DAW = Digital Audio Workstation

This could have gone in the computer forum, but I'm more interested in the music aspect than the tech aspect. I would like to know how people use them, which DAW they use and why they like it.

I've been using Cubase for years and know it inside and out. Because of that I'm a bit bias towards it. Lately I've been trying to learn Logic Pro and now Pro Tools since I now have a Mac.

Do you play music? What is your interest in DAWs?

Very nice to meet you, Hawaii.

I'm using Tracktion. It is basically GarageBand on steroids. They say it works beautifully on PCs, but it's a little buggy on Macs. My buddy got fed up with the bugs and went to Logic. He sez you have to get through a 1000 page manual to learn how to use it. True?

My history with Traction is kind of a long story.

I have been into music my whole life. Started out with classical, then got into a little pop band in the 70s. We all re-united about 15 years ago. I got the idea that it would be fun if we could collaborate on music the same way we had before, only by swapping edits and clips by email. One of them (who is in Hawaii) was a sales rep for the company that produces Tracktion, and he gave us all a free copy. The collaboration part didn't work out, although my piano/singer buddy and I gave it a try.

BUT, I quickly found that Tracktion would allow me to fulfill my lifelong fantasy of actually composing real music and being able to hear it played. Most of what I do is in the classical mode. Most of it is done in MIDI, point-and-click notation. I was able to find an old 4-track master of a tune we did back in the 70s, dress it up with some effects, slow it down a little, and add a little horn line that I had always wanted to hear. Pretty fun.

One nifty thing I was able to do was to use Tracktion to create samples from my Yamaha keyboard that could be imported into SampleTank. There are probably hundreds of potential uses that I haven't thought of yet. How about you?

Hey Artio. Nice to meet you too

Yea, it's pretty amazing what you can do now with a small home studio. I started getting into recording since my ex was a singer and had some songs she wanted to lay down. Since then, I've recorded mostly band demos and a few full productions. Lately, it's been just me with my acoustic guitar and a beer messing about since I've been so busy.

It's quite the hobby. I enjoy it =)

Do you have any tracks posted on the web that you would like people to hear?

I'll post a full project I recorded and mixed for someone else. It's not my cup of tea style wise but I think it came out sounding professional.

http://noemptysky.com/html/listen.html

I listened and, like you, it wasn't my style, but good job recording. You are a better sound engineer than me. I have a few things posted. (Bet you couldn't tell that I was fishing for an invite.)

http://soundcloud.com/artlowell/luna-rising
Luna puts most people to sleep. Best heard with a good set of speakers or headphones. (I suck as a sound engineer). Hanging gives you an idea what we were doing back in the 70s.

http://soundcloud.com/drstrik9

The first tune is mine. (that's me on rhythm mandolin). The rest is all Michael. He is very talented, and his stuff is well worth listening to.

I still kick it old school, I've got a stereo and some speakers. There's even a dual "tape deck" over there, though I must admit I use my "cd" player more often.

Tape deck? What is "tape deck"? Oh, I think I remember.

I've still got a few bootlegs from when I was on Dead Tour, don't have any other way of playing them.

I have a few tapes like that. I decided that memory lane probably isn't all that it's cracked up to be. I have tons of memorabilia from earlier times that I never look at or listen to.