjoy widespread use...
- Steinberg Nuendo
- TracktionTracktionTracktion is a digital audio workstation for recording and editing audio and MIDI. The software is cross-platform, running on Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.-History:Tracktion was originally developed by a single UK designer/programmer, Julian Storer...
- UsineUsineSensomusic Usine is a Multitouch digital audio workstation used to manipulate, record and edit audio and MIDI in live situations.Usine is developed in Delphi by the French double bass player Olivier Sens, running on Microsoft Windows....
- Zynewave PodiumZynewave PodiumPodium is a Digital Audio Workstation software program that integrates audio recording, VST plugins and external MIDI and audio gear. An object based project structure allows for advanced media and device management....
(free version available) - Z-MaestroZ-MaestroZ-Maestro is a MIDI and digital audio sequencer designed with a focus on ease of use and power for the Windows platform. Developed by , it has seen over a dozen regular releases spaced two to six months apart.-History:...
Free and open source systems
- Ardour
- AudacityAudacityAudacity is a free software, cross-platform digital audio editor and recording application. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and BSD.Audacity was created by Dominic Mazzoni while he was a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University...
- LMMSLMMSLinux MultiMedia Studio or LMMS, is a free software digital audio workstation. Music can be produced by synthesizing sounds, arranging samples, and playing on a MIDI keyboard by combining the features of trackers, sequencers and synthesizers. It supports LADSPA and VST plugins.LMMS is available for...
- MusEMusEMusE is a free software MIDI/Audio sequencer with recording and editing capabilities. It was originally written by Werner Schweer and now is developed by the Muse development team....
- PsyclePsyclePsycle is a modular music production application to make music on Windows. Based on the tracker interface but featuring up-to-date features like VST compatibility and 96 kHz / 32bit wav rendering....
- QtractorQtractorQtractor is a hard disk recorder and digital audio workstation application for Linux. Qtractor is written in C++ and is based around the Qt4 library. Its author is Rui Nuno Capela, who is also responsible for the very widely used Qjackctl, Qsynth and line of Linux audio software...
- RosegardenRosegardenRosegarden is a free software digital audio workstation program developed for Linux with ALSA and QT4. It acts as an audio and MIDI sequencer, scorewriter and musical composition and editing tool...
- Traverso DAWTraverso DAWTraverso DAW is a cross-platform multitrack audio recording and audio editing suite with support for CD mastering and non-linear processing. It is Free Software, licensed under the GNU General Public License....
See also
- Audio restorationAudio restorationAudio restoration is a generalized term for the process of removing imperfections from sound recordings. Audio restoration can be performed directly on the recording medium , or on a digital representation of the recording using a computer...
- Broadcast automationBroadcast automationBroadcast automation incorporates the use of broadcast programming technology to automate broadcasting operations. Used either at a broadcast network, radio station or a television station, it can run a facility in the absence of a human operator...
- Comparison of digital audio editors
- Console automationConsole automationModern digital audio consoles or mixers use automation. Automation allows the console to remember the audio engineer's adjustment of faders during the post-production editing process. A timecode is necessary for synchronization of automation.- Types of Automation :...
- Multitrack recordingMultitrack recordingMultitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
- Multitrack recording softwareMultitrack recording softwareMultitrack recording software is tracking software that can record multiple tracks at once. It generally uses graphic notation for an interface while recording music that offers a number of views of the music....
- Music WorkstationMusic workstationA music workstation is an electronic musical instrument providing the facilities of:*a sound module,*a music sequencer and* a musical keyboard.It enables a musician to compose electronic music using just one piece of equipment.-History:...
- Radio softwareRadio softwareAlmost all radio stations today use some form of broadcast automation. Although some only use small scripts in audio players, a more robust solution is using a full Radio Automation Suite...