Creating from scratch in the DAW can sometimes be an uninspiring experience. With the RipX platform seeking to inject immediacy into the creative process, we look at their latest module that hopes to banish Blank Page syndrome for composers…
Two Disciplines, One Box
The DAW can be a lonely place composers. With many of the established choices being developed for audio engineering tasks, the DAW-dwelling musician cannot reasonably expect this environment to inspire any more than staring at a reel of tape can! In recent years, the emergence of the composer-centric DAW has sought to alleviate the situation, landing with many seriously usable instruments and content to get the party started.
With one or two exceptions it could be argued that these are nonetheless recording and mixing platforms by design, with composition feeling like more of a bolt-on feature.
What The Composer’s DAW Doesn’t Need
While it helps for the composer to sit down in front of any software having felt inspired to do so, that tool can help or it can hinder. The engineer’s DAW often presents the familiar timeline and mixer form factor, with signal processing and editing hiding in other windows or instantiated manually.
The best composition tools possess a streamlined GUI which will encourage a one-window workflow, with fewer menu options to navigate, with remaining ones laid-out before the user. It certainly helps for fundamental musical concepts surrounding time, pitch, and tempo to be divorced from notions of editing in the audio engineering sense.
RipX DeepCreate
Hit’n’mix’s RipX Deep suite of audio tools offers three different solutions, with the first two modules, DeepAudio and DeepRemix offering tools for audio repair/manipulation and beatmaking audio separation tools respectively. The recently announced DeepCreate module brings elements of its predecessors’ power into a composition-focussed creation platform.
Speaking to the team at Hit’n’Mix, DeepCreate’s aim is clear: to allow creators to work in an environment upstream (or entirely in place of) the conventional DAW recognised by many. This means jettisoning conventional tracks, mixers, and waveforms, and instead providing a layer-based canvas on which sounds can be developed. As part of its MO, DeepCreate employs Hit’n’Mix’s own Rip audio format. Disregarding conventional waveforms and MIDI, the format instead handles audio data by storing pure audio as note and un-pitched sound ‘objects’ ready for shaping on the fly. This tech creates a powerful ‘anything can be anything’ method of realtime manipulation of the music.
In the video, we show how DeepCreate retains the audio chops of its RipX stablemates by using its stem separation technology on a stereo file. We then use its recording functionality, not only to add some new textures, but also to pull off one trick that the regular DAW might struggle to match…
RipX DeepCreate makes it possible to:
Plug in, detect, choose from and record any audio input or MIDI/MPE device - select your device from the Inputs Panel and then press the red record button to record onto the Layer of your choice. Record within Layers of ripped stereo audio files, other files or create new Layers to record from scratch.
Easily re-perform and re-sequence Layers - auto-map any sound/s to any MIDI/MPE device. Just select your sound(s) from the Sound Panel, auto-assign, perform, and record into an existing or new Layer. No need to create separate audio and MIDI tracks like most DAWs.
Use automation in creative new ways - draw in or assign any parameter to any audio input.
MIDI/MPE device support to make your sound more dynamic, whether in real-time or after recording. Record filters with your voice, or tweak reverb amounts via gesture-controlled movements with your hands.
Have fun applying Effects to notes and moving the Sliders
Get inventive and experiment with creating Effects Combos - drag and drop any high-quality Pitch, Time or Level Effect onto any other Effect to create, control or automate your own unique chains of Effects, all stored in a dedicated Presets Panel.
Rip your favourite presets from any VST instrument - open your VST instruments, rip and store any preset in the Sound Panel, assign them to your MIDI/MPE device for recording, or drag and drop them into any Layer. No need to revisit the DAW.
View note names on the Piano Roll - showing the name of notes as the playhead moves through each key. Really useful for learning and practising purposes.
Record MIDI when record isn’t active - stored as Practice Clips in case you forget to press record when in a creative flow-state.
Customise the UI and Panels to suit your tastes - floating Panels allow you to open, close or move them from the left or right hand side by simply clicking and dragging.
Version 6.1 onwards includes many improvements and fixes, including improved Guitar and Piano Separation and Loop Recording.
Get inspired by choosing from thousands of useful, stock sounds - simply scroll down the Sound Panel and drag and drop them into your rips, or auto-assign groups to record onto a Layer via any MIDI/MPE device.
For existing RipX DeepRemix & DeepAudio owners, RipX DeepCreate is a paid update.
Spontaneity Versus Complexity
Composers working with a DAW will often be from one of two tribes; that is those of instrumentalist engineer or the engineering musician. Certainly, looking at their DAW of choice can be a clear indicator of their leanings, and despite the established choices continuing to converge, patterns remain.
The engineers’ DAW of choice versus that of the creative is informed by function. To go a stage further, the dedicated tool for composers takes the Work out of Workstation by leaving any notions of audio engineering behind. That way, doing things like morphing one instrument into another or treating audio and MIDI as the same entity can be as normal to creatives as dumping the preferences is to the engineer.