Throw away your DAW

Yes, you can make almost anything in a DAW these days, but that doesn't necessarily mean you will. In today's video we take a look at how the limitations of music hardware shaped my latest project, and how the results would have been vastly different had I done it in a computer.

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[controllerforce_East]

In my research on entering the DAW era. I get this. I love my old fashion bang on the buttons drum machine. No one who isn't an accomplished musician is gonna like you after viewing this.

[WEL]

Les Paul once told me that once he had his multitrack working (the 8 track monster developed by Les Paul, intern Ray Dolby, and Ampex), he never had a big hit again. It turns out that the limitations of single track sound-on-sound brought out the ultimate focus and perfectionism in his work. No undo. No extra takes. No mixing afterwards. And remember, most of his sound on sound was with a single tape machine (ie, destructive and permanent overdubbing).

[synthnerd]

Back in the 90s I did everything straight to two track – practice, structure, a hardware sequencer and a couple of synths – I used to draw arrangements on graph paper... and then record it, maybe do a couple of takes, and move on. And then when I started with DAW work I would get very bogged down in detail and repeatability. More recently I've found it very liberating to go back to a 4-track and start with a single synth, take it steady but work quickly – by which I mean, make decisions and stick to them, but don't rush in favour of a poor choice. Put the right stuff down and you don't need to fix it later. So yeah, I absolutely get where you're coming from here.

[scasey]

As Flaubert said, the work is finished when there nothing left to take away.

[ogasimov]

The idea of getting creative in a limited environment is not a problem of having DAW, computer, or working in a box… it is a mindset problem. What is the difference between a DAW and a limited grovebox or synth? There is absolutely no difference because you can limit yourself in a DAW to four tracks or one synth. There is no choice if you don’t give it to yourself. It is not a problem of “DAW vs DAWless”, it is a problem of “me vs myself”. You are the key, your mindset is your key. The rest, is just about tools you like or don’t.

[XanderEwald]

Ultimately, it’s all about the music. Do whatever you need to do to make it happen, but at the end of the day, when I listen to a record, I really don’t care how it was made.

[MiskoSchaumov]

I went DAWless on my last album to focus more on my skills as a performer. I recorded each song live to a 2track, which allowed me to say "done" a lot sooner than I would on my DAW. 😂

[jimmyk]

When I was in my early twenties I took my wife to the Huntington library in California. On display were letters written by George Washington. They were beautifully written. Each were well thought out, purposely written. No erasing no adding additional thought. Pure heart felt expression. listen to the Carter family country music recordings. What was captured was pure emotion, pure imperfection. Pure human feeling.
What is lost in music today. Every thing is now placed perfectly in place. Devoid of human emotion. Technology can be great. But put 99% of all artist today in front of a wax record recording they could not express themselves. True artistic expression is fading. I long to hear an artist express themselves in a way that will be endearing forever. No overdub no multiple takes just real human emotion.

[hi-fiproductions]

You articulate yourself really well, your content is engaging & consistent. Having too many options & getting new gear too often, always results in writers block and indecisiveness. Less is more, having a few things you know really well is better than a 100 things you don't.

[swanofnutella]

I'm a massive fan of creating within constraints. All my best ideas were written with the aid of a very old tablature program called powertabs. ...if you DO indulge in a daw, indulge with purpose, otherwise keeping it simple within a Daw is also possible. ...And if you DO go dawless, do it for the right reasons, not just to be the coolest succulent hipster in the room, but for live rig performance reasons and/or to actually challenge and create ...Jameson you certainly created something special in this EP. I just listened to it 3 times in a row. Excellent work.

[henrykuppens]

I just started studying music as a hobby (retired) and aiming at creating musical landscapes with synthetic music.
It's not an easy task to get a real good understanding of the 'fabric' of music, but it's obvious that one gets nowhere without it.
And yes, I discovered the piano as the most comprehensive tool to learn music the right way.

I listened to tons of synthesizer music, also to the typical, let's call it "DAW music", you find on the huge festivals.
They mostly lack any depth in musical sense, although I do agree that the purpose of these festivals is the atmosphere of emotions, rhythms, and massivness.

What you're saying makes a lot of sense to me, so I subscribed.

[nopenada]

I'm currently collaborating with a friend on a hardware synths only album project. I say hardware synths only, meaning we're using DAWs for effects and recording, but that's it. No soft synths whatsoever. It has forced me to dive deep into programming my synths, which I REALLY love doing.

[alfiedotwtf]

That was poetic, and speaks to a lot of truth. De-GAS 🤘

[minimal]

There was a moment when I realized that booting up the computer, starting the software, fiddling around with the mouse and pushing around blocks on the screen annoyed me to the point I almost lost interest im making music. I didn't touch a computer again from then on. I do not aim for perfect productions, I make music for the thrill of it. Synths, samplers and groove boxes are sufficient for me and brought the life back to it.

[vraalten]

Again and again I love the questions you pose about the creative process itself. Very inspirational! I am discovering for myself that interesting ambient music is so much more about less is more and certainly not trying to fill up all the space! For sure, all the endless possibilities of nowadays can get overwhelming. In the end of the day, as you say, we have to explore what we love most and come up with our own unique music. Keep up the great work!

[pauljs]

The same principle can still be applied to music production on the computer, it's just a matter of adhering to the restraint of whatever self-imposed rule you can come up with. Something simple like five tracks, two effects, and keeping three randomly chosen instruments with the other two being of your choice - might force you to have something interesting if you can stick to it.

[iagmusicandflying]

The moment you pick a tool to create music, you've constrained yourself to the idioms of that tool and your knowledge and skill of that tool. This is a Good Thing. I approach composition very differently depending on when I'm using guitar, bass, keyboard, my Push, or scratching out things in the piano roll. One of my favorite things is to come up with something on one of these things, and then figure it out on another which usually gives me new perspectives.

[donaldpriola]

Limitations are fun. They force decisions, and more refinement, which we all need. I find myself drifting to various methods. Truth is, I still use a DAW more like a tape recorder anyway.

[TilliKommunikation]

Great piece, very important points here.

[AntOn-msjt]

Excellent subject matter. All beautiful things happen through constraints and limits. A river flowing that is constrained by land, clouds blowing through mountains, or a breath flowing through a flute. Without limits, we can't capture the here and now, because mathematically speaking, a limit is nothing more than a snapshot of something approaching a point in time. Great video!