What can a modern DAW do with analog sounds?

Question

It's been several years since I last found much time to indulge my music hobby but I'm starting to think about it a lot lately so I want to get back up to speed a bit, at least conceptually.

When I was last active, MIDI was already well established and it did a lot of wonderful things but programs like Cubase 1.0, which is what I used, had no ability to handle analog sources like voices or guitars. I suspect things have come along quite a lot since then. When I looked for a MIDI interface the other day to connect my MIDI keyboard and drum machine to a more modern bit of software - I'm looking seriously at Cakewalk due to budget issues - I found interfaces that had the standard MIDI ports AND inputs for guitar and voice. I am really hoping someone who is far more current on the technology than me can tell me just what can be done if I buy such an interface.

For instance, will I be able to modify the analog sources by applying effects of various kinds to the guitar (assuming I record it more-or-less "dry")? Will I be able to apply things like autotune or doublers to the voice channel? Will I be able to raise or lower the pitch of analog instruments? Will I be able to edit the analog sounds the way I can a MIDI instrument by holding a note longer or moving its starting point? Or do the analog channels remain pretty much untouchable, meaning they have to be perfectly played when recorded and have all the necessary effects applied outside of the program?

I hope someone who is much more current on the technology can enlighten me so that I have a realistic idea of what is - and isn't - possible.

Answer 1

Taking the question literally, the answer is nothing – because DAWs are completely digital. But they can certainly record and represent any analogue sound.

will I be able to modify the analog sources by applying effects of various kinds to the guitar (assuming I record it more-or-less "dry")?

Absolutely. In fact most DAWs have lots of effects built-in, though those often aren't as good as third-party plugins. That includes emulations of guitar amps, speakers, studio consoles and whatnot – which can do pretty much anything a studio filled with 100k €/$/£ of analogue equipment could. (There's still some debate whether they're as good as “the real thing”, but I think it's now more about what's better to use – I think even the strongest proponents of analogue equipment acknowledge that the best simulations are now nearly perfect, given the right setup.) You can still spend a lot of money on such plugins.

IMO it's unwise to only think of a DAW as a bunch of simulated analogue equipment, though. You're more flexible, and definitely cheaper, if you learn how to compose primitive digital building blocks like IIR and FIR filters and generic nonlinear elements, to get the benefits of various analogue processors without their effects that may not be benefitial for your music.

Will I be able to apply things like autotune or doublers to the voice channel?

Yes, and indeed I think something like that is built in in most DAWs now. The industry standard for pitch processing is Melodyne though, which again costs extra.

Will I be able to raise or lower the pitch of analog instruments?

Yes, pretty sure that is available in all proper DAWs now.

Will I be able to edit the analog sounds the way I can a MIDI instrument by holding a note longer or moving its starting point?

Yes, although it's not quite as flexible as with MIDI events. Changing duration of recorded notes with algorithms like Elastique works well if you only stretch a few percent, but stretching something that was 0.2 seconds to 3 seconds will sound weird.

Answer 2

All the sounds in a DAW are digital, not analog. What you're working with is a digital recording of your analog sound source (guitar, voice, whatever). Every digital effect can be used on every digital sound in a DAW. The only real limitation is that the effect has to exist in the first place.

In brief, you will have access to a digital version of nearly every analog effect that has ever seen widespread use. This includes guitar pedals and studio rack effects units. You will be able to use modern effects that never saw a real analog predecessor (autotune, for example), but you will probably have to buy these separately- and they're usually not cheap, either.

As far as editing actual performances (timing, tuning, pitch, articulations), this is where you will start to hit some limits. There are a variety of techniques, and there are plugins such as Autotune, Melodyne (which really is a technological marvel), Beat detective, Vocalign, and more, but the easiest technique is frequently just recording a better take. The other place where you will really hit limits is if you record two sound sources together and wish to separate them, or apply an effect to only one of them- the easiest fix to this problem is recording instruments separately.