DAW: Scenes/Clips vs. Track Arrangement?

[enCiphered]

Hey guys,

I'm curious to find out how many of you prefer working with Scenes/Clips for a non-linear approach and how many stick to the traditional Track Arrangement. Maybe you use both methods equally or have another workflow entirely?
It would be cool if you could also mention which style of music is related to your preferred workflow.

Thanks

[machinesworking]

I started in the "traditional" linear DAW Digital Performer, and eventually got a copy of Live 3, which upgraded to 4, including MIDI instruments, VSTi's etc. The initial and still greatest to me advantage of Clips and the Session View in Live is/was the beginnings of an arrangement, working out a verse, chorus, break, bridge type song structure is nicely quick, same with setting up a song with 25 separate randomly arranged riffs, etc.

Linear is still much much better when it comes to nuance, so after the arrangement is done, adding in little elements here and there to make the song complex.

Plus certain types of songs and certainly orchestral type mock ups just aren't conducive at all to Session Clip firing.

More or less I would guess I'm not alone in saying I do use clips and the clip arranger in Live, Bitwig and now DP, but I rarely if ever just use clips, at some point it goes into the arrangement or linear page and gets refined etc.

[xbitz]

IMO energy and tension management(both on macro and micro levels) is easier using the traditionally linear building(EDM) these kinds of stuff The Advanced Guide to Tension and Energy in Electronic Music: https://www.edmprod.com/tension/

[mjolnir]

It depends upon which types of ideas you get faster.
I find that compositions are more advanced in Arranger mode.
That's what I use in Cockos Reaper.

However, I can work faster sometimes in other modes.
I don't do clip launching, but sometimes will use clips anyways sequenced.
It's good to combine both styles, as others have said.

[jonljacobi]

Generally speaking, I stick with tracks. About the only reason I can think of why this might be better is that sometimes I record a clip, say a solo, that starts a beat or two before and ends a beat or two after a section. You can probably do this with scenes and a launcher, but I just never felt the need to learn how. I always think of scenes and a launcher as more of a live performance deal.

Also, I generally know the complete form of the song (intro, verse, chorus, verse, etc.) long before I get around to recording it. If I didn't I could definitely see the utility of scenes.

So in the end, it's just a matter of sticking with what I know. Aka, habit.

[enCiphered]

Thank you all for the insightful comments!
I think that each method has its strengths depending on the production phase. However, once the overall structure takes shape, track arrangement becomes invaluable for me. It’s essential for detailed editing, automation, and finalizing the mix. The visual representation of the arrangement significantly aids in understanding the song's flow and dynamics, ensuring smooth transitions between sections.
But I’d love to explore more of the session view, particularly for the sake of experimentation and unexpected results. For example, Bitwig's Clip Launcher offers fantastic ways to randomize the flow, making it a great tool for sparking creativity and generating unique ideas.

[xbitz]

Protoculture has created a how-to sketch in-with Bitwig video, you can watch it, he uses the clip-based method too



worth checking his channel videos and his recorded live sessions

[legendCNCD]

Arrangement only in Live. I wish the clip side would be useful but its not for me/us. If it was more like Cubase SX's pattern system (which I think Bitwig has too) would be much more useful.

[dellboy]

When Waveform Pro added a clip launcher in version 13, I upgraded and got into using the session view to record everything. I then bought Bitwig and used the session view in that Daw. After six months of just using the session view in Bitwig I decided that all my songs sounded too"loopy",and and have pretty much gone back to using the traditional arrangement view all the time.

[swilow11]

Having moved from Cubase to Bitwig recently-ish, clips/scenes are quite a novel thing for me. I find them useful to sketch out the rough early stages in a track or track section, and have experimented with sequencing clips to make a longer arrangement but I found that too mouse-clicky and fiddly and kept getting "lost" in the non-linearity. That said, I still use clips but mainly to sequence a few loops/variations which i then drop in the arrangement view, and otherwise use the clip launcher space as storage for variations on one shot fx or different yet related takes of a particular track.

I used to use Reason for over a decade and found the matrix pattern sequencer to be a really useful sketchpad to build a sequence and then array it along the timeline. I'm using clips/scenes in Bitwig in a similar way.

[spoontechnique]

I started on Live, but I never really clicked with the Clips view. Then I moved around a few DAWs and ended up at Bitwig. I've tried learning the clip view and it doesn't help. I think I have a "recording a band" mental model of arrangement.

Actually, whatever Renoise's arranger matrix is the best. It's not exactly either but it has great features of both. Very cool!

[AdvancedFollower]

I started with a linear workflow (Reason, before moving to Studio One and then Cubase) so that's what I'm used to. I'm sure if I started with FL or Ableton I would be more comfortable with a loop/clip based workflow instead.

I use loop markers to loop sections of the track while coming up with ideas, which isn't that different from scenes/clips.

[Amberience]

When I'm doing electronica stuff I tend to just jam it out, and then edit it down to the perfect take later on. This goes for hardware synths or software synths; although I generally prefer to use hardware synths as much as possible, and just deal with audio files. If I can't make the perfect edit, then I will re-learn what I jammed, and then re-track it; same way I do guitar music basically.

I remember reading an article about The Prodigy when I was a kid, that claimed that Liam played everything in by hand. Now I don't know if that is true, or how much of it is true, but it always struck a chord with me. So that's how I approach a lot of stuff, even if it is a sequenced bit, the sequence is usually a loop of something I played in by hand rather than programmed. I think that affects the final outcome in significant ways.

It is quite interesting having started off making electronic music, then spending 16 years primarily making post-rock/post-metal/alt-rock stuff with bands playing drums and guitars, and then transferring that experience over to electronic music once again.

[legendCNCD]

We still play everything in by hand, then fix the most glaring problems. We found we like this approach much better than just gridding it.

[stoopicus]

Arranger 100% for me, I am just hardwired to think of song structure in terms of tracks on a timeline.