openDAW Update: New Features & Offline Access Explained!

Tutorial | Feb 21, 2025

In the video, I discuss updates and features for openDAW, addressing viewer concerns and emphasizing its focus on accessibility and openness, including offline usage through PWA and potential self-hosting options. I highlight recent additions like project bundling, sample imports, and automation clips while encouraging viewers to attend a Discord meeting with the developer for further engagement. Additionally, I clarify misunderstandings about the application's cost and intentions, promoting its future as a free and open-source tool.

You can watch the Video on Youtube

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Summary #

Maybe you don't watch the video, here are some important takeaways:

Hey, everyone, welcome back. I wanted to talk about the latest developments with openDAW, following up on the successful video from last week. It got plenty of views and, as expected, generated a lot of comments, some of which were suspicious, while others had feature requests. I’m not the developer, but I’m heavily involved with the project as a backer, so I wanted to address some of these comments and provide updates on our progress.

First, let me remind you that today we have a Discord meeting with the developer, Andre, where you can ask questions directly. If you decide to join, ensure your webcam and microphone are set up and working. It’s a great opportunity to engage with the community and feel the collective enthusiasm.

A major concern raised was about openDAW being a cloud service where you need to pay, which isn’t true. The application does support cloud services for sharing projects – think sharing your music files with friends via a URL – but this is only one aspect. We plan to introduce what's known as a Progressive Web Application (PWA), allowing you to use openDAW offline. You’ll be able to download all resources to local storage using your browser, meaning you can use openDAW without an internet connection.

Eventually, we aim to release a binary version, using something like Electron or Tauri, enabling you to download openDAW just like any regular native app. This ensures you won’t always need internet access, particularly handy if you’re using devices like an iPad with a browser.

Furthermore, openDAW will be open source, though currently, it’s closed as we're laying the foundational work. Once complete, Andre plans to make it open to everyone. And we’re not looking to profit here; it’s about providing excellent tools. This is a sentiment shared by all backers, including my Patreon supporters, who agree that such resources should remain accessible to all.

Specific features and their open nature aside, people were concerned about latency issues. It’s important to emphasize that openDAW isn’t designed for high-stakes live performances or professional recordings, where such concerns are critical. Instead, it caters to making electronic music more accessible and fun, serving as an educational tool.

On the software side, openDAW recently introduced several new features:

1. Project Bundles – Export projects into a single file, which we call ODB (Old Dirty Bastard), enhancing project exchange capabilities.
2. Sample Import – Drag and drop wave files into openDAW, stored locally in your browser’s sandboxed environment, with plans to include more audio formats.
3. Media Export – Right-click to export media files easily.
4. Track Creation from Stems – Select multiple samples to generate audio tracks with individual tape devices.
5. Automation Clips – Add automation in small, looped clips for detailed modulation, offering a straightforward approach to creating dynamic sounds.

The project is moving fast, and in the spirit of openness, all resources are stored locally on your device first. I invite you to test the new features and feedback any bugs through our Discord channel. Join the meeting today, get involved, and share your thoughts.

Thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to leave a like, share your comments below, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Transcription #

This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by AI, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.

[00:00:00] Hey, folks, welcome back.
[00:00:01] So last week I made a video about openDAW, which was pretty successful in
[00:00:06] terms of views, but I also had a lot of comments, suspicious comments, and also
[00:00:11] a lot of feature requests, implement this, implement that and so on, right?
[00:00:14] The usual stuff.
[00:00:15] And I want to answer some of the questions from my perspective because I'm not
[00:00:21] developer, I'm just backing this.
[00:00:22] I'm behind the project.
[00:00:24] I want to make a bit of, you know, advertisement for free.
[00:00:27] Um, and I want to give you also some updates about openDAW because we
[00:00:33] have new features already.
[00:00:35] It's just been a week and we have new features.
[00:00:37] I mean, it's pretty, it's moving fast.
[00:00:40] Um, if you want to, you can also attend today in discord, a meeting with the
[00:00:46] developer, Andre and ask questions for yourself or ask questions to me or to
[00:00:51] the other backers, just join the discord.
[00:00:54] The link is in the description below.
[00:00:55] Make sure your webcam is working.
[00:00:57] Make sure your microphone is working and just ask some questions and feel
[00:01:01] the vibe of the community.
[00:01:03] Um, so the biggest concern with openDAW under my last video was actually,
[00:01:08] oh, this is a cloud service, right?
[00:01:11] You need to pay money for this, which is not the case.
[00:01:14] At some point you can have a cloud service because you need to have a cloud
[00:01:19] service in terms of, uh, you want to share your project.
[00:01:22] So let's say you make music and you have way files in there and you want
[00:01:27] to share this with your friend or with your family.
[00:01:29] You want to just pass some kind of URL around.
[00:01:32] So the, the way files or the contents need to be in the cloud or on some kind
[00:01:37] of server, right?
[00:01:38] So there needs to be at some point cloud service, but only if you want
[00:01:44] to use this kind of feature, there will be also, um, something like, um,
[00:01:50] PVA, a PVA, maybe you notice already it's some kind of web standard, which
[00:01:55] means you can use websites offline.
[00:01:57] So you go to a website, to an URL, opens openDAW.studio.
[00:02:03] And then you say, I want to use this offline.
[00:02:05] You click this button and then it downloads all the resources, JavaScript
[00:02:09] files, media files, audio engine, everything you need to execute or to
[00:02:15] run this application.
[00:02:16] And then it's stored basically to your local storage.
[00:02:20] That's, that's how the name is, uh, from your browser.
[00:02:23] It's not temporary, but it's a special place, a sandbox, more or less, from
[00:02:27] the browser that you can access then offline, which means you can cut the
[00:02:33] Wi-Fi, cut the access to the internet, go to your URL in the browser, and
[00:02:37] you will see openDAW and you can use the application.
[00:02:40] That's actually what PVA means, progressive web application.
[00:02:44] Also at some point, that's the plan at least, uh, you can download a binary,
[00:02:50] which means there's an electron or Tauri wrapper.
[00:02:54] It's more or less like a browser inside of a small binary.
[00:02:58] And then there's openDAW in there.
[00:03:01] So you can download a binary, just your, your normal native DAW.
[00:03:05] You download basically also openDAW and you can use it on your local PC normally.
[00:03:11] But sometimes you don't want to actually download anything because
[00:03:15] you want to use the iPad, which has a browser and you want to use the browser
[00:03:19] to access openDAW.
[00:03:20] So openDAW or the application needs to be on some kind of server, right?
[00:03:26] So this is the good thing.
[00:03:27] You can access then probably openDAW.studio from the website of Andre,
[00:03:33] or you can download the application and host it for yourself on your own domain.
[00:03:39] Maybe you have a course, maybe you have a school and you want to teach
[00:03:42] some kids making music, right?
[00:03:44] So you want to host this maybe on a different server and you want to
[00:03:49] change the permissions, what can, what are the kids able to upload, right?
[00:03:54] What are the permissions?
[00:03:55] What can people store?
[00:03:57] What can people delete or change and so on.
[00:03:59] So there will be a self-hosted component or you can self-host the thing.
[00:04:04] So yes, you have a URL at the moment, the domain you can access openDAW on,
[00:04:10] but you can also use PVA, download everything to your local storage of the browser.
[00:04:15] You can download this then as a binary.
[00:04:19] In a electron or Tauri wrapper, just like any other application.
[00:04:23] You don't need to have access to the internet also with this.
[00:04:27] And you can also self-host.
[00:04:29] So you put this on your own domain and, you know, give only your family members
[00:04:34] access or your class access, pretty dope, actually.
[00:04:38] It will be also open source.
[00:04:41] So you can download the source code, make changes to it, make a fork,
[00:04:44] make completely add features, remove features, whatever you want, open source.
[00:04:50] At the moment, it's not open source.
[00:04:52] It's just closed source at the moment, but it will be within this here
[00:04:57] that Andrea will open source this, but you want, he wants to lay out the foundation.
[00:05:02] He wants to make the groundwork, basically the basement.
[00:05:06] So and then when this is finished, he wants to open this or make this open to everyone.
[00:05:14] So the goal is at least what I know.
[00:05:17] And what I communicated with Andre is that it will be as open as possible.
[00:05:23] He and that's also my my own kind of direction.
[00:05:31] I don't want to make money from all of this.
[00:05:34] We just want to have good tools out there.
[00:05:36] You know, me, I'm putting out these controller scripts in the last
[00:05:41] weeks and I don't want to have any money.
[00:05:43] It's also not behind the paywall with my Patreon.
[00:05:46] I talk to my Patrons lately and they all want to have this stuff open.
[00:05:50] So in my opinion, this knowledge and all that stuff needs to be as open as possible.
[00:05:57] And also with the store, I want to have some kind of digital
[00:06:01] algebraic station as open as possible.
[00:06:04] And this also means not only you have access to the source code,
[00:06:07] but you have also access to the application on any platform.
[00:06:11] Let's open up your smartphone, right, and go to the URL and use the store.
[00:06:15] Let's go to your iPad and use the DAW.
[00:06:18] Let's go to your old laptop and use the DAW.
[00:06:21] This would be something I really like.
[00:06:24] And that's why I'm behind this project and why I like this project
[00:06:28] and why I'm OK with having this inside of the browser,
[00:06:32] which brings me to the second point.
[00:06:34] People have all the latency.
[00:06:35] Oh, there's actually, you know, it's not maybe timing issues.
[00:06:41] That's not the point.
[00:06:41] It's not a DAW that you use for your next life or stage or performance.
[00:06:49] It's more like something where you want to have fun in.
[00:06:53] You want to make a bit of electronic music, maybe in the free time, maybe at your
[00:06:57] work, you know, maybe in the classroom.
[00:07:01] So it's more like for that.
[00:07:03] It's not like something you want to use for as a performance tool,
[00:07:06] where timing is crucial or you don't want to record your band in this, right?
[00:07:12] Or there are other tools.
[00:07:15] So I don't get this point.
[00:07:17] Most people want to have in every DAW, every other feature.
[00:07:21] So they come to Bitwig, right?
[00:07:22] And they want to have all the features of Reaper.
[00:07:25] They want to have all the features of FL Studio.
[00:07:28] They want to have all the features able to live everything in Bitwig
[00:07:31] and everything that what Bitwig has needs to be enabled in life
[00:07:35] and also in Reaper, right?
[00:07:36] And then we have 15 different DAWs that all make the same things in different ways.
[00:07:41] And in my opinion, it's completely fine to have a DAW that is hyper
[00:07:46] focused on a special thing, teaching to be open, to be accessible.
[00:07:51] Why not have that?
[00:07:53] I'm completely fine with this.
[00:07:55] And if I need to make some compromises there in terms of latency, I have no problems.
[00:08:00] I don't need to play this latency free.
[00:08:03] You know, I just want to make a bit of electronic music in the browser.
[00:08:08] Why not?
[00:08:09] So these are, I think these were the biggest concerns.
[00:08:15] Some people said, oh, actually Reaper is free because I said it's time for a free
[00:08:20] open source DAW, right?
[00:08:22] And all these projects have some kind of, you know, things here and there.
[00:08:26] So Reaper is not free, even though you can click on this small little window,
[00:08:31] you know, evaluate continuously forever.
[00:08:35] There is even a small little hint there in this box, which says Reaper is not free.
[00:08:42] It's not free.
[00:08:43] You need to pay for it.
[00:08:44] There is a license in there.
[00:08:45] And even though you can click this small little window forever, doesn't mean it's free.
[00:08:50] So Reaper is not free.
[00:08:53] Sorry, it's, it's, that's how it is.
[00:08:56] I can't change it.
[00:08:57] Um, okay.
[00:08:59] So these were the biggest concerns.
[00:09:01] I want to give you here a small update over the new features in openDAW.
[00:09:04] So let's follow me here to, uh, uh, the URL of openDAW.
[00:09:10] So let's take a look at the openDAW discord first with the new updates channel here.
[00:09:15] It gives you all the latest features that are implemented in openDAW, uh, inside of a channel.
[00:09:21] So the first one is already interesting project bundles.
[00:09:24] You can now export all your projects into a single file.
[00:09:28] Uh, it's almost like a zip file, but here it's called ODB, old dirty bastard.
[00:09:33] It's a very common open source format for exchanging projects.
[00:09:37] I hope they also implement DAW project.
[00:09:40] Um, so you can then import it to Cubase and Bitwig and Studio one and so.
[00:09:45] Um, the second one is sample import here.
[00:09:49] So you can now import wave samples and they are not uploaded.
[00:09:53] Samples will be copied into the OPFS, which is, I guess it stands for open file system, um, in the browser.
[00:10:02] So it's basically a sandbox inside of the browser and you store it in there.
[00:10:06] And it's only accessible from the CYL.
[00:10:09] So it's a local thing.
[00:10:12] So you can import, so you can drag and drop files into openDAW and can use then the samples also here without the detected BPM and so on.
[00:10:21] Accepting more audio formats soon.
[00:10:24] Um, yeah, we have then a switch in the sample browser.
[00:10:29] I show you this in a minute.
[00:10:31] We can also import multiple samples at once.
[00:10:33] Um, simple media export.
[00:10:37] You can export media files here with the right click.
[00:10:39] Pretty dope.
[00:10:40] Um, you can create multiple tracks from stems.
[00:10:45] You can now select multiple samples from the sample browser to either delete them in one go or
[00:10:51] create an audio track for each sample with an individual tape device.
[00:10:55] Also nice.
[00:10:57] Um, and we have here an update with the automation clips.
[00:11:01] So you can, um.
[00:11:03] Let's play this.
[00:11:05] You can see we have your automation basically in a loop and this one changes some settings here on this synth at the top.
[00:11:16] And yeah, these are kind of short loops and you get these nice modulations with this.
[00:11:21] So yeah, nice.
[00:11:32] This sounds already pretty dope.
[00:11:34] But let's go to the browser here and go to openDAW studio.
[00:11:40] Um, and make this bigger and you probably get here some kind of pop up that says something like, uh, please allow
[00:11:48] the browser to access your local storage and you just hit yes or allow or whatever.
[00:11:53] And then the browser is able to access your open file system.
[00:11:57] So we're then new here.
[00:11:59] And then you can see under samples, we have still here the online samples available.
[00:12:04] And then we have to switch here to local stored samples.
[00:12:08] And here we can just, um, drag something in.
[00:12:12] I don't know.
[00:12:13] Um, maybe the sample, you know, you drag it in, you have a BBM detection and then it shows up here on the left side.
[00:12:22] We cannot also edit here the meta files or the meta data can say that, oh, this is not 140 BPM.
[00:12:29] This maybe 120 BBM, right?
[00:12:31] So you can save this.
[00:12:32] And then it has influence on how it's being played back.
[00:12:37] Let's say, uh, this is maybe 20 BPM, right?
[00:12:47] And you have a different pitch than because it tries to play it faster.
[00:12:51] Um, but that's wrong.
[00:12:53] So let's go back to 130 and then track it in.
[00:12:58] Um, we can also cannot delete this here, delete track here.
[00:13:09] So I can hit this one and use my shift key and then click the last one.
[00:13:16] And then I can right click and create audio tracks.
[00:13:19] And then it brings in all the samples at once.
[00:13:22] And so this kind of also works nicely.
[00:13:26] Um, delete, delete, delete.
[00:13:31] Um, let's try out here the clips.
[00:13:36] So I want to go in and I want to add an audio effect.
[00:13:40] I want to use here any cue and I want to use a low ass here.
[00:13:47] And I want to automate this.
[00:13:49] So I create an automation from this.
[00:13:51] And here I create a new clip.
[00:13:55] Let's go in this clip and let's say I want to
[00:13:58] modulate this over three 16 nodes.
[00:14:06] It's a bit shorter, something like this.
[00:14:08] Let's hit play.
[00:14:19] So this works kind of neatly.
[00:14:21] Let's make it a bit long.
[00:14:28] And then just loop this.
[00:14:34] Yeah, neat feature.
[00:14:45] I already like it.
[00:14:46] So it's so straightforward.
[00:14:47] You have automation tracks here and you can put some clips on there with very
[00:14:52] short lengths and you get interesting results from this.
[00:14:56] It almost makes what you later obsolete in a kind of way.
[00:15:01] Um, so then we have here some things for importing samples.
[00:15:05] You can import multiple samples at once.
[00:15:08] So let's say you want to import one of the samples
[00:15:10] instead of just one sample after the other.
[00:15:12] You can do this here with multiple samples.
[00:15:15] You can export audio.
[00:15:17] You can bundle, import and export to this ODB format at the moment.
[00:15:24] And what else?
[00:15:26] I think when you save this here, you can say ODB test.
[00:15:35] It's also stored locally.
[00:15:38] You can also see down here in the info box how the project is called.
[00:15:42] And when you click open, you get this kind of overview here with all your projects.
[00:15:46] And all these projects are local.
[00:15:49] They are not uploaded.
[00:15:50] They are not online.
[00:15:51] Um, yeah.
[00:15:53] So he tries to go offline first with this and I really like it.
[00:15:58] And these are all the new features in OpenDOS.
[00:16:02] You can now use your own samples, which is pretty dope.
[00:16:07] Try it out.
[00:16:08] And if you find some bugs, please report it inside of Discord
[00:16:12] in the dedicated channel and try to attend today the Discord meeting
[00:16:18] and ask your questions.
[00:16:19] Okay.
[00:16:19] Thanks for watching.
[00:16:21] Leave a like and let me know what you think in the comments down below.
[00:16:24] See ya.
[00:16:25] [BLANK_AUDIO]