What is a DAW?

Published by Loop Community on

The world of creating music has changed so much through the years.  As worship leaders, sometimes it’s hard to stay current with everything in the music creation world.  So when I heard the term “DAW” for the first time, I thought I was hearing some audio engineers talking in code about some special tool only they knew about.  It was one of those conversations where you nod along acting like you know exactly what they are talking about.  The funny thing is that I had already been using a “DAW” for about a year.  So what is a DAW?  DAW stand for Digital Audio Workstation. It is music software specifically designed for recording, editing and playback of digital audio.  The first DAW was created in the 70’s by a company called SoundStream.  Now we have a variety of DAW options for recording and creating music.

A DAW is a powerful tool that worship leaders can use to enhance their weekend services.  We have these tools so readily available to us at such a low cost that each worship leader should know at least the basics of how a DAW works.  I currently use a DAW program called Ableton live.  I believe this is the most versatile DAW.  Not only can you use this to record and create music but this program is specifically designed for live performance.  One of the industry standards that you can find in most recording studios is a software program called ProTools. Logic is another DAW that is widely used.  I recently started using Logic for recording some small projects. Many love Logic because of the sounds included in the software.  A couple other great DAW’s are Garageband, Acid, Cakewalk, Propellerhead Reason, Cubase, and PreSonus Studio One.
So what DAW do you use?  What question do you have about DAW’s?
About the Author:
Jake Stemo is a worship leader from Wichita, Kansas. Go check out his band In All Things Love
Categories: Software

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