since parting with trackers, i’ve always used the DAW in its most simple aspect : a timeline where i can put multiple bits of sound in some relationship with each other. I use very few features: splice, copy/cut/paste, move, reverse, gain and pan automation, compression, eq.
I don’t care much for loops, tempo sync, grid snap or anything like that in my current music (which doesn’t mean it’s not precise to the millisecond sometimes).
The sound themselves are made within other tools.
When i was tinkering with tracker and “loop-based music”, i had this problem very often, to get one, two or three loops that made the beginning of a track, and to spend much time refining them, only to find that these loops were “too perfect” for me to be able to come up with anything that would follow.
With the “DAW timeline as canvas” approach, it is much easier to lay out general plans, and to work on all parts of the piece “simultaneously” rather than sequentially. What i mean here is that while working on a piece, some sessions will be dedicated to adjusting only one specific aspect (for exemple, “how does that resurgent object evolve over its various occurrences, and does it make sense in itself and in its spectral relationship with the surrounding stuff”, or “actually all those different clicky/impulse parts need taming in the highs because when i first did them i was not paying attention to that / had ear fatigue and the 3-6 kHz stands out way to much for someone with an average hearing”).
My process is a bit like operating numerous planing/varnish passes (dubious woodworking analogy), each pass is a general overhaul as well as attendance to one single detail.
The finished state comes from a combination of things: external and self-assigned deadlines, “boredom” of the project, a feeling of “not-much-more-can-be-done-here”; it’s not easy to explain but appears almost clearly when it’s time.
So, relationship to time is two-fold : it’s about how much approximately the piece is supposed to last (which is obviously susceptible to adjustments, sometimes drastic); and about how many hours/days/months i envision it will take to attain a finished state.
I find that i pull much more work when thinking in terms of “how much time do i have to do the next session/pass on this project” rather than trying to think of the final deadline.
After the piece is declared finished, i let it sediment for some weeks, come back to it for one or two last adjustments. Now it’s definitely done.
