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Well Pro Apps are kind of an exception as you usually are trying to emulate the exact properties of very specific hardware. Amp and synthesizer simulators seem

by S_A_P 13y ago

Well Pro Apps are kind of an exception as you usually are trying to emulate the exact properties of very specific hardware. Amp and synthesizer simulators seem more real if you have an accurate UI analog to the real hardware.

laumars 13y ago
Not exactly. Sadly this is one of those instances where a concise point isn't an accurate one. Sequencers (Logic Pro, Cubase, etc) were originally built to work along side classic studio hardware. And while more and more studios these days go all software, the sequencer paradigm has stuck because it largely works. You're also right that many soft-synths / virtual instruments are there to emulate real hardware, but there's also plugins like tone generators which are quite a departure from the classic studio paradigm. Aside sequencers, you can get other types of DAWs like trackers which, trigger digital audio projects like one would with a sequencer; except trackers have a completely digital approach (watching a tracker play is more akin to watching a hex dump scroll down a terminal emulator than watching waveforms scroll horizontally across a sequencer). Then there's DAWs based around programming which are as far removed from skeuomorphism as you can get. But those are very much a niche product. Also let's not forget that the old studios wouldn't have had anything akin to modern audio editors (Soundforge, Audacity, etc). That's a very modern concept. However because we have adopted the old play/stop symbols that have existed on audio hardware for decades, and because oscilloscopes have made us very aware of waveforms, audio editors often look skeuomorphic even when they're really not (or perhaps it makes more sense to say that they are skeuomorphic, but not out of design - out of necessity due to sound being a wave).
- swift 13y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean when you mention DAWs based around programming. Are you referring to things like Reaktor, Max, and PD?
  - laumars 13y ago
    I was thinking more text based ones like Overtone[1], but I'd completely forgotten about DAWs like the ones you've mentioned. Nice spot :) [1] http://vimeo.com/22798433 http://vimeo.com/22798433

by S_A_P 13y ago

laumars 13y ago

Not exactly. Sadly this is one of those instances where a concise point isn't an accurate one. Sequencers (Logic Pro, Cubase, etc) were originally built to work along side classic studio hardware. And while more and more studios these days go all software, the sequencer paradigm has stuck because it largely works. You're also right that many soft-synths / virtual instruments are there to emulate real hardware, but there's also plugins like tone generators which are quite a departure from the classic studio paradigm. Aside sequencers, you can get other types of DAWs like trackers which, trigger digital audio projects like one would with a sequencer; except trackers have a completely digital approach (watching a tracker play is more akin to watching a hex dump scroll down a terminal emulator than watching waveforms scroll horizontally across a sequencer). Then there's DAWs based around programming which are as far removed from skeuomorphism as you can get. But those are very much a niche product. Also let's not forget that the old studios wouldn't have had anything akin to modern audio editors (Soundforge, Audacity, etc). That's a very modern concept. However because we have adopted the old play/stop symbols that have existed on audio hardware for decades, and because oscilloscopes have made us very aware of waveforms, audio editors often look skeuomorphic even when they're really not (or perhaps it makes more sense to say that they are skeuomorphic, but not out of design - out of necessity due to sound being a wave).

swift 13y ago
I'm not sure what you mean when you mention DAWs based around programming. Are you referring to things like Reaktor, Max, and PD?
- laumars 13y ago
  I was thinking more text based ones like Overtone[1], but I'd completely forgotten about DAWs like the ones you've mentioned. Nice spot :) [1] http://vimeo.com/22798433 http://vimeo.com/22798433