NAMM 2017: Changes are afoot at Tracktion Corporation. In fact, the company's flagship product, the Tracktion DAW, is set to be replaced with Waveform, a new piece of music production software.
This inherits the key elements of Tracktion - single-screen operation and a speedy workflow, for example - but adds a dedicated mixer page and a new suite of plugins. In addition, "all aspects" of the software are said to have been updated and streamlined.
But that's not all: both Waveform and Tracktion Corp's Biotek synth will now run on the latest generation of single-board computers, such as the Raspberry Pi. Intriguingly, a new initiative "to provide a range of software and hardware peripherals to expand the utility of these small, inexpensive computer platforms for the "maker community'" has also been announced.
This sounds like a good fit for Tracktion, which has always had something of an alternative, 'underground' reputation.
Tracktion Presents
There's also Tracktion Presents, another initiative that sees the company partnering with other developers and manufacturers to co-promote products and offer them on the Tracktion Marketplace. The first of these will be Media Overkill's Waverazor, which has also been unveiled at the show.
On the hardware side, there's more to tell you about the Copper Reference audio interface, which was actually announced at last year's NAMM. Apparently, it was delayed in order to take advantage of some emerging technology in the DAC field, and should hopefully sound all the better for it.
We're still waiting on pricing for both Copper Reference and Waveform, but we're guessing that some flesh will soon be put on the bones of these announcements on the Tracktion website.