Need help replacing some Ableton stock plugins while moving to Bitwig
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 757 posts since 10 Mar, 2020
Hi guys, I decided to migrate from Ableton to Bitwig and I tested it out and I found some stock plugins really missing and for me there are not easy obvious choises for me.
Since I make techno and it's not every ones genre I will try to explain in short how I use the listed plugins. It doesnt matter if your choices are free or paid or even if there is a Bitwig stock plugin which I didnt find yet.
1.) Saturator (Waveshaper)
I'm not looking for basic saturation plugin, I'm looking for waveshaping - especially I missed the 'Medium Curve' which could beef up my Kick Drums to a nice Techno sound
2.) Ableton Vocoder
I use it primarily on HiHats in the white noise setup to add noise to my hats which I can automate for movement or just to simply add some white noise.
3.) (Analog) Auto Filter
I love the Ableton Filter because you can chose Analog Emulations which sound great to me when sound is drived into them. Bitwigs filter doesnt have an analog setting and it kind of looks weired without a displayed slope
4.) Convolution Reverb (Pro)
I just want to load a custom Impulse Response for one of my Return tracks and it has some nice presets for the Techno Rumble Kick but I can achieve that with other reverbs but I'm still interested in some recommendations for that as well.
5.) Stock Reverb
In comparison to Bitwigs stock Reverb it sounds much better, especially on Kick Drums it can introduce some Groove with the Size Knob. But basicly I'd like to get some Techno capable Reverb where not many settings need to be utilized to get great sound
6.) Overdrive
I'm looking for a simple overdrive which can be used really fast, especially to beef up drums and some synth but without needing to change many settings.
7.) Erosion
I don't know exactly what it does but as far as I understand its some sort of ring modulation. I was thinking about Hornet's Corrosion which seems pretty similar????
8.) AMP
9.)Pedal
AMP I used to beef up the Reverb on Rumble Kicks and pedals to dirty up the groups. I was not convinced about the Bitwig AMP but maybe I used it wrong. Any recommendations for those?
Thank you very much for your help.
Best regards, Leo
Since I make techno and it's not every ones genre I will try to explain in short how I use the listed plugins. It doesnt matter if your choices are free or paid or even if there is a Bitwig stock plugin which I didnt find yet.
1.) Saturator (Waveshaper)
I'm not looking for basic saturation plugin, I'm looking for waveshaping - especially I missed the 'Medium Curve' which could beef up my Kick Drums to a nice Techno sound
2.) Ableton Vocoder
I use it primarily on HiHats in the white noise setup to add noise to my hats which I can automate for movement or just to simply add some white noise.
3.) (Analog) Auto Filter
I love the Ableton Filter because you can chose Analog Emulations which sound great to me when sound is drived into them. Bitwigs filter doesnt have an analog setting and it kind of looks weired without a displayed slope
4.) Convolution Reverb (Pro)
I just want to load a custom Impulse Response for one of my Return tracks and it has some nice presets for the Techno Rumble Kick but I can achieve that with other reverbs but I'm still interested in some recommendations for that as well.
5.) Stock Reverb
In comparison to Bitwigs stock Reverb it sounds much better, especially on Kick Drums it can introduce some Groove with the Size Knob. But basicly I'd like to get some Techno capable Reverb where not many settings need to be utilized to get great sound
6.) Overdrive
I'm looking for a simple overdrive which can be used really fast, especially to beef up drums and some synth but without needing to change many settings.
7.) Erosion
I don't know exactly what it does but as far as I understand its some sort of ring modulation. I was thinking about Hornet's Corrosion which seems pretty similar????
8.) AMP
9.)Pedal
AMP I used to beef up the Reverb on Rumble Kicks and pedals to dirty up the groups. I was not convinced about the Bitwig AMP but maybe I used it wrong. Any recommendations for those?
Thank you very much for your help.
Best regards, Leo
- KVRian
- 1403 posts since 30 Mar, 2014
Bitwig doesn't have a convolution reverb, but pretty much all of them do the same thing under the hood. I'd probably go for the Audiothing Fog Convolver plugin.
For Overdrive and Saturation, definitely go with Black Box HG-2.
For Overdrive and Saturation, definitely go with Black Box HG-2.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 757 posts since 10 Mar, 2020
- Banned
- 11467 posts since 4 Jan, 2017 from Warsaw, Poland
Out of curiosity - why are you (considering) moving to Bitwig?
You seem to have a pretty fixed, standardised, on-the-autopilot workflow and I'm afraid you're gonna have to learn a lot and adjust to achieve the same things in Bitwig. Some things you ask for have dedicated devices, most can be done either by chaining devices or directly in Grid, with the obvious exception of convolution reverb. But they won't sound exactly like Ableton's equivalents or have the same workflow.
My advice would be to stick to what you know.
You seem to have a pretty fixed, standardised, on-the-autopilot workflow and I'm afraid you're gonna have to learn a lot and adjust to achieve the same things in Bitwig. Some things you ask for have dedicated devices, most can be done either by chaining devices or directly in Grid, with the obvious exception of convolution reverb. But they won't sound exactly like Ableton's equivalents or have the same workflow.
My advice would be to stick to what you know.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 757 posts since 10 Mar, 2020
you are right and I was thinking that too, but I have stability issues which bother me a lot and while testing I had no issues with Bitwig. Moreover I liked the workflow and gui better in Bitwig, the browser, the custom shortcuts, the fast bouncing and hybrid tracks I dont want to miss and even smaller things bitwig does better imho. I even checked out the Push2 script by Moss and it would work for me but my only downside is that I will need to replace some plugins...antic604 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 26, 2020 7:36 am Out of curiosity - why are you (considering) moving to Bitwig?
You seem to have a pretty fixed, standardised, on-the-autopilot workflow and I'm afraid you're gonna have to learn a lot and adjust to achieve the same things in Bitwig. Some things you ask for have dedicated devices, most can be done either by chaining devices or directly in Grid, with the obvious exception of convolution reverb. But they won't sound exactly like Ableton's equivalents or have the same workflow.
My advice would be to stick to what you know.
- Banned
- 11467 posts since 4 Jan, 2017 from Warsaw, Poland
Well, all that sounds reasonableTendou wrote: ↑Mon Oct 26, 2020 7:42 amyou are right and I was thinking that too, but I have stability issues which bother me a lot and while testing I had no issues with Bitwig. Moreover I liked the workflow and gui better in Bitwig, the browser and hybrid tracks I dont want to miss and even smaller things bitwig makes besser imho. I even checked out the Push2 script by Moss and it would work for me but my only downside is that I will need to replace some plugins...
My advice would be to NOT try to replicate your Ableton workflow & devices, because - despite obvious similarities - Bitwig became very different and its own thing over the years. Try to understand and leverage its strengths, learn the devices and Grid modules (just hit F1 ) & signal flow logic, build your own stuff using containers & splitters, save presets & clips, study the factory stuff, etc. Live with M4L is incredibly powerful, but can be unstable and quickly becomes difficult if you want to dig deeper by yourself. Bitwig - and Grid - isn't as powerful, but much more approachable, so in the end you'll quickly be doing things you wouldn't even try in Live - your own filters, distortions, saturators, reverbs, glitch FX, etc.
Check this playlist to start with Grid:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... yVqr8Iu6Ue
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- KVRist
- 361 posts since 6 Feb, 2017
there is no real waveshaper in live, a waveshaper is when you draw your distortion shape yourself.
you can get one there for free : https://www.meldaproduction.com/MWaveShaper
the medium curve in waveshaping mode of saturator is a "lin fold distortion" shape.
you can get one there for free : https://www.meldaproduction.com/MWaveShaper
the medium curve in waveshaping mode of saturator is a "lin fold distortion" shape.
- KVRian
- 1403 posts since 30 Mar, 2014
I like Ableton because I can work quickly with it and I like M4L and some of the built in devices are great. But if I were starting new, I'd go with Bitwig and try to stick to the stock plugins as much as possible. I feel it's better if you think of it as an entire instrument, rather than a container for other people's devices. You'll come to appreciate it much better and come up with new workflows.
For the record, I make techno also and I've almost made the full switch twice. Bitwig's new features keep getting closer and closer to what I want, so it's getting increasingly more difficult to hold off
For the record, I make techno also and I've almost made the full switch twice. Bitwig's new features keep getting closer and closer to what I want, so it's getting increasingly more difficult to hold off
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 757 posts since 10 Mar, 2020
exactly, ableton as advantages but to me it sometimes seems „unfortunate“. Im wondering how long they can polish their outdated code for their new versions - I feel like the true coders went to Bitwig and they go in circles since but maybe thats just my feeling I hope Im wrong and Ableton will bring awesome updates in the future...
However, when will you pull the trigger? Im eying Bitwig for 2 years now but Im afraid I cant keep my quality of production when switching and dont having certain tools Im used to...
However, when will you pull the trigger? Im eying Bitwig for 2 years now but Im afraid I cant keep my quality of production when switching and dont having certain tools Im used to...
oh good to know. how to replicate that or which plugins can do that as well?
- KVRian
- 1403 posts since 30 Mar, 2014
I have bought and sold the full Bitwig twice, and it did come down to productivity and comfort with my workflow.
- Banned
- 11467 posts since 4 Jan, 2017 from Warsaw, Poland
You see, the "problem" with Bitwig is that it's so inviting and easy to tweak stuff, complicate it and experiment with it, that there's risk you'll end up doing this endlessly and won't finish anything.
Obviously it's a matter of self-discipline and lots of people do release music with Bitwig, but if - like me - you don't really have the pressure or need to finish tracks, it's much easier to not do that in Bitwig than in any other DAW
But in the end it's up to you. It's like blaming Ferrari for having broken the speed limit and having to pay the ticket