I'm Going DAWless

Something strange happened to me the other day. I don't remember the last time I felt this way but... I distinctly remember feeling like I should be doing anything but be on the computer... That the computer... maybe kind of sucked to be on sometimes? This was troubling. I knew I had to act quickly before I grew to fully resent my good friend, the computer. I made the executive decision to start making music without it for the first time in my musical career. I'm stepping out of the box. Meet my new boxes:

Boss Digital Recorder Micro BR

This is the device capturing the output of the rest—a little 4 track recorder that I have started calling "Ableton Jr." on account of it's replacing Ableton in my life, it's tiny as hell, and has a similar color palette (silver). This is the thing that will take the most getting used to, natch. It's not too complicated though, and for only having 4 tracks, the limitiations will be good for me! I work better within tight limits I don't just decide to opt into. For example, I could choose to only use 4 tracks in Ableton any time I want, and I have tried that kind of thing in the past. But eventually I succumb to modern convenience and use as many as I want. With limited hardware, I'm forced to work in a new way (which is the secondary reason behind going DAWless; I'm in a musical rut a half decade in the making). Let's see if Ableton Jr. is up to the task!

Korg Volca FM 2

The workhorse synthesizer of the group here, this is a desktop DX7-like that runs on 6 AA batteries for some goddamn reason. Not in this house, with our vast collection of power supplies. But while I understand why some musicians would never bother with these, the toy-ish bits of the Volca synths are part of their charm. I owned the first model years ago and got a decent amount of use out of it, despite its many flaws (3 voice polyphony, no MIDI out, you need a degree from NASA to program your own patches). This newer MkII is much better—6 voices, MIDI out, double the amount of patch memory. You *still* need a degree from NASA to program anything yourself, but I've had years of experience with FM8 and Dexed inbetween now and my previous Volca. It turns out that's just how FM synthesis works.

LSDJ on GBC

Chiptunes babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

Korg Monotron Duo

The Monotron and I go way back. I got the single oscillator model as a stocking stuffer in 9th grade or something, very fun little analog synth. I picked this one up a while ago for nostalgia reasons. Good for bleeps and bloops, and a solid enough kick drum if you can manage. Impossible to play with my adult sized fingers and obviously no MIDI, so I use a DSi stylus.

Alesis SR-16

How is this drum machine still being made? So many better machines were released in the 90s, so why has this one survived? No, really I'm asking you. Why couldn't the Roland R-8 have hung onto dear life the way my wonderful little freak machine has? I really do enjoy the SR-16, don't get me wrong, but it's no 909. It's not gonna sound good dry' it takes some post-processing. It's been great in small doses but having it be my daily driver drumkit... All part of the challenge of the new workflow! Maybe it's perfect, actually. It worked for Smashing Pumpkins on 1979, it could work for me. I could destroy all kinds of gourds.

I think it's important to step out of your comfort zone creatively, and in ways that really challenge you. I have wanted to go DAWless for a while and I kept waiting until I got "good enough". Why wait? I sucked absolute eggs when I first learned DAWs and I turned out fine. You gotta suck eggs sometimes. That's the moral. Go forth and suck eggs.

Nicky Flowers - 02/14/25 - My girlfriend really wants me to learn Renoise so if I ever wanna cheat and go back to a DAW briefly, I will at least still be avoiding Ableton - (send any comments/questions to hello at nickyflowers dot com)