Music technology: the DAW and MIDI

Most music you hear today was created on a computer. A digital audio workstation lets you compose, record and produce music on one screen.

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The DAW

A DAW (digital audio workstation) is software for recording, editing and mixing music. Examples include GarageBand, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase, FL Studio and BandLab.
Music is built on tracks, shown as rows on a timeline. Each track can hold a different instrument or recording.
The mixer controls the volume and sound of each track.

MIDI and audio

There are two kinds of track:
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) data is not sound. It is a set of instructions: which note, when it starts, how long it lasts and how hard it is played (velocity). A virtual instrument turns MIDI into sound, so you can change the instrument afterwards. MIDI became a standard in 1983.
Audio is recorded sound, such as a voice through a microphone. CD-quality audio is sampled 44,100 times per second (44.1 kHz).

Sequencing tools

Sequencing means recording and arranging parts in a DAW.
The piano roll shows MIDI notes as bars: up and down is pitch, left to right is time.
Quantise moves notes so they line up exactly with the beat grid.
Loops are short repeating sections; samples are recorded sounds used in a new piece.
A MIDI keyboard (controller) lets you play notes into the DAW. Copy and paste lets you repeat sections quickly.
Worked example

You record a piano part with a MIDI keyboard and decide it should sound like strings. Why is this easy, and what tool would tidy up the timing?

  1. A MIDI track stores instructions, not sound.
  2. So you can change the virtual instrument from piano to strings, and the same notes play with a new sound.
  3. Quantise lines the notes up with the beat grid to tidy the timing.

Answer: MIDI is instructions, so you just change the virtual instrument; quantise tidies the timing.

Key idea

A DAW is software for recording, editing and mixing. MIDI is instructions (note, timing, velocity), turned into sound by a virtual instrument; audio is recorded sound. The piano roll shows MIDI notes; quantise lines notes up with the beat.

Key words
DAW
Digital audio workstation: software for recording, editing and mixing music.
MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface: instructions about notes (pitch, timing, velocity), turned into sound by an instrument.
Quantise
In a DAW, moving notes so they line up exactly with the beat grid.
Pitch
How high or low a sound is.

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Extra practice

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  1. Which is an example of a DAW?

    1. GarageBand
    2. A violin
    3. A microphone
    4. A metronome
    Show the answer

    Answer: GarageBand

    GarageBand is digital audio workstation software.

  2. Which can be easily changed in a MIDI recording after it is made?

    1. The real voice of a singer
    2. The room's reverb on an audio take
    3. The instrument sound used to play the notes
    4. Nothing
    Show the answer

    Answer: The instrument sound used to play the notes

    MIDI is data, so a different instrument can play it.

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Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.