The Basickz

The software equivalent of an analog console is known as a Digital Audio Workstation, or DAW as I will commonly be referring to in this blog. The main difference is that an analog console is made of wires, capacitors, and transistors, it is a physical piece of equipment. A DAW is a piece of software that is designed to emulate many of functions of an analog console in digital form. To get audio into your computer you first need to convert it to a digital signal with an analog to digital converter, or A/D converter. I will go into the specifics of this process later, but all you need to know at the moment is that this is where digital and analog recording part ways. This step is not necessary if you are recording completely analog. Both analog and digital recording involve recording many tracks of audio, and than editing and splicing them together. The difference lies in how this is done, and what happens to the signal along the way.

To recap, this is an analog console: 

This is a DAW:

There are obvious differences between the two, but also some similarities. One is physical and one is not, yet they both have faders and means for editing. The bigger difference is in the cost, which is something I don't even want to think about. Both an analog console, effects, and tape machine, as well as a Pro Tools HD rig cost many many times what my current setup does.

For the record the DAW I use most often is Ableton Suite 8, and I am looking forward to version 9 which is coming out on March 5th. Expect a full feature once I get my hands on it. Ableton has been around since 2001 and focuses on sampling and looping audio as well as arranging MIDI rather than recording audio, although it is fully capable in that respect. Another program I use, or try to use, is Renoise, which is a DAW not based around emulating a recording console at all, but comes from the heritage of tracker programs which goes back to the early 90's.


Here are some links if you want to check these out:

http://www.ableton.com/
http://www.renoise.com/