The Digital Audio Workstation

The recording studio traditionally consisted of a large collection of hardware devices that were necessary to record, mix and process audio. That paradigm persisted until the computer began to take over the individual tasks one by one until we are now able to recreate the studio equipment exclusively inside the computer. This has resulted in many changes in how music is recorded, but at its core the process is essentially similar to the original methods. The beginning and end of the process still involves analog systems, the microphones and loudspeakers, neither of which can be accomplished by a computer. Between those events, however, we now employ software running on general-purpose computers to perform the actions formerly requiring specialized hardware. It is not surprising, then, that the graphical interface presented by the software resembles the hardware formerly required. Cynical old-timers have referred to the process as “mixing with pictures” of the equipment.