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GALLAGHER: Reason started out as mix or edit, so it’s pointless to compare music creation software with virtual them side by side. However, the mics, synths, samplers and drum machines. preamps and converters you use are a You could make beats and loops, but huge part of this—and your sound is only for years you couldn’t audio, as good as its weakest link. so basically you were making backing tracks. Now it has the ability to record So how do you choose one? all the tracks you want in audio, too. GALLAGHER: Sometimes these HORNSBY: Reason is a very good tool Fabio Lovino programs get pigeonholed—this DAW is with lots of different sound libraries, the only one that works for musicians, or and it doesn’t bog down your computer this one is only a film-scoring program. badly like other programs can. It’s also But that’s not the case. They all work with pretty simple and intuitive to learn. virtual instruments. They all have audio Mark Knopfler tracks and plenty of processing, so no How about the others? matter what you’re doing the program GALLAGHER: has taken a be used most often in Hollywood. can probably handle it. The question is, are traditional recording studio approach from HORNSBY: I watched a session where you comfortable working in that platform and the beginning, and that’s something a lot of was scoring Alice in do you like the user interface? If you want engineers find very comfortable to work with. Wonderland in . A lot of to try different ones out, some DAWs have It’s incorporated a lot of musician-friendly the synth pad sounds in that movie were “light” versions that may have less tracks or features as well, but the classic studio vibe software synths recorded in Performer. features, but are affordable ways to test the has really been its focus. There’s a good group of people who use waters. Some also have free demos that you HORNSBY: If your goal is specifically it, especially if they want to do serious can download. to engineer audio, then compatibility is MIDI programming. important—and Pro Tools offers How can one learn to better that. There’s not a rentable use DAWs? commercial recording studio ‘You want to know the HORNSBY: The elements of a out there that does not have DAW—the mixer, the waveform, the a Pro Tools system. If you’re a program well enough that audio effects—all of this stuff didn’t keyboard player and you want just appear out of nowhere. These to record lots of it becomes transparent.’ programs were originally based on with software synths, then Logic fundamentals in technology that might be more user-friendly. –Mitch Gallagher have been used to make records That program has had MIDI for the last 50 years. The principles and sequencing down for a long time and Does one brand sound better or that were used to record the Beatles and Workstations can help you make has the capability to do more advanced MIDI different from another? Pink Floyd on analog tape are the same as editing. Plenty of consumers use Cubase, HORNSBY: On a very technical level I could they are now. They’re just being expressed a masterpiece—if you use them correctly and on a pro level it pops up every once in make an argument that different DAWs sound in a computer environment. So if people are a while—Kelly Clarkson’s My December was different. But on a practical level, nobody’s serious about wrapping their heads around all cut in Cubase. I used Nuendo for a little going to say that any DAW does a bad job. these programs, I recommend backing up and For decades making a record meant big Sound. Mark Hornsby is a Nashville producer What are the most dominant DAWs? while and it felt like, for lack of a better term, Different environments lead you to make learning where recording technology principles studios, big budgets and countless feet of and engineer who has worked with artists HORNSBY: Avid Pro Tools and Apple Logic a more professional and expandable version different creative decisions when you record, came from first. analog tape—but all that has changed. Today like Dolly Parton, the Judds and Travis Tritt. are the two majors I see. I also know a lot of Cubase. Michael Wagener does a GALLAGHER: There are lots of tutorial nearly any musician can get access to a Hornsby, a certified Pro Tools expert, is also of arrangers who like to use MOTU Digital lot of work mixing hard-rock records videos available online, but there’s no computer and the necessary software required a software development consultant for noted Performer. is a different beast, for Metallica, Skid Row and Ozzy substitute for using the program and to craft an entire album in the comfort of his or music technology companies. but it’s very popular. Osbourne on Nuendo. Chuck Ainlay challenging yourself to learn its features. her own home. So what exactly is this powerful GALLAGHER: You also have Steinberg mixes Mark Knopfler records in Nuendo, Some use programs for years and software that makes the magic happen? The What basic features do different DAWs Cubase and Nuendo, Sonar and too. But both use it as a tape machine. still don’t know key commands and studio-in-a-box Digital Audio Workstation— have in common? some newer ones like PreSonus They’re using a recording console to mix shortcuts—features that would make their better known as DAW. GALLAGHER: All DAWs include the and Capture, and Propellerheads Reason 6, and not doing it completely inside the lives easier. It can be painful, but spending Using the right DAW can open up components you need to record, edit, process, which is a little different. computer, like many do with Pro Tools. time with the manual can help. You want enormous creative possibilities. But with mix and finish a music or audio production from to know the program well enough that it so many software packages available— beginning to end. All you need in addition to How are Live and Reason different? What’s good for film scoring? becomes transparent. If you don’t, then it and the many differences among them the software is a way to get sound in and out HORNSBY: In simple terms, Live is focused GALLAGHER: Digital Performer is very takes away from making music. ranging from obvious to arcane—how do of the computer and a way to listen. They take on looping audio and moving stuff around strong in that world, as is Pro Tools. They HORNSBY: The more you understand you know which one is right for you and the place of a large recording studio and the on the fly without interrupting playback. have features for synchronization and about how your computer operates, your project? We turned to two experts gear it would include. DJs and live performers love it because you spotting that make video easy to work where and how it stores files and such, to help us break down the complex world HORNSBY: They all include those basic can control and tweak in real time while with. Most DAWs will let you import the better off you’ll be. Anything that helps of DAWs. Mitch Gallagher is a Grammy- features—recording, playback, editing—but in onstage. I’ve always been impressed by video, so if you’re doing a band DVD you you make better technical decisions helps winning composer, technology journalist/ different ways. Once you get past that and Live. It wouldn’t be my go-to program for can drop in video directly. But Performer you make better recordings.

author and editorial director for Sweetwater start to get specialized, then things change. recording or editing, though. and Pro Tools are the two that seem to Harper Smith –Michael Gallant

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M6-Vol2-Mag-GOLD-adjusted2.indd 56 11/7/11 10:47 PM M6-Vol2-Mag-GOLD.indd 57 10/25/11 1:52 AM + GEAR FEATURE “Some newer ones like PreSonus Studio SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 M MUSIC & MUSICIANS One and Capture are the most dominant MAGAZINE DAWs out there.” MMUSICMAG.COM