How Well Do You Know Your DAW?

If you’re trying to get a job done, you need the right tools. But more than just having the right tools for a job, you need to also know how to use them well. It sounds obvious, but why is it then that we don’t take that advice with our recording software?

Via UBC Learning Commons Flickr

I’m Seeing A Trend

After posting over 31 mixing videos last month, I confirmed what trend I’ve started to see since starting The Recording Revolution: people do not know how to use their DAW of choice. Oh, sure they know how to fire it up, create and arm some tracks, record a bit, through on a plugin or two, and bounce it down to an MP3, but that’s where things get interesting.

I start to get a lot of the same questions on the blog, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, and they all could be answered by one afternoon of sitting down with the manual or FAQ. These aren’t audio related questions in the recording craft sense of the word. Rather they are technical software related issues that a boring PDF or support page could resolve. I hate to say it people, but you need to know your software before you start complaining.

Up Your Chances Of Success

You want a great recording or mix? I can promise you that no amount of expensive gear, plugins, or fancy tips will help you unless you can properly wield your DAW. I’m not saying you have to be a total power user, but you certainly need to have spent some time studying up on the software (boring, I know) so that when you do sit down to make music you can create with ease, freedom, and speed.

You instantly up your chances of musical success when you know the ins and outs of your software. And one other thing, you’re more likely to enjoy your chosen software and less likely to want to stray off to another potential DAW in hopes of recording bliss. You might be surprised just how kick butt your current DAW is, if you simply read up on it.

Get Schooled

There’s a reason why my first video product was REthink Pro Tools. Why even begin to teach recording and mixing concepts to Pro Tools users (as many of you are) if they don’t even know the half of what their DAW can do. Trust me, I love me some Pro Tools, but it doesn’t matter how great the ads say it is if you don’t know how to harness it.

Get schooled in your DAW of choice. Read the manual, watch YouTube videos on it, or pick up a more indepth tutorial. It will be worth your time and (little) money. Then, and only then, will you actually be freed up to make better music now!