Bitwig

amadeusp · Post by **amadeusp** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 10:40 pm

Maybe I am the minority, but I just need to get this out.

I started to make electronic music with Emagic’s Logic back in 1994. I sticked with it until 2013, when I felt inspired to try Ableton’s Live and Push. During all this time, I composed music and designed sounds, both as a professional (doing corporate sound and multimedia projects) and for myself.

When Bitwig Studio was introduced, I demoed it, bought it right away and after a transition phase of a year, completely uninstalled Logic and Live from my machines.
To me, Bitwig Studio combines most of the things I love from Logic and some of the things I really liked in Live, plus so much more. It really changed my perspective on music making and sound design (and with all the joy risen from it, eventually my life too).

Of course, from time to time, I cross something a bit glitchy and I even have managed to get the audio engine hanging a few times. And yes, there are some features missing too. But I really wish to counter balance some of the negativity that has been rising about Bitwig’s 2.0 and license change announcements over the last couple of days.

I understand the frustration around the fact that some users have been waiting for Networking and the Modular Core for quite some time now. But I also know that things can turn out to be quite more challenging than expected. Bitwig is a young company in a very competitive market and it is not exactly an easy undertaking to develop a multi platform, cutting edge DAW and at the same time establish a financially sane company. Considering all circumstances, I think they are doing a pretty good job.

My point is:
I use Bitwig Studio every day and even though it might not be complete or perfect by now, I am extremely happy and appreciative to have it in my life. And I am perfectly fine with the new license model too, if it helps to keep the company healthy and the software growing.

Oh, and one last thing:
I was in constant exchange with the Bitwig staff since day 1 of my Bitwig Studio journey and found them to be very friendly, constructive and helpful.

Maybe there are more people out there with positive Bitwig Studio stories?

mevla · Post by **mevla** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:07 pm

Same here. With a caveat that I mentioned a few times: I'm using Linux. It means that there's not much choice. I was using Ardour (Open Source DAW) and was doing a few things although nothing I would say that I want to put out there. About a year ago I got Bitwig and it changed the way I create in such a way that it opened ways to creation, to sketch ideas using clips and scenes, to play those ideas into an arranger for further refinement. Bitwig is certainly not a 'traditional' console metaphor DAW and cannot be compared with such.

It brought so many creative possibilites that I created a Soundcloud account about a year ago and started to get more serious about 'putting stuff out there'. I started to learning about mixing and other topics. I followed Brian Bollman's excellent free course on Bitwig Music Production. Bitwig opened those doors. and there is some interest about what I do, so that's great. I want to share feelings that certain music textures brings and arrangements brings and simply put, Bitwig gave a tremendous boost. At the same time I also got a few u-he synths and some samples.

This said I do not use Bitwig for mixing. I use instead Mixbus 32C with the Harrison plugins as the Mixbus brings circuit emulation of the revered Harrison 32C consoles. On Linux there are not dozens of vintage emulations available.

I also use Bitwig very often. I've put some 40 pieces on Soundcloud (none of them in EP state, just testing and still learning how this is made) and have made some 93 useful sketches so far, all using Bitwig.

If curious, some links are in the signature.

pakunoda · Post by **pakunoda** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:08 pm

My positive story is that among the DAW that I have, it is the one that I could set up the faster to run a fake radio show with kids, allowing them to trigger sounds on the fly. I did the same with other software, but it took me longer. Reaper changed theme without warning and I had to find an equivalent of BWS' drum machine, Live's clip were unreadable on a small screen...

Me I have a question about switching software...
You did a radical move by uninstalling Logic and Live; what about the projects that you made? It's tabula rasa from your past?
I am not fond of Live, but I still use it and sometimes open old projects to see what I can do with it now.

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 2:39 am

My positive story is that I can scale the display to 125% and not be forced to squint at tiny icons or text. You guys will know what I mean someday. Absolutely freakin' brilliant.

And there's just something about the Bitwig interface that makes me want to use it over others. I'm not even talking workflow which is great. Most of the others (MuLab excepted) are rather cold and uninviting in appearance by comparison.

BTW, if you haven't tried MuLab and are looking for a cheaper alternative, Jo has done a tremendous job all by himself on the program. I'm not certain Bitwig didn't take some cues on its look from him.

Orbit-50 · Post by **Orbit-50** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 2:57 am

My positive story is that even though Cubase 9 is my main DAW, I love firing up Bitwig for quick inspiration and challenging myself to create something as quick as I can with it. I love the fact that it has a lot of the features that I want, that Live doesn't have. It's a trip for me to come from Cubase into the Bitwig environment because of the vast differences. Also Bitwig runs perfectly on my system so it's a joy to use. I can't wait for VST support in Bitwig. That'll be freakin great.

sovietpop · Post by **sovietpop** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 4:10 am

I think it's the only daw that work perfectly with Overbridge from Elektron (in my case), timing is rock solid and performance is good.
Maybe I'm lucky but Bitwig runs perfectly on my system, only had a few crash and it was a while ago. With Oberbridge I don't have much choice on OSX, Logic is so so and I can't stand Ableton Live (bad midi timing etc.)

Overall it is just the best DAW I ever used and I've tried a lot the past 20 years I have been making music.
It just feel right ,the workflow ... the workflow man, this is what is important for me. Some features missing ,not the cheapest daw, and some bugs but I could not find anything better damnit.

trusampler · Post by **trusampler** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 4:11 am

Do You Folks Record Vocals In BWS ? I've not heard much about bitwig for being much in the vocal and mixing dept. Cool looking daw, interested in it being a complete daw solution for us. Would love to hear about guys who are doing complete song productions with it.

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 4:16 am

Recording vocals, guitars, bass, etc. Audio handling is generally quite good. No problems mixing either and I love the big meters. A little light on the advanced features and some small oddities here and there. Completely doable.

amadeusp · Post by **amadeusp** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 8:25 am

@mevla:
I also played around with Bitwig on Ubuntu for one day (while setting up my Hackintosh) and liked it very much. Made a super snappy impression.

Unfortunately, I feel like I am very dependant on my plugins and only a few of them are actually available on Linux.

@pakunoda:
During the transition phase I exported all clips and midi files from Logic and Live and imported them in Bitwig Studio projects. During that time I also finished some ongoing projects with Logic and since then only once had to temporarily reinstall Logic in order to export some presets and stuff.

@Orbit-50 and @sovietpop:
Couldn’t agree more with both of you!

@trusampler:
Yes, I recently recorded and edited vocals and also record instruments from time to time. I had no issues so far and found it quite pleasant to record audio in Bitwig Studio from a handling perspective.
So, yes, I pretty much do everything in Bitwig Studio, from sketching, to arrangement and mixing.

antic604 · Post by **antic604** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 10:47 am

jonljacobi wrote:My positive story is that I can scale the display to 125% and not be forced to squint at tiny icons or text. You guys will know what I mean someday. Absolutely freakin' brilliant.

And there's just something about the Bitwig interface that makes me want to use it over others. I'm not even talking workflow which is great. Most of the others (MuLab excepted) are rather cold and uninviting in appearance by comparison.

BTW, if you haven't tried MuLab and are looking for a cheaper alternative, Jo has done a tremendous job all by himself on the program. I'm not certain Bitwig didn't take some cues on its look from him.

If anything, Bitwig borrowed a lot - not only looks, but a lot of functionality & effects - from Renoise, which is great because Renoise seems to be stuck in development

Alveek · Post by **Alveek** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 11:18 am

I've tried all of DAW's. And only in Bitwig I can make music almost without thinking about software itself (navigating etc).

gesslr · Post by **gesslr** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 1:45 pm

Orbit-50 wrote:My positive story is that even though Cubase 9 is my main DAW, I love firing up Bitwig for quick inspiration and challenging myself to create something as quick as I can with it. I love the fact that it has a lot of the features that I want, that Live doesn't have. It's a trip for me to come from Cubase into the Bitwig environment because of the vast differences. Also Bitwig runs perfectly on my system so it's a joy to use. I can't wait for VST support in Bitwig. That'll be freakin great.

My story is kinda like yours. I use StudioOne, Logic, and Cubase for paying gigs. I fire up BWS to feed my creative spirit. With fades and MTC support, it's edging closer and closer to becoming viable for work-related projects ... though I may just not do that anyway. (Keep it as my "personal DAW" "untainted" by the pressures of grubby commerce! LOL

)

Not. I can't wait to try this in some paying gigs.

Orbit-50 · Post by **Orbit-50** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 2:10 pm

gesslr wrote:(Keep it as my "personal DAW" "untainted" by the pressures of grubby commerce! LOL )

That's funny.

Your personal "Bitwig Resort and Spa" if you will.

jonljacobi · Post by **jonljacobi** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 5:56 pm

@antic 64.

Not familiar with Renoise, but there is a similarity to the look. I think of MuLab because of the modularity/MUX thing.

sagetone · Post by **sagetone** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 6:29 pm

Agree with all on this post. My prior DAWs were Sonar, a little bit on Reaper, and a very small amount on Live (which I didn't spend enough time with to "get" it). As soon as I started using BWS, it flowed. This is a great DAW. Yep, there's frustration around the modular core. But that's also a big undertaking, so better to get it right than push it out prematurely.

Now, Bitwig, just listen humbly to the devoted user base. Try to sift through the mudslinging and criticism and listen to the ideas re. the pricing/licensing model.

Bitwig

KVR Audio

Bitwig Studio Changed My Life