More tips for mastering Bitwig Studio 2
TIDY UP
All versions of Bitwig Studio come packed with plenty of content with which to play, and you’ve doubtlessly collected some of your own, too. That means your Browser is going to be bristling with cool toys. As inspiring as that thought is, it also means scrolling through the lot when you’re looking for a specific sample, Device, or third-party plugin. Fortunately, Bitwig Studio offers some nifty organisational tools to help you keep things tidy. You can, for instance, denote specific browser entries as Favourites, after which you can access them with a single mouse click. You can also filter through your collection according to category or creator. Better still, you can create individual collections that allow you to populate the list in the same way as Favourites.
Housework is never terrifically exciting, but getting to know Bitwig’s organisational features will save you time when inspiration is hot.
TRACK STAR
Using a sampler to compensate for a limited track count is an old trick from the days of the hardware project studio. Bitwig Studio 2 8-Track’s Sampler can perform similar duties, while also allowing us to process tracks in interesting ways. Simply export audio clips, then drag them back into a multisampled patch in the Sampler. Trigger them in the same position in your arrangement where the original audio began. When you’re happy, ditch the original tracks.
BEAT THE LOOP
Bitwig Studio 2 8-Track enables you to easily slice up any drum loop and map its various individual drum sounds to pads on the included Drum Machine Device. All you have to do is drag the loop onto the Drum Machine pad on which you’d like the first slice to appear. You’ll be given a handful of slicing options to choose from. Select your preferred one and watch as the Drum Machine is populated with your percussive pieces.
ROCK YOUR MODULES
One of our favourite Bitwig Studio features is its ability to integrate with the hardware world. Oh, sure, lots of DAWs can speak fluent MIDI, but few come ready to play with modular and vintage synthesisers right out of the box. Indeed, Bitwig Studio’s CV Instrument does exactly that, allowing users to send CV and gate signals to their analogue hardware gear.
It should be noted that to properly sequence notes, the audio interface being used to route such signals must be DC coupled. Alternatively, you can use a module such as the ES-3 from Expert Sleepers to act as an intermediary.
UPDATE YOUR CV
CV control is an integral part of using hardware modular synthesisers, and as mentioned in the previous tip, Bitwig Studio 2 and Bitwig Studio 2 8-Track allow users to trigger and control hardware synthesisers from within the DAW.
Also note that many other musical toys – such as effects pedals and rack-mounted effects devices – offer CV interfacing in the form of analogue pedal inputs. If you have such a device, it’s worth checking its specs to see what kind of signal the pedal input requires – you might be able to control it with one of Bitwig Studio’s many CV Devices.