Why are so many DAW devs based in Massachusetts?

[gentleclockdivider]

 
And, with my addition, two of them (FL Studio and Mulab) originate in Belgium. That's quite an accomplishment too.

Maybe because Belgium was quite big in techno music.

This HAS nothing to do with It.
Image Line First program was a stripteasz luke/soft porn poker game..also a game ( blokken) based on a national t.v. Quiz.
Doesn't sound verry techno To Me.
Before they moved To ghent ...i.l. was based in st.martens latem..one of the richest districts in Belgium.
For over 10 years..fl.st. Was bassicaly the vision of One Guy . Gol..who ironically enough didn't even have a degree in audio dsp...most algo were Open source and or licensed
A lot HAS changed since then.

[soulone82]

 

Maybe because Belgium was quite big in techno music.

Maybe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhlKHgORrgM

[BERFAB]

Back to Massachusetts for a moment:

I'm sure Hink and others will recall that back in the 70's and 80's, Massachusetts was actually Silicon Valley before Silicon Valley. Route 128, which forms a ring around Boston (the "Hub") was dubbed "America's Technological Highway" and was specifically created to host the new wave of expected development in tech that was fostered, in part, by MIT, Harvard, and many other of the more than 60 colleges and universities (really) that call Boston home. (Which is the reason for the joke in Spinal Tap when the manager tells the band that Boston isn't much of a college town.) The tech highway was, and is, still, quite a draw. But there's much more competition for location elsewhere as work space generally has become more portable. Regardless, big tech names are continuing to establish a beachhead here, Google probably being the biggest name of late.

Regarding the band Boston. 1) Hardly a one-hit wonder, but I can certainly understand if they weren't for everyone. 2) Scholz was a talented MIT engineer and pioneered a ton of electronic innovations to create the Boston sound in his home studio in 1976. Yes, 1976. Listen to that first album again, and then soak in the fact that he was recording a commercial quality disc in his basement. In 1976. Perhaps his most famous invention was the Rockman. Of course your cell phone now does more tricks at lower cost, but the Rockman was, IMHO, ahead of its time. 3) The depth of his personal depression was sadly revealed after Brad Delp's suicide a few years ago. As chronicled by the Boston Herald, there was a suggestion that Scholz's treatment of Delp may have contributed to his action. Scholz sued the Herald and Delp's widow (she talked about band tensions in an interview) for slander/defamation and ultimately lost. A sad chapter in rock history, indeed.

Cheers
-B

[gentleclockdivider]

 

Maybe because Belgium was quite big in techno music.

Maybe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhlKHgORrgM

This is gabber ...al doped on speed ...the after days of boccaccio ...nothing to do with techno ...maybe a lil bit
Techno in belgium Kozzmozz, I love techno,R.S. records ( before renaat f**ked up ) 10 days off , first Kozzmozz . party ever was on a boat ..1996....everybody was welcome ....but there weren't a lot off gabber people ...
I remember ' the advent ' in 1997 ....f**k me ..that was an absolute banger
And absolutely nothing to do with I.L...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vPhaCe2RyU

[Hink]

Back to Massachusetts for a moment:

I'm sure Hink and others will recall that back in the 70's and 80's, Massachusetts was actually Silicon Valley before Silicon Valley. Route 128, which forms a ring around Boston (the "Hub") was dubbed "America's Technological Highway" and was specifically created to host the new wave of expected development in tech that was fostered, in part, by MIT, Harvard, and many other of the more than 60 colleges and universities (really) that call Boston home. (Which is the reason for the joke in Spinal Tap when the manager tells the band that Boston isn't much of a college town.) The tech highway was, and is, still, quite a draw. But there's much more competition for location elsewhere as work space generally has become more portable. Regardless, big tech names are continuing to establish a beachhead here, Google probably being the biggest name of late.

Regarding the band Boston. 1) Hardly a one-hit wonder, but I can certainly understand if they weren't for everyone. 2) Scholz was a talented MIT engineer and pioneered a ton of electronic innovations to create the Boston sound in his home studio in 1976. Yes, 1976. Listen to that first album again, and then soak in the fact that he was recording a commercial quality disc in his basement. In 1976. Perhaps his most famous invention was the Rockman. Of course your cell phone now does more tricks at lower cost, but the Rockman was, IMHO, ahead of its time. 3) The depth of his personal depression was sadly revealed after Brad Delp's suicide a few years ago. As chronicled by the Boston Herald, there was a suggestion that Scholz's treatment of Delp may have contributed to his action. Scholz sued the Herald and Delp's widow (she talked about band tensions in an interview) for slander/defamation and ultimately lost. A sad chapter in rock history, indeed.

Cheers
-B

yes good ol 128...some spillover to my hometown of Bedford as well

[SODDI]

yes good ol 128...some spillover to my hometown of Bedford as well

A little further up the road, in Vermont, is where New England Digital was based. Founded by 3 Dartmouth grads, they built the Synclavier.

It's an arguable point that many of the software features of our home computer-based DAWs, mainly the sequencers, first originated in the giant hyper-expensive hardware computer music workstations like the Synclavier and the Fairlight.