Dawless or Nah?

There is a deadly epidemic that or musicians and lovers of music and technology for decades. It is known as GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).

The uncontrollable urge to acquire the next shiny piece of new equipment. The only known cure being watching episodes of Bad Gear by Audio Pilz on youtube.

But in the age of planned obsocelence is the cure finding the perfect DAWless setup so your Abelton doesn’t crash mid-show?

Audio Pilz has singlehandedly saved me for buying this for no reason at least 10 times. However on the other hand when it’s bad gear approved. I struggle to hold myself back.

Like with the Teenage Engineering EP-1312 Medieval. Even he had nothing to say and I am STRUGGLING to hold myself back.

Now, what does that have to do with DAWless or Nah? Well, each of these pieces of gear and much of the gear he reviewes and that draws musicians to producation can be used in two ways. You can use it DAWless , which means: without a computer that has a DAW or Digital Audio Workspace, installed. Or you can operate with a DAW. Which involves playing producing, and performing with a laptop present.

Some examples of DAW include: Abelton, Reaper, Cubase, Garageband, Logic Pro, Protools and FLStudio (also known as Fruity Loops). Some versions are paid and some are free. BUT, you do need to upload plug-ins to customize your production setup. Each DAW has its own stock plug-ins but they are limited. It is important to note that many DAW plugins cost the same as an entry level DAWless workstation. Both can range between $100 to upwards of $1k or more depening on how much you’re wanting to spend.

It is important to note one thing: As a musician myself I believe that is isn’t the equipment that makes you better.

It’s what you do creatively with the equipment that makes you unique as an artist.

Your flavor in composition and production and how you learn and grow makes you better.

So the long and short of it is.

It’s up to you!

Personally, for live performance I prefer a DAWless setup that keeps me engaged with the audience and in the moment.

I save the screen for at-home music production and composition. But even then I only use it after many sessions of ideation in my studio.

For now I use a Soundcraft Notepad-5 Small Format Analog Mixer at home. It has a USB interface so I can plug it into my computer for at-home sessions and play with the ideas in Abelton afterwards.

For the next project I will use the experimental grid-less Blockhead DAW which I will review soon and share with the song I produce with it!

Until the next time!

In the meantime feel free to join my discord channel to discuss art, music and technology more!

To AI or Not To AI:That is the question.