Bitwig 6

[inkling]

Does anyone know what's up with the snapping behaviour in Edit view? If I have a midi event that i'm moving the Loop region from the left to align with, the midi event snaps to the left edge of the screen. This behaviour wasn't present in Bitwig 5. Is there a way to turn this snapping off?

I have no idea what was going on when i made the above comment, however whatever it was is now fixed in the latest beta. TFFT.

[Molli89]

hey guys,
what do you think about automation? when checking the internet, i find more hyping then critics.

why did they rebuilt and changed everything and changed also the good stuff and made it worse and tested only half of it? is this really bitwig?

do you also think that these hold points feel like randomly appearing and constantly annoying your workflows? when do they appear, when do they dissappear?
and do you also think the automation clips are the most uncontrolled und unpredictable feature ever? i never use it because every time i am fearing to crash my project. why are they for example created when i consolidate clips? and why can i not change it back? and why can automation points which are outside of this clips not be connected to automation points in clips?
do you also think there is now so much clicking clicking and clicking and random annoying grap happening all the time without any prediction?
why are this hold points so incredibly annoying and no help at all and why can it not even deactivate them? this drives me nuts!

or is it just me to stupid for this.

really... when they roll out this officially i will switch back to abelton.

for me this is the worst and same time most hyped update for something in my life. really strange and disappointing. did they test this? ah no sure... this is a beta. we are the testers. i always thaught that the bitwig developers are awesome developers but this patch is really shocking me. it feels for me like a windows update (= big patch and everything is worse). i would better like to have one more useless compressor then this.

[xbitz]

I assume they wanted Bitwig 6 to land with a big bang, but the scope ballooned. Honestly, they didn’t need to cram automation into this release — it feels like too much at once. Anyway, it’s done now. Fingers crossed they pull it off.

[bjm4tt]

I'm also a little concerned seeing the scope of changes done during the beta. Just hoping it's not going to result in a Live 8 era instability phase.

[limitlesssss]

really... when they roll out this officially i will switch back to abelton.

What on earth are you on about? This is the best update in years. But even if you still don't like it, no one's forcing you to update to it. You can keep enjoying version 5 for many years to come.

Imagine if professionals announced switching to a different DAW willy-nilly as a form of protest every time their DAW of choice got updated and had some bugs here and there.

Some of us have become too spoiled. Talk about overreaction.

[Rivanni]

When they added automation mode, I thought 'no, don't copy the bad things from Ableton Live'.
I don't understand the addition of a separate automation mode, as you can accomplish everything in 'normal' mode. I can see all automation there too. The automation mode is very limited when it comes to all other track and clip functionalities. So, it's frequently entering and exiting automation mode.
In automation mode, you need to expand the track to view all automation. When you exit automation mode, you still see all those automation lanes. So you must click again, but this time to hide them. A dedicated automation mode should display all automation and hide it when exiting without the need for extra clicks.


In my opinion, it would be more helpful to have buttons that toggle all automation on or off at different levels (project, group, track, last touched control). This way, there’s no need for an automation mode or different views of the same thing.
It would also make it possible to only show the last touched parameter, something that is not currently possible with what is now called the 'flying' automation lane (which essentially is the Bitwig 5-way that can now be disabled.)

I'm curious if others like the automation mode and if so, can tell what benefits they get from it.


Crashing and unpredictability fall in the category of beta bugs for me.

[Rivanni]

really... when they roll out this officially i will switch back to abelton.

What on earth are you on about? This is the best update in years. But even if you still don't like it, no one's forcing you to update to it. You can keep enjoying version 5 for many years to come.

Imagine if professionals announced switching to a different DAW willy-nilly as a form of protest every time their DAW of choice got updated and had some bugs here and there.

Some of us have become too spoiled. Talk about overreaction.

You're overreacting to that one sentence and ignoring the points made.
Saying 'no one's forcing you to upgrade' kills a healthy discussion.

You're also dismissing the fact that people can like the Bitwig 6 as a whole, except for the automation in its current state.

[limitlesssss]

really... when they roll out this officially i will switch back to abelton.

What on earth are you on about? This is the best update in years. But even if you still don't like it, no one's forcing you to update to it. You can keep enjoying version 5 for many years to come.

Imagine if professionals announced switching to a different DAW willy-nilly as a form of protest every time their DAW of choice got updated and had some bugs here and there.

Some of us have become too spoiled. Talk about overreaction.

You're overreacting to that one sentence and ignoring the points made.
Saying 'no one's forcing you to upgrade' kills a healthy discussion.

You're also dismissing the fact that people can like the Bitwig 6 as a whole, except for the automation in its current state.

I don't know man, announcing that you'll switch to another DAW seems like an overreaction to me. But obviously we're both entitled to our opposing opinions of course.

I'm just picturing Hans Zimmer in my mind announcing that he's switching to a different DAW because Cubase Pro 14 changed some old behavior.

[Molli89]

i guess hans zimmer is using some DAW with excellent automation features.

[SpaceTraffic]

Some Bitwig 6, beta creations:





&

[Trancit]

i guess hans zimmer is using some DAW with excellent automation features.

I wouldn´t say that Cubase has any "excellent automation features" ... for me it´s more the opposite... when Cubase is doing something not so well for me, it´s the Automation for sure.

[xbitz]

i guess hans zimmer is using some DAW with excellent automation features.

I wouldn´t say that Cubase has any "excellent automation features" ... for me it´s more the opposite... when Cubase is doing something not so well for me, it´s the Automation for sure.

but has programmable modulation ModScript device, this is what I've checked first anno

Then I found out it's(the whole modulation amusement park) tied to the tracks — classic marketing-brain move instead of something made for real users. Instantly lost all motivation (same as Bitwig would have only track nodulator slots)

[pc999]

Bitwig 6, Beta 5 Released

Changes in Bitwig Studio 6.0, Beta 5 [released 31 October 2025]
New Features

Controller script added for Neuzeit Instruments's Drop

Improvements

Unfolded automation lanes can include a Flying Automation Lane, for drawing automation onto the last clicked parameter:
A button to Toggle Flying Automation Lane [SHIFT]-[ALT]-[A] is beside the Automation Mode [A] button (above the Arranger track headers).
When enabled, any track (with its automation lanes unfolded) offers a preview lane for the last parameter touched, so you can directly insert or draw automation.
This doesn't affect Automation Mode, where each track is overlayed with its own "flying" lane.
Group tracks now been improved in their display and workflow:
A summary of the child track's contents is visible on the group lane/slot.
Audio clips placed on the group lane/slot will override the group track's master output for the duration of those clips.
You can select meta clips (or make a time selection in the group lane) and then Bounce in Place to capture the group output without altering the children.
When meta clips are selected, most editing functions (Transpose, Quantize, Auto-Fade, etc.) are applied to the child tracks' clips.
Note clips are sent to the group tracks chain, but otherwise allow audio to play normally.
On the Arranger Timeline:
Interactive meta clips are shown on the group track lane. They are placed into blocks where child clip's line up.
Their header color is a blend of the present child clips, relative to their lengths.
In the Clip Launcher:
A special sub scene is always available, for triggering all slots within that group.
When the clip height is tall enough, a visualization of the present child clips is shown just below the sub scene, in the clip slot.
In the Arranger Timeline Panel view, the clip slot also has its own Stop clip and Return playback to Arranger Timeline buttons, which apply only to the group's child tracks.
If you navigate into a group (for example, by choosing Enter Group with the track selected), the child tracks are show at top with the group master shown on bottom.
The older toggle to either Show Master Track Content or Show Group Track Content has been removed.
The Detail Editor Panel in Clip context now can adjust the Editor Timeline being used:
A Layered Editing submenu now appears in the Editor Settings of the Detail Editor Panel, when applicable.
The new Editor Timeline setting lets you choose between:
Global Arranger/Launcher Time, showing all clips against the project timeline, and only showing events within the clip bounds.
Clip Content Time (aligned to play start), lining up clips from their set start times, and showing all clip events.
Clip Content Time (ignoring play start), lining up clips from their internal 1.1 position, and showing all clip events.
The Layer Grouping setting now only affects the layout of tracks/clips. It is also in Layered Editing menu, when applicable.
Automation recording has been simplified & improved:
To record automation while a note/audio clip is playing back, enable the Automation Write button.
During playback, you can simply click this button to capture incoming automation without affecting note/audio data.
There is now only one Automation Write button, which applies to both the Arranger and the Launcher.
Automation Write is pinned by default, and located in the Automation section of the Play menu.
Launcher slots on automation lanes no longer have individual record buttons.
Automation Write now supports recording Launcher automation clips at different lengths from the original note/audio clip.
General automation recording has been overhauled with several structural improvements.
Clips being recorded are now painted more smoothly.
Delay compensation for recording has been improved, no longer being affected by latency of other tracks and with improved timing precision.ea
Arranger automation recording within the active Arranger loop now writes your entire performance into the clip, and then sets the clip start time appropriately when finished.
Punch-In and Punch-Out now limits Arranger recording for both note/audio clips, as well as automation recording.
Interacting with either button no longer starts recording.
Additional visual feedback is offered on the Arranger Loop Selector.
Automation is automatically recorded when note/audio clips are being recorded.
This is controlled by two settings, under Dashboard > Settings > Recording > Recording.
Write automation when recording Arranger clips automatically enables the Automation Write button when the global record is active.
Write automation when recording Launcher clips (on by default) will also capture automation on any slot where audio or note/CC recording is triggered.
Both settings are on by default.
Automation lanes now show the device name, when space allows.
When using the Knife and Eraser tools in an editor's top ruler area, both tools zoom & pan. Or you can:
[ALT]-click with the Knife tool to apply a cut to all tracks/visible events.
[ALT]-drag with the Eraser tool to delete the selected area of all tracks/visible events.
The clip's Pattern chooser menu now shows the current pattern with a white frame around its square.
The Arranger's timeline scrollbar will now show both visible clips and Arranger cue markers together.
There is now a window option to Center transport display (on by default), under Dashboard > Settings > User Interface > Transport.
Disabling this setting can leave more space for pinned editing actions.
You can also right-click within the transport display area to toggle both this setting and the Show loop region option.
Clip's now have a time Signature override parameter again:
As in v5.x, this setting is for display purposes and editing.
When multiple clips are shown in the Detail Editor Panel in Clip context, the target clip's time signature is shown.
Controller script for NI Komplete Kontrol Mk3: Plug-in Bypass added

[limitlesssss]

Speaking of Cubase:

[limitlesssss]

How would one morph LFOs in Bitwig Studio like this at: 4:29?