DAW Software

Achieving exactly the recorded guitar tone youre after is easier than its ever been, with the facilities on offer in a DAW package such as Digital Performer...

We return to the subject of Clip Envelopes, and discover how its possible to work around a Live limitation and record MIDI controller data into Clips in real time.

Your toolkit for producing polished, contemporary-sounding vocals should include appropriate EQ techniques and subtle ambience processing. Enter the workshop...

As well as the new user interface, MIDI and score editors described in Part 1 of our review, Pro Tools 8 offers an impressive collection of instruments and plug-ins, new ways of working with Playlists, and even the option of surround mixing in LE.

As well as creating some excellent new plug-ins and making operational improvements, Cakewalk have been working hard to make Sonar 8 the most CPU-efficient version yet.

With Cubase 4.1, Steinberg overhauled the Sample Editor, creating a very powerful new tool for real-time pitch and time manipulation.

Version 6 of DP comes with improved hosting of Audio Unit plug-ins — but what does that mean for the MAS format? We consider the issues, and bring you a guide to DP's new bundled convolution reverb, ProVerb.

Dynamics control without compression, tuning for dummies, and vocoding for fun and profit... There's all this and more in part one of our complete vocal production masterclass.

Eight is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture. Will this eighth version of Pro Tools bring prosperity to Digidesign, as they try to establish their world-leading recording and mixing application as a serious contender in the music-creation market?

I'm at a loss. I cannot get the EVOC PS vocoder to work in Logic Pro 7 on a Power Mac G5 with Mac OSX 10.4.11 — or with...

Since we first reviewed Cockos' shareware Reaper multitrack recording package, it has undergone hundreds of improvements — but the bargain asking price has barely changed.

Sonar 8 introduced Beatscape, a new Cakewalk instrument designed specifically for the groovily inclined. We dig behind the interface for some tips and tricks you won't find in the documentation.

Having done your best to capture a high-quality recording of your vocals, how best do you go about processing them so they work in your mix?

Housekeeping tasks might not be as much fun as making music, but staying on top of them should ensure safely backed-up tracks and a hassle-free system performing at its best.

You can save time and cut down on mouse-clicks by using Pro Tools' window management features.

Think computer music's got no soul? Think again! Join us as we explore Reason's ReGroove mixer...

There's more to dynamics than compression and expansion, and now transient shaping is part of Sonar 8, courtesy of the TS64 Transient Shaper plug-in.

If you've lots of third-party plug-ins in different formats, it can be a pain to keep tabs on where they're stored and which version to use. We explain how DP's plug-in manager functionality can help, as well as offering guidance on DP6 features, including the essential new 'pre-generation'.

If you want to group tracks in Cubase, Group channels aren't always the best option. We explore what you can and can't do with the Link Channels function.

Logic's quantisation facilities can do lots more than just helping you to tidy up sloppy timing — although they can certainly do that. Here's a simple guide to some of the possibilities.

Digidesign's Transfuser plug-in is a sequencer within a sequencer — not to mention a sampler, loop-slicer, synth, drum machine and effects unit! We offer some expert tips to help you get to grips with it.