MusicRadar

'The Baby' was the forerunner to the Ferranti Mark 1 that was used to make the first computer music recording.

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Early 1990s – Audio recording arrives
Having previously been used for sequencing external gear via MIDI, computers at last started to become audio recording devices in their own right. Steinberg released Cubase Audio for Mac in 1991, and an even better version for Atari's Falcon in 1993.

1991 – Sound Blaster Pro soundcard
The very first of Creative Labs' hugely successful Sound Blaster soundcards was launched in 1989, but it was the Pro version that added 44.1kHz stereo recording. It was only 8-bit, though; 16-bit recording would have to wait until the launch of the Sound Blaster 16 a year later. This, theoretically, enabled the home computer user to record at 'CD quality'.

1997 – Virtual Studio Technology
With the launch of Steinberg's Cubase VST, it became possible not just to record multiple audio tracks on a computer, but also to process them with plug-in effects (previously, external hardware had been required). Other software developers soon started to equip their products with similar functionality.

1999 – The first plug-in instrument
Steinberg's commitment to innovation was demonstrated again when it released Cubase VST 3.7. This gave us the option of plugging software instruments directly into the DAW – something we all take for granted these days – and came with Neon, a very basic analogue-style synth. A torrent of commercial and freeware instruments soon followed.

2000 – First version of Reason launched
Going on to become one of the most successful music apps of all time, the way Reason was presented – a virtual rack of recognisable studio gear – made even those who were sceptical about the potential of computer-based music production sit up and take notice. Suddenly, everything could be done in one application.

2001 – Ableton releases Live
Live broke the mould when it was released, and quickly made both users and developers realise that there isn't just one way of making computer music. It looks and feels like no other software on the market, and is now used by musicians of all sorts around the world.

2008 – Another revolution?
Music software developers continue to push the boundaries – Celemony has developed new technology (Direct Note Access) that enables you to edit individual notes in mixed-down audio files. Meanwhile, new music applications are being released for handheld devices such as Apple's iPhone and Nintendo's DS. The future looks bright…