Why are DAWs and sampling inclusive?

  1. They remove the physical requirements needed to play an instrument.

    At a minimum, you can input notes using a mouse and standard computer keyboard. If you have disabilities that mean you need to use additional peripherals to interact with the computer, these are likely to be compatable with DAW software. However if you have full use of your hands, there’s a lot of options and most people opt for a midi-keyboard.

  2. They remove the requirement to read and understand traditional musical notation

    You can create notes, control the duration, intensity and volume within DAW software. It does not look the same as traditional sheet music and there is no explicit need to know it.

Challenges that DAWs can overcome

  1. Playing a “real” instrument is impossible or uncomfortable for whatever reason.

  2. You can input notes at whatever speed you want, and this is independent of the final tempo of the track.

  3. Make a mistake? You can just undo a musical note typo in the same way you would a word document.

  4. You can use a variety of keyboard commands to speed up the music creation process.

  5. You can save your track at any time and return to it - there’s no time limit.