In the vast majority of recording studios, you won’t be able to find your way around the workflow without having a good understanding of this powerful tool. Pro Tools is the current industry standard in modern recording studios, essentially packing all the functions of recording, editing, signal processing and mixing into one highly versatile computer program. If you’re going to learn any DAW, learn this one. Here is a quick overview of some of the more common software programs you’ll find in the typical recording studio. To put it simply, the more you know about these software programs (and the more specific programs you are familiar with), the more versatile and useful you’re going to be in the studio, and the more studios you’ll be qualified to work in.
Because the rise of digital technology has audio engineers the ability to do more things for less money, recording studios are relying more and more on computer software programs for their recording, signal processing and mixing tasks, usually through the use of one or more digital audio workstation (DAW) programs, along with an array of plug-ins according to the engineers’ preferences. For up-and-coming audio engineers and music producers, it is essential to have a good working knowledge of the common software programs used in the recording studio.