Digital Audio Workstation Research Articles

The influence of generative AI on popular music: Fan productions and the reimagination of iconic voices

This essay explores the burgeoning phenomenon of fan-generated content that utilizes generative artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic the voices of deceased or retired popular music artists. This practice can be seen as an extension of Digital Audio Workstations’ (DAWs’) capabilities, potentially leading to the creation of musical pieces that resemble traditional covers and mash-ups. The essay analyzes three representative works in this creative category. Two of them are of a fan nature, exploring imagined alternative paths in the development of popular music, while the third is a parody. As these examples demonstrate, the rise of AI covers raises numerous questions. These include concerns about the nature of human creativity and the potential response of the music industries to this technology’s proliferation.

Creating Sonic Immersiveness: Sound Generators and Digital Audio Workstations for Generating Sound and Music for Digital Stories

Creating Sonic Immersiveness: Sound Generators and Digital Audio Workstations for Generating Sound and Music for Digital Stories

Use of digital audio workstations in music education to develop creative thinking and increase self-efficacy

Use of digital audio workstations in music education to develop creative thinking and increase self-efficacy

Immersive technologies in the formation of musical audio space

Immersive audio technology is increasingly used in music, with devices like cell phones and televisions replicating formats. The increasing adoption of immersive audio technologies by both consumers and professionals in the music industry has made this topic more relevant. The purpose of the research is to analyse immersive technologies that contribute to the creation of the musical audio environment. The research employed methods: literature and historical review, technical analysis, practical cases, statistical method, and the author’s personal empirical experience. The article examines the function of audio space in relation to the perception of musical art and the characteristics of musical audio space. The proposed classification categories musical audio spaces into two distinct types: natural and artificial, as well as offline and online. The article’s statistical data illustrates the changing patterns of growth in online audio consumers and the rivalry between radio stations and streaming platforms to enhance their impact on shaping listeners’ audio spaces. The research demonstrates that streaming platforms actively encourage the incorporation of musical content in immersive formats as a means to expand their market share and evoke heightened emotional and perceptual responses in customers. The article outlines techniques used in immersive music spaces to provide a distinct aural experience for the listener. The article’s practical analysis of immersive audio technologies encompasses the examination of requisite microphones and digital audio workstations that facilitate the transition from two-dimensional audio space formation to threedimensional. In contemporary circumstances, the distribution of musical items is progressively employing threedimensional immersive technologies. The article enumerates audio technologies that guarantee the creation of an immersive auditory environment for both listeners and musicians: Ambisonics, KLANG: technologies, and DPA 5100. The practical significance of this work rests in examining the perceptual attributes of users of immersive technologies and exploring the potential for developing immersive technologies, such as immersive musical instruments or immersive radio stations

Harmonizing Innovation: A Journey through the History of Computational Music

The history of computational music traces a fascinating journey of innovation and creativity, intertwining disciplines such as computer science, mathematics, music theory, and psychology. From its inception in the mid-20th century to its current state of sophistication, computational music has evolved into a multifaceted field encompassing algorithmic composition, digital signal processing, machine learning, and interactive music systems. Pioneering works such as Roads' "The Computer Music Tutorial" and Biles' "GenJam" exemplify the early endeavors in digital sound synthesis and algorithmic composition. The roots of computational music extend back to the 1950s and 1960s with the pioneering efforts of Max Mathews, John Chowning, and Lejaren Hiller, laying the groundwork for future advancements. Technological breakthroughs in the 1970s and 1980s, including the advent of digital audio workstations and FM synthesis, further propelled the field forward. The 1990s and 2000s witnessed democratization and accessibility with the rise of affordable software tools and online collaboration platforms. Today, computational music continues to evolve with the emergence of deep learning and generative AI techniques, albeit accompanied by ethical considerations regarding copyright ownership and algorithmic bias. In conclusion, the history of computational music underscores the transformative power of technology in shaping musical expression and invites us to explore new frontiers where creativity knows no bounds.

Analysis Of Different Types of Digital Audio Workstations

With the development of technology, digital audio workstation (DAW) has become a must-have tool for modern music production, which allows music producers to edit, record, mix and add effects on the computer to create music works of various styles and qualities. This paper mainly introduces the definition, purpose, function, type and development of DAW, and how to choose the appropriate DAW according to individual needs. This article compares and analyzes three commonly used DAWs (Apple Logic Pro X, Cubase 12, Ableton Live Lite 11) from the aspects of personal budget, user experience, software operating system compatibility, long-term development, and whether live performances are needed. Their advantages, disadvantages and application range are pointed out. This paper also points out some limitations of DAW, (e.g., the requirements of hardware and software conditions, the difficulty of learning and mastering, the problems of music creation), and looks forward to the future development direction of DAW (the improvement of user experience and personalization, the utilization of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and the integration of other fields and media). These results can help independent music producers to understand the basic situation and selection criteria of DAW, so as to better use DAW to create and express their own music ideas, and provide some reference and inspiration for further improvement and innovation of DAW.

An artistic approach is taken that uses principles in quantum mechanics to understand the signature sound created by granular synthesis in an undergraduate course on music synthesis techniques

Music Synthesis Techniques is an advanced undergraduate course that explores how various methods are used to create and manipulate synthesized sounds used in sound design and audio production. Students explore their understanding through the creation of a series of short, one-minute compositions that utilize each technique. This paper focuses on that of granular synthesis. Granular synthesis is a music synthesis technique that is used to create unique and alluring sounds that has captivated modern music listeners. For audio engineers and sound designers, the term granular synthesis has always held an aura of mystery surrounding it. Recent developments in plug-ins for digital audio workstations allow them to easily create its signature sound, which have created a way to use granular synthesis as an art form. Unlike other methods, granular synthesis is rooted in the laws of quantum mechanics. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is explored to understand how granular synthesis creates its signature sound, which in turn is then used to create artistic compositions through the manipulation of the variables. Several examples from student work as well as collaborative work will be included.

Towards liveness: collective memory and reproductions of studio reverberation

ABSTRACT Through a consideration of their reverberant characteristics, this article places representations of recording studios as an active cultural process that plays out through the recorded sounds such spaces become associated with. Like other heritage sites, the work to define, maintain, and allocate certain structures as unique or significant relies on the cultural process of collective memory. By focusing on the concept of sonic recollection, the reconfiguration of unique tracking room environments for “in the box” digital audio workstation software, exemplified through reverberation, is shown to draw from a network of people, sounds, and technologies that cumulatively reflect various stages of a recording studio’s trajectory. By uncovering this network – encompassing well-known and unnamed engineers, famous to merely aspiring recording artists, established or defunct studios and software companies, and technologies such as convolution reverb, all of which articulate one another in digital audio workstation software – it suggests that the theoretical underpinnings of collective memory studies are a useful tool of analysis to more fully frame reconstructions or representations of physical spaces undertaken through recorded sound, and that reverberation is an ideal metaphor for the work of collective memory.

Digitization and Development of Pantok Melody Themes Tongkek Using Leon Stein's Theory Approach

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a study on the composition of traditional music performance in Pancor Village, East Lombok, Indonesia with a focus on the creation of digitalized compositions based on traditional music. The study employs the approach of Leon Stein's theory of composition, which emphasizes the importance of understanding the cultural and historical context of musical works in order to create innovative and meaningful compositions.The study involves field research, where traditional music performances in Pancor Village are recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using Stein's approach to composition. The analysis focuses on identifying the characteristic elements of traditional music, such as melody, rhythm, and instrumentation, and exploring how these elements can be integrated with digital technology to create new compositions.The study also involves experimentation with digital tools, such as software synthesizers, digital audio workstations, and other music production tools, while adhering to Stein's approach to composition. These tools are used to create digitalized compositions based on the traditional music of Pancor Village, with the aim of exploring the creative possibilities of combining traditional music with modern technology, while maintaining the cultural and historical context of the original works.The results of the study show that the integration of traditional music with digital technology while employing Stein's approach to composition, can lead to the creation of innovative and compelling musical works that are relevant to contemporary audiences. The digital compositions created in this study demonstrate how traditional music can be transformed and reimagined in new and exciting ways, while still respecting the cultural and historical context of the original works.This study contributes to the ongoing conversation on the preservation and development of traditional music and demonstrates the potential of integrating traditional music with modern technology using a theoretical framework that emphasizes cultural and historical context. It also highlights the importance of understanding and respecting the cultural and historical significance of traditional music, and the role that technology can play in preserving and evolving these musical traditions.

Rancangan Instrumen Virtual Kendang Sunda Menggunakan Kontakt Sebagai Media Kreativitas Musik Digital

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to reveal the process of designing a virtual instrument for Sundanese drumming, starting from practical studies to its realization as a market-ready design. The influence of the development of digital music technology has led to various inventions in the form of virtual instruments. As part of the preservation and development of local culture-based music, it is necessary to create virtual musical instruments, including Sundanese drums. The problem that occurs today is, that virtual instrument media for Sundanese drums that facilitate learning Sundanese drums is still very rare. Method: The method is practice-led research or practice-based study by playing real drumming instruments recorded using sampling media in the form of virtual instruments in the KONTAKT Library. Result and Discussion: The design process is carried out in three stages, namely. pre-production, production, and post-production. The results showed that the pre-production analysis of tepak kendang sunda highlighted four drum sounds, namely keplak, kentrung, kemprang, and gedug. The production stage shows that the results of the tepak kendang analysis were recorded and produced a variety of different selected drum sounds. Conclusion: The sound samples were arranged in a keymap system on the KONTAKT keyboard, based on a velocity range system, so that each sound type expression can function as a virtual instrument in a DAW (digital audio workstation) application via midi. Pre-production alpha testing results with two phases state that the virtual instrument of the Sundanese drum can run well. The implication of the product design of the virtual instrument of Sundanese drums is adequate and ready to be used as a means of creativity in digital music.

Sinergi Paramassa: Implementation of the Social Values of the Meugang Tradition into Digital Music Composition

The Meugang tradition as Acehnese local wisdom is an activity that has a togetherness. This togetherness is a social value that creates a harmonious society in the midst of the globalization era. This is something interesting to implement in the form of music compositions. The aim of this research is to create a music that implement social values in the Meugang tradition through the use of a Digital Audio Workstation. The method used is an artistic research method which consists of 1) the formulation of ideas; 2) determine the work; 3) express ideas; 4) and performances. The result of this research is music entitled "Sinergi Paramassa". This music consists of two parts that represent Meugang activities and values asah, asih, and asuh. It is hoped that this research can be an answer to the challenges of music development in the digital era in terms of the novelty of the music content sourced from local Indonesian wisdom.

Impacts of sequencing existing music using a digital audio workstation on creating original music

The English A-level assessment system between 2000 and 2018 was a modular design split in two: the AS year and the A2 year. The music technology A-level had three coursework tasks, including a ‘sequenced realized performance’ (SRP) where students recreated songs in a digital audio workstation (DAW). The Department for Education (DfE) introduced more rigorous GCSE and A-level specifications throughout 2016–19 to raise standards, and there was a clearer emphasis on examined components and a move away from coursework-based assessments. As part of this, the SRP task was removed from the assessment. In response, the research question of this article is: what do students learn about composing and production when sequencing non-original music? Findings suggest recreating existing music embeds better critical listening skills, which then feed back into students’ own productions. It also teaches the technical aspect of learning how a DAW works and common contemporary techniques used within one.

Exploring art schema and their relevance to DAW teaching and pedagogy: Examples of artistic practice in the field of music production

This article discusses my ongoing exploration of art schema and their potential role to develop Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and music technology teaching. Arts practices have been noted by various researchers as potentially assisting creativity, DAW or otherwise. One useful advantage of this approach is advocating for more exploratory and materials based approaches for DAW learning and teaching. This is not necessarily under the banner experimental, but, instead, being different from a discrete set of engineering or technical decisions. For this article, I discuss Peter Osborne’s art schema and Keith Sawyer’s creativity framework to establish some principles, illustrated by six short artist examples. These are in a common practice context, sampling. The examples illustrate how these schema are broadly useful for technology teaching, and how they could be incorporated into current and future music production curricula.

Exploring the Opportunities of Haptic Technology in the Practice of Visually Impaired and Blind Sound Creatives

Visually impaired and blind (VIB) people as a community face several access barriers when using technology. For users of specialist technology, such as digital audio workstations (DAWs), these access barriers become increasingly complex—often stemming from a vision-centric approach to user interface design. Haptic technologies may present opportunities to leverage the sense of touch to address these access barriers. In this article, we describe a participant study involving interviews with twenty VIB sound creatives who work with DAWs. Through a combination of semi-structured interviews and a thematic analysis of the interview data, we identify key issues relating to haptic audio and accessibility from the perspective of VIB sound creatives. We introduce the technical and practical barriers that VIB sound creatives encounter, which haptic technology may be capable of addressing. We also discuss the social and cultural aspects contributing to VIB people’s uptake of new technology and access to the music technology industry.

Decision Support System for Purchasing Speaker Monitor Home Recording Using Fuzzy Multiple Attribute Decision Making

Technological developments in the field of music are currently experiencing progress, including the formation of computer-based recording, namely the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). Monitor speakers are one of the most important components of a DAW. A good selection of monitor speakers can support the quality of sound produced by a home recording or recording service provider. The many variations and specifications of monitor speakers on the market make it difficult for users to choose based on four criteria: price, response frequency, design criteria, and power output. So it is necessary to make an application that can determine recommendations for purchasing monitor speakers by applying the Fuzzy Multiple Attribute Decision Making Algorithm. The results obtained in this study show that of the five alternative monitor speakers, KRK ROKIT G4 5 has the highest alternative preference rating of 2.2,5 so it can be used as a reference monitor speaker for home recording.

Any Sound You Can Imagine: Then and now

During the 25 years since the publication of my book, Any Sound You Can Imagine: Making Music/Consuming Technology, a number of technological developments and theoretical trends have emerged: among them, the integration of music production within Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) platforms, and the rise of social media as a means for information sharing among musicians, on the one hand; and the emergence, in popular music studies, of practice-based and community-oriented forms of music research and pedagogy, on the other. In addition, new technologies and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) have begun to have an impact on music-making and listening at every level. These developments are discussed in relation to theoretical issues of innovation, production, consumption and gender found in my previous work and, more specifically, in relation to concerns raised in a number of articles in the present volume, using them as a springboard for further reflection and theorizing.

The The Musicality of Gamelan Gong Kebyar Mepacek as a North Bali Traditional Music Identity

The purpose of this research was to reveal the musicality of Gamelan Gong Kebyar Mepacek as the identity of North Bali's traditional music. Many researchers have carried out numerous research studies on Gong Kebyar. However, there has not been a single study on the musicality of Gong Kebyar Mepacek's gamelan, which has caused this gamelan to become the hallmark of North Bali's traditional music. How is Gamelan Gong Kebyar Mepacek's musicality measured?. What is the influence of the musicality of Gamelan Gong Kebyar Mepacek on the traditional Balinese music being played? This research was conducted using qualitative methods from the perspective of ethnomusicology. All data that has been collected through observation, interviews, and literature studies is analyzed using ethnomusical theory. The results of the study show that the musicality of Gamelan Gong Kebyar Mepacek has shorter pitch repertoire, a faster closing technique, a faster gending tempo, and a louder gamelan sound compared to Gong Kebyar gamelan in general. To measure the pitch of the Gong Kebyar mepacek gamelan tuner, a tuner was used in the Studio One 5 digital audio workstation (DAW) application. The effect of this mepacek gamelan model on the traditional music played can be seen in the tempo, which is the maximum speed that can be achieved by the musicians playing the gamelan. This means that by pacing the gamelan blades, the drummers do not need to wait long to close the gamelan chords.

Tahapan dalam Produksi Komposisi Iringan Tari Satya Gora Dharma

Purpose: This paper discusses the series of stages of production of Satya Gora Dharma Dance Accompaniment composition, where this work is a karawitan composition work that the author made in 2021. Method: This work is produced by the author using Digital Audio Workstation technology, with a series of stages starting from the beginning until this work is completed. Digital Audio Workstation is a digital-based technology that is often used by musicians, arrangers, composers and other work sectors related to data processing in the form of audio recordings. Satya Gora Dharma dance is the great dance of Satya Dharma Singaraja College of Economics (STIE) initiated by Dr. A.A.A.N Tini Rusmini Gorda, Dr. A.A.N Oka Suryadinatha Gorda, Dr. A.A.N Eddy Supriyadinata Gorda, Dr. A.A.A.N Sri Rahayu Gorda. Satya Gora Dharma dance accompaniment compositions are produced with 3 software, namely Cubase Pro 10.5, WaveLab Pro 10, and Virtual Studio Technology (VST) from Native Instrument Kontakt 6. Result and Discussion: The discussion in this paper will focus on how this composition work is produced starting from the stage of taking audio sampling from the gamelan instruments used, making VST, composing arrangement, mixing, balancing, to the final stage in the production process, namely the mastering stage. The data analysis technique used in this paper is qualitative descriptive analysis. The qualitative descriptive analysis technique is carried out by analyzing the data that has been obtained through qualitative descriptive analysis. Then at the end a conclusion is drawn and accompanied by the necessary advice

Soundtrap usage during COVID-19: A machine-learning approach to assess the effects of the pandemic on online music learning

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a sudden rethinking of how music was taught and learned. Prior to the pandemic, the web-based digital audio workstation Soundtrap emerged as a leading platform for creating music online. The present study examined the growth of Soundtrap’s usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using machine-learning methods, we analyzed anonymized user data from Soundtrap’s 1.6 million educational users in the United States to see if the pandemic affected Soundtrap’s education user base and, if so, to what extent. An exploratory data analysis demonstrated a large increase in Soundtrap’s user base beyond five standard deviations beginning in March 2020. A subsequent changepoint analysis identified March 17, 2020, as the day this shift occurred. Finally, we created a SARIMAX model using data prior to March 17 to forecast expected growth. This model was unable to account for user growth after March 17, showing highly anomalous growth rates outside of the model’s confidence interval. We discuss how this shift affects music education practices and what it portends for our field. In addition, we explore the role of machine learning and artificial intelligence as a method for research in the music education field.

Research in Computational Expressive Music Performance and Popular Music Production: A Potential Field of Application?

In music, the interpreter manipulates the performance parameters in order to offer a sonic rendition of the piece that is capable of conveying specific expressive intentions. Since the 1980s, there has been growing interest in expressive music performance (EMP) and its computational modeling. This research field has two fundamental objectives: understanding the phenomenon of human musical interpretation and the automatic generation of expressive performances. Rule-based, statistical, machine, and deep learning approaches have been proposed, most of them devoted to the classical repertoire, in particular to piano pieces. On the contrary, we introduce the role of expressive performance within popular music and the contemporary ecology of pop music production based on the use of digital audio workstations (DAWs) and virtual instruments. After an analysis of the tools related to expressiveness commonly available to modern producers, we propose a detailed survey of research into the computational EMP field, highlighting the potential and limits of what is present in the literature with respect to the context of popular music, which by its nature cannot be completely superimposed to the classical one. In the concluding discussion, we suggest possible lines of future research in the field of computational expressiveness applied to pop music.