Twisted Wave: An Odd Concern – Tuesday VO Studio Tech Tip
There are many perfectly fine reasons why a voice actor or narrator might choose not to use specific software. In some cases, software can be confusing. If someone has never worked in a music recording studio, they are unlikely to have had experience with multitrack workflows, the need to “arm” a track before recording, or why there might be a weird, delayed echo of one’s voice when speaking into the microphone. Other software might impose an ineffective workflow. A songwriter who composes using drum loops and musical “chunks” would find a single track audio editor to be extremely limiting.
Depending upon what you are doing, how you like to work, and your overall comfort with complexity, recording software choice can be very personal. It’s one of the reasons that while I favor Twisted Wave for most of my VO workflows, I continue to stay current and teach a range of recording software. Adobe Audition, Audacity, ProTools, Reaper, Studio One, Ocenaudio, and others.
While there is a lot to discuss about the pros and cons of using any particular recording software, I had to stop and say “huh?” to a claim that popped up last month regarding Twisted Wave. I had two separate clients ask me about this, and then saw a similar statement in a random online discussion thread (which, of course, I can’t seem to find today). To my ear, it smacks of a salesperson’s dissing of the competition.
The statement boils down to “…since it’s only a one person operation, they may decide to move on to other projects and it would cease to be supported…”
Hmmm… Ok. While that might sound like a potential concern, it’s very difficult to see it as any kind of actual issue. A theoretical possibility that a tool may go away at some future date is certainly no reason to use less appropriate software.
Narrators and voice actors remain such a narrow niche of the overall recording software market, which means very few companies tend to worry about our needs. Presonus (who obtained the IP of Studio One from KristalLabs in 2009) got acquired by Fender (the instrument maker) in 2021. Audacity, which had always been an open-source developer endeavor, got purchased by MUSE Group that same year and seems to have brought many things behind their company curtain. Avid (maker of ProTools) shook things up considerably in terms of product offerings and pricing tiers before becoming a privately held company once again in 2023.
Who do we talk to if a necessary feature is removed? Personally, I’d rather put my money behind a company where the developer hears directly from the people using the software. In the case of Twisted Wave, Thomas Thirez’s responsiveness and concern for the specific market he serves (“Voice Actors”) leads to significant, immediately useful updates. You only need compare the situation from a few weeks back, where Audacity’s update broke core functionality (and still has not been addressed by a fix version release), and Twisted Wave added some very strong refinements.
If that does feel like a reasonable concern, it might be helpful to game things out a bit. Let’s say Thomas wakes up tomorrow and decides to never support Twisted Wave. (We’ll set aside the fact that he’s created a pricing structure expressly to continue to support him full time on Twisted Wave – which had not been the case up until recently). The version of Twisted Wave on your computer will continue to work just fine.This really seems to be an odd scare tactic. Any software could go away tomorrow. There’s no reason to lay that upon Twisted Wave’s doorstep.
The key point is that software you own doesn’t just stop working. It’s going to be right there on your device humming away. Even if no one obtains the source code and rekindles development, you’ll have the ability to form a transition plan well before the app ever stops working. Even now, older versions of Twisted Wave continue to function perfectly well on new versions of OS’s. There will be plenty of time to make a change if you need to. And you are unlikely to need to.
Here’s your secret super power: I’ve written before about the transferability of studio skills. You have likely learned a lot more about recording than you realize. Skills you learn in one application will transfer to a new one. It may take a week or so to retrain your muscle memory, but changing software will not be an insurmountable challenge. You already understand more now that you did before.
Have you tested your studio’s audio quality to make sure it meets professional standards? For a free review of your vocal recordings, please use the upload tool on my Audio Review page.
Please share! If this resource has been helpful to you, please share with one of the buttons below!
You can also sign up to receive these and other advance announcements via email each week.
Previous Post
Next Post
Hi Jim:
You know, long ago Beau Weaver, the voice actor and client who showed me TwistedWave the first time many years ago said to me “When Thomas retires, so will I”. A funny notion, but just shows how much he relies on and adores TW. In the VC world there is the concept I learned recently aptly dubbed “The bus problem”. VC’s won’t invest in a company who’s function will vanish with the founder. This is only one of the many reasons I’ve expanded my services to include other talented techs such as yourself to be there for our clients in case “the bus problem” strikes me.
That being said it would be interesting to hear from Thomas about how he is dealing with the bus problem himself.
I would imagine by now he must have another developer working along with him, but I’ve never asked. Obviously the software will continue to function for many years, so it’s not at all a concern. It’s far more likely an acquisition would occur and it would continue onward, since he now has the subscription model in place ensuring on-going revenue.
There’s no guarantee that a bigger company won’t abandon its users, either. Ask anyone who relied on StudioVision Pro as their main DAW (thanks Gibson), or BIAS Peak users who were left high and dry. Online support communities are an additional safety net for anyone worried about busses. And, unless Thomas has rigged his source code such that it can’t be compiled without him, (which is a thing – ask me about the comments/line-break deadman switch a guy I know once used), it’s totally reasonable to think that another capable coder could step in to continue development, should the worst ever come to pass.
Now, if it were a piece of gear we were talking about, then things like brand equity and trustworthy product support are more relevant to a decision over whose kit you’re going to buy. But software? I don’t see the issue.