Digital Audio Workstations

A significant percentage of recording are now recorded and mixed digitally in their entirely, without ever hitting tape, on a digital audio workstation. A digital audio workstation or DAW is an integrated computer hosted production environment for recording mixing or even mastering audio. DAW usually represent a cost-effective way of producing a high quality recording, and can work as a stand alone tape less configuration, or in conjunction of with tape-based digital multitrack transports like ADAT or DA- 88.

A DAW is made up with of personal computer with an audio input/output interface such as Digidesign ( Digi 003, Project mix IO, ICON, Control 24), a hard disk for recording and storing audio data and a recording/mixing/editing software package such as Pro Tools or Nuendo. Like most areas involving computers in present years, DAW has become far more powerful and most affordable medium of Digital media arts.

With a high quality audio interface and AD Converters, DAW can record digital audio with the same or somewhat better fidelity as the best stand alone digital recorders. But a DAW is more than just a recorder, once your tracks are recorded; DAW’s offer a single working environment for all your subsequent production tasks:

1) Enhance individual tracks with reverb, EQ, compression and other effects” or “DSP” process using their built in or “third-party” software tools;

2) Edit tracks with great precession and control while looking at a display of the actual wave form on screen, cutting and pasting individual pieces of music to create an exact arrangement you want;

3) Mix the tracks using a final stereo version using a virtual on screen mixer that allows automation nearly every level of controls and effects;

4) “Premaster” your mixes, optimizing the final overall program level of a group of songs, adjust the song to song or relative levels, and enhancing the sound of the mixes with EQ, Compression and/or other built in or third party plug-in processing software’s;

5) Crate a play list of the mixed master that you want on your album release, include fade ins/fade outs and the duration of the spreads” (silence between tracks) ; and

6) Record that play list to DAT or CD-R using a program such as Digi Design Masterlist CD and so on.

The Ease and control with which DAW’s can perform these steps makes them practically well suited for preparing a master that confirms with the guidelines will be laid out in the next blog DAT master preparation.
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