If you’re an aspiring musician and a fan of Daft Punk, it’s natural that you’d want to learn more about their unique production process. After all, Daft Punk is without a doubt the most popular electronic dance music (EDM) act.
Behind the robot, personas are talented French musicians Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They rose to immediate fame and success in the late 90s with the release of their debut album, Homework.
The iconic duo has said before that they don’t like using DAWs. They prefer utilizing hardware synthesizers to make their music. Nonetheless, some of the DAWs they’ve claimed to use are Ableton Live and Avid Pro Tools.
Table of Contents
What DAWs Did Daft Punk Use?
The two DAWs Daft Punk claimed to use are Ableton Live and Avid Pro Tools.
Ableton Live
Used for their 2007 song “Alive,” Ableton Live’s clever interface and integrated audio time, pitch, and tempo manipulation make it an exceptional music production tool.
Avid Pro Tools
Avid Pro Tools is currently the industry-standard DAW for professional recording. We know Daft Punk have used this DAW for production, but they haven’t provided information on what specific albums or songs they used this DAW for.
What Hardware Synths Did Daft Punk Use?
As for hardware synths, Daft Punk have used many synthesizers over their long, 28-year career. Here are the most popular ones they’ve used over the years:
Roland Juno-106
This one’s been on almost every Daft Punk album. If you’re a retro musician or just really into old music hardware, you’ve definitely heard of the Juno-106. Its early implementation of MIDI and deep analog sound made it a pioneer in the early synth era.
Sequential Circuits Prophet 5-S
The Prophet 5-S is another oldie used in their song “Around the World.” Although the current version of the Prophet 5-S is a great synthesizer, the original version truly changed the music space.
Do You Have to Use the Exact Same DAW as Daft Punk to Become a Successful Music Artist?
No, you don't. Daft Punk have made a workflow and environment that works for them and their style of music. What you need to do is figure out your own process and look for DAWs that are best suited for said process.
If you’re just starting your music career, it might be overwhelming at first because of the sheer number of choices you have, but everyone goes through this.
Over time, as you try more and more equipment and software, you’ll find the ones that work for you and your music!
Wrapping Up
Over the course of their career, Daft Punk pushed the French House genre to the extremes and expressed the impact of blurring the borders between analog and digital schools.
Perhaps another artist will come one day and change EDM music entirely with the help of future technology yet again, the same way Daft Punk did.
