DAW Software for your Home Studio

DAW Software is really the brains of your home studio system. Now a primarily a computer based recording system, there are several major players across the Mac and PC platform. The features and functions, layout and underlying logic are going to either work for you, or not. It’s best to find the one that works WITH you, fits your style, workflow and taste. It stands to reason, then, that the DAW software could be the primary basis on your platform decisions. It may be worth poking around and seeing who you know or who you can contact, or where you can go to test out the different DAW platforms to see which one clicks with you too.

What is a DAW?

The central system for your home studio environment. Before computers it was an electronic system built to record, edit, and produce digital audio. Today, the DAW generally consists of several components - including a DAW computer, and DAW software, with integrated external/internal hardware.

DAW software is the host application for your home recording studio. As i mentioned earlier, it is really the brains of the operation, as it is the interface and control center for all signal being recorded, mixed, and played back.

What is DAW software?

DAW software is fundamentally a multitrack recording software program. It can record and process Audio/MIDI tracks side by side, control automated mixing and sound editing parameters, support audio processing plugins and other music software applications.

DAW software is more advanced than ever. It usually includes a number of Plugins, Soft Samplers, Synths, and sounds right inside the package.

Primary Features (What you need your DAW to do)

Multitrack Recording - Recording and editing of multiple audio and midi tracks silmultaneously.

Automation – The process of automatically controlling fades, panning, track, and master volume levels.

Sync recording – Allows the synchronization with external devices. Can act as a slave or as a master.

Seem-less editing - Easy manipulation of audio and/or midi tracks. In some cases, editing is as easy as the cut/copy/paste functions of a word document.

Time-Stretch – Adjusting the tempo of a recorded song or sample, without changing the pitch or sound quality of the recording.

Control Surface Compatibility – Mackie control, HUI, are a couple of the latest control surface protocols. This is a firmware that lives in a hardware device - designed to synchronize music software, and offer hands on control of your recording applications.

The Big 5 DAW Software Platforms (Mac & PC)

Pro-Tools - (Avid) Mac/PC: Industry standard, excellent audio editing capabilities and since its so widely used, pro-tools “sessions” can be shared and collaborated on with ease.

Logic - (Apple) Mac: Midi leader with ever increasing power in the audio department. A composers paradise, extensive sound and sample library included, large plugins included in logic pro suite everything you need right out of the box. My DAW of choice. Logic comes in two flavors, PRO (full version) or Express (reduced feature set - but still very capable).

Cubase - (Steinberg) Mac/PC: Visually appealing and a big hit with some, but a little behind in the midi editing department.

Sonar - (Twelve Tone Systems) PC: Very modern, well loved by its users, and mature platform.

Digital Performer - (Marc of the Unicorn) Mac: Great for digital composition and film scoring.

I’ll be adding to and updating this page, if you want something covered, or have any suggestions, share your thoughts.