The article suggests that the non-destructive editing features of the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) can be useful for communication centers and for the support of multimodal assignments because they can promote greater attention to sound. The turn to the DAW is situated in a tradition of embracing sonic technologies for pedagogical purposes through analysis of the history of discussions of microphonic and recording technology in the "Quarterly Journal of Speech." The author surveys available DAW software and cites experience using it at one center.