The First DAW 

The creation of the first Digital Audio Workstation is difficult to pinpoint. The modern-day DAW is in many ways unfamiliar in comparison to its oldest predecessors. The precursor of the Digital Audio Workstation came in the form of MIDI. MIDI introduced a new way of making music in which a keyboard could be used to play the sounds from another keyboard and even from computers. Sequencing applications which later followed allowed producers and musicians to record and edit MIDI tracks in their own computer. This now comes synonymously to making music in a DAW. 

The first official DAW came in the form of Steinburg Cubase. Created by Karl Steinberg (audio engineer) and Manfred Rürup (professional keyboard player). In 1985 they released Pro-16. This was more of a MIDI sequencer then a full-fledged DAW. However, in 1989 at the turn of the decade Steinburg released Cubase.

Cubase quickly developed as it released the first version of Cubase for Mac and a couple years later for Windows. In 1992 came the arrival of Cubase Audio which offered not only MIDI sequencing but audio processing support as well. Cubase followed up being the first DAW with audio processing to then four years later in 1996 be the first DAW to introduce VST plug-in effects. This allowed producers, engineers and musicians to no longer have to solely rely on hardware and instead use effects from within the computer itself. Three years later VSTs were developed further with the introduction of the second version allowing VSTs to be controlled by MIDI and thus the introduction of VST instruments. 

I would argue the invention of the Digital Audio Workstation is the most defining moment in the history of modern music technology. The DAW became the new industry standard leaving digital and analogue recording far behind. It meant that now anyone could create Music and release it so long as they had a DAW. For better or for worse it made music making more accessible than it has ever been before. 

Bibliography

Levine, M. (2019) ‘THE HISTORY OF THE DAW’, Yamaha, 1 May. Available at: https://hub.yamaha.com/proaudio/pa-history/the-history-of-the-daw/ (Accessed: 12 November 2023). 

Music, F. (2011) ‘A brief history of Steinberg Cubase’, music radar , 24 May. Available at: https://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/a-brief-history-of-steinberg-cubase-406132 (Accessed: 12 November 2023).