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DAW Basics: Your First Session

Elliot Voss · 29 Aug 2026 · 6 min read

Tracks, buses, sends and the four windows you actually need.

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You do not need to understand your DAW. You need to understand five windows in it.

The arrangement Where time lives. Everything else is a detail.

The mixer One fader per source, one bus per group.

Sends versus inserts Inserts change a sound. Sends copy it somewhere.

Save often Name your sessions with dates. Future you will be grateful.

Elliot mixes records out of a converted garage in Leeds and has spent fifteen years arguing about compressors.

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