Fascinating phenomenon trending over the last few years if you look on you tube now you see hundreds of home studio videos with enthusiasts and live performers using dozens of those $199, $299 and $399 , $ 499 drum machines and ( sometimes cheap ) gadget mini synths which have exploded on the market, all playing in sync …they mostly don’t appear to be using daws. And there must Be a downstream effect on VST developers, why pay $199 for a bass VST when you can get an Analog gadget by Korg for around the same cost and it’s so much more fun. Also I haven’t noticed any new developers for major string and brass libraries in the last 5 years , we have one giant developer east west and one old school , Vienna, two or three others on the map that’s pretty much it.
What does this mean for the daw industry? How will it impact future DAW releases?
Even more interesting what does it mean for the progression of music. Esp with modular exploding.
Now I will always need a daw for commercial work as many on this forum but on the other hand it’s giving access to those who can’t afford a Dave smith prophet to have some fun. Yes I have Dave smith and Moog synths and only so much space for good workflow and so many inputs into my daw so I have yet to buy a gadget synth but I will get the Roland vocoder gadget that just came out.
Back to The other thing I noticed is the explosion of interest in modular. Modular is next on my list and then I am done with my studio, I have to be ! Out of space and resources.
I think it is a bit of both, I am personally excited to see the return of analog and hardware devices at more manageable prices. Even some of the old synths, that sound fantastic, are expensive when purchased used.
I will say that I am in a bit of a disagreement about your comment about sample libraries. Some different companies like sample modeling and berlin strings are doing some nice work, but I will agree that the main developers still are the most tried and true.
I haven’t seen those companies I actually use spitfire…yeah No one markets better than east west though they understand what drives their audience they are selling an image as well as a wide variety of great sounding tools.
I will say this, as it seems to be the case, a lot of the obscure samples may have one or two keepers in them, while the rest may be used just to blend with the heavy-hitter patches from other companies, such as EW or Vienna.
Sample modeling has been around since the late 1990’s , Berlin Strings look like a tamed version of LASS but nevertheless the trend is just not what it use to be getting back to my observation. I stopped blending libraries some time ago, for me it’s innefecient to chase this and not as convincing, and really not necessary but it’s a common practice or for many a predicament over time for sure. Pure Orchestral scores / cues are just not in demand like they were years ago but hey that’s a whole new thread topic.
McLuhan said that new media first makes old media junk and then makes it art.
Just like the DAW made recording systems and mixing desks junk, and they have returned as art (to get that sound, or to be a bit cool) so something else will do the same of the daw.
The problem with your question is that I don’t see the devices you speak of as new medias, rather repackaged medias… smaller boxes, but same technology.
The question is what is the impact of the explosion of the use of such gadgets on the need for a daw, not what is better. I agree it’s rehash and some of it poorly done but if you look closely it’s changing the way music is put together and possibly evolving. I also see tape machines coming back around in modular format.
