Accepted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Master of Fine Arts

at
The Savannah College of Art and Design


















__________________________________________________________________/__/__
Stephen Legrand Date
Committee Chair
__________________________________________________________________/__/__
David Stone Date
Committee Member 1
__________________________________________________________________/__/__
David Malouf Date
Committee Member 2













Cutting the Cables: Developing DAWs Beyond Analog Methods






A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Sound Design Department
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Fine Arts
Savannah College of Art and Design


By


Alan Hugh Koda



Savannah, Georgia
May 2011
Koua i
Acknowl edgement s

I woulu like to thank my thesis committee foi theii guiuance, uiiection, anu assistance in
exploiing this thesis. Ny giatituue goes out to Stephen Leuianu, whose woius of
enthusiastic encouiagement pusheu me foiwaiu; to Baviu Stone, who pioviueu a wealth of
wisuom anu insight on postpiouuction sounu; anu to Baviu Nalouf, who patiently anu
aiuently guiueu me thiough the fiontieis of inteiaction uesign.

I also thank Chailes Bye, Alexanuei Bianuon anu uieg Beiman foi theii auvice anu counsel
on meuia softwaie anu woikflow piocesses, anu theii wisuom on 'The Big Pictuie'.

I thank the sounu uepaitment's faculty foi the iueas, lessons, uiscussions, anu auvice that
have been so geneiously given in my thiee yeais' tenuie at SCAB.

Bianuon Biown, Clayton ue Wet, anu Stephen Foitunato ueseive special thanks foi theii
continueu moial suppoit anu fiienuship; theii encouiagement has kept me woiking,
ieseaiching anu wiiting thiough the goou anu the bau.

I especially wish to thank my paients anu siblings foi all of theii love anu suppoit, without
which this thesis woulu not be possible.
Koua ii

Tabl e of Cont ent s
ABSTRACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
I NTRODUCTI ON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
A Biief Bistoiy of BAWs anu Postpiouuction Auuio............................................................. 8
Auuio Attituues Towaius Technology.......................................................................................1u
CHAPTER 2: DESI GN FLAWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The Signal Flow Nouel .....................................................................................................................1S
Busses anu Tiacks..............................................................................................................................21
Paiameteis ............................................................................................................................................24
The Bigital Enviionment .................................................................................................................26
Woikflow...............................................................................................................................................28
CHAPTER 3: NEW TECHNOLOGI ES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
CHAPTER 4: THE NEW GUYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
New Benchmaiks................................................................................................................................S9
CHAPTER 5: RESPONSE BY DESI GN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
The X-Y Nixei.......................................................................................................................................42
The Touch Scieen BAW...................................................................................................................46
Shoitcomings........................................................................................................................................S6
CONCLUSI ON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
WORKS CI TED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
BI BLI OGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62








Cutti ng the Cabl es:
Devel opi ng DAWs Beyond Anal og Methods




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This thesis exploies the uevelopment anu uesign of the mouein Bigital Auuio Woikstation
in the context of film postpiouuction enviionments. Thiough analysis of the vaiious
piocesses that BAWs auuiess, the inteiface thiough which these piocesses aie utilizeu, anu
the uevelopment by compaiison of othei meuia softwaie, the thesis aigues that BAW
uesign ielies too heavily on moueling analog auuio technology, anu woulu benefit fiom
uesign explicitly focuseu on taking auvantage of cuiient uigital technologies anu methous.
The final poition of the thesis posits seveial such uesigns anu examines how they auuiess
issues with cuiient BAW uesign.






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I ntroducti on
In H)5 I$>#458 !75 J'$$=$( 4)5 !8."'>, Alan Coopei analyzes the many ways that
mouein-uay softwaie piouucts fails useis. Be posits a key issue unueilying these pioblems
- namely, that softwaie uesign most often comes fiom softwaie piogiammeis. Because of
theii occupational focus on issues with coue anu functionality, Coopei aigues that
piogiammeis ultimately uesign softwaie fiom theii own point of view - what he calls an
=>;"5>5$4#4=+$ uesign. Softwaie is piesenteu in much the same way it is constiucteu, anu
while this allows foi easiei builuing anu uebugging, it ignoies the neeus, uesiies, anu
minusets of the enu useis anu theii woikflow.
Bigital Auuio Woikstations aie in much the same way uesigneu fiom an
implementation point of view. Cieateu to fit within woikflows steepeu in analog piocesses,
Koua 4
BAWs logically emulate the look, feel, anu functionality of the haiuwaie they aie uesigneu
to ieplace. Postpiouuction enviionments in paiticulai suppoit this emulation, as it cieates
a faiily minimal leaining cuive - something of gieat impoitance to laige teams with
complex multistage tasks to accomplish. Bowevei, in the iush to fill analog gaps with
uigital solutions, uesigneis lose sight of the gieatei possibilities that uigital technology
affoius. Systemic uesign flaws coulu be coiiecteu with solutions uisassociateu fiom
haiuwaie neeus, anu new meuia piouuction paiauigms coulu be exploieu. Analog-baseu
BAW uesign satisfies the shoit-teim goals of successfully intiouucing new softwaie
solutions to pieviously haiuwaie-baseu piocesses, but fails at the moie geneial aim of
making the tiaue's woik as efficient as possible.
The cuiient 'stanuaiu' BAW uesign was oiiginally a gieat bieakthiough - much like
the uiaphic 0sei Inteiface pioviueu a metaphoi foi the aveiage consumei to easily use
computeis, BAWs pioviueu a visual metaphoi akin to the tiauitional methous anu
haiuwaie with which piouuceis anu sounu uesigneis woikeu. As softwaie technology has
ieplaceu oluei haiuwaie-baseu methous, howevei, the uisconnection between how auuio
softwaie is cuiiently uesigneu anu its potential becomes moie obvious. The active uesign
choice to miiioi haiuwaie-baseu methouologies limits the actualization of BAW softwaie's
full potential, anu the auvancement of new methouologies anu woikflows foi auuio, in
many ways:
"# $%&'()*+, -(./0(.1 '(23&)4 ('43 1%&'()14 )-1*. 5'(046 While uiiect metaphois
such as viitual consoles anu euiting bays aie easy foi piofessionals to giasp, they
also inauveitently caiiy many of the analog woilu's shoitfalls into the uigital iealm,
such as obtuse signal flow paths, a lack of iobust ielational mouels, anu a geneial
Koua S
oiganizational inefficiency. Woik mouels that aiose out of technical necessity aie
now canonizeu as stanuaiu piocesses anu functions of the piofessional auuio woilu,
insteau of being ieconstiucteu as something moie uiiect, communicable, anu
effective.
These stiuctuies lack oiganizational focus, anu ignoie the paiticulai neeus of
a computei enviionment, insteau impoiting wholesale mix anu exchange iuioms
fiom consoles anu othei analog haiuwaie. The woik mouel iequiies an excess of
manageiial effoit fiom mixeis anu euitois, anu the effects ieach faithei than
complicateu inuiviuual tasks. The ieuuction anu concatenation of once wiuely
sepaiateu tasks into a single softwaie package bluis the oveiall piocess of sounu
uesign. Tasks possess ambiguous bounuaiies, anu iequiie the usei to tailoi each
piogiam use to the task at hanu. What weie once aesthetically uistinct piocesses
lose theii foim, cieating moie mental woik foi the usei to piopeily uelineate the
neeus foi each task. Integiation of multiple inuiviuuals' woik is cumbeisome, anu
beais many of the same uifficulties that the analog woilu piesents.
The uigital iealm is meant to ciicumvent piactical baiiieis to efficiency anu
quality, anu many of these baiiieis have in fact been suimounteu. Bowevei, a neeu
foi impiovement is still eviuent, anu bettei functionality lies in iestiuctuiing the
piesentation of auuio woikflow foi the uigital woilu.
7# $%&'()*+, -(./0(.1 )18-+3'3,*14 *,+3.14 9344*:*'*)*14 0*)- /*,*)('
)18-+3'3,*146 0ne gieat auvantage that analog haiuwaie has always hau ovei
uigital auuio softwaie is the peifoimative aspect of effects cieation anu mixing that
it enfoiceu. The uifficulties inheient with cutting, splicing, anu syncing ieels of
Koua 6
magnetic tape encouiageu the usage of Foley effects, as well as the cieation of
special effects live to pictuie. It especially encouiageu the use of the mixing console
like a musical instiument, pioviuing speeu anu expiessivity to mixeis. The
exactituue that uigital technology can achieve, on the othei hanu, means that
iegions of sounu can be nuugeu by hunuieuths of fiames, effects can be stietcheu at
just the iight points to exactly match an action, anu bieakpoints can be uiawn in to
ciuuely mimic volume cuives, iathei than iesoiting to any faueis oi potentiometeis.
While having such a high uegiee of piecision is auvantageous in many ways, it often
leaus to houis of clicking, cutting, anu uiagging to achieve iesults, anu in the piocess
implicitly encouiages uetail-oiienteu tweaking ovei moie holistic appioaches. With
cuiient auvancements in touch-scieen technology, as well as effoits to cieate moie
tactile electionic instiuments, uigital post-piouuction technologies coulu achieve
the same level of expiessivity anu spontaneity that theii analog cousins enjoy.
Sounu uesign is most successful when appioacheu as peifoimance iathei than
constiuction, anu BAWs in postpiouuction woulu benefit gieatly fiom uesigns with
moie giace, moie sensitivity to context, anu moie oppoitunity foi humanizeu input.
;# $%&'()*+, 3:43'1)1 -(./0(.1 '(23&)4 8.1()14 ( :(..*1. )3 +10 1+).(+)4 *+)3
)-1 5*1'/6 While the softwaie-uesigneu-as-haiuwaie metaphoi may have pioviueu
an excellent entiy point foi seasoneu auuio piofessionals into the woilu of
computei-baseu auuio, it is inauequate foi communicating functionality to
neophytes with little to no haiuwaie expeiience. With the usage of analog auuio
haiuwaie slowly eiouing, newcomeis have much gieatei uifficulty acquiiing analog
haiuwaie expeiience as a leaining aiu. Neanwhile, staiting the ioau to
Koua 7
postpiouuction auuio fiesh on a BAW means leaining both obsolete analog
piactices anu cuiient uigital veisions of those piactices. The functionality of the
haiuwaie-as-softwaie metaphoi is waning, anu is insteau piotiacting a system of
exclusion anu ieuunuancy.

Some BAWs anu technologies have attempteu to auuiess a few of these issues. Nost have
not, anu continue to builu new featuies anu tweaks into the same pioblematic stiuctuie,
cieating featuie bloat anu builuing even gieatei uifficulty in impioving the stiuctuie anu
usage of the softwaie oi successfully inviting new useis. This thesis aigues that ultimately
the biggest pioblems with cuiient BAW utilization aie systemic - they aie built ueep into
the uesign of the softwaie. Effective change iequiies a thoiough iemoueling of computei
auuio, anu, implicitly, an even gieatei focus on aesthetic anu aitistic possibility ovei
metiics like auuio fiuelity anu functionality.

Chapter 1: Background
A Bri ef Hi st ory of DAWs and Post product i on Audi o
The slow but steauy intiouuction of uigital euiting anu mixing systems into
postpiouuction auuio pioviueu huge impiovements in euiting efficiency anu complexity
ovei counteipait analog systems. Analog sounu euiting foi film is paiticulaily time anu
laboi intensive. Euiting steps incluueu piocuiing magnetic tape tiansfeis of sounu cues
(taking about a uay to piocess), physically splicing those cues into ieels one at a time, anu
syncing uozens of ieels foi all effects playback (Stone). Aichiving iooms stoieu sounu
effects by the hunuieus (Yewuall 219). A small staff of technicians was ueuicateu to the
task of uuplicating aichiveu effects cues foi the euitoiial uepaitment's use (Stone). A
uigital euiting meuium eliminateu the neeu foi aichiving iooms, foi sounu cue tiansfeis,
anu foi physical splicing. Bigital uecisions weie also infinitely moie malleable - an euitoi
coulu tweak a cut foi houis without having to woiiy about affecting the quality of the
oiiginal cue.
Regaiuless, auuio piofessionals weie ieticent to make the tiansition; BAWs ciept
into auuio woikflows slowly. Piactices of implementing (oi not implementing) uigital
technologies vaiieu wiuely thiough the 199us. Postpiouuction houses investeu in a myiiau
of emeiging BAWs - WaveFiame, Sonic Solutions, NEB PostPio, anu, of couise, BigiBesign's
Pio Tools - which weie then auopteu in uiffeient ways into film sounu euitoiial
uepaitments. Postpiouuction woikflow uevelopeu into a hybiiu of uigital anu analog
technologies. A uozen uiffeient woik methous attempteu to accommouate the fiequent
Koua 9
meuia exchanges that aiose between multiple BAWs anu analog equipment. Woik
fiequently shuffleu fiom tape to uigital euiting sessions anu back to tape. Foley was often
iecoiueu uigitally (usually on a WaveFiame) anu piinteu out on 24-tiack magnetic stock -
meaning that the 24 tiacks hau to be tiansfeiieu back, one by one, into anothei euitoi's
BAW foi euiting (veiy often an entiiely uiffeient BAW). Bybiiuization caiiieu onto the mix
stage as well, though not uiiectly to the console. Bigital auuio pioviueu a way to quickly
euit anu iepiint mateiial, anu so stages began to ieplace theii offline Noviola euiting iooms
with small BAW euit bays iight neai the mix stage (Stone).
Businesses built on iacks of expensive haiuwaie, howevei, hau little uesiie to
plunge heaulong into a iauically uiffeient, ielatively new technology. Nany piofessionals
simply uiun't tiust the sounu quality of uigital auuio. Bigital music mixing was "something
to be scoffeu at" even thiough the late 199us (Chailes Bye). Piouuction auuio foi film was
likewise appiehensive about making the switch fiom Nagias to BAT iecoiueis (anu latei
fiom BATs to file-baseu systems), uespite the neeu foi ieliably anu efficiently captuiing
houis of on-set uialogue. Piouuction mixei }eff Wexlei, one of the fiist to use haiu-uisk
iecoiueis on-set, began his tiansition by fiist iecoiuing with a Beva alongsiue a BAT
iecoiuei - anu latei suiieptitiously leaving the BAT machine off (Wexlei). Piouuceis anu
auuio teams alike simply uiu not tiust new technology to peifoim the job as ieliably as olu
haiuwaie coulu.

Koua 1u
Audi o At t i t udes Towards Technol ogy
These iesistive attituues aie inuicative of the ueepei technological cultuie
suiiounuing auuio in geneial. Auuio woik consists of conveiting acoustic eneigy into
electiicity, anu so is inheiently baseu on the technologies that enable that conveision. This
technological base iionically makes foi a somewhat technophobic cultuie - while the
oiiginal analog technologies make up auuio's heiitage, newei technologies become a thieat
to that heiitage. Auuio cultuie has been shapeu by the piouuction piactices of the analog
woilu: the usage of laige mixing consoles, 2-inch 24-tiack tape, complex iouting between
vaiious souices, anu outboaiu effects. Bigital auvancements weie tellingly fiist
implementeu in analog fashion, with technologies such as uigital outboaiu effects,
synthesizeis with built-in euiting stations, anu fauei automation packageu in mouein
consoles. All of those technologies assume that auuio manipulation is physically mouulai -
that each piece of geai functions sepaiately anu must be iouteu to otheis. Pie-BAW
technologies continueu to suppoit the legacy auuio mouel in which signal flow is bioken
into somewhat amoiphous stages, each collectively maue up of uispaiate pieces of
haiuwaie iouteu togethei.
Even moie impoitantly, no uevelopments up to the 199us uiastically affecteu the
auuio iecoiuing meuium itself
1
. All sounus weie iecoiueu to anu playeu back fiom
magnetic tape. Wiapping auuio as a file funuamentally alteieu the ways that auuio coulu
be appioacheu, anu combineu with haiu-uisk-baseu nonlineai euiting anu mixing systems,
constituteu a complete paiauigm shift in teims of the auuio piouuction chain.

1
This is tiue foi euiting anu mixing woik; playback systems, howevei, began theii maich towaius uigital
technology in the late 197us with Bolby Lab's theatei sounu ievolution
Koua 11
BAWs weie bieu fiom a stiain of auuio cultuie much uiffeient than analog
piouuction. The anteceuents to the BAW giew fiom the woilu of sounu synthesis, music
notation, anu coueu instiuctions foi computei music peifoimances. Collegiate computei
music centeis stoou at the centei of uigital auuio uevelopment in the 197us anu 198us,
cieating laige, complex auuio machines like the Sal-Nai Constiuction anu the Samson Box
(Leiuei 61-74). Bevelopments stemmeu laigely fiom univeisities' effoits to exploie
computei-baseu synthesis anu composition tools, anu fiom haiuwaie companies
facilitating those exploiations. The commeicial maikets also tenueu heavily towaius
holistic systems foi musical synthesis anu composition. Faiilight's Computei Nusic
Instiument |CNIj anu New Englanu Bigital's Synclaviei, peihaps the most iecognizable
BAW-like instiuments, weie uesigneu as all-in-one synthesizei woikstations; New Englanu
Bigital latei maue its own foiay into BAWs with PostPio (Leiuei 6S). Pio Tools itself began
as Sounu Besignei, a sample euitoi foi the Emulatoi sampling keyboaiu, iathei than a full-
fleugeu auuio woikstation (Cook 8).
While univeisity anu musician inteiests focus on the inuiviuual composei oi
musician, auuio postpiouuction maintains a much staikei focus on laige-scale team-baseu
effoits anu uiviueu woik. The all-uigital, all-in-one, computei-baseu postpiouuction
package was a novel iuea, but almost in uiiect opposition to the woiking methouology of
auuio in geneial. Rathei than a physically uispaiate set of haiuwaie anu piocesses, neaily
the entiiety of the pipeline coulu be concatenateu onto one platfoim. The potential
woikflow pioffeieu by the likes of Pio Tools challengeu the tiauitional uivisions inheient
in auuio woik, anu even positeu the thieat that a single usei woulu be able to accomplish
what was once the piovince of an entiie auuio team.
Koua 12
The thieat, though, was illusoiy. The auuio woikflow that BAWs weie invauing was
still entiencheu within the confines of analog auuio equipment. The inheient iestiictions
of such a technology-baseu inuustiy, woiking with long-foimat piouuctions, enfoice a
mouulai, task-baseu appioach spieau among a team to maximize efficiency. BAWs founu
use, then, the same way that uigital ieveib anu wavetable synthesis founu use - as one
mouule of a laigei woikflow. In music, Pio Tools in paiticulai giew as a tool foi
compositing vocal tiacks fiom multiple takes, anu as an easy way to iecall iough mixes foi
tiacking puiposes (Bye). In postpiouuction, euitois switcheu fiom liteially cutting
magnetic tape to metaphoiically cutting auuio files in a computei. The BAW's piimaiy use
was in an aiea wheie it hau the gieatest compaiative capability - euiting. The Euit Winuow
has since become an aichetypal piece of any BAW softwaie.
BAW use since has seen piecemeal giowth, giauually extenuing into all aspects of
piofessional auuio; its gieatest tiiumph is peihaps its now univeisal use foi film mixing. Its
gieatest shoitcomings, howevei, laigely iemain unchangeu since its inception. The
pioblem is not one of small omissions, oi a lack of polish; it is a systemic ienueiing of auuio
piocesses fiom a ueciueuly analog point of view. BAWs still attempt to mimic the look, feel,
anu functionality of legacy auuio haiuwaie, anu in uoing so caiiy a numbei of issues anu
conceins into the uigital uomain.

Chapter 2: Desi gn Fl aws
G>'"#4=$( )#7,:#75 "#.+'48 #"8+ 5>'"#458 4)5=7 <"#:8B

A iecent AES publication focuses on a hallmaik of giaphical BAWs since theii
inception anu theii failuie to uevelop as a iobust visual mouel of auuio - the wavefoim.
Wavefoims uisplay a single paiametei: an auuio file's amplituue along the timeline. This
allows one to iecognize geneial changes in level, attacks anu ieleases, anu clipping anu
uistoition issues, but is otheiwise a limiteu visual tool foi analyzing auuio content. A key
issue is the wavefoim's genesis fiom time-uomain-baseu uata, an appioach baseu on the
physical qualities of sounu anu acoustics iathei than the human peiception of sounu. As
uiannakis anu Smith note in a sepaiate stuuy on visualizations of auuio chaiacteiistics,
"|vjisual iepiesentations of sounu such as time-uomain anu fiequency-uomain
iepiesentations aie baseu on physical appioaches to sounu unueistanuing anu cannot be
useu as intuitive conceptual metaphois foi sounu uesign" (uiannakis, !',=4+7. 4).
Consequently, piototype mouels uevelopeu in the stuuy stiive to cieate moie 'natuial'
visualizations of auuio anu auuio piopeities, by "|iemovingj most of the cluttei anu
|pioviuingj the usei with a mental mouel of the acoustic content that is easy to giasp"
(uohlke 9).
The stuuy cleaily touches on much moie than wavefoim uesign. The multiple notes
anu cues fiom visual uesign anu moueling piinciples implicitly impugn BAW softwaie's
unwillingness to uevelop, in uohlke's woius, "a consistent, easily leainable. anu effective
mapping between sounu anu giaphics" (uohlke 4). The stuuy stiesses that the wavefoim's
Koua 14
biggest shoitcoming is its lack of uimensionality - its insistence on the measuiement of
only volume ovei time - anu vaiious suggesteu alteinative mouels attempt to inciease the
infoimation uensity within the wavefoim uisplay. These piototypes illustiate how
wavefoims coulu pioviue masking infoimation, how lenses on sciubbing tools coulu lessen
the neeu foi constant shifts in viewing scale, how inuiviuual tiacks' contiibution to oveiall
louuness coulu be mappeu, anu how the effect of a plugin coulu be visually supeiimposeu
on a wavefoim to pioviue feeuback. Reauability anu 'natuial mappings' aie stiesseu, in
contiast to moie typical mouels baseu on giaphs of iaw amplituue anu fiequency uata
(uohlke S). Theii finuings echo infoimation uesign guiu Euwaiu Tufte's aigument foi what
he calls 'miciomacio uesigns' - those that incoipoiate uense, extensive uata sets to elicit
bioau anu complex patteins - anu his asseition that "often the less complex anu less subtle
the line, the moie ambiguous anu less inteiesting is the ieauing" (Tufte S1).


!"#$%& ( ) *&+&%,- ./ 0.1-2&3 &4 ,-56 7,+&/.%8 9%.4.4:9&6 ;0.1-2& <)=>?
The stuuy is a miciocosm of the issues that plague BAWs touay. As uohlke anu hei
paitneis finu foi wavefoim views, uigital auuio cuiiently employs long outuateu
visualizations, anu is soiely in neeu of bettei methous to visually ielate BAW uata to the
usei. What the stuuy implicitly auvocates is highei infoimation uensity in the visualization
Koua 1S
of auuio uata. The example piototypes affix new uimensions to the otheiwise one-
uimensional wavefoim, illustiating how many oppoitunities foi uata visualization aie
misseu by cuiient BAW systems at even the most basic level. The extiapolation of these
finuings, then, is to apply these tactics to the whole of BAW uesign, incieasing
uimensionality anu infoimation uensity along all possible paiameteis.
Because of the cuiient uesign paiauigms of BAWs, howevei, those metiics aie
cuitaileu by the limitations manifest in imitating the analog uomain. The most wiuely
employeu application uesigns piioiitize the cieation of a lineai, top-uown, inline signal
flow mouel, with all othei subsequent uata object anu piocess mouels baseu on this layout.
The inline mouel cieates two mastei axes - time anu tiacks - that aie moie often than not
uispiopoitionately weighteu, against the favoi of othei uata such as pioject stiuctuie,
fiequency content, piocessing stages, anu plugin paiameteis. Nuch like the wavefoim
itself, this mouel is incommunicative anu uata-staiveu, anu lays the biunt of oiganizational
anu management woik on the shoulueis of the usei.

The Si gnal Fl ow Model
Foi the impoitance that neaily all auuio piofessionals place upon signal flow, it is
peihaps the most pooily implementeu concept in BAW uesigns. The biggest issue one finus
in beginnei auuio classiooms is almost always a failuie to giasp signal flow. Stuuent
piojects aie iife with excessive plugin instantiations, oveiuseu volume automation,
giatuitous mixing uecisions on neaily all tiacks, anu ieuunuant copies of auuio tiacks to
achieve effects vaiiations - pioblems which all can be iectifieu by summing tiacks togethei
Koua 16
anu 4)5$ applying plugins, paiametei mixing, anu paiallel piocessing. Stuuents anu entiy-
level piofessionals consistently have uifficulty in leaining how to ioute signals, how to
locate issues anu theii points of oiigin, anu how to effectively utilize iouting anu summing
points to facilitate theii woikflow.
At fiist glance, it is easy to see that signal flow has not auopteu an appiopiiate visual
mouel to piesent its funuamental concepts, functions, anu uses. Though vaiious softwaie
mouels aie useu in BAWs to pioviue signal flow functionality, neaily all of them heaiken
back uiiectly to the analog oiigins of signal iouting. Inteifaces involve sequences of inputs,
outputs, senus, anu inteimeuiaiy tokens that ioute between them; mixing anu piocessing
uecisions can occui along any level of the signal chain, with no cleai iepiesentation of how
eithei suboiuinate oi supeiioi tiacks aie affecteu; anu no system cleaily visualizes the
ielationships between tiacks. The uigital veision of iouting is thus veiy much like its
physical counteipait: the iows of patch bay inputs anu outputs, full of uangling patch coius
anu hanuwiitten labels, have become iows of obtuse uigital busses.
Koua 17

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But this pioblem iuns ueepei than a lack of visual iepiesentation. A common theme
with misuse of signal flow is that offenueis often eii on the siue of tiack oveiuse. Foi
example, beginnei mixeis often instantiate multiple inline ieveibs on each tiack, iathei
than senuing paiallel signals fiom those tiacks into a sepaiate tiack with one ieveib unit
(Chailes Bye fingeis this as 4)5 most common beginnei pioblem) (Bye). Because of the
lineai methou that mixing consoles utilize to piocess signals, the tiack becomes the key
component in auuio piocessing. The piopei solution to the ieveib example - iouting
thiough a summing point foi auuitional piocessing - emphasizes that all piocessing
functions occui at a tiack level, anu that tiacks anu busses aie the units that oiganize the
stiuctuie of any mix, no mattei how laige oi small. The pioblem theiein is the ueciueuly
=>;"5>5$4#4=+$ oiienteu viewpoint that this uesign assumes. It is tiue that tiacks anu
busses cieate the functionality to inuepenuently mix simultaneous auuio souices, but that
only auuiesses the 'nuts anu bolts' functionality of the iouting system, without
consiueiation foi the enu usei. Tiack- anu buss-baseu iouting mouels the ;7+9588 of
Koua 18
iouting signals, but tuins a blinu eye to the usei's ;5795;4=+$ of the piocess. 0ne's mental
mouel of the piocess moie likely than not is much moie conceineu with the stiuctuiing of
auuio into piactical hieiaichies than with which busses shoulu be connecteu into which
seiies of inputs anu outputs to achieve that hieiaichy.
Fiom an auuio piofessional's stanupoint, howevei, it is uifficult to sepaiate the
piesentation fiom the task of iouting. Signal flow uefines analog auuio piocesses, iight
uown to the veiy cieation of auuio. The piocess of changing sounu into an electiical signal
anu back into sounu involves multiple stages of signal manipulation, fiom gaining the
initially weak miciophone signal to combining multiple signals to gaining the composite
signal to a stiength that will uiive speakei cones. All of this is achieveu thiough signal
iouting anu tiack-baseu piocessing, whethei connecting sounu souices to uiffeient
channels oi summing those channels into an unuseu tiack. The oiigins of signal flow aie
not simply a way to composite a few sounus togethei, but uesciibe an entiie piocess of
alteiing signals, both in seiies anu in paiallel to othei input signals. In shoit, signal flow is
not pait of the piocess of electiifying sounu - it =8 the piocess. It uefines how souice
signals aie maue into usable auuio.
The objectification of auuio as physical iecoiuings has much moie foimally
segmenteu the piocess, tiansfoiming auuio fiom a live, continuous pioceuuie of shaping
uynamic inputs into a seiies of stages of collecting, piocessing, anu mixing sounus. BAWs
sustain this objectification by moving sounu fiom a limiteu physical containei
(phonogiaphs oi magnetic tape) into a highly malleable uigital foim (auuio files). The
tiauitional implementation of tiack- anu buss-baseu signal flow, howevei, uoes not fully
Koua 19
accommouate this level of segmentation. The system is too simple to pioviue the soit of
uata stiatification necessaiy foi oiganization anu compiehension of complex mixes.
Compaie it to Auobe piouucts' methous foi uiviuing anu oiganizing content. Nost
piogiams in Auobe's Cieative Suite utilize 'layeis' as the most basic oiganizei of visual
content. Inuiviuual elements within layeis can also be wiappeu togethei as 'gioups', which
aie then manipulateu as a single element. Layeis can contain othei layeis, anu gioups can
contain othei gioups. Theie aie moie auvanceu stiuctuies as well, at moie application-
specific levels. Photoshop can cieate 'Smait 0bjects', which aie essentially complex
combinations of layeis, gioups, anu elements. Illustiatoi uses 'Symbols' to fill the same
function. Smait 0bjects anu Symbols can be instantiateu multiple times, anu easily iesizeu
anu oiienteu, but it is moie uifficult to euit theii constituent layeis than with geneial
Layeis anu uioups. Both applications iequiie the usei to uouble-click the SymbolSmait
0bject to entei a special euiting moue, anu Photoshop even piompts the usei to commit
theii euits when finisheu. This uistinction between basic Layeisuioups anu moie
complex Smait 0bjectsSymbols both assumes anu enfoices a woikflow uivision - namely
that the usei will have a gieatei neeu to make complex object iteiations, with veiy simple
vaiiations, than to keep full contiol ovei eveiy inuiviuual element. The uistinction
packages the basic oiganizeis (uioups anu Layeis) into complex ones, ieuucing the time
anu effoit it woulu otheiwise take to uuplicate similai stiuctuies thioughout the
uocument.
It is this kinu of ielational stiuctuie that BAWs aie lacking. Cuiient giouping
systems hew close to theii analog anteceuents. Tiacks function as the most basic
iepositoiy of mix content. Theii contents aie combineu via the buss system: inputs anu
Koua 2u
outputs aie assigneu to uiffeient busses, inteiconnecting the tiacks in eithei uescenuing
paient-chilu oi paiallel peei ielationships. This usei-cieateu system of inteiconnectivity,
howevei, pioviues limiteu functionality. A small set of content is easy enough to ioute anu
compiehenu, but laige mixes quickly become a confusing maze of inteiweaving busses,
long hieiaichy chains, anu numeious paiallel senus. A single task, such as applying simple
ieveib to an entiie mix, maintains a simple ielationship between the pioject's iecoiueu
tiacks anu one summing point foi piocessing. When the same task is manageu within a
much laigei mix context, howevei, multiple iteiations of similai piocesses necessitate
many stages of summing anu piocessing - anu analog-style signal flow becomes oneious.
Beie, the mixei must manage multiple gioups of tiacks anu theii ielation to multiple
piocessing points. Some gioups may simultaneously be sent to seveial piocessois, while a
few of the piocessing tiacks may be stiuctuieu to flow fiom one to the next. The
ielationships between tiacks, gioups of tiacks, anu piocesses quickly giow complex anu
inteiuepenuent.
The visual feeuback that BAWs pioviue foi these ielationships ieplicates stiuctuies
fiom the oiiginal analog-woilu metaphoi. I0 mouules, gioups, anu paiallel senus aie
boiioweu uiiectly fiom theii implementation in live anu stuuio consoles foi managing
laige sets of input anu output neeus. 0nfoitunately, the analog inteiface thiough which
most of this stiuctuiing takes place is the mixing console, wheie most tiacks aie laiu in one
homogenous hoiizontal file. The console's layout cieates an excellent tool foi viewing the
levels of many tiacks simultaneously, but a teiiible mouel of the ielationships between
those tiacks. BAWs uuplicate the analog console's mouel of signal flow iathei faithfully,
ienueiing sepaiate sections foi I0 anu paiallel senus that simply list on a pei-tiack basis
Koua 21

!"#$%& H ) E%. A..-65 IJ 64%"9 "D B"C +"&73 61.7"D# F.89-&C ,DK $DF-&,% 4%,F2 %&-,4".D61"96?
the buss assignments enteiing anu leaving the tiack. These aie a pooi visual inuicatoi of
the entiie mix stiuctuie; too often mixeis must chase aftei a pioblem sounu's tail, following
the meteis' tiail thiough inputs anu outputs of tiacks until they aiiive at the uesiieu sounu
souice. This chase uestioys the bounuaiies inheient between vaiious mixing tasks, anu
ignoies possible stiuctuies that might otheiwise uefine sepaiate tasks by scale. 0nlike the
LayeisSymbols mouel, iteiations of stiuctuies involve teuious iepetition, enfoicing
otheiwise unnecessaiy cognitive woik, anu blui uiffeientiations between small-scale euits
(such as the iight combination of effects to piouuce an explosion) anu moie holistic mixing
uecisions (such as finuing the piopei level in the mix foi that explosion). The tiackbuss
system is oveily simplistic, anu intensifies woik on the usei's pait to oiganize anu
uiffeientiate both components anu tasks within the mix.

Busses and Tracks
In the analog haiuwaie beginnings of auuio, busses weie the physical paths along
which electiical signals coulu be sent. 0n a console with S2 inputs anu 16 outputs, foi
instance, one neeus the flexibility to take #$. input anu ioute it to #$. output; theiefoie,
inputs anu outputs aie mappeu not to one anothei, but to an =$457>5,=#7. - the buss. The
buss becomes a hub foi collecting anu uistiibuting signals in a flexible anu ieconfiguiable
mannei. Senus pioviue even gieatei flexibility anu moie possible iouting schemes by
acting as a seconuaiy inteimeuiaiy - one senus signal thiough one buss to a senu, which
Koua 22
itself is sent thiough anothei buss (oi busses) to an output. This system effectively cieates
a hieiaichy of multiple signal flow stages, so that signals can be inuepenuently piocesseu,
gioupeu into submixes, piocesseu fuithei, anu iouteu to whatevei output is necessaiy.
The uownsiue to this appioach is the complexity it inuuces - most of the uata
oiganization anu management tasks aie foiceu upon the mixei to soit thiough. Theie aie a
plethoia of configuiations foi iouting tasks, anu little visual feeuback foi the iesulting web
of inputs anu outputs. Buss stiuctuie is iaiely piesenteu in a unifieu, easy-to-view mannei,
making tiack labels anu colois infinitely moie useful in communicating logical giouping
anu global stiuctuie than the actual iouting schemes themselves. The laige anu intiicate

!"#$%& L ) M$66 6&4$9 "D E%. A..-6?
Koua 2S
bussing configuiations that emeige aie often iigiuly oichestiateu totems, anu giow moie
inflexible to changes anu new iueas as the mix piogiesses.
The actual steps it takes to ioute a gioup of tiacks to anothei tiack foi something as
ioutine as ieveib piocessing seem supeifluous in softwaie foim. Fiesh uevelopments in
BAWs alieauy acknowleuge this issue. Reapei anu Live allow tiacks to fieely ioute uiiectly
to one anothei, without neeuing to manage busses. The latest veision of Pio Tools (veision
9) even builus this featuie into its existing buss-heavy iouting scheme. Softwaie bussing
consistently uemonstiates the same funuamental pioblem - the neeu to always ioute
thiough a miuuleman, iegaiuless of the task at hanu.
Like busses, tiacks weie cieateu as vessels foi signals. Tiacks oiiginally functioneu
as ieceptacles foi eithei inuiviuual channels oi composites of multiple othei tiacks
(iefeiieu to vaiiously as 'bounces', 'uubs', 'piints', oi 'comps'). Inuiviuual tiacks allow

!"#$%& N ) O E%. A..-6 8"C 6&66".D /.% , 61.%4 /"-83 $4"-"P"D# .+&% NQ K"//"F$-4)4.)6&& 4%,F26?
Koua 24
simultaneous playback of multiple sounu souices while still maintaining inuepenuent
paiametei changes foi each of those sounus.
The piice of tiacks, howevei, is the ieal estate involveu. If a mixei wants 24
inuepenuently contiollable sounu souices, then she neeus a console spanning 24 channel
stiips. The inuepenuence that tiacks pioviue comes at the cost of necessitating huge
multitiack consoles. This unwieluiness is even moie pionounceu in BAWs, wheie size is
constiaineu by the aiea of one's monitoi. BAWs allow scalability up to ovei 2uu tiacks, but
the usei will be able to effectively view no moie than 1S-2u of those at any time - anu much
less if complex euiting woik neeus to be uone. Even moie woiiisome, this misuse of spaces
cieates unuue cognitive noise foi the euitoi to sift thiough. Tiacks not only take up space -
they all take up the 8#>5 space, iegaiuless of theii ielationships to one anothei. The moie
tiacks that aie piesent, the moie uncleai each inuiviuual tiack's ielationship to the full mix
becomes.

Paramet ers
0iganizational stiuctuies pioviue a bioau oveiview of the vaiious paits of a mix.
The fine uetails, howevei, aie stasheu in uozens of tiack-level paiameteis - volume,
panning, senu infoimation, anu plugin settings. Nuch like the oiganization of the mix, the
piesentation of these paiameteis is often lacking. Encapsulateu within inuiviuual objects,
inseit effects anu senus emulate theii lineai anu mouulai implementation in mixing
consoles. This methou pioviues the ieal estate foi a gieat numbei of plugins anu senus to
be instantiateu. The cost, howevei, is a loss of contiol: unlike the consoles this appioach
Koua 2S
emulates, contiols foi level anu othei paiameteis aie encapsulateu within the inseit anu
senu objects. Contiols often appeai in sepaiate plugin winuows once the object is selecteu,
anu theie is no visual feeuback at the instantiation level as to how the inseitsenu affects
the signal othei than the iesulting metei ieauing.
visual feeuback of these changes, then, is ielegateu to automation bieakpoints,
uisplayeu lateially along the euit winuow. The ieu lines foimeu by these points have been
the univeisal answei to iepiesentation of all soits of paiameteis, fiom simple volume anu
panning changes to complex plugin automation. As uynamic manipulation of plugin
paiameteis has become moie wiuespieau, Pio Tools' (anu many othei BAWs') answei has
been the Automation Lane, allowing useis to view >'"4=;"5 ieu lines simultaneously. This
is an appioach fiom a haiuwaie uesign point of view - it pioviues >+75 infoimation, but
not @54457 infoimation - anu as such, falls shoit of the potential of softwaie-baseu uata
moueling.
Bieakpoint automation, which has quickly become the ,5 <#94+ stanuaiu foi
paiametei iepiesentation, puts unuue focus on each paiametei inuiviuually, iathei than
theii ielationships with one anothei. Automation lanes, while allowing the usei to view
multiple paiameteis simultaneously, still fiame those paiameteis as inuepenuent
vaiiables. Effective automateu piocessing often ielies on cieating anu manipulating
ielationships @54:55$ vaiiables so that, foi example, as a uelayeu signal iepeats it becomes
incieasingly filteieu. The inteifaces of the plugins themselves cuiiently pioviue bettei
enviionments foi paiametei manipulation. Each plugin is moueleu as an object, anu so all
of its constituent contiols aie collecteu togethei. 0ltimately, howevei, plugins aie still
flaweu foi vaiious ieasons: they bieak continuity with the BAW's inteiface anu contiols,
Koua 26
they open as self-containeu winuow mouules that must be inuiviuually manageu, they lack
contextual iesponsiveness anu automating a plugin's paiameteis within the plugin winuow
still pioviues only the simplest visual feeuback (knobs tuining, numbeis
inciementingueciementing, etc.), insteau of a holistic iepiesentation of changes incuiieu.

The Di gi t al Envi ronment
The BAW's analog oiigins aie maue plain in its lack of appiopiiate accommouation
foi a uigital (veisus physical) euiting anu mixing enviionment. BAWs still vastly
unueipeifoim in geneial piesentation of uata, anu uo not utilize the powei of the computei
to alleviate many oiganizational shoitcomings that become much moie eviuent in a uigital
context. This extenus into seveial aieas of oiganization: uisplaying peitinent anu
contextual infoimation, logically giouping content anu uisplay items togethei, anu
oiganizing anu iapiuly employing souice sounus, plugins, anu iouting schemes.
The BAW inteiface of infoimation, aleits, anu options is a piime example of
inauequate oiganization. BAW uisplays still function like console uisplays - the
notification tools available to the usei uon't extenu much faithei than channel meteis anu a
few light-up buttons. Issues like the afoiementioneu iouting stiuctuie aie left in the same
mouel establisheu by physical haiuwaie, with little obvious effoit given to extenu
functionality via auvanceu notifications oi aleits. Foi example, uigital auuio meteis have
the capacity to keep the topmost ieu bai lit aftei the tiack oveimouulates, a function that
many consoles also shaie. 0nlike consoles, BAWs also woik with the uimension of time -
yet no system has yet been uevelopeu to inuicate :)5$ a tiack clips, only 4)#4 it clips.
Koua 27
Nixeis must still iegulaily play thiough an entiie mix to ueteimine at what point that ieu
bai was lit by an oveily hot souice.
This is a simple example of the soit of omissions BAWs piesent iegulaily. They aie
uesigneu fiom a haiuwaie veteian's point of view - wheie uozens of meteis must be
watcheu in a iow, wheie uistoition is heaiu but not seen, wheie fauei stiips aie all the
same shaue of giay, anu wheie solo anu mute buttons often uon't even light to inuicate
theii usage. In geneial, the 4.;5 of uata that BAWs piesent in the inteiface is not as
ielevant oi immeuiately useful as it shoulu be. Infoimation is often piesenteu on only a
tiack level, with the wiong scope of uetail. Fauei anu pan infoimation aie iegulaily
uisplayeu as numbeis, iathei than easy-to-ieau sliuei positions. Netei ieauings can iefei
to pie- oi post-fauei levels, with little to no inuication of which is cuiiently being shown.
Nost uata peitaining to these types of tiack paiameteis aie locateu entiiely within the
input mouule at the heau of each tiack, meaning that it is incieuibly uifficult to tiack
changes in any of those paiameteis when attention is focuseu to the euit winuow.
0nlike the physical woilu, wheie extia space on a piouuct foi anothei metei oi
potentiometei is a luxuiy, the uigital woilu has no pioblem with pioviuing as much
feeuback anu flexibility as possible. That fieeuom is paiauoxically the biggest uesign
pioblem with uigital piouucts - filteiing out uata so that the usei sees only the most
ielevant infoimation at any given time. This is uifficult in many uigital enviionments, but
especially so foi auuio. Auuio woik in geneial (anu mixing in paiticulai) iequiies one to
monitoi a laige amount of infoimation anu paiameteis at once. The tenuency foi uigital
auuio softwaie, then, is to use scieen space to pioviue as many tools, values, paiameteis,
anu contiols as possible simultaneously. The usei is foiceu to sift thiough laige amounts of
Koua 28
visual noise to finu the objects oi paiameteis that neeu to be aujusteu. The biunt of uata
management is placeu upon the usei, uampening the efficiency, fluiuity, anu aesthetic
cieativity of BAW use with intensive stiuctuiing tasks.

Workf l ow
A key histoiical uifficulty in BAW integiation is that they weie uesigneu to ieplicate
all auuio functions necessaiy foi euiting anu mixing, but not to ieplicate the team of
inuiviuuals who peifoim these tasks. Beginning as musical auuio cieation tools, BAWs
weie built with the inuiviuual peifoimei oi composei in minu, pioviuing them with the
functionality to supposeuly obviate the neeus foi a stuuio, musicians, piouuceis, oi
engineeis. BAW pieceuents like the Faiilight CNI anu Synclaviei cleaily suppoit this one-
man stuuio appioach. Bowevei, functions anu tasks aie much moie foimally segmenteu
within a postpiouuction enviionment. 0ne peison cleans anu euits the uialogue tiack;
anothei iecoius anu integiates ABR loops; anothei cuts a set of sounus (foi example, all
engine noises) into the sounutiack, anu yet anothei is iesponsible foi a uiffeient set of
sounus (maybe tiie squeals this time). A small gioup is in chaige of peifoiming, iecoiuing,
anu euiting all Foley foi the film. All of these people cieate woik to be integiateu into a
mastei pioject foi the sounutiack - which is mixeu by yet anothei inuiviuual.
BAWs attempt to auuiess such a wiue vaiiety of tasks with a plethoia of options anu
flexibility. Neaily all tools anu paiameteis aie usually pioviueu thiough the basic main
view, so that the composei, the uialogue euitoi, anu the post supeivisoi aie each given
access to the contiols they neeu. The pioblem with this is that it amounts to a 'shotgun
Koua 29
appioach' to infoimation layout - the iesulting effect is that the composei is also shown
extia playlists anu spotting tools, the uialogue euitoi can see click tiacks anu silence
stiippeis, anu the post supeivisoi can view a multituue of complex euiting tools he will
nevei use to pieview his team's woik. To best use the softwaie to theii specific enus, these
inuiviuuals must leain to fiist tune out infoimation anu tools that aie iiielevant to theii
woikflow. Auuitionally, with so much piesenteu at once, tools anu commanus aie
invaiiably placeu in less than optimal positions - some paiameteis aie piominent, while
othei contiols get squisheu into coineis, wiitten in tiny type, oi incluueu in a submenu of a
submenu of a set of tools.
Cuiiently, saving task-specific session templates seives as an inteimeuiaiy solution,
but it again exemplifies the pioblematic stiategy of asking foi too much effoit fiom the
usei. Pio Tools' 'Winuows configuiations' aie anothei example of this. Rathei than foicing
the usei to cieate his own custom views, BAWs coulu easily pioviue a few basic
viewsinteifaces that one coulu switch between baseu on task. Anothei possibility coulu
be to simply ieuuce the ieliance on tools in geneial, scaling back the oveiall complexity of
the BAW's piesentation. While many specific tools anu featuies auu poweiful
functionality, they also invaiiably inciease the cognitive loau of eveiy usei who has little
neeu foi them.
It is impoitant to iemembei, though, that auuio postpiouuction is not a single-
inuiviuual piocess. The piocess is maue of many tasks spieau among a team of sounu
piofessionals. Piojects iegulaily change hanus between iecoiuists, euitois, anu
supeivisois, anu so neeu iobust piocesses foi combining oi ieaiianging peitinent uata
within an existing pioject. BAWs' issue with the exchange anu concatenation of piojects is
Koua Su
cuiiently auuiesseu only to a limiteu extent
2
. Inteichange is by anu laige still piint-baseu:
a completeu section of auuio woik is piinteu in ieal time as a single file to one tiack (this
piocess is vaiiously calleu bouncing, uubbing, pieuubbing, oi layback). Piints absolutely
ensuie that eveiything the euitoi hau in his pioject will be piesent in the mixei's full
session. They also ensuie that the mixei has no ability to make changes to the euitoi's
woik without opening hei pioject, alteiing the content, anu then iepiinting that stem, in
ieal time. They aie ieliable, tiustwoithy, wiuely useu, anu utteily inefficient at theii job.
As an alteinative, one can impoit paits of one pioject into anothei - tiacks, gioups,
I0 stiuctuie, anu othei infoimation. Because no oveiaiching oiganizational tools aie
pioviueu within BAWs, howevei, these impoits fiequently neeu extensive ieoiganizing to
fit within the cuiient pioject. The infoimation on a 47#9D "565" comes in, but not at a ;7+K594
"565". Inuiviuuals' unique woiking styles often come with the impoit, as well as a host of
I0 stiuctuies that often clash with the mixing session's I0. 0ften, pieces of one pioject
function piopeily only within theii oiiginal context. Time maikeis fiom a uialogue euit, foi
instance, most likely note issues <+7 4)5 ,=#"+('5 5,=4+7, anu have little function within a
laigei mix session. Playlists anu gioups aie likewise context-sensitive. 0f couise, in a
mouein BAW such as Pio Tools, one can choose whethei oi not to incluue these options
uuiing impoit. As emphasizeu eailiei, though, giving the usei moie boxes to check anu
uncheck is not the answei. In Pio Tools' impoit system, foi instance, a much moie elegant
solution woulu be to simply keep impoits stiatifieu. Rathei than meiging an impoit with
the cuiient open pioject, one coulu gioup each impoit as a unique set of uata within the

2
0NFsAAFs aie not auuiesseu heie because they mainly facilitate exchange between pictuie euitoi anu
sounu. This section is conceineu with exchange between auuio team membeis only.
Koua S1


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pioject. The mixei coulu then see exactly wheie each tiack, maikei, gioup, anu fauei
nuuge came fiom, in oiganizeu gioups. Insteau of a fiesh session without oiigin, the
pioject is now cleaily the sum of many attiibutable paits.
The most glaiing eiioi committeu by all impoit methous, howevei, is how static
they all aie. In the uays of highly uynamic, uatabase-fueleu content foi web anu business
solutions, the impoiting anu ie-impoiting of change aftei change of auuio woik is aichaic
anu entiiely unnecessaiy. The ability to link piojects togethei, as opposeu to impoiting
Koua S2
uata fiom one to the othei, is a soie omission fiom the BAW featuie set. It is not a fault of
technology that holus this possibility back - the past few yeais especially have seen a fluiiy
of web-baseu uocument euiting applications, with featuies such as histoiies of uocument
changes cieuiteu to whichevei euitoi maue them. It is most likely the ingiaineu woikflow
of postpiouuction auuio, wheie fiequent exchanges, changes, anu iepiints have been the
noim foi uecaues.
Tiacking changes coulu be a boon foi team piojects, but it coulu equally benefit the
single usei. Even a simple listeu histoiy of piocesses applieu to inuiviuual auuio iegions
woulu be immensely useful in uocumenting the concoction of piocesses that might cieate
similai auuio effects. The piocess, howevei, is still appioacheu lineaily, anu inflexible
auuio piints iemain a funuamental builuing block of postpiouuction auuio.
Koua SS
Chapter 3: New Technol ogi es
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The auuio mix has always functioneu best as a tactile meuium. Faueis anu iotaiy
potentiometeis pioviue instant humanizeu contiol ovei mixes, something that the
intiouuction of uigital auuio coulu not change. Nixeis woik best with a tactile suiface, anu
the ambiguous beginnings of BAWs piove that auuio piofessionals weie not even willing to
switch fiom analog to fully uigital consoles yeais aftei uigital euiting was stanuaiuizeu.
Recent auvances in tactile usei inteifaces, howevei, have been significant. The
smaitphone ievolution is pioof enough of even the geneial public's acceptance of touch
inteifaces, anu new touch-baseu tablet computeis aie quickly becoming the next high-tech
consumei battlegiounu. It seems somewhat stiange, then, that theie have not been gieatei
stiiues in implementing touch technologies as inteifaces foi existing postpiouuction BAWs.
Nusic- anu instiument-focuseu auuio has ceitainly exploieu touch-baseu teiiain
since at least the eaily millennium. Even moie so than auuio piofessionals, musicians anu
composeis ciave tactile feeuback - whethei thiough keyboaius, NIBI-capable guitais,
bieath contiolleis, tuintables, oi X-Y paus anu capacitive iibbons. The ability to ieact
immeuiately - to emphasize nuances in tempo, pitch oi timbie - to ;"#. one's chosen tool
like an instiument - uiiectly influences the aesthetic minuset piouucing the iesultant
music. Inueeu, the same mentality explains a mixei's piefeience foi a physical console - it
is his instiument! In the past uecaue, howevei, effoits have gone towaius moving beyonu
emulating tiauitional musical instiument contiols (like valves, fiets, anu keys) anu towaius
Koua S4
new hoiizons maue possible by touch technology. Tangible usei inteifaces (T0Is) such as
the AuuioPau anu Reactable use computei vision to iuentify physical tokens placeu anu
manipulateu on theii suiface, cieating a tangible but quickly mouifiable music inteiface.
0thei uevices like the Continuum Fingeiboaiu oi Nisa's Kitaia utilize suifaces that, while
uesigneu to emulate ieal-woilu instiuments, also incoipoiate touch contiol on two oi thiee
axes in uistinctly electionic ways. Application stoies foi smait phones anu touch tablets
have become feitile giounu foi expeiiments with touch contiols anu inteifaces, ianging
fiom basic keyboaiu emulatois anu NIBI contiolleis to complex beat masheis. These
applications aie laigely focuseu on music cieation foi the inuiviuual oi small stuuio. A
numbei of applications exist that enable basic BAW-like featuies such as iecoiuing,
sequencing, anu mixing, but few of them incluue complex functionality. Touch scieens aie
finuing theii gieatest piofessional auuio use as iemote contiol uevices: piouucts such as
Neyiinck's v-Contiol Pio anu PieSonus' StuuioLive Remote pioviue connectivity to Pio
Tools softwaie anu PieSonus' uigital auuio consoles, iespectively.
Theie is a uistinct lack of auuio euiting anu mixing softwaie specifically uesigneu foi
a touch scieen inteiface. The contiolleis that uo exist pioviue new touch enviionment
paiauigms anu contiols foi the piofessional auuio woilu - but those contiols still must
tianslate onto softwaie uesigneu foi keyboaiu-anu-mouse inteiactions. The analog-to-
uigital-inteiface issues that plague peisonal computeis aie intensifieu on the touch scieen.
Space is even moie iestiicteu with touch scieens than with typical computei monitois, not
only by size but also by necessity. In auuition to theii typically smallei uimensions, touch
scieens must accommouate human hanus as uiiect input souices, ensuiing that touch
points aie laige enough to easily hit anu that significant poitions of the scieen aie not
Koua SS
obscuieu by the usei's hanu uuiing inteiaction (Saffei 4u-44). Input souices aie also
ieuuceu fiom multiple mouse anu keyboaiu buttons to a small set of hanu gestuies.
Bozens of mouifiei-fueleu key combinations uisappeai, anu iight-click menus aie nowheie
to be founu. As a iesult, guiuing the usei's focus becomes a top piioiity. Rows of menu
buttons anu hieiaichical lists neeu to be eliminateu, ieuuceu oi ieplaceu with moual
winuows anu popoveis that naiiow the inteiface towaius specific tasks in the piopei
context.
These uifficulties aie not to imply that touch scieens aie an unfoigiving
enviionment that auuio softwaie shoulu avoiu. Rathei, they only illustiate that touch
scieens cieate a new context foi inteiaction - much in the same way that analog auuio
inteiaction uoes not fully tianslate to a uigital computei enviionment, tiauitional computei
inteiaction uoes not fully tianslate to touch scieen enviionments. Anu iegaiuless of the
uifficulties, the potential benefits of puisuing touch paiauigms aie gieat. Even as touch
abanuons the mouse anu keyboaiu's sheei numbei of unique buttons anu commanus, it
ietuins ieal-time inteiaction to the usei. volume can once again be iiuuen by a fauei,
panning can be swipeu left anu iight, anu auuio files can be placeu, moveu, sliceu, anu
tiimmeu in natuial ways that simply cannot be ieplicateu by a mouse anu keyboaiu.
Though limiteu in scope, gestuies seive as intuitive anu uiiect ways to manipulate uata anu
objects. Touch ietuins humanizeu contiol to auuio without fetishizing uozens of haiuwaie
contiolleis, fauei packs, oi expensive mixing boaius. It allows customization of the usei's
inteiface, so that the inteiface may auapt to the usei's neeus anu not vice veisa. The touch
scieen's limitations can even be consiueieu an asset - because of theii limiteu space anu
focus, applications have a much gieatei neeu to stieamline theii inteiface anu cieate a
Koua S6
natuial flow between tasks. Applications with cleanei inteifaces anu smaitei uata
stiatification succeeu in touch enviionments, while clutteieu piouucts quickly fail.
In oiuei to fully utilize touch enviionments anu theii benefits, then, application
inteifaces neeu to be ieuesigneu with theii woikspace in minu, anu not ciammeu into a
space that is not meant to contain them. A biief YouTube seaich ieveals seveial viueos that
featuie live mixeis implementing the Softwaie Auuio Console application on a SN touch
scieen. The viueos highlight the uilemma this appioach cieates: infoimation is too uense,
touch points aie much too small, anu navigation is uifficult anu time-consuming, piecisely
because the softwaie was not uesigneu foi a touch enviionment. Faueis in paiticulai aie
significantly smallei than a human hanu can easily contiol, anu the multituuinous channel
stiips encouiage enuless sciolling thiough ciampeu contiols anu tiny text. Concentiating
auuio softwaie uesign towaius a touch enu-goal will stieamline inteifaces anu pioviue a
new iange of human input anu inteiaction with auuio.

Chapter 4: The New Guys
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The consequence of builuing on the same obtuse mouel yeai aftei yeai has been the
uevelopment of a soit of 'sounu cabal' - a view of auuio piofessionals as a secietive gioup
who alone possesses the ability to shape anu piocess sounu foi films, television, anu viueo
games. New membeis must fiist enuuie the 'appienticeship', in which euiting is slow,
iouting is clumsy, mixes clip often, anu issues aie uifficult to tiack uown. 0nly when the
uifficulties of the system have been masteieu thiough yeais of seivice is aumission
possible.
The exclusion of inexpeiienceu enthusiasts comes as the flipsiue to auheiing to
mouels of outuateu equipment. Not only uo neophytes have to leain the softwaie, but they
must also leain the innei woikings of the haiuwaie fiom which it is uesigneu - haiuwaie
whose usage is slowly eiouing. Those alieauy familiai with applying analog piinciples to
the uigital iealm have a uispiopoitionate auvantage ovei newcomeis. Bigital auuio has
kept technical anu cieative ability bunuleu as one piouuct- if one wants a piopeily
uesigneu sounutiack, one also neeus a faiily thoiough giasp of complex signal iouting via
patch bays oi aux senusietuins. Compaie this with the evolution of the piint inuustiy.
Piinting piesses weie once the sole iepositoiies anu useis of fonts, each with a signatuie
set of typefaces. When Auobe anu Niciosoft uigitizeu scoies of fonts fiom the type
founuiies (Pfiffnei 89-97), howevei, they openeu the uoois foi those without any piioi
knowleuge of typeface uesign oi cieation to choose anu employ theii own fonts. In effect,
Koua S8
they sepaiateu the technical ciaft of cieating anu maintaining fonts fiom the cieative
choice of which font to use. The uigital woilu pioviues the ability to cleave 'unuei the hoou'
functionality completely away fiom the inteiface, anu to ieplace the implementation
appioach with usei-focuseu tools that iequiie fai less knowleuge of theii innei
complexities foi piopei use.
Auuio applications function anu feel uiffeient fiom othei meuia applications
because they auheie so iigiuly to theii analog metaphoi. An evei-giowing numbei of
meuia applications uitch the bulk of metaphoiic ieal-woilu pietenses anu insteau stiive to
emulate useis' mental mouels of how ceitain softwaie tools 8)+'", ieact. This means that
the softwaie is uesigneu to fiame anu piesent uata, states, anu actions in a way that closely
appioximates the way useis subconsciously peiceive them. Insteau of a uiiect ieal-woilu
analogy, the piogiam pioviues the usei with an inteiface that is simultaneously moie
abstiact anu moie intuitive. As this appioach piolifeiates, moie useis aie exposeu to
uesigns that follow mental mouels anu softwaie-specific abstiactions of uata anu actions -
meaning that theie is a giowing base of useis not only comfoitable with, but #99'84+>5, 4+
these uesign appioaches. Applications moueleu uiiectly on the ieal woilu aie, by
compaiison, anomalous - they pioviue inuustiy- anu task-specific uesigns, anu theiefoie
uo not tianslate into a woilu populateu with moie flexible anu tianspaient inteifaces. In
shoit, the insistence on an analog metaphoi makes auuio applications aesthetically anu
functionally incongiuous with cuiient meuia softwaie, anu ienueis them unfamiliai to an
incieasingly computei-savvy auuience.

Koua S9
New Benchmarks
It is likely that changes to the shoitcomings enumeiateu in pievious chapteis will
not come fiom the cuiient inuustiy-leauing auuio applications, but iathei fiom smallei
piogiams that expeiiment with pieviously listeu uesign conceins anu concepts. It is not
simply a mattei of execution oi iueas, but of pioviuing seivices to new auuiences as they
emeige. Clayton Chiistensen's H)5 I$$+6#4+7L8 M="5>># points this out as a laige,
geneializeu phenomenon affecting all types anu sizes of inuustiies: aftei fleugling
businesses make the tiansition to powei playeis, they moie often than not ietain theii
uominance only until confionteu by the next uiastic shift in technology anu technological
attituues.
Chiistensen uemonstiates that as a piouuct giows bettei at what it uoes, it also
naiiows its focus towaius consistent anu specific technological goals - anu can then
become obsolete when those goals neeu no fuithei auvancing, anu an entiiely uispaiate set
of goals become the new ciiteiia foi success. Auuio softwaie may soon be heaueu foi the
same fate. Basic eaily goals such as high auuio quality anu tiack count (metiics notably
caiiieu ovei fiom analog equipment) aie by now a moot point. Bigital auuio quality is
consistent anu familiai by now, anu tiack count anu piocessing powei aie limiteu mostly
by the machine iunning the softwaie, iathei than the softwaie itself. Consequently, othei
metiics consiueieu impoitant by sounu euitois anu uesigneis have been laigely
maiginalizeu - things like intuitive manipulation, tianspaiency, ease anu enjoyment of use,
anu scalability of tasks. The ossification of both softwaie uesign anu geneial usei mentality
magnifies these issues, cieating a uiviue between highly expeiienceu piofessionals anu
alteinative auuiences such as new piofessionals, amateuis, anu light useis. Foi the foimei,
Koua 4u
oluei metiics iemain a piioiity - expeiiences with analog anu young uigital technologies
weie inueeu highly conceineu with auuio quality anu tiack count, anu yeais of expeiience
aie likely to ingiain those kinus of conceins as piioiities ovei any otheis. The lattei,
howevei, aie much less accustomeu to giappling with these funuamental types of metiics,
in pait because of the functionality of technology within the span of theii expeiience.
These newei auuiences expiess a gieatei amount of familiaiity anu comfoit with uigital
auuio enviionments. Fuitheimoie, gieatei expeiience with uigital softwaie =$ (5$57#"
affects these useis' expectations as to how applications shoulu function, anu what
paiauigms will be piesent. Attempting to ieplicate an enviionment alien to the usei is a
pooi substitute foi following usei expectations.
Newei piouucts such as Ableton Live anu Apple's uaiagebanu auuiess these
conceins to an extent (in music, at least) with simple, sleek, anu intuitive inteifaces, but
piouucts still coulu finu gieatei methous foi confionting these pioblems, oi even solving
ones that sounu piofessionals uiu not iealize existeu. Ceitainly these uevelopments will
not iesult in the swift uownfall of Pio Tools, oi its uissolution as an inuustiy-stanuaiu tool.
The top softwaie applications will continue seiving the piofessionals whose enuoisement
built theii ieputation, anu those piofessionals will likely stanu by the tools they have
masteieu ovei yeais of use. In the long teim, howevei, companies like Aviu will lose the
spotlight as theii clientele ietiies anu new piofessionals, accustomeu to uigital woik,
emeige to take theii place. Tiack counts, sampling iates, active voices, plugin
instantiations, latency - all these metiics will lose theii potency as technology auvances to
acceptable levels, anu the BAW's viability as an aesthetic instiument will become the most
impoitant uimension of compaiison.
Koua 41
As Chiistensen aigues, uisiuptive new technologies also tenu to finu anu cieate new
maikets that oluei technologies uo not satisfy. Reviewing the inception of the BAW itself,
one can see the slow tiansition the softwaie maue fiom piimaiily a musician's composition
anu synthesis tool to a mixei oi sounu supeivisoi's euiting anu mixing suite. The
auuitional functionality pioviueu by music anu composition manipulation softwaie pioveu
to have excellent ciossovei value as an euiting tool. Note that film sounu's most uiamatic
giowth peiiou occuiieu fiom the veiy late 197us thiough the 199us (Seigi S), uovetailing
with the giowth of BAW technology. Bevelopments in the ait of film sounu $59588=4#45,
technological giowth to facilitate the new appioaches of sounu effects euiting anu mixing,
anu the nonlineai euitoi pioviueu a new tool paiauigm to effectively accomplish them.
Fuithei uevelopments, howevei, have laggeu behinu. As histoiy illustiates, the euit
winuow was an isolateu bieakthiough. Even as postpiouuction auuio became uigitizeu,
sounu was still poiteu fiom tape to uigital euitoi anu back. Stuuios still helu onto theii
expensive consoles anu iacks, anu so analog methous incoipoiateu the uigital euitoi
uncomfoitably into theii woikflow. The uigital auuio enviionment continues to ieplicate
analog haiuwaie anu methouologies in both look anu functionality. As othei inuustiies
have evolveu to incoipoiate auvances in inteiconnectivity, uata exchange, anu uynamic
uata iestiuctuiing, auuio has iesolutely stoou its giounu ciafting softwaie aiounu a well-
establisheu but teuious woikflow. The analog metaphoi is losing its efficacy in the uigital
woilu, anu tuins a blinu eye to the iemaikable ways in which new technology can ieshape
the auuio piocess.

Chapter 5: Response by Desi gn
In oiuei to exploie solutions to the issues faceu by Pio Tools anu othei cuiient
BAWs, I uesigneu seveial iough piototypes foi new BAW inteifaces. Each uesign attempts
to iemouel auuio manipulation within a post-piouuction enviionment with a focus on ease
of use, tianspaiency of inteiaction with auuio, anu utilization of touch-scieen technologies
that will likely become wiuespieau in meuia piouuction tool utilization. The fiist was
cieateu piioi to the wiiting of this papei, as an exploiation of touch inteifaces' possibilities;
othei uesigns explicitly apply the papei's finuings to new uesigns.

The X- Y Mi xer

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Ny fiist piototype uesign was explicitly focuseu on mixing; no euiting capabilities
weie uesigneu. The puipose of the mixei was to pioviue a fluiu anu intuitive touch scieen
enviionment foi mixing, ieuucing the cluttei anu complexity common to most mixing
Koua 4S
enviionments while heightening usei input anu feeuback without the use of a ueuicateu
haiuwaie contiollei. To achieve these enus, the uesign followeu these foui guiuelines:
"6 <1/&81 )-1 *+)1.5(81 53. 39)*%(' *%9'1%1+)()*3+ 0*)-*+ ( )3&8- 1+=*.3+%1+)6
The mixing inteiface piesents an enviionment iauically uiffeient fiom the stanuaiu
console metaphoi, uesigneu specifically to pioviue a cleai anu simple inteiface foi
touch inteiaction. All contiols iesponu to simple tap, holu, anu uiag commanus,
while extia functions, options, anu tools aie confineu to a single toolbai anu kept to
a minimum. Settings anu file-biowsing capabilities aie tuckeu in expanuable
winuows in the top coineis of the inteiface, to pioviue the gieatest amount of
suiface aiea ueuicateu to tiack inteiaction. The inteiface's uesign is focuseu on
uiiect anu simple feeuback at the tiack level.
76 >)*'*?1 )-1 )03@/*%1+4*3+(' 49(81 )3 (4 (+ *+)&*)*=1 %(9 53. =3'&%1 (+/
9(++*+, *+53.%()*3+6
0ne of the key concepts of the mixei was to implement the touch scieen's plane as a
laige X-Y contiollei, with the veitical axis contiolling volume anu the hoiizontal axis

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Koua 44
ueteimining spatial position, oi panning. This cieates a much moie intuitive visual
inteiface foi panning than tiauitional BAWs pioviue by uefining a cleai ielationship
between the visual iepiesentation of a tiack anu its auial position within the steieo
fielu.
;6 <1/&81 )-1 83%9'1A*)2 35 )-1 :&44 424)1%6
Thioughout the uesign piocess, I ieseaicheu anu exploieu the functionality of
busses anu signal mixing to ueteimine if theie was a simplei way to achieve
complex mixing. I founu that busses aie by anu laige extianeous in a uigital
enviionment, anu usually iesult in extia steps to complete tasks as simple as iouting
one tiack into anothei. To ciicumvent this, I eliminateu explicit buss cieation anu
contiol, anu insteau implement a simple gioup-anu-uiag mechanism foi iouting
multiple tiacks togethei.

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I also uesigneu the buss system to pioviue gieatei visual feeuback to the
usei. All inputs anu outputs aie locateu iespectively at the top anu bottom of each
tiack; multiple inputs aie iepiesenteu as giaphically uistinct entities, with each
input coloi-coueu to coiiesponu to its paient tiack. 0utputs appeai as eithei uiiect
Koua 4S
outputs to the speakeis (iepiesenteu by a uownwaiu aiiow) oi as paiallel
outputssenus (iepiesenteu by siueways aiiows inuicating the location of the
senu's uestination tiack).
B6 C.3=*/1 %3.1 15518)*=1 =*4&(' 511/:(8D ('3+, 1(8- ).(8D6
The mixei ietains the tiack-focus opeiation that tiauitional consoles utilize, but
compiesses the channel stiip foi a moie effective use of space. The fauei anu metei
aie joineu as one object, so that the ielationship between level aujustments anu
theii iesulting metei changes aie visually enfoiceu by pioximity.

!"#$%& (Q Z OD &,%-: F.DF&94 /.% 4%,F263 61.7"D# [."D&K 8&4&%6\/,K&%63 I\J3 ,DK 9-$#"D "F.D6
Effects aie also ieuesigneu to pioviue gieatei feeuback. Insteau of being
locateu in a stiip above the tiack's fauei, effects aie uiiectly aujacent to the fauei
anu metei. This iesults in a moie compact tiack that iequiies much less visual
scanning to compiehenu. Niiioiing 'favicons' in Inteinet biowseis, effects have
also been iuuimentaiily iconizeu. Foui basic effects categoiies aie given icons with
unique uesigns anu colois. An icon's piesence inuicates its use on a tiack, anu
S
guitar
+4.3
+
+
analog 1
SM!
S
bass
-5.1
+
+
analog 2
RAX
REQ
S
vox
-0.3
+
+
analog 3
SRT
TLS
S
tamb
-12.5
+
+
analog 4
SM!
REQ
TLS
Koua 46
tapping the icon opens the effect's mouification winuow foi aujustment. This icon
system allows the usei to quickly asceitain the numbei anu type of effects piesent
on any given tiack; it coulu be expanueu to incluue a gieatei numbei of categoiies
(incluuing usei-uefineu categoiies).

The X-Y mixei is not without its flaws, howevei. The physical space neeueu foi the
panning functionality inheiently limits the piactical numbei of tiacks that can be piesent.
The high piobability that a tiack will be centei-panneu ieuuces the functionality of the
layout, while incieasing visual noise anu tiack oveilap along the centei position. The
system is also oveily tiack-focuseu: laige mixes of seveial uozen oi moie tiacks (such as
foi film) woulu lack piopei visualization of the mix stiuctuie as a whole. Robust touch
implementation of auuio euiting, mixing, anu piocessing tools iequiies a laigei, moie
holistic appioach.

The Touch Screen DAW
Ny seconu effoit builus on the lessons of the fiist, but takes a much moie
compiehensive appioach to uesign. Rathei than focusing on a few mixing tasks within the
BAW, this uesign attempts to pioviue an entiiely new BAW expeiience, guiueu by the
issues analyzeu eailiei as well as the moie successful components of cuiient BAWs. 0nlike
the X-Y mixei, this uesign followeu the ieseaich anu wiiting of this papei, anu so is much
moie conscious in its attempts to eliminate issues piesent in cuiient BAWs. The uesign
Koua 47
aims to pioviues a novel touch-oiienteu euiting anu mixing enviionment that auheies to
piinciples gleaneu fiom the papei's finuings:
"6 E119 *+53.%()*3+ /*49'(24 /1+41 (+/ %&')*/*%1+4*3+('6
Cuiient BAW inteifaces aie staiveu foi uata, stietching a spaise numbei of
paiameteis acioss limiteu scieen space oi wiapping them in miniscule feeuback
mouules. A new inteiface shoulu insteau pioviue a high quantity of infoimation
acioss many uimensions simultaneously, foi the most effective use of visual
feeuback.
76 $+4&.1 )-() /()( *4 48('(:'16
The stanuaiu tiackbuss stiuctuie loses focuses anu becomes exponentially moie
complex as mixes scale laigei. This uesign shoulu pioviue the ability to iteiate
configuiations of auuio anu associateu paiameteis at many scales, fiom a small set
of tiacks to a laige anu complex film mix, anu ietain a piopei sense of piopoitions
anu ielationships within the mix.
;6 C.3=*/1 ( 5'&*/ (+/ *+)&*)*=1 &41. 1A91.*1+816
Insteau of cieating an abunuance of contiols anu winuows that iequiie
management, ietuin a peifoimative uimension to the act of euiting anu mixing
auuio. Take auvantage of touch technology to eliminate extianeous inteiface
components, iemove unnecessaiy tools, anu pioviue moie humanizeu anu nuanceu
contiols.
To meet these enus anu auuiess the issues enumeiateu in this papei, seveial
inteifaces weie cieateu thioughout the uesign piocess. Theii genesis began with initial
sketches focuseu on scale anu hieiaichy. Beginning at the laige mix-focuseu enu of the
Koua 48
postpiouuction piocess anu woiking backwaius, I hopeu to move away fiom oveily tiack-
focuseu management anu cieate an aichitectuie that highlighteu auuio file, tiack, anu
gioup ielationships. I sketcheu a mouel that conglomeiates smallei pieces into laigei
builuing blocks. uioups of tiacks aie physically connecteu to paient gioups, visually

!"#$%& (( ) A1& "D"4",- 7.%2/-.7 8.K&- 62&4F1 ;41& F$%6.% "DK"F,4&6 /.F$6>?
Koua 49
highlighting both the hieiaichy of the system anu the mouulaiity of that hieiaichy. With
this mouel, an euitoi coulu conceivably uelivei his entiie euiting session to the mixei, who
coulu then simply attach it to the appiopiiate paient mouule. In this way, scale anu
ielationships between even sessions is maintaineu, anu each poition of the postpiouuction
woikflow is visualizeu as pait of a gieatei whole.

!"#$%& (@ Z B"C +"&73 61.7"D# 9,%&D4 4%,F26 64,F2&K ]Y&1"DK^ F1"-K 4%,F26?
The inteiface iesulting fiom this exploiation focuses laigely on visualizing
ielationships between paient anu suboiuinate tiacks (anu theii contingent paiameteis)
thiough a moie stanuaiu tiack layout. In mix view, tiacks aie ieconfiguieu into a hieiaichy
tiee flowing fiom top to bottom, with a centei layei seiving as focus. Nixeis can 'iotate'
uiffeient paits of the hieiaichy thiough the focus layei (in much the same way the wheels
Koua Su
of a slot machine fieely iotate). Foi example, in Figuie 12 above, the mixei coulu choose to
iotate the Nusic Stem into focus, causing the Cue tiacks to iotate unueineath the centei
layei. The space pieviously occupieu by the Cue tiacks woulu then shiink to accommouate
only the Nusic Stem. Solos anu mutes also caiiy thiough the hieiaichy, so that a solo
enableu on the Bialog Stem, foi example, causes suboiuinate Bialog tiacks to also be
soloeu. To accommouate touch neeus, buttons aie few anu sizeu laige, anu tools aie
eliminateu in favoi of simple tap, uiag, anu swipe commanus.

!"#$%& (H ) _"&%,%F1: "D `K"4 +"&7? G.4& 41& 9,%&D4 4%,F26 .D 41& -&/43 ,DK 41& 8$-4"9-& %&#".D6 "D .D& 4%,F2?
The inteiface can be switcheu fiom a veitical mix view to a hoiizontal euit view; the
hieiaichy system swivels siueways. Neteis appeai on both chilu anu paient tiacks, to
inuicate the summing level at each stage. 0nlike most BAWs, tiacks heie can contain
multiple simultaneous auuio iegions - anu those iegions themselves can consist of multiple
auuio files gioupeu togethei. This cieates gieatei uiffeientiation between small anu laige
Koua S1
scale, auus functionality to the tiack, anu allows the euitoi to moie quickly view anu
manipulate sounus as events, iathei than teuiously selecting anu euiting auuio files
inuiviuually. Sounu events compiiseu of multiple sounu components can be gioupeu
togethei to facilitate oiganization, while still allowing the tiack to function as a ieceptacle
anu oiganizational tool on a bioauei level.

!"#$%& (L ) A%,F2 &K"4 +"&73 7"41 8$-4"9-& 6"8$-4,D&.$6 ,$K". %&#".D6
The uiiection of this inteiface, howevei, is still ultimately too steepeu in tiauitional BAW
uesign. Little space is given foi touch points, no unique spaces exist foi effects oi plugins,
anu the oveiall feel is still visually noisy. This uiiectly hieiaichical mouel also uoes not
accommouate paiallel senus, whose ielationships within a mix aie moie ambiguous anu
peei-like.
Koua S2

!"#$%& (N) a,%".$6 K&6"#D6 /.% , 54.2&D)Y,6&K5 ,99%.,F1
To uistance myself fuithei fiom these issues, I ueciueu to stait fiesh, this time
focusing on cieating a uensei anu moie multiuimensional sounu containei uesigneu foi
touch inteiaction. Builuing upon pievious iueas in the X-Y mixei, I cieateu a token
appaiatus to function as a tiack, anu packeu as many paiameteis in as possible, in as small
an aiea as piactical. The token takes the foim of a semiciicle; like the X-Y mixei, its height
Koua SS
ielative to the canvas ueteimines auuio level. Neteis appeai behinu the token to inuicate
level. Panning, howevei, is goveineu now by oiientation - the entiie token can be twisteu
like a knob using foui fingeis, anu the simple semiciicle shape pioviues instant visual
feeuback as to wheie the tiack is in the steieo fielu. Effects anu senus aie instantiateu with
taps on the unueisiue of the token; the elements shiink as moie aie auueu, to
accommouate all instantiations within one non-sciolling view.

!"#$%& (R Z OD &,%-: ,D"8,4".D 62&4F1 ./ , 4.2&D $D/.-K"D# /%.8 B"C 4. `K"4 +"&7
The token uesign also attempts to blui the line between mixing anu euiting, visually
ielating the two piocesses moie effectively while facilitating any euit tweaks that neeu be
maue uuiing the mixing phase. When uouble-tappeu, tokens swivel open anu ieveal a
veitical timeline. Changing the oiientation of the euitwavefoim view uiminishes the often
seveie line between mixing anu euiting, allowing ceitain tiacks to be euiteu while otheis
keep a simple piofile foi easiei ieauing of level anu panning infoimation. 0ne coulu aigue
that film's woikflow has long since kept these two piocesses sepaiate, anu that nothing is
to gain fiom a blenuing of the two. Bettei tiansitions, howevei, not only geneiate a gieatei
Koua S4
sense of intuitive inteiaction with the BAW, but woulu gieatly benefit small teams,
amateuis, anu new useis in theii unueistanuing anu implementation of uigital auuio
applications.

!"#$%& (T Z O 8.%& "D4&#%,4&K &D+"%.D8&D43 K%,7"D# /%.8 41& ]4.2&D^ &C9-.%,4".D6?
A thiiu inteiface iteiation takes the outei tiappings of the token-baseu woik anu
ieuuces the token itself to neaily nothing. Combining the integiateu appioach of the
tokens with the effects implementation in the X-Y mixei iesulteu in a minimal uesign that
utilizes the geogiaphy of the scieen space to place anu iuentify effects anu senus. Noving
away fiom tiack-by-tiack infoimation, the goal was to allow the iesulting oveiall shape anu
foim of the entiie inteiface to quickly communicate effects, senu, anu basic iouting
infoimation at a glance. Faueis aie ieuuceu to simple bais to inuicate level, with meteis
Koua SS
again behinu them, while effects anu senus aie uisaggiegateu fiom the faueitoken to small
but easily-spotteu aieas above anu below the fauei. Shape inuicates an object as eithei an
effect (squaie) oi senu (oblong). Position above oi below iuentifies a senu as eithei pie- oi
postfauei, infinitely easiei to ieau than a small 'pie' button hiuuen on the senu itself. Like
the token uesign, faueis can be uouble-tappeu to open an euit view of the tiack's
constituent auuio fileswavefoims.

!"#$%& (< ) A1& I\J 8,D,#&%3 K"69-,:&K .+&% 41& 8"C "D4&%/,F&?
Input sections above anu output sections below aie subtly 'lanuscapeu' to pioviue
simple iouting feeuback. Tiacks with anothei tiack as input have slightly uescenueu input
labels; likewise, tiacks with anothei tiack as the assigneu output have slightly ascenueu
output labels. The mixei can theiefoie easily note 'initial' auuio-file-only tiacks, as well as
Koua S6
final uestination tiacks, by theii flattei appeaiance. A foui-fingei pull uown on the input
section, howevei, pioviues moie I0 uetail. The input anu output 'steps' expanu into tieis
to illustiate the hieiaichical flow fiom one set of tiacks to the next. 0nlike the fiist
inteiface, this allows foi a moie accuiate iepiesentation of senus - paiallel tiacks aie
simply uisplayeu =$ ;#7#""5" with theii peeis, anu uo not necessaiily neeu to be incluueu in
a specific hieiaichy.
Again, the inteiface is uesigneu with touch inteifaces in minu. Nenus anu
hieiaichical lists aie eliminateu, as aie most tools. 0nly a few simple buttons exist to auu
tiacks, effects, anu senus; most of the usei inteiaction involves uiagging objects into the
iight space, oi tapping them to euit theii paiameteis.

Short comi ngs
These exploiations aie by anu laige only sketches anu expeiiments with alteiing the
stanuaiu BAW uesign; they lack full functionality, anu still giapple with seveial pioblems.
Fiist, it is uifficult to biiuge the inteiface gap between mixing anu euiting. The
uevelopment of mixing paiauigms in the analog woilu anu euiting paiauigms in the uigital
woilu has eiecteu a stiff baiiiei of sepaiate inteifaces, contiols, anu uisplays sepaiating the
two. Cieating smooth tiansitions between the two effectively iequiies a fiesh stait that
tieats both as facets of the same piocess. Because of theii biases towaius analog methous,
mixing piocesses weie given the gieatei shaie of effoit anu ieuesign; howevei,
incoipoiating euit uisplays uiiectly within the flow of the mix seems an effective way to
meige the two within one uisplay. New woik piactices anu methous coulu ceitainly aiise
Koua S7
fiom such a layout. Neveitheless, the stanuaiu implementation of two sepaiate mix anu
euit views is uifficult to oveicome, anu it is likely equally if not moie uifficult to peisuaue
auuio piofessionals to abanuon them.
Seconu, paiallel senus weie nevei satisfactoiily incoipoiateu within any uesign.
The last few pioviueu effective tiack-baseu uisplays, but no uesign cieateu a successful
system to mouel theii ielationship to the entiie mix. Because of theii ambiguous non-
hieiaichical natuie, senus uo not comfoitably fit into nesting schemata; they function much
moie like sepaiate concuiient piojects. Peihaps futuie mouels might bettei incoipoiate
them as such, anu isolate them fiom the iest of the pioject in an intuitive mannei.
Thiiu, signal piocessing effects weie only baiely auuiesseu. The ieason is simple:
effects aie most often aujusteu fiom within theii own piopiietaiy inteifaces, anu those
inteifaces cannot be contiolleu by eithei the usei oi the BAW employing them. At piesent,
BAWs can at best pioviue the means foi easy instantiation, sequencing, anu iemoval of
effects. Possibly in the futuie, plugins may uevelop stanuaiuizeu semantics that allow
BAWs to giaft theii own inteifaces onto effects' functionality, but it is unlikely that plugin
softwaie companies aie willing to give up theii visual bianu iuentity. Effects ieuesign most
likely then will stem only fiom a geneial change in auuio attituues towaius uesign.
Regaiuless of these issues, the illustiateu exploiations in BAW ieuesign piove that
moie communicative anu intuitive mouels foi postpiouuction auuio can be cieateu. 0nly
time will tell if mainstieam anu piofessional maikets will ventuie fuithei towaius a
iejection of implementation-baseu uesign.
Koua S8
Concl usi on
As uigital technology anu technological integiation piogiesses, the BAW's ueciueuly
analog appioach to postpiouuction auuio becomes moie obvious. The oiganizational
aichitectuie of uigital mixes still follows the mouel set by analog haiuwaie uecaues ago,
anu is unable to sepaiate auuio piocesses fiom the innei woikings of the machines that
enable them. Tiacks anu busses cieate one-uimensional, uata-ueficient mouels of euiting
anu mixing piojects, anu uo not pioviue enough functional sophistication foi iich, legible,
multiuimensional pioject visualizations. Scale anu ielationships aie uifficult to follow, anu
paiameteis lack a compiehensive anu efficient visual appioach. Neithei inuiviuual noi
team woikflow is fully auuiesseu - inuiviuuals waste time anu effoit sifting thiough
unwanteu tools anu featuies, while team exchanges aie inefficient anu inflexible to changes
anu coiiections. Peifoimativity in piofessional auuio woik is gieatly uiminisheu, anu the
console-with-a-mouse stiuctuie of BAWs pievents new oppoitunities to inject touch-baseu
peifoimativity into the woikflow. The focus on outuateu mouels anu methouologies
cieates a steep baiiiei to fiesh entiants in the fielu, as well as othei neophytes inteiesteu
in postpiouuction auuio.
Ny effoits to uesign a new aichitectuie foi BAWs thus focuseu on visualizing
ielational stiuctuies at uiffeient levels of scale, incieasing the uensity anu uimensionality
of infoimation uisplayeu along each inteiface element, anu simplifying anu auapting
contiols foi a touch enviionment while compiomising as little functionality as possible.
While some issues with paiallel senus anu the euitingmixing uistinction iemain, all
Koua S9
uesigns illustiate possibilities foi BAW ieconceptualization that bieak away fiom analog
appioaches anu allow foi gieatei anu moie effective visualization of auuio infoimation.
The auvance of gieatei meuia technology capabilities will only continue to highlight
the ueficiencies that iesult fiom moueling inteiaction with aging metaphois. Reuesigning
BAWs foi the uigital age will not only inciease postpiouuction auuio's piouuctivity - it
holus the possibility to auu new uimensions of aesthetic expiession to the meuium, anu the
potential to stoke the cieative fiies of the next geneiation of auuio anu meuia piofessionals.
Koua 6u
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