Comment: D-AAAAAW...that's cute!

Okay, I acknowledge the lameness of that headline, but "What exactly is a DAW in 2009?" seemed a little academic to me.

So getting to my point: it seems like just about every piece of software other than instruments and effects (and even some of those!) performs at least part of the traditional role of the Digital Audio Workstation. You could produce a pop song with GarageBand -- or Melodyne, for that matter. Live has become an incredibly powerful tool for both loop and linear production. SONY ACID -- the original program to offer the kind of time-and-pitch manipulation that brought loop construction to the masses -- is also basically a standard music production tool these days. Only Reason, which still does not offer audio recording, has stuck to its roots as a specialist, albeit an incredibly flexible one.

At the same time, traditional DAWs have become so "creatively enhanced" that their main reason for existing -- multitrack recording and mixing -- is now only one part of what they do. I mean, look at Pro Tools 8: MIDI, notation, loops... it's virtually a virtual playground. Cubase, Logic Studio, Digital Performer, and SONAR have long been blurring the line between "creation" and production, adding vast sound libraries and virtual instruments to their respective feature sets.

This overlap is mostly a good thing, because it means that we can use the software of our choice without sacrificing what have become essential features. On the other hand, this trip to the feature candy store has been known to cause a stomach ache or two, if agita can be linked to the feeling that you're going to spend the rest of your life updating and learning new features. The truth is, the new features are useful -- and most producers can probably name several that they'd wished existed back in the day. But it's also important to remember that almost everything we're listening to today, from the classic hits with that vintage sound so many of us are chasing to the latest electronica, was created using tools that are obsolete. I'm not talking analog; I mean if it was recorded with Live 7 or Pro Tools 7, it was done with yesterday's code. Something to keep in mind as we upgrade.

The bottom line is that with so much power so universally available, those of us who feel comfortable in one platform can stay there. Sure, there may be things about Logic that may fit you better than Cubase or Pro Tools, etc., but in terms of being competitive in the marketplace, there's little difference, and most what difference there is can be addressed by third-party add ons. If you're new to the arena, it's a little more complicated. You have so many choices that it can seem overwhelming, and you won't really know what works best for you unless you spend significant time with the software. Fortunately, with so many strong contenders out there, it's basically impossible to go wrong: in 2009, every DAW has its day.