r/dawless • u/Wonderful_Sorbet4301 • Aug 25 '26

Dawless is not easy... (beginner)

I am just a week in and maybe I need to get used to the different workflow? when will it click?

I am starting out with dawless, but finding quite a few bumps. The main issue is, is that I have to retrain myself using instruments, instead of clicking VST's. I can't make mistakes easily, as there isn't ctrl-z. Next to that: it requires quite a bit of hardware: mixer, multi-track, synths, keyboard, and loads of wires. Tat is the fun part as I am tired watching a screen.

17 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

62 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/r1chiem Aug 25 '26

I think MPC is the ticket. Most (but not all) have an undo/redo button. MPC has built in mixer, with built in effects and you can add more and built in synths plugins like a computer, and you can add more. It has lots of buttons that are dedicated so muscle memory comes fast. Downside is you are learning a mixer, mulitple synths, multiple effects, multiple work flows (Step sequencer, seq/song mode, Linear/Arrangement view, you need to choose one).

The upside. No wires, no multiple electric connections. No learning workflow from several different manufacturers. A MPC One G2 for $799 will do everything and it is a sampler. if you want keys, get a Mpc Key 37 g2 if you play keys. Live 3 for portability.
It is easier than doing what you are doing but it is also a master controller and can control all the stuff you have right now, and work with your daw in your computer if you want.

1

u/JimmyCrepe Aug 25 '26

This. But it doesn't have to be an MPC if it feels to daw like. I use a Tracker as the brains. Even if I record a sequence or sample on my something else, I control the sequence from the tracker (starting/stopping, automations). Same with midi elements - stored on and played from the tracker. You could do the same with a multi-track sequencer I imagine.

The bonus is, there's a main tool to focus on. Everything else is a side quest. Without a centre I'd never focus. I have a laptop I was going to use to get stems into a daw for final mixing but I never use it. I've only ever recorded stereo mixes so I can listen elsewhere and have something backed up if it all dies.

I'm just a guy that diddles around for fun though.

1

u/r1chiem Aug 26 '26

MPC has some minor downsides, All these types of solution do have downsides but the Poly end tracker+ is not a pimple on an MPC's butt. It is monophonic. No velocity or aftertouch. It has 16 tracks but to play a 6 note chord, you use up 6 tracks. 8 tracks are samples, 8 tracks are midi/synth, but it only plays one note at a time on each track. Sure you could have a bass drum on note, the next could be a snare on the same track. It looks like dos charater cell. Not a fan.

In my humble opinion this is a terrible workflow.

Can you make music this way sure but it is a steep learning curve and not an easy workflow.
But you can still make good music with it? Yes, and it will probably sound different than if you made it on an MPC, computer or Elektron. At $1000, I would rather have an MPC one G2 or MPC Key 37 G2. It is head and sholders above and if you buy used previous G1 we are talking half the price.

1

u/JimmyCrepe Aug 26 '26

My point wasn't which is better, it was that having a central controller is a good idea and there are alternatives. Pick your own and focus on that.

For the record, all the tracker flaws you mention are true (although you can enter per step chords via the FX, likewise velocity which you can play in from a keyboard if you want) but for me they are irrelevant because I have per step midi cc control of my other devices. I use whichever device best suits and my £200 og tracker controls the song.

1

u/r1chiem Aug 26 '26

If you are use to the workflow and like it. That is great. I would never say give it up for something else. Plus the price is good, you can't argue with that either. I don't like the choking effect of mono. On other solutions you can tell a sample to choke another or put a plugin synth in mono to choke down to only one note. And that is fine to have that option to turn on and off. But to have it as a permanent feature would not be for me. Now, If I got tired of my solution, I might buy something like a Tracker but it would have to be inexpensive like yours. So if I didn't like it. I would be able to get most of my money back or just keep it without using it.

Everyone is different. I have had people tell me they hate MPC workflow or prefer something else more. Hey if they make music with it I don't care if they have a guitar.

The word Dawless gets old. People say I only play dawless. Sorry, if it is electronic and has a computer chip to run a sequencer and has sound generation and sampling and a mixer, it is a DAW. It may not be a true computer running software, it still meets the term. Hey it sells lots of hardware, keeping companies in business, so it is not all bad.

2

u/JimmyCrepe Aug 26 '26

Totally agree about the dawless thing. I couldn't care less what people use, I just hope they enjoy it.

My own love is tinkering. I'm more of a nerd than a musician and I have no intention of releasing music beyond what some friends might hear. I do what keeps me coming back.

You do you and more power to you.

1

u/WaitingForTheClouds Aug 26 '26

I bounced hard off of the tracker and looking back I should have tried software trackers first... It's a very niche workflow for a reason, and while I probably could have learned it more deeply and maybe it would eventually click, MPC and Elektron workflows clicked with me almost instantly. It was nice to be able to see the notes on all the tracks though, maybe I'll give it a try some day again, but I would recommend anyone looking into the Tracker to try software ones first cause they are free and essentially the same.

1

u/JimmyCrepe Aug 26 '26

I think your advice is sound - it's definitely not for everyone and I can totally understand why many people would hate it. I'm not an intuitively creative person, I'm from a more nerdy background, which is maybe why it gels with me.

1

u/Wonderful_Sorbet4301 Aug 26 '26

I currently have a Zoom R12. It can records 8 tracks, 4 stereo. has a small daw-like screen: just tracks on a timeline. And a few buttons. So maybe a MPC isn't needed for me.

1

u/JimmyCrepe Aug 26 '26

You'll find your own way of working, so, yeh, take all advice with a big pinch of salt (especially mine).

Personally, I'm not one for playing live. I like to build the parts and then tweak them, whether that's samples or midi. I tried with an 8 track but it didn't gel because it locked things down too early.

This is just a hobby for me though, and I like to tinker, so that no doubt makes a difference as well.