TRACKTION WAVEFORM PRO
Does 2020’s update to this resolutely ‘different’ DAW add enough to keep things moving without compromising its unique proposition?
Metronomic in its regularity, this year’s Waveform Pro update introduces another round of new features to Tracktion Software’s innovative DAW, as well as general under-thehood optimisation and stability improvements. We’ve been here many times before, so we’ll not waste valuable space going over the fundamentals of the software again – see the Waveform 9 review in 257 for a synopsis, and/ or head to the Tracktion website and download Waveform Free to get a feel for its gleefully idiosyncratic perspective and workflow. Instead, let’s get straight into the new stuff…
Making arrangements
The new Arranger Track enables sections within the arrangement to be defined as ‘blocks’ for moving around. Simply create an Arranger clip, then drag it left or right to move or copy all audio and MIDI clips that fall within its bounds. Dragging one clip on top of another offers the option to replace or swap them; and if you select one or more tracks prior to dragging the Arranger clip, only the contents of those tracks will be moved or copied. It’s a straightforward take on an idea that’s been around for a while in other DAWs, making laying out song structure frameworks quick and easy.
Above the timeline sits the Edit Overview – again, not an original invention by any means, but one that we’re glad to see implemented in Waveform Pro. This is a thumbnail view of the whole arrangement, with an overlaid interactive box marking out the horizontal range currently visible in the Arrangement panel. Clicking in the Overview repositions the playhead (and view ‘port’) to that point on the timeline, and dragging within the box first moves the playhead left or right, then pushes the box along in the same direction when the playhead reaches an edge. You can also click directly on the top and bottom of the box to drag it left and right, and on the left and right edges to resize it, zooming the view in and out. Strangely, both of these functions are made harder than they need to be by the box lighting up when the mouse pointer nears the edge, but not actually being ‘picked up’ until the edge is clicked precisely (it’s more annoying than it sounds). Happily, though, the issue is rendered largely moot by the ability to effortlessly draw the whole box by dragging in the Overview with just about any modifier key held – Shift, Command, Option or Ctrl.
“It’s a straightforward take on an idea that’s been around for a while in other DAWs”
The Quick Actions Bar is a nifty expansion on the Actions Panel introduced in Waveform 10. Sitting below the Arrangement panel, it houses a row of buttons, each triggering any one of a huge list of editing, navigation, recording, automation and other shortcuts, or a User Macro. The bar switches between as many button sets as you want to make (five prefab sets are included), and buttons can be named, coloured and repositioned by dragging and dropping. It’s endlessly useful, although we’d like a quicker way to switch up and down through button sets than the current menu – ‘next’/‘previous’ key commands at least.
Designed specifically for touchscreen usage, the associated Quick Actions Window presents multiple stacked Quick Action Bars and the Mixer for use with touchscreen displays. This is an elegant, effective solution that’s crying out for a partner iOS/Android app. It also makes us wish the Quick Actions Bar supported the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar – surely a no-brainer.
Get me the Manager
Waveform’s View Manager is a pop-out panel in which various sections of the interface can be hidden and revealed, and as of v11, those sections include the Arrangement panel, Edit Overview, Arranger Track and Quick Actions Bar. The Arrangement panel has also been added to the list of undockable windows. Window layouts across one or multiple displays can be saved and recalled now, too, and a specific display can be dedicated to housing plugins.
Users of the Chord track will be delighted to learn that audio clips, as well as MIDI, can now be made to follow its melodic dictates. As the transposition is linear, they need to be monophonic, but there’s plenty of retro chord sampling-style mileage to be had with polyphonic material.
Plugin sandboxing designates plugins to their own processing thread, separate to that of the DAW itself, so that they don’t bring the whole DAW down when they crash. It seems to work fine, and individual plugins can be taken out of the sandbox if you trust them, alleviating some of the tax in CPU cycles that it introduces.
Last and, actually, least, 122 new ‘Artisan Collection’ plugins take the total to 186. With descriptive names such as Bit Glitter, Dust Bunny, Soft Gate, Purest Echo and Dither Me Timbers, they’re cool to play around with, but as reskinned versions of plugins that are readily available to all for free from Airwindows ( airwindows.com), they’re of no particular worth beyond convenience.
Riding the Wave’
Waveform Pro 11 offers more than enough new goodies to warrant the $69 upgrade price. However, as is the case every year, the manual has yet to be updated at the time of writing, so you’re on your own when it comes to figuring out how to use them, although those already accustomed to the DAW’s unique operational vibe shouldn’t have too much trouble.
For newcomers, v11 doesn’t try to simplify the challenging learning curve for which Tracktion/ Waveform has always been known, but the creative rewards to be reaped here are well worth the time investment required. There’s still nothing else quite like Waveform, and if it clicks with you, your music-making life may never be the same again.
“The creative rewards to be reaped here are well worth the time investment required”