Never lose track of your musical ideas again.
 
I can remember clear as day the moment I finally lost it.
 
It was late one night during a deep listening session. Prep work for a track I was mixing down the very next day. I went through my usual process — pause whenever something catches my ear, jot it down, carry on. Session wrapped, notes typed up, computer shut down.
 
Next morning. Ableton open. Ready to start — and the notes were gone. Not gone exactly. Just... somewhere. Notion? A text file? Scribbled on paper next to the desk? I genuinely couldn't remember.
 
That was the moment. That specific frustration — compounded by years of watching Ableton ship update after update with still no native note-taking — is where Dawson came from.
 
BUILT BY A PRODUCER, FOR PRODUCERS
 
Dawson was built by Heath Holme — DJ, music producer, and Ableton Live coach with 25+ years in electronic music. Based in Ibiza. Instructor at Point Blank Music School. Released on Yoshitoshi, Toolroom, Monique and more.
 
Dawson is the tool Heath wished existed. It's actively developed, and your feedback directly shapes what comes next.
 
WHAT IS DAWSON?
 
Dawson sits alongside your DAW and lets you capture date and time stamped notes without switching windows or breaking your flow. A global hotkey brings up a quick capture panel in seconds. Your notes are organised by project, always where you left them, always ready when you need them.
 
No more scattered text files. No more Notion tabs. No more paper.
👉 Watch the full tutorial → Dawson V1.0 — Full Walkthrough
 
HOW IT WORKS
 
⌨️ One hotkey. Zero interruption. Press ⌘⇧J (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+J (Windows) from anywhere — even inside your DAW. Dawson's quick capture panel appears instantly. Type your note, hit Return, and you're back in the session.
 
🎛 Smart DAW detection. Dawson reads your running DAW and automatically opens or creates the matching project. Confirmed working with Ableton Live, Logic Pro and Bitwig Studio.
 
📋 Everything in one place. Notes are organised by project, stamped with the date and time, searchable, and always on your machine — nothing in the cloud, nothing to sync, nothing to set up.
 
🔍 Search across everything. Can't remember which session that idea came from? Search across all projects at once, or filter within a project. Your notes become a navigable session history.
 
🔗 URLs and markdown links. Drop a reference link, a sample URL, or a markdown-formatted link directly in your note. It'll be clickable.
 
📤 Export and share. Export any project as a .dawson file and send it to your mix engineer, co-producer, or just archive it. Cross-platform — Mac and Windows open the same files without issues.
 
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
 
"I didn't think I'd get on with it — I'm old school, I'd rather just do it with pieces of paper. I'm actually really surprised that I could get on with it and I really enjoyed it." — ENÔN, DJ, artist and music producer
 
"Very simple to use. Detect, projects, dived straight in there — no problems. It's all in one place, it's not like looking at paper, it's all on screen. It's great, actually." — ENÔN, DJ, artist and music producer
 
WHO IT'S FOR
 
Dawson is for producers who already have a workflow — and just need a clean, frictionless place to capture notes within it.
 
You produce in Ableton, Logic, Bitwig, FL Studio or similar. You've lost notes before — or given up taking them because the friction was too high. You want something that just works, alongside the tools you already use.
 
No subscriptions. No cloud accounts. No extra logins.
 
If you're looking for a project management tool or a DAW replacement, Dawson isn't that. It's a trusty companion — nothing more, nothing less.
 
PRICING
€15 — one-time payment. Buy once, own forever.
One purchase includes all three builds:
Mac — Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)
Mac — Intel (2015–2020)
Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
 
All V1.x updates included free. When V2 arrives — with DAW transport sync, linking notes to bars and beats — existing customers get 50% off.
 
DAW SUPPORT
✅ Ableton Live — Mac + Windows
✅ Logic Pro — Mac
✅ Bitwig Studio — Mac + Windows (project detection coming)
✅ Reaper — Windows DAW + project | Mac ⚠️ Untested
⚠️ FL Studio — detection implemented, community testing ongoing
⚠️ Pro Tools — detection implemented, community testing ongoing
⚠️ Cubase — detection implemented, community testing ongoing
 
Producing with FL Studio, Pro Tools, Cubase or Reaper? Get in touch and receive a free copy in exchange for your feedback. → heathholme.net/work-with-me
 
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Mac — macOS 12 Monterey or later · Apple Silicon or Intel Windows — Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
 
STILL GOT QUESTIONS? → Get in touch