The PERFECT DAW...

R

rhymesmif

Guest
Would have a Reason like interface...

Would have a FL Studio like Edison chopbox...

Would have a Nuendo like ease of recording...

And be light as a portable app...

I just don't understand why beatmaking has to be so damn convoluted! I mean, when I want to work, I don't want to have to chop samples in another program and dump it in. I want to be able to chop, sequence and build all within one window without having to use a million and one VSTs that take up precious hard drive space! Beat Thang is a joke, Maschine is too expensive an investment for a part time producer and I'm tired of bouncing around from Ableton to Reason to FL Studio only to be reminded that I like some and hate some parts of each!

You'd think one of these companies would've figured it out by now.
 
nuendo is just fine. grab kontakt and you can precisely cut any sample up, flip it, assign it to keys, put fx on and all that and plus you will have alot of new sounds at your arsenal
 
Yeah...I know. Too long...but the thread caught my imagination
  1. Open Source. Not necessarily free - but open.
  2. Complete OS replacement. Less overhead. Might need its own hardware, but would be based on and upgradable with standard/cheap PC parts. The base hardware would be cheap (compared to a desktop/laptop). You’d be able to build your own system – just have to get a proper chipset, video card, etc...
  3. Would be 100% modular. Each aspect of the DAW would be its own program (think: unix/linux). When something breaks, your entire session doesn't crash. This would also allow for different types of sequencers, mixers, tools, etc to be added without reworking the entire system. Rolling updates.
  4. It would operate in a server/client model. Number crunching, recording, storage, etc on the server. Client runs the GUI. These can be on a single computer or multiple computers (think Myth TV). Anything that can be called in a client/server system could be called from hardware as well (think: kick ass hardware controllers). Batch edits can be done by script – no GUI needed.
  5. There would need to be a new plugin format to work with the client/server system. There would be wrappers for the old formats (VST, dx, rtas, etc)
  6. You can have as many clients or servers as you want – linked however you please. One would be a master server node, the others would be slaves. Multiple nodes will load balance. A bedroom studio could have a single box running both server & client. A huge, multiroom studio could run multiple servers all networked and in sync and have multiple clients.
  7. A client can lock a track for editing – like modifying a record in a database. Others can listen to the changes live or play the last saved version. Since the system is modular, multiple people could work on the same session at the same time – individually or in collaboration. The server would just load another sequencer instance (or mixer or whatever) if needed. The data is separate from the underlying tools.
  8. Everything would network over TCP/IP (LAN, internet, VPN, whatever). The system will be smart enough to compress audio based on network speed if you’re trying to record while playing back over a slow network. There would be little latency; similar to a VST effect. If it’s just playback, it would compress the audio with something like FLAC if over a slow (internet) connection. Gigabit LAN can do uncompressed audio. This would allow for a goofy level of collaboration. You can have a friend jack into your session, run your drums through his Distressor and you can hear it in near real time with decent quality - or let it buffer and hear it uncompressed - in sync with your track. No im/exporting needed. You would be able to rent someone's server and virtually jack into their hardware synths like they were in your room - all controlled via midi over the network. You can use your midi controller to play a VSTi on your system and it will also trigger the the same VSTi at a friend's house – in another time zone – over the internet – in real time - while he's freaking the samplers playing on both systems.
  9. Since the front end apps are just GUI’s, it would be possible to run on nearly any hardware (silent netbook in the studio - server in a closet) or any OS (Front end for Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android, etc). No more mixing down to an MP3 to go check out the mix in the car. You take your iPod Touch and play the actual session – anywhere you can get wifi (or 3g or 4g).
  10. Any visual aspect of the software would be skinnable and hackable. Designers wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel. They'd easily design an interface that looks like Fruity Loops or Cubase or Reason or whatever. No limits. They can dumb it down or make it look like an xterm window if they want. They’re just making a GUI to control apps on the server but can decide how that control is implemented (knobs, sliders, text boxes, voice commands, etc). There would be a market place for custom front ends, scripts, presets, macros, etc. I think that would be popular with the hobbyist crowd.
  11. All preferences would be written to standard XML files. Presets would also be saved in XML format. You load a sampler and create a new program - the sample > note assignments are stored in xml format. You can then edit it in any number of apps. Notepad if you wish.
  12. Any action in the DAW would be saved to a SQL server. I’m talking presets used, midi data, channel settings, automation, everything. Unlimited undo even after closing and relaunching a project. This would also make converting to other applications simple as SQL is open. Easy backups and transfers too. Would need a good bit or storage - but you could have a SQL server specifically for this if you made THAT many songs.
etc...and so on and so forth.
 
On this same note, why waste so much time waiting for the software companies to make the perfect software? Perfect your flow with what you've got and nothing will stop you.
 
I think that the perfect D.A.W. would be ProTools 9 with a midi focus mode that uses the Reason sequencer and has Record's style of mixer with built in eq and compression on each channel but has the summing of Harrison Mixbus or Slate Digital Virtual Console Collection.

I would personally would switch to Record/Reason if they had some third party compressors, eq, and modulation.
 
Currently on my PC I have Reason 4 w/ Recycle, Presonus Studio One, Ableton Live 8, FL Studio 9, Nuendo 3 Cubase 5, Mu Tools and PTLE somewhere in the closet. As much as I use Recycle I'm not happy with having to dump it into Reason, you know? I'm absolutely in love with Edison and the FPC, if they incorporated a drag and drop precise chopping module, they'd take over the game. Basically what I'm saying is there is no good standalone piece of software for sampleheads like me.
 
rhymesmif said:
As much as I use Recycle I'm not happy with having to dump it into Reason, you know? I'm absolutely in love with Edison and the FPC, if they incorporated a drag and drop precise chopping module, they'd take over the game. Basically what I'm saying is there is no good standalone piece of software for sampleheads like me.
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There are tons of programs out there for sample heads. I am a sample head. I use Reason 5 and can make beats with nothing else. I have Record and I only use Record for the damn SSL board. If they didn't have the SSL board in Record I would have sold my license months ago. I chop samples right in the sample editor. Acid was built for sample heads. It was the first piece of software out there to focus on that audience and has been around since the late 90s. Fruity Loops is more than capable for sampling. Live is more than capable for making tracks with samples. The problem is not the software. ITS YOU!!!
 
You are right X. The software available today is simply incredible. If anyone doesn't think so, try using an Old School all hardware set up just for a reality check.
 
kb420 said:
You are right X. The software available today is simply incredible. If anyone doesn't think so, try using an Old School all hardware set up just for a reality check.
Click to expand...
exactly. cats cry and complain about software limitations and have no clue what a real limitation is. Go try a mpc 60. Then come back and ask me why you can only sample 26 seconds of a song and where is the import button lol
 
I actually think programs need LESS features. Restriction breeds creativity. It gets seriously boring having everything available to you all the time whenever you want. Just look at trackers.... You would be surprised what you can achieve with an incredibly small set of tools.
 
Hlecktro said:
I actually think programs need LESS features. Restriction breeds creativity. It gets seriously boring having everything available to you all the time whenever you want. Just look at trackers.... You would be surprised what you can achieve with an incredibly small set of tools.
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As much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree. I have more software than I need, but sometimes it seems like I can come up with the best ideas by using my Motif Es all by itself. (as if the Motif Es is considered limited!!!:hello:)
 
Whatever software limitations I've had, I realized at some point that the biggest limitation I had was my own lack of skill. I suspect that a great many people are in the same boat. So that is the area that likely needs the most work. Another thing I noticed often. When I read articles about professionals and what they used, I found that a lot of them were not using the latest and greatest of anything. A lot of them seemed to busy to even be up on what the latest and greatest tools were. The problem with software and computers is that people come to think that they play a larger role in the creative process than they really do. As a graphic artist, I experienced and see the same thing happening there. The truth is, the magic happens before you launch a graphic application.

Having said all of that, you can't afford to be screwing around with any software that is unstable. That's certainly too much of a distraction. I appreciate the Props for making software that is rock solid stable. My perfect sequencer is Cubase, rock solid stable, and with all of it's own built in instruments and fx so that I won't have to ever use a VST plugin or any outside stuff that will risk a crash.
 
Right on Xabition, it is the person making the beat. I've never had much problem using the DAWs, it's just that I wanted something more convenient to specifically the chop game is all. There's plenty of programs that CAN do it but not one that I particularly enjoy using. The entire point of technology is to remove limitations and solve problems, I'm just wondering when someone at these companies will cherry pick the best ideas and put them together in a more cohesive package?

It's not even frustration I feel towards the subject either--just curiosity. One for a quicker, more effective means of making a sample based beat. My ideal DAW would consist of nothing but Edison, FPC, Subtractor and Reason EQ. My current workflow is like this:

1. Throw a sample into Recycle. (or into Audacity first to trim if longer than 5 mins)
2. Auto chop (I used to make manual chops but found it faster and more fun to use whatever the cpu gives me)
3. Dump into Reason and sequence. (sometimes hook/verse, sometimes continuous)
4. Add drums.
5. Add bass (if necessary otherwise I grab the low end from the sample, compress it and sit it in the mix)
6. EQ mix.
7. Export.

Voila! That's mine. What's y'alls?
 
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1. Open the tool window in Reason
2. sample and chop
3. Program drums
4. Program sample
5. eq mix
6. export
 
rhymesmif said:
Currently on my PC I have Reason 4 w/ Recycle, Presonus Studio One, Ableton Live 8, FL Studio 9, Nuendo 3 Cubase 5, Mu Tools and PTLE somewhere in the closet. As much as I use Recycle I'm not happy with having to dump it into Reason, you know? I'm absolutely in love with Edison and the FPC, if they incorporated a drag and drop precise chopping module, they'd take over the game. Basically what I'm saying is there is no good standalone piece of software for sampleheads like me.
Click to expand...

Get an MPC... But how is Presonus as far as ease to use?
Im thinking to switch from FL studio to Studio One.
 
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