KVR Audio

fese · Post by **fese** » Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:06 pm

Seeing all those highly imaginative “why you left [DAW]” threads I started wondering how all those DAWs came to their names?
“ProTools” and “Live” are maybe the only ones that are somewhat self explanatory, but what about “Cubase” or “Logic”? And who sat down and decided that “Bitwig” or “Cakewalk” would be good names for a DAW?
“Reason”? “Reaper”? Did someone just open a dictionary and point randomly at a word?
What are the stories behind our favorite toys’ names?

antic604 · Post by **antic604** » Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:18 pm

fese wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:06 pmAnd who sat down and decided that “Bitwig”...

Just look at the logo - it's a wig made of little bits

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:27 pm

Cubase: https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18626
Reason: https://forum.reasontalk.com/viewtopic. ... a445b2b3b7 (post 5, by Tage Widsell) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash#Reason
REAPER: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAPER (an acronym, but I still don't bother to type it in all caps)

claudedefaren · Post by **claudedefaren** » Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:40 pm

Googly Smythe · Post by **Googly Smythe** » Tue Feb 04, 2020 11:36 pm

Cakewalk - isn't that a dance? It's also slang for something easy.

Meffy · Post by **Meffy** » Tue Feb 04, 2020 11:54 pm

Googly Smythe wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 11:36 pm Cakewalk - isn't that a dance? It's also slang for something easy.

Yes, from the American South in the 1800s. A cake was a typical prize for the best performances. It let slaves make fun of the pretentiousness of their owners, who didn't realize they were being mocked.

Pretty sure the software's name was chosen to reflect the later "easy" connotation, not the dance.

See Wikipedia for more; I won't go into it further 'cos this isn't HPC.

Rivanni · Post by **Rivanni** » Wed Feb 05, 2020 1:53 am

Cakewalk was the name of the company that released the DAW called Sonar. With Cakewalk gone, Bandlab decided to call the DAW Cakewalk. Probably because people were often referring to it by that name. Like people say Ableton when they mean Live.

Rivanni · Post by **Rivanni** » Wed Feb 05, 2020 1:56 am

antic604 wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:18 pm
fese wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:06 pmAnd who sat down and decided that “Bitwig”...
Just look at the logo - it's a wig made of little bits

And a wig is connected to a DAW how? The story of an old composers wig? Seems far fetched.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:02 am

claudedefaren wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:40 pm They wanted Ableton to be named as though it were a sound guy you would have with you in the studio, or something to that effect.

But Ableton is the company name ... the DAW is called Live, because of what it was originally designed to be ... a live performance tool.

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:04 am

Rivanni wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 1:56 am
antic604 wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:18 pm
fese wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 10:06 pmAnd who sat down and decided that “Bitwig”...
Just look at the logo - it's a wig made of little bits
And a wig is connected to a DAW how?

They named it after the company’s German founder - Herr Piece

mumpcake · Post by **mumpcake** » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:03 am

mumpcake · Post by **mumpcake** » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:12 am

I always thought Bitwig was a portmanteau of the words bigwig and bits.

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:15 am

It's an anagram of "big wit", so maybe the joke's on us...?

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:22 am

its short for bites widget.
which is a computer doohickey thingamajig.
used to whathermacallit the tiddlybob.

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:25 am

vurt wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:22 am a computer doohickey thingamajig.
used to whathermacallit the tiddlybob.

At last! Someone who can articulate it in clear English!

Why you left... sorry, why do DAWs have the name that they have?