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6. Using Bitwig Studio 2 to control modular hardware

1 Bitwig Studio 2 features the ability to control analogue synthesisers right from within the program, though you’ll need a compatible sound card or a bit of hardware like the Expert Sleepers ES-3 module. Let’s fire up the DAW and see it in action.

2 CV-capable hardware devices can be controlled in a number of ways from within Bitwig Studio 2. We’re going to use the Hardware CV Instrument device, which can be instantiated just like any other virtual instrument in a project. However, instead of generating its own sound, it’ll act as a controller for a modular synthesiser we’re going to be using.

3 CV-based plugins require either a special interface module or a DC-coupled audio interface, We’ll be using the latter – a MOTU 1248. We’ll route the CV Instrument’s Pitch CV Out to one of the MOTU’s aux outputs by choosing it in the plugin’s dropdown menu (rather than its main outputs).

4 Next, we’ll route the HW CV Instrument’s Gate Out to another of the MOTU’s extra outputs. Finally, we’ll need to ensure that our HW CV Instrument can monitor the output of our modular synth, so we choose the MOTU’s input into which we’ll route the synth’s output – in our case, it’s labelled MOTU TRS 1/2.

5 Let’s connect the hardware. We’re going to route the output we’ve selected for Pitch CV Out to our synth’s oscillator’s exponential frequency input. We’ll then route the output we’ve chosen for Gate Out to our envelope module gate input – in both cases we’re using a mormalization module connected to those modules. Finally, we’ll route the output to our selected MOTU input.

6 Now we can hit the Tune! button. The HW CV Instrument plugin will trigger ascending pitches from the synth and automatically tune and scale the oscillator’s pitch. Once done, it can be played from a connected MIDI keyboard routed into Bitwig or Bitwig’s internal sequencer. This is just scratching the surface – there are tons more CV features in Bitwig 2.0!