Bitwig

Snipecatcher · 2018-12-29T20:18:00.358Z

Bringing this back again to see how people are feeling about Bitwig. At some point I’m thinking of trying something different for my electronic stuff. So I’m in Ableton vs Bitwig territory. Anything new to add to this discussion? I’m currently using Logic Pro X

audiotonomy · 2018-12-29T20:32:12.054Z

Ableton has Max msp built in. Total game changer, wouldn’t go anywhere else now. Also the edit multiple midi tracks in one arrangement is great for working with samplers and overbridge.

Ryan · 2018-12-29T20:39:15.516Z

Ableton takes up the easy/hard portion of sound design while Bitwig takes up the medium portion.

With Ableton, whatever you want to do, there’s most likely a device to help you achieve this from a community download it a paid device. Meanwhile, with Bitwig, you route the audio and midi to do this yourself- it feels more direct but takes a deeper degree of thought than ignorantly opening a M4L device(what I do), but extremely more simple than building your own M4L patches.

I wish I could open Bitwig as a plug-in inside Ableton, though. Ableton seems more straightforward for composition, but Bitwig seems more straightforward for sound design.

Edit:

Bitwig takes up less space on your computer

Jukka · 2019-05-12T01:23:05.465Z

So i notice there are some events scheduled at the new Elektron Studios Berlin.
June 19 is Elektron × Bitwig.

The schedule says:
We team up with our friends at Bitwig and dive deep into using their DAW with Overbridge and Elektron machines.

Extend your Bitwig and Overbridge knowledge.

So i know Elektron spends time to make sure OB works well with many different DAWS – they list: Live, Cubase, Logic, Studio One and Bitwig on their website.

Just wondering aloud if there is (or will be) something special about using Bitwig with OB?

Snipecatcher · 2019-05-12T02:14:54.696Z

I really would like to try Bitwig one day. Been on Logic for many, many years, but don’t really use it for composition

vaporlanes · 2019-05-12T02:15:36.938Z

In my case, Bitwig and Overbridge are a match made in heaven.

You can use any of the modulators to modulate any of the parameters within Overbridge as a VST. This effectively turns my Digitakt into a modular. It’s hard to explain how cool this is until you actually try it out, then (if you’re like me) you can’t imagine using the Digitakt any other way.

Curious to see how they work with Bitwig 3.0’s Grid… I haven’t sorted it out myself yet, but the potential is huge there.

DoS · 2019-05-12T06:54:01.939Z

Jukka:

Just wondering aloud if there is (or will be) something special about using Bitwig with OB?

Linux support for Overbridge would be a nice surprise, given Bitwig’s cross-platform nature, but unlikely.

Ryan · 2019-05-12T06:59:17.746Z

I’ve been toying around with the idea of using Overbridge in Max(I believe you can load plugins in them)

That will be something fascinating.

The notion of OB was my main draw for Bitwig. But I ended up planting my flag in Ableton

handed · 2019-05-12T13:18:22.257Z

I recently picked up Bitwig 8 Track. The grid and the modulators have me very interested in the full version, but I can’t afford the full price right now. Just checked, and having 8 Track saves US$40 - a bit, but not that much.

Now that I’m properly interested, I’m curious to know: how much is the most it’s been discounted so far? How often are sales?

sovietpop · 2019-05-12T14:26:36.400Z

I’ve bought my copy second hand for 200 but they do sale pretty often.

Sleezy_D · 2019-05-12T15:05:45.886Z

They do a Black Friday sale, that’s when I picked up my copy. I can’t remember how much it was? I think it was 20% off.

Sleezy_D · 2019-05-12T15:07:46.316Z

This.

You just made me regret selling my Digitakt:-) I could do the same with my OCta via midi, but won’t be as straight forward. Bigwig mods are awesome.

elektrohansen · 2019-05-12T16:14:04.721Z

I felt the same about 2 or 3 years ago. Had been a Reason user since 1998 and felt the need for new inspiration. Bought Bitwig. And while it is a really awesome piece of software (which I still use from time to time for sound design fiddling), it taught me a very valuable lesson: it’s not the tool that makes you creative. Inspiration comes from yourself and your environment. Your tools only help you to channel your inspiration into productivity, and the key to success here is to know your tools inside out. For me, this meant after all I ended up using Reason more than ever, because I don’t have to think about how to archieve certain sounds I have in my head. Compared to this, I felt learning the Bitwig workflow always stood in the way of letting creativity flow.

This has nothing to do with Reason being better than Bitwig or vice versa. Both are amazing, and Bitwig also opened up new ways of making music to me. But what DAW you use is just not the most important thing determing your creative output…

Snipecatcher · 2019-05-12T16:43:28.223Z

elektrohansen:

I felt the same about 2 or 3 years ago. Had been a Reason user since 1998 and felt the need for new inspiration. Bought Bitwig. And while it is a really awesome piece of software (which I still use from time to time for sound design fiddling), it taught me a very valuable lesson: it’s not the tool that makes you creative. Inspiration comes from yourself and your environment. Your tools only help you to channel your inspiration into productivity, and the key to success here is to know your tools inside out. For me, this meant after all I ended up using Reason more than ever, because I don’t have to think about how to archieve certain sounds I have in my head. Compared to this, I felt learning the Bitwig workflow always stood in the way of letting creativity flow.

This has nothing to do with Reason being better than Bitwig or vice versa. Both are amazing, and Bitwig also opened up new ways of making music to me. But what DAW you use is just not the most important thing determing your creative output…

Agreed! I won’t be abandoning Logic any time soon as I use it a lot for tracking and mixing ‘normal’ music (bands, solo artists, etc). I have a decent workflow going there. I’ve never really loved Logic for doing my electronic stuff, so mostly do hardware (OT, A4, effects) and just use Logic for editing/mixing. Just thinking it could be fun to try something like Bitwig to take a different look at stuff

elektrohansen · 2019-05-12T19:36:07.727Z

Snipecatcher:

Just thinking it could be fun to try something like Bitwig to take a different look at stuff

It is perfect for that indeed. The modulation system lets you create VERY unusual stuff in no time. Version 3 will surely be even more crazy with “the grid”. Give it a try with the demo!

Jukka · 2019-05-15T19:22:36.891Z

There’s a nice snippet in the latest Sonic Talk #576 where Gaz is explaining his revelation about Grid in Bitwig and the Help that lets you interact with the Grid element while still in help, and especially using it all with a large touch screen monitor.

It goes on for a minute and a half or so. The link goes right to the right spot.

Sleezy_D · 2019-05-15T20:44:09.582Z

Seeing how your patches affect the signal is pretty cool, seeing and hearing it at the same time. Yah the help screen while the block is still active is wow.

Loving bigwig, I’m running it on a 4K 24” monitor. Looks great! Easy to tell they have put some thought and time into this.

Kultschar · 2020-10-15T15:42:19.925Z

3.3 beta out.

JPM · 2021-11-26T20:07:00.940Z

Omri Cohen doing a live stream with “The Grid” for anyone interested in Bitwig’s modular capabilities!

Cosmic · 2021-12-08T09:38:03.158Z

Current license holders can grab this instrument free, just tried it out and it can produce some pretty unique sounds. UJAM Virtual Guitarist AMBER