DAW Basics - Revision history

Meambobbo: /* Automation */

2015-08-21T01:09:52Z

‎Automation

Meambobbo at 20:53, 12 April 2015

2015-04-12T20:53:00Z

Meambobbo at 05:21, 16 March 2015

2015-03-16T05:21:07Z

Meambobbo: /* Plugins */

2015-03-15T03:00:40Z

‎Plugins

Meambobbo: /* Input Monitoring */

2015-03-15T02:58:54Z

‎Input Monitoring

Meambobbo at 02:58, 15 March 2015

2015-03-15T02:58:04Z

Show changes

Meambobbo: /* Tempo */

2015-03-15T02:57:30Z

‎Tempo

Meambobbo: /* Bounce/Render */

2015-03-15T02:53:58Z

‎Bounce/Render

Meambobbo: /* Looping */

2015-03-15T02:34:23Z

‎Looping

Meambobbo: /* Panning */

2015-03-15T02:32:38Z

‎Panning

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:09, 21 August 2015
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	Automation events can be manually edited or recorded like MIDI. Single automation events can control multiple parameters, or multiple envelopes can control the same parameter. The sky is the limit. Just be sure to stop tinkering at some point and finalize that track before you die!		Automation events can be manually edited or recorded like MIDI. Single automation events can control multiple parameters, or multiple envelopes can control the same parameter. The sky is the limit. Just be sure to stop tinkering at some point and finalize that track before you die!
		+
		+	For more, see [[Automation]].

	{{top}}		{{top}}

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 This covers the basic functionality of most professional '''DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)''' software.  It's probably nothing new to anyone already producing music, although some sections might be interesting.  This is a quick overview for the noobs.
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 {{top}}
 [[Category:Recording]]
 [[Category:DAW]]

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 Many plugins come with their own graphical user interface (GUI), which often resembles their real life counter-part.  For example a plugin simulating a specific distortion pedal may use a visual mock-up of the pedal with virtually knobs and switches that rotate and switch via click dragging.
-The term '''VST''' is often synonymous with plugin.  VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology{{TM}}, which is one of the most popular API's for programming plugins.  However, there are other types of plugins, such as '''Audio Units (AU)'''{{TM}}, '''Real-time Audio Suite (RTAS)'''{{TM}}, and '''Rack Extension (RE)'''{{TM}}.  For a complete list of plugin format compability with DAWs, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_multitrack_recording_software#Plugin_support here].  Also, a piece of VST software may be a synthesizer/sampler rather than a plugin, although these are technically called VSTi's, a type of [[#Virtual Instruments|virtual instrument]].
+The term '''VST''' is often synonymous with plugin.  VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology by Steinberg, which is one of the most popular API's for programming plugins.  However, there are other types of plugins, such as '''Audio Units (AU)''' (Apple), '''Real-time Audio Suite (RTAS)''' (Digidesign), and '''Rack Extension (RE)''' (Propellerhead).  For a complete list of plugin format compability with DAWs, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_multitrack_recording_software#Plugin_support here].  Also, a piece of VST software may be a synthesizer/sampler rather than a plugin, although these are technically called VSTi's, a type of [[#Virtual Instruments|virtual instrument]].
 == Virtual Instruments ==

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 Many plugins come with their own graphical user interface (GUI), which often resembles their real life counter-part.  For example a plugin simulating a specific distortion pedal may use a visual mock-up of the pedal with virtually knobs and switches that rotate and switch via click dragging.
-The term '''VST''' is often synonymous with plugin.  VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology{{tm}}, which is one of the most popular API's for programming plugins.  However, there are other types of plugins, such as '''Audio Units (AU)''', '''Real-time Audio Suite (RTAS)''', and '''Rack Extension (RE)'''.  For a complete list of plugin format compability with DAWs, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_multitrack_recording_software#Plugin_support here].  Also, a piece of VST software may be a synthesizer/sampler rather than a plugin, although these are technically called VSTi's, a type of [[#Virtual Instruments|virtual instrument]].
+The term '''VST''' is often synonymous with plugin.  VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology{{TM}}, which is one of the most popular API's for programming plugins.  However, there are other types of plugins, such as '''Audio Units (AU)'''{{TM}}, '''Real-time Audio Suite (RTAS)'''{{TM}}, and '''Rack Extension (RE)'''{{TM}}.  For a complete list of plugin format compability with DAWs, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_multitrack_recording_software#Plugin_support here].  Also, a piece of VST software may be a synthesizer/sampler rather than a plugin, although these are technically called VSTi's, a type of [[#Virtual Instruments|virtual instrument]].
 == Virtual Instruments ==

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 There is often an '''input monitor''' button per track.  This sends the input stream from the audio track to the software output ''when the track is record armed''.  Essentially, what you hear before you press record is exactly what will be recorded.
-Hardware interfaces generally provide a [[Interface Setup#Inputs/Mixer|software mixer]] to control the hardware.  It also usually includes an option to enable '''direct monitoring''' (or '''hardware monitoring''') of any of its inputs.  This routes the audio going into that input directly to the output without having to be routed through the computer's operating system and other software.  '''The advantage of direct monitoring is that there is minimal latency.'''  For non-acoustic instruments that use heavy audio processing like electric guitar, this is a very good thing.  Trying to play guitar but not hearing your playing until a 10th of a second or more throws off the feel and timing of the player.
+Hardware interfaces generally provide a [[Interface Setup#Inputs/Mixer|software mixer]] to control the hardware.  It also usually includes an option to enable '''direct monitoring''' (or '''hardware monitoring''') of any of its inputs.  This routes the audio going into that input directly to the output without having to be routed through the computer's operating system and other software.  ''The advantage of direct monitoring is that there is minimal latency.''  For non-acoustic instruments that use heavy audio processing like electric guitar, this is a very good thing.  Trying to play guitar but not hearing your playing until a 10th of a second or more throws off the feel and timing of the player.
 When trying to set up your DAW and track inputs, direct monitoring can be misleading.  The sound from the direct monitor might be fine, but the track you want to record that audio might be set incorrectly, so that it only records noise, the wrong audio source, or silence.  Rather than trying to record a test clip, then play it back; it's often simpler to disable direct monitoring on the interface and enable software monitoring.  This may mean you are hearing more latency, and it is difficult to play in-time while recording; but it will quickly demonstrate if your track is recording correctly.  What you hear from the software monitor is exactly what your recording will sound like.  You will also hear any processing the DAW performs on the signal, such as level changes, panning, or [[#Inserts|insert plugins]], which are bypassed in direct monitoring.
-'''When actually recording, I recommend turning off software monitoring and using your device's direct monitoring to remove the disorienting nature of latency'''.  If your interface has very low latency, however, the difference may be negligible.  Then, software monitoring is preferable, as it makes sure you don't accidentally record a difficult part perfectly only to later find out you weren't properly set up to record it.  ''If both direct and software monitoring are enabled, you may get a phasy or comb-filtered type sound because both sources will be sent to output.  They will be slightly out-of-sync, causing the unwanted effect.  Make sure to use only one or the other.''
+''When actually recording, I recommend turning off software monitoring and using your device's direct monitoring to remove the disorienting nature of latency''.  If your interface has very low latency, however, the difference may be negligible.  Then, software monitoring is preferable, as it makes sure you don't accidentally record a difficult part perfectly only to later find out you weren't properly set up to record it.  ''If both direct and software monitoring are enabled, you may get a phasy or comb-filtered type sound because both sources will be sent to output.  They will be slightly out-of-sync, causing the unwanted effect.  Make sure to use only one or the other.''
 ''NOTE: Modern DAW software is equipped to know what the audio latency from your input source is and time-shift the resulting recording so that you never know it existed.''  When recording, you should play in-time with the click track and/or other tracks.

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 == Tempo ==
-Tempo is typically handled one of two ways, selectable by the user.  Either the tempo can be set to ''fixed'' at a user-specified bpm or the tempo is set by the ''tempo track''.  Fixed is simple - just set it and go.  The problem is that your song cannot change tempo at any point, which is common for intro's and outro's to emphasize the build-up or climax of the song.
+[[Music Theory Basics#Rhythm|Tempo]] is typically handled one of two ways, selectable by the user.  Either the tempo can be set to ''fixed'' at a user-specified bpm or the tempo is set by the '''tempo track'''.  Fixed is simple - just set it and go.  The problem is that your song cannot change tempo at any point, which is common for intro's and outro's to emphasize the build-up or climax of the song.
 The tempo track looks identical to any other automation track, but it is tied firmly to tempo.  The same way you edit any other automation track you would edit the tempo track.  So for instance you can set the initial tempo to 60 bpm, which ramps up to 120 bpm.
-'''Be wary of changing the tempo once you have laid down audio tracks.'''  MIDI data doesn't need to change, as it is only tied to tempo and not real-time.  Audio, however, is fixed to a length of real-time.  To time-shift it to fit different lengths of time must increase or decrease the pitch of the audio.  Then to revert it to its original pitch requires using pitch-shifters, which typically leave noticeable artifacts.
+''Be wary of changing the tempo once you have laid down audio tracks.''  MIDI data doesn't need to change, as it is only tied to tempo and not real-time.  Audio, however, is fixed to a length of real-time.  To time-shift it to fit different lengths of time must increase or decrease the pitch of the audio.  Then to revert it to its original pitch requires using pitch-shifters, which typically leave noticeable artifacts.
 [[Category:Recording]]
 [[Category:DAW]]

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 When you playback your project, the DAW software must process each track, with all its required audio synthesis, plugin processing, panning, volume, fades, trims, and automation, as well as mixing all the resulting audio down to stereo ''in real time''.  As you start adding more and more tracks and effects, this begins to take its toll on system resources.  If the load exceeds the CPU's ability to process in real time, playback will stutter, lag, or otherwise experience undesirable output.
-The solution to this problem is to buy a new computer.  ...Just kidding, you need to ''bounce'' or ''render'' smaller parts of your project.  Bouncing is recording playback to an output file or a new track.  This is how you will get the final .wav or .mp3 file from your DAW to distribute to your millions of adoring fans.  But it is also useful to get to that point where your project becomes so big and taxing that it becomes difficult to impossible to keep adding parts or editing.  For example, let's say you want to add one more guitar track, but this causes your DAW to reach the CPU limit.  You have a virtual instrument track for drums with a lot of reverb and some other effects that takes up a lot of CPU, but you know it's finalized.  So you can bounce just that track down to an audio file then replace it in your project.  Now your computer only needs to playback audio to get drums in the mix instead of synthesizing and processing the sound.  This frees up enough CPU to add at least 1 additional guitar track.
+The solution to this problem is to buy a new computer.  ...Just kidding, you need to <u>bounce</u> or <u>render</u> smaller parts of your project.  Bouncing basically records the output of a track or an output bus to an output file or a new track.  For example, let's say you want to add one more guitar track, but this causes your DAW to reach the CPU limit.  You have a virtual instrument track for drums with a lot of reverb and some other effects that takes up a lot of CPU, but you know it's finalized.  So you can bounce that track down to an audio in a new track, then mute the drum track.  The DAW will use far fewer resources playing back an audio event than it would computing the reverb and other effects on-the-fly.
 == Tempo ==

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 == Looping ==
-The timeline controller features a button that looks like a U laid sideways, or an arrow that turns around and points backwards.  This button enables ''looping''.  With looping enabled, whatever section of the timeline is selected will loop indefinitely.  When playback reaches the end of the selection, it automatically jumps back to the beginning of the selection.  Playback can start before the selection, but will start looping once it reaches the timeline selection.
+The timeline controller features a button that looks like a U laid sideways, or an arrow that turns around and points backwards, or a circle with an arrow in it.  This button enables <u>looping</u>.  With looping enabled, whatever section of the timeline is selected will loop indefinitely.  When playback reaches the end of the selection, it automatically jumps back to the beginning of the selection.  Playback can start before the selection, but will start looping once it reaches the timeline selection.
 Looping is a good way to mix or edit an individual track, so you can listen to playback as you edit without having to keep jumping back to the timeline controller to play the appropriate part of the project.
 == Bounce/Render ==

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 == Mixing Board ==
 Some DAWs feature a mixing board window that can be viewed at the same time as the timeline; others have a dedicated view.  This looks like a typical [[Mixing Boards/Consoles|tangible mixing board]], with all the tracks laid out side by side with vertical sliders to view and edit their levels.  This is most useful for balancing the volumes of the multiple tracks, but can also quickly get to the tracks' inserts, panning, or other features accessible from their control panels.
 == Overdubs ==