Three decades have gone by since computers revolutionized music production. And the pace of the market is so high that a timeline of the different DAWs and sequencers that have come and gone throughout the years can come in very useful to have a good overview of this constantly evolving segment.
Apart from rediscovering some names that people under 20 might have never heard of, the idea behind this timeline is to provide an overview that allows you to better understand the current market. So, for instance, you will be able to appreciate the trailblazing character of Magix’s Music Maker, which came out 11 years before Garageband and 5 years before Live.
Likewise, it’s easy to tell how the history of audio sequencing rolled out in three different cycles: the '80s, when everybody’s main concern was MIDI and pioneers like Steinberg, Emagic, MOTU, and Opcode set the foundations for today’s software tools in terms usability and design. Then came the '90s and the digital audio revolution when the old guard updated its arsenal and smaller players came into play. And finally, from the 2000s onwards, which has seen the advent of some new players: from Ableton to Tracktion, Propellerhead, Cockos, and EnergyXT. Small software makers exploring new functional and usability approaches, sometimes completely breaking away from the canons established by the veterans.
Do note that we didn’t include all versions of every software, only major releases (like a sequencer incorporating Direct-to-Disk of adopting VST, etc.).
Lastly, this timeline is not intended to be exhaustive or perfect, so you are more than welcome to use the comments below to suggest additions or changes in order to improve it.
Software from the '80s
| 1982 |
Page R (Fairlight CMI Series II)
|
|||
| 1983 |
 Steinberg Multitrack Recorder (C64)
|
|||
| 1984 |
 Steinberg Pro-16 (C-64)
|
|
||
| 1985 |
MOTU Performer (Mac)
|
 C-Lab Supertrack |
||
| 1986 |
 Steinberg Pro-24 (Atari)
|
 |
||
| 1987 |
Soundtracker (Amiga)
|
 C-Lab Creator (Atari) |
||
| 1988 |
 C-Lab Notator (Atari)
|
|||
| 1989 |
 Digidesign Sound Tools (Mac)
|
 OctaMED (Amiga) |
 Steinberg Cubase 1.0 (Atari) |
 Opcode Vision (Mac/PC) |
Software from the '90s
| 1990 |
 Opcode Studio Vision > Vision incorporates audio |
 Triton FastTracker (Amiga) |
|||
| 1991 |
 |
 Digidesign Pro Tools |
 Steinberg Cubase Audio (Mac) > Cubase incorporates audio |
Amiga Freelancers Pro Tracker (Amiga) |
|
| 1992 |
Sek’d Samplitude (Amiga) |
MOTU Digital Performer (Mac) |
Rythm’n Soft BigBoss 24 (Atari) |
||
| 1993 |
 Emagic Notator Logic (Atari/Mac) |
RML Labs Saw (PC) |
Rosegarden (Linux) |
||
| 1994 |
 Magix Music Maker (PC)
|
 Emagic Logic (audio) 1.7 (Mac) > Logic incorporates audio |
|||
| 1996 |
 Cakewalk Pro Audio 4 (PC) > Cakewalk incorporates audio |
 Steinberg Cubase VST (Mac then PC) |
n-Track Studio (PC) |
||
| 1997 |
 Image-Line Fruity Loops (PC) |
 Dance eJay (PC) |
 Syntrillium Cool Edit Pro (PC) |
 Jeskola Buzz (PC) |
 Canam Computers Quartz Studio |
| 1998 |
 Sonic Foundry Acid (PC) |
||||
| 1999 |
 Digidesign Pro Tools 5 (Mac/PC) > Pro Tools incorporates MIDI |
Software from the 2000s
| 2000 |
 Propellerhead Reason (Mac/PC) |
 Steinberg Nuendo (Mac/PC) |
 Sonic Syndicate Orion (Puis Synapse Audio Orion) |
|
| 2001 |
 Ableton Live (Mac/PC) |
 Cakewalk Sonar |
||
| 2002 |
 Raw Material Software Tracktion (Mac/PC) |
 Renoise (Linux/Mac/PC) |
||
| 2003 |
 Adobe Audition (Mac/PC) |
 EnergyXT (Mac/PC) |
 Cakewalk Project 5 (PC) |
|
| 2004 |
 Ableton Live 4 > Live incorporates MIDI |
Zynewave Podium (PC) |
 |
|
| 2005 |
 Apple GarageBand (Mac) |
 Cockos Reaper (PC) |
||
| 2006 |
 Magix Samplitude 9 pro (PC) > Samplitude incorporates MIDI |
 MusE (Linux/PC) |
 Ardour (Linux) |
|
| 2009 |
 PreSonus Studio One (Mac/PC) |
 Propellerhead Record (Mac/PC) |
 Native Instruments Maschine (Mac/PC) |
 Harrison Mixbus (Linux/Mac/PC) |
Software from the 2010s
| 2012 |
 Propellerhead Reason 6 > Reason incorporates audio recording |
|
| 2014 |
 Bitwig Studio (Linux/Mac/PC) |
