Is the DAW dead?
That’s the question raised by a post at Digital Music Doctor.
The Doctor argues that innovation has slowed in the world of digital audio workstations:
We recently updated our Digital Audio Workstation Shootout to incorporate the changes in Avid Pro Tools 9 and Cakewalk Sonar X1. These new versions mark the first time in almost a year that any major DAW has been upgraded. All of the DAW producers seem to have hunkered down, waiting for the economy to improve.
You might think that both Cakewalk and Avid would have packed their releases full of new tech toys to entice buyers back into the market. But that didn’t happen.
The most striking thing about both of these releases is that, although they incorporate major software changes, neither of them introduce any significant new user functionality.
The Doctor suggests that the slowdown in DAW development is because the DAW has plateaued as a technology:
Every technology, whether it’s telephones, computers, the internet, or whatever, has a life cycle. The most exciting time for a technology is in the introduction and growth phases. During that time new features create excitement and generate new sales. However, as a technology matures, the value of new features becomes marginal and interest wanes.
It is pretty clear that most DAW’s have reached to maturity phase in the Technology Life Cycle. There will always be the Sonar and Pro Tools and other DAW fan boys who lobby fervently for minor enhancements and go “whoo hoo” when the next release arrives. But DAW’s no longer drive significant advances in digital music, and there is a real question as to how far can current DAW technology be extended.
While we’re not ready to call the DAW “dead”, it’s been a long time since a vendor “wowed” us with an update to their digital audio workstation.
We raised this issue in our 10 Predictions For Electronic Music Making In The Next Decade – and tried to image what a future DAW might do:
But, by and large, DAW manufacturers are still making virtual versions of traditional hardware studios. Most soft synths still look and act like their hardware predecessors, and that’s what buyers are demanding.
At this point, imitating traditional studios is horseless carriage thinking – letting what we can imagine be defined by the past.
In the next decade, music software is going to get smarter and interfaces will make bolder leaps. You’ll tell your computer that you want to make an drum and bass track and your DAW will anticipate the way you’ll want your virtual studio configured. Ready get started? Say “gimme a beat!” You’ll interact with your DAW to “evolve” new sounds. You’ll hum the bassline and your DAW will notate it. You’ll build the track by saying that you want a 32 measure intro and a drop down to the bass and then bring the kick back in after 16 measures. You’ll draw a curve on a timeline to define the shape of your track, do a run through and improvise over the rhythm track. Then you’ll tell your DAW to add a middle eight and double the bassline and to master it with more “zazz” and it will be saved in the cloud for your fans to listen to.
The DAW isn’t dead – but it does seem like a lot of them are on life support.
What do you think vendors need to do to get you excited about upgrading again?
In other words – they're not for "real musicians"?
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Seems like a lot of people are getting hung up on the headline and missing the question:
What would it take to get you excited about paying for the next $200 upgrade to your DAW?
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The DAW will be dead when there is something to replace it. There isn't. Things have just matured and stabilized and that is a really really good thing. Part of the problem is that when things progress too quick or they are still in the growth stage then you don't really have the time to fully learn all the details of a system before you're onto a new one or an updated one. We really need to get over this fetishism around needing to upgrade upgrade upgrade just for the sake of it.
I agree that things like Max4Live are probably the next step for some people. I know it is for me. But overall things being stable and mature is great.
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Who needs hype when FL Studio upgrades are free
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For me; features which seem useful to me. Can't really say what stuff since I'm very happy with the environment I use now. Yet I'm sure people will eventually come up with new "exciting" stuff again.
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Music genres only die for some. I use Logic for through-composing and orchestral sketches. Having Live-like looping capabilities is irrelevant to me, but not to someone else.
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You could make music with just a stick if you wanted to, but why?
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Cubase, Rewire, Ableton, Vst, on XP with a couple Scope Pulsar cards… what else do you need? Just built a new machine with PCI slots and this setup is good for another 5 years.
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Some people like what comes with the upgrades, fixes, features, effects and instruments. Unless you buy into FL Studio and get nothing but demos and bug fixes that should have been done years ago.
People don't mind upgrading as long as you get something for it. See what you're really getting for free and dollar for dollar on an upgrade without having to buy additional plugins. People don't mind investing in a company that has their customers' best interest in mind.
Think about the concept of "free" upgrades for life. Something has to pay for this to happen. Where does that leave their priority list?
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If they didn't have a rising amount of profit, it would be better to just keep the money in the bank and collect interest. You also have inflation: if a company is *just* profitable, it's actually losing money in the long run.
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There have been such environments for decades, yet people still use DAWs that are at heart a replacement for a mixing desk, outboard gear, tape recorder(s), and instruments. Myself included. Most music is not about fiddling with stuff, it's about getting things done. Even the most technically involved productions have phases where you just need to mix something or apply some ordinary effects.
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Perhaps I’m the only one lusting for very specific features, but I have yet to see a proper and easy implementation of OSC in DAWs. I hope iPad apps will continue to push OSC development so that we will see more intelligent controlsurfaces also in ‘real’ hardware.
I think people look to their old (analog) hardware partly because it works without having to assign (7-bit ! ) midicontrols to get a tangible experience away from the computerscreen.
OSC (flexible 32-bit controls) and multitouch could make workflow even better and making music more fun when the operating of the DAWs takes less focus. – NOT that the DAW should try to make the music for you *cough*SongSmith*cough*
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"if anything might die in the next decade or so, it's technology fetishism in lieu of real human experience"
Let's hope so!
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"if anything might die in the next decade or so, it's technology fetishism in lieu of real human experience"
Let's hope so!
Wise words, Gordon…
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Excellent point. I use a PC with Cubase and a couple of interfaces, hardware and software synths, a range of mics…probably keep using that until the computer breaks down or my needs outgrow it. Let's face it – studios didn't run out and buy new multitrack tape machines every year or two. The gear doesn't have to wow me as long as it works and produces quality output.
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OH MY GOD THE DAW IS DEAD. LOOK AT THAT CHART. THAT SINGLE CURVED LINE SHOWS EVERY FACT NUMBER AND STATISTIC OF WHY THE DAW IS DEAD.
Dude, if you’re going to make bogus claims please spare us the agony of looking at another bullshit propaganda chart with no factual evidence. Daws are bigger than ever i don’t know what rock you’ve been living under. They have so many complex features now that nobody can think of anything that’s missing yet and very few have “mastered” any daw to it’s limits. Certainy not people who say they are “dead.”
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