Bitwig

valankar · Post by **valankar** » Thu Dec 26, 2019 9:06 am

I find that Bitwig's way of disabling tracks and plugins is quite amazing for saving CPU. It has changed my workflow quite a bit. I know that Ableton has a freeze track option, along with other DAWs having similar functionality, but I always found them clumsy to work with, especially when unfreezing. Studio One would sometimes mess things up if you stacked changes.

It is super fast in Bitwig to bounce a track, deactivate, and hide it. Then continue building on top of it, creating more track copies with changes, adding as many plugins as needed. Deactivating and rolling back to change and bounce is extremely fast and easy to work with.

When using a UAD device with limited DSP, it works quite well. I only wish the controller scripting API had some way of not showing the hidden tracks. It seems every controller shows these.

pboy · Post by **pboy** » Thu Dec 26, 2019 12:09 pm

Oh, that sounds fantastic! Last time I bounced the MIDI data was lost. Since then I haven't used that function, because I need to be able to go back, make adjustments and bounce again in order to build the detailed level of a piece. Your post implies that some changes have come with upgrades

antic604 · Post by **antic604** » Thu Dec 26, 2019 12:28 pm

pboy wrote: Thu Dec 26, 2019 12:09 pm Oh, that sounds fantastic! Last time I bounced the MIDI data was lost. Since then I haven't used that function, because I need to be able to go back, make adjustments and bounce again in order to build the detailed level of a piece. Your post implies that some changes have come with upgrades

No, no changes. You were bouncing in place, which overwrites (permanently) the MIDI. You have to make a copy of the MIDI somehow, for example in other place or to Clip Launcher. My favourite workflow is this:
- group the track you want to 'freeze' (Ctrl+G)
- switch to time selection tool (2)
- select time where the clip plays, with some tail if necessary
- right click on the selection, bounce-in-place (you can assign key to that)
- go back to the source track, Alt+A on its header to deactivate it

This way you have the audio coming out of the MIDI track on the group track's audio, the original track is disabled and you can always re-edit it: just Alt+A it back, make changes, select time and bounce again.

The only drawback is if you were using FX Tracks (sends), because you'd have to copy the settings to work on the group track.

Yokai · Post by **Yokai** » Thu Dec 26, 2019 12:55 pm

Yes. The Bounce > Deactivate workflow is great. I can run entire projects from start to finish and *never* lose my original MIDI, synths, and device processing. That little "X" button that automatically hides all deactivated tracks is what really makes it all work. The fact that deactivated tracks and devices are not using up system resources keeps the project lightweight right up to the end.

pboy · Post by **pboy** » Thu Dec 26, 2019 1:02 pm

Thank you for sharing your favorite workflow! It will help me do more productions in Bitwig now, rather than Cubase. I like working in Bitwig because it is so fast. Now, knowing this trick, I only need Cubase for key-switches based orchestral patches.

Some time ago I used Logic a lot and think that app has the best bounce-in-place: the bounce track/part function gives you an option to replace source data, with the new audio, or mute the old track and create a new audio track for the bounce. I still hope the Wiggies will borrow that for future Bitwig versions

Distorted Horizon · Post by **Distorted Horizon** » Thu Dec 26, 2019 1:23 pm

Shift+click in Reaper to deactivate a plugin.. Not too clumsy IMO.

Trancit · Post by **Trancit** » Thu Dec 26, 2019 3:15 pm

Distorted Horizon wrote: Thu Dec 26, 2019 1:23 pm Shift+click in Reaper to deactivate a plugin.. Not too clumsy IMO.

+1 ...as you can in every major DAW... plus you can decide yourself which tracks to hide, not only deactivated ones...
Nothing exceptional Bitwig does here...rather a bit limited in comparison (but at least better than Ableton or FL Studio

)

Yokai · Post by **Yokai** » Thu Dec 26, 2019 3:29 pm

Um.... Bitwig's DEACTIVATE is quite a bit different from Ableton's DISABLE. (or from Bitwig's DISABLE).

Bitwig has two states for "turning off" a track or device. One simply toggles it off (the little On/Off button at the top left of the device, for example). But all the resources are maintained in memory, ready for a fast turn on again. By contrast, when you Deactivate a device (or entire track), all the resources for 3rd party VSTs are completely free up. CPU, Memory, and Latency are all GONE.

In Ableton, by contrast, when you turn off a device, only the CPU is freed up. The memory and latency are still both engaged.

Trancit · Post by **Trancit** » Thu Dec 26, 2019 10:46 pm

Who speaks of disabling??? So far I just read about deactivating... disabling does every DAW... deactivating is the important part.

bronswerk · Post by **bronswerk** » Fri Dec 27, 2019 10:23 am

What I like to see is that every track can present itself in several ways:
1. a midi track with plugins, FX etc.
2. a bounced version of midi and plugin (but not the FX)
3. a all in one version with FX bounced in
A simple selector on the track let's you choose with what version you want to work with. Advantage you keep everything on one track and nothing is thrown away. Disadvantages none?

Yokai · Post by **Yokai** » Fri Dec 27, 2019 12:43 pm

Bitwig doesn't have #2. It has the opposite. "Bounce in Place" flattens the MIDI clip and synth, but keeps all the FX devices.

FWIW Ableton doesn't have #2 either.

antic604 · Post by **antic604** » Fri Dec 27, 2019 1:51 pm

Yokai wrote: Fri Dec 27, 2019 12:43 pmBitwig doesn't have #2. It has the opposite. "Bounce in Place" flattens the MIDI clip and synth, but keeps all the FX devices.

...except for the nested ones. Those are also flattened.

Taika-Kim · Post by **Taika-Kim** » Fri Dec 27, 2019 6:47 pm

No need to group the track for time selection. And bounce always creates the new track automatically. You can choose to bounce before or after FX. I think this is flexible enough. Just always remember to bounce a time selection with tail instead of a clip selection to preserve release, reverb and delay tails. About bounce in place, I don't see how it's very useful since it destroys the original data.

apoclypse · Post by **apoclypse** » Sat Dec 28, 2019 12:10 am

I kind of wish they'd just steal whatever Studio One is doing.

antic604 · Post by **antic604** » Sat Dec 28, 2019 1:40 pm

Taika-Kim wrote: Fri Dec 27, 2019 6:47 pm No need to group the track for time selection.

Of course not, but every approach has its pros & cons. Say you have a 4-bar long MIDI clip, but you want just the 2nd bar to be reversed audio. You have (at least) 3 options:

1) select that 2nd bar on MIDI track, bounce-in-place and reverse, but you'll lose the MIDI

2) select that 2nd bar on MIDI track and bounce, which will create new audio track but you'll have to cut out the 2nd bar from the MIDI and mute it and both tracks need to be active & visible

3) group the MIDI track, select the 2nd bar on the Group track & bounce-in-place - if there's audio (or MIDI for that matter) on Group track it will take priority over any signal that's coming into the Group: you don't have to cut out & mute anything, you still have the MIDI data intact, you can collapse the Group to single track for clean arrangement, while still hearing both the MIDI and audio - it's the best approach IMO

Here's a short video showing all 3:

Bitwig

KVR Audio

Bitwig's ability to deactivate tracks and plugins is amazing