Bitwig Studio 3.3 announced + beta started

[Passing Bye]

Bitwig is the one that makes me happy inside

Same here, love it, it's so much fun working with it, really don't feel like it's holding me down in any way, it's almost perfect.

[BoogerSnot]

Looks like a groovy update. Nice to see Bitwig still chugging along.

[perpetual3]

Well, it’s really a beta! First ever BWS crash! 🥳

[pdxindy]

Well, it’s really a beta! First ever BWS crash! 🥳

[Hanz Meyzer]

TBH I find this update too small for 7(?) Months of development time... Is the team now even smaller, or are they coding for Apple CPU in the meanwhile?

Where are the missing standard daw features?

And why I cannot expose controls from the grid by myself, just as in that "synth", which is more or less a grid patch...

[pdxindy]

TBH I find this update too small for 7(?) Months of development time... Is the team now even smaller, or are they coding for Apple CPU in the meanwhile?

Where are the missing standard daw features?

And why I cannot expose controls from the grid by myself, just as in that "synth", which is more or less a grid patch...

Yeah, it doesn't look a very big update for the time gap since 3.2... I like the changes in 3.3. I'm not feeling disappointed, but also not impressed. It has been quite a while since 3.2 That said, lots of stuff has been slow this year with the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

One thing... [New optimized AVX2 audio engine, for processors that can take advantage of it] these sorts of audio engine changes often are time consuming to add.

As for standard DAW features, this is all standard DAW stuff...

FREE CONTENT SCALING
Notes and audio can be freely stretched by mouse interaction or by typing in a percentage
This works for selected note and audio clips, selected note and audio events, automation points, or any time selection
[ALT]-dragging the selection's border on the right edge scales all items relative to the left boundary, and vice versa
Scale 50% and Scale 200% functions stretch the selected events in time
Scale Each 50% and Scale Each 200% functions stretch the selected events but preserve their start times
Scale… allows the user to enter an exact percentage for stretching, with an option for preserving start times or not
Holding [SHIFT] toggles snapping, and holding [CTL] (Windows) or [CMD] (Mac) toggle preserves individual event start positions

PROJECT PANEL GAINED A SECTIONS PAGE
New Sections page shows all Arranger cue markers and Launcher scenes in one list
Provides full access to the project, even when something else (maybe a mixer, plug-in, or Grid patch) is taking most of the screen
Displays the name and color of each marker/scene, as well as the position (for cue markers) and the number of contained clips (for scenes)
Clicking a cue marker or scene selects it in the project. Pressing return triggers it.
With one or more cue markers selected, right-click or use the key command to set and enable the Arranger Loop for that duration

IMPROVED CLIP/EVENT EDITING
New gesture to adjust an audio event's Gain expression by clicking near the object's header and dragging up or down
Available both in the Arranger and the Detail Editor Panel
New gesture to slide clip/event edits, moving end and start times of abutting objects simultaneously
New gesture to create pre-fades into edits by dragging the fade control on the start of an event further to the left
Dragging the fade control to the right still fades in from the current edit point
Separating crossfaded events maintains the previous fade in with a new pre-fade before the editing point
Improved handles for changing length of or moving crossfades

***

The new modulator mapping options are also central functions that are useful in various situations and address an efficiency limitation in modulation. Optimizing the Sampler, Ableton Link improvements, and fixing Raw audio playback with tempo changes are welcome improvements/fixes.

[SLiC]

TBH I find this update too small for 7(?) Months of development time... Is the team now even smaller, or are they coding for Apple CPU in the meanwhile?

Where are the missing standard daw features?

And why I cannot expose controls from the grid by myself, just as in that "synth", which is more or less a grid patch...

3.2 Wes released in June so it’s been 4 months.

Also 3.2 has had 8 small updates (bug fixes and improvements) since June...

3.3 looks like a great update to me, the work can often be in the detail like making existing grid modules stereo, AVX2 coding for better audio performance, new grid modules (hardly even mentioned yet, 7 new grid modules and 2 new modulators) and a few much requested workflow features. It’s so recently out I don’t think people have had to to really explore how much stuff is here...like the new modulation mapping curves...fabulous improvement. Two updates like this a year, I’ll take that....no other DAW is progressing and updating that frequently irrespective of team size!

Anyway, not sure if anyone has posted the full list, but there is a lot of small stuff and improvements along with the headline features...

Changes in Bitwig Studio 3.3, Beta 1

NEW SYNTHESIZER: POLYMER

A hot, swappable synthesizer. Streamlined for quick, distinctive sound design.
Hybrid modular, offering the user switchable oscillator, filter, and amplitude envelope generators from The Grid:
7 oscillator options: Sine, Triangle, Pulse, Saw, Phase-1, Swarm, and Wavetable (more info below)
5 filter options: Low-pass SK (Sallen-Key model), Low-pass LD (ladder model), SVF (state-variable, with low-, high-, and band-pass modes), XP (inspired by Mr Oberheim, with 15 filter configurations), and Comb
4 envelope generator options: ADSR, AR, AD (with a looping option), and Pluck (exponential string-style decay), with a modulator routing option for controlling additional parameters
Other front panel parameters include:
Sub oscillator with waveform, octave, and blend controls
Noise blend control
Filter envelope generator (FEG) with ADSR controls, free modulator routing button, and toggle to also envelope the sub oscillator and noise generator outputs
High-pass filter cutoff
A nested Note FX chain, Pitch, Glide, Velocity Sensitivity, Gain (pre-FX chain), Panning, and Output level (post-FX chain)
For detail controls and a schematic view, the Expanded Device View shows a performance view of the underlying Grid patch with all module panel controls exposed and modulatable
Any Polymer patch can be converted to a fully editable Poly Grid patch (right-click on the device header)
Modulators like LFOs, sequencers, or sidechains can target any parameter of Polymer, same as for every Bitwig device and plug-in
Polymer can be stacked in Instrument Layer or Selector devices, or can use Bitwig's voice stacking to create instant layers

NEW GRID MODULE: WAVETABLE (OSCILLATOR)

New oscillator for playing back and modulating wavetables
Embedded graphic shows the full table contents with the current interpolated output on top
Clicking on the display loads a visual wavetable browser, showing previews of all files, side by side
Bitwig 3.3 beta library includes 120+ wavetables (WT files) across five categories:
Acoustic (39) - Based on real-world instruments & sounds
Analog (30) - Using analog techniques and sources
Digital (24) - Using digital techniques and sources
Fractal (18) - Spectra that grow recursively
Harmonics (15) - Basic wave morphs and harmonic series
Included for beta are three Polymer presets (Wavetable Plucky, Wavetable Steppy, and Wavetable Wavy), intended for browsing the wavetable files using preconfigured articulations
Any WT file (Surge format) can be read, as well as Serum- and WaveEdit-compatible WAV files, etc.
All in ports are fully stereo including Table Index, so the left and right channels can read different parts of the same wavetable
Three unique unison modes:
Fat, for stacking detuned voices flatly
Focused, keeping in-tune voices more center and loud
Complex, producing polyrhythms between voices (and providing smoother retriggering)
Standard assortment of pitch controls, including stereo detune

FREE CONTENT SCALING

Notes and audio can be freely stretched by mouse interaction or by typing in a percentage
This works for selected note and audio clips, selected note and audio events, automation points, or any time selection
[ALT]-dragging the selection's border on the right edge scales all items relative to the left boundary, and vice versa
Scale 50% and Scale 200% functions stretch the selected events in time
Scale Each 50% and Scale Each 200% functions stretch the selected events but preserve their start times
Scale… allows the user to enter an exact percentage for stretching, with an option for preserving start times or not
Holding [SHIFT] toggles snapping, and holding [CTL] (Windows) or [CMD] (Mac) toggle preserves individual event start positions
PROJECT PANEL GAINED A SECTIONS PAGE

New Sections page shows all Arranger cue markers and Launcher scenes in one list
Provides full access to the project, even when something else (maybe a mixer, plug-in, or Grid patch) is taking most of the screen
Displays the name and color of each marker/scene, as well as the position (for cue markers) and the number of contained clips (for scenes)
Clicking a cue marker or scene selects it in the project. Pressing return triggers it.
With one or more cue markers selected, right-click or use the key command to set and enable the Arranger Loop for that duration

IMPROVED CLIP/EVENT EDITING

New gesture to adjust an audio event's Gain expression by clicking near the object's header and dragging up or down
Available both in the Arranger and the Detail Editor Panel
New gesture to slide clip/event edits, moving end and start times of abutting objects simultaneously
New gesture to create pre-fades into edits by dragging the fade control on the start of an event further to the left
Dragging the fade control to the right still fades in from the current edit point
Separating crossfaded events maintains the previous fade in with a new pre-fade before the editing point
Improved handles for changing length of or moving crossfades

NEW MODULATOR MAPPING OPTIONS

For each modulation connection, seven various curves are available for either reshaping the signal or having it only respond to certain portions of the range (or knob it is assigned to):
Linear - Flat response
Positives - Proportional response to positive values
Negatives - Proportional response to negative values
Absolute - Magnitude-only response
Toward Zero - Increases on approach to zero
Exponential - Increasing slope away from zero
Logarithmic - Decreasing slope away from zero
Each modulation connection can now accept one modulator source to directly scale it
When in a modulator's mapping mode, go to the Inspector Panel and click on an existing modulation to scale it
This allows amount control of each modulation routing
Most modulators still have an Amount parameter, if you affect all modulations from a single source

NEW FEATURES

New modulator: Vibrato (LFO), a musical LFO whose amount can be normalled to mod wheel or (poly) pressure
New modulator: Ramp (Envelope), a simple ramp generator with switchable direction, curve, and optional looping
New Grid module: Sub (Oscillator), simplified bass-oriented oscillator with octave switch and waveform chooser
New Grid module: Velo Mult (Level), an attenuator controlled by note velocity messages, with Sensitivity range and a smoothing control
New Grid module: Octaver (Pitch), for transposing incoming pitch signals by octaves (±3), with a control for which stereo channels to affect
New Grid module: Ratio (Pitch), for transposing incoming pitch signals by ratio, with a control for which stereo channels to affect
New Grid module: Pan (Level), panning placement control for one signal
New Grid module: Gain In (I/O), providing polyphonic note gain expressions as signals
New Grid module: Pan In (I/O), providing polyphonic note pan expressions as signals
New Grid module: Ø Split (Phase), equally distributes a phase signal across up to eight out ports

IMPROVEMENTS

New optimized AVX2 audio engine, for processors that can take advantage of it
Optimized handling of audio in Sampler, with improved performance for larger multisamples and file loads
Ableton Link sync method now offers a millisecond Offset, to shift forward or backward in time
Arpeggiator (Note FX) device: Each step now has a Step Skip toggle, for jumping past that step when it is reached next. A nice touch for mixing things up when using the Transposition sliders to create melodies or bass lines.
Micro-pitch (Note FX) device: Now has an EDO mode
Allows dividing an Interval into a set number of Divisions around a Root Key
EDO mode can visualize up to 24 Divisions (although Divisions can be set much higher)
Original behavior is now in the 12 Notes mode, unchanged
Dice & Chance (Random) Grid modules : Both now have pre-cords to update their random outputs on each note
Bend (Level) and Ø Bend, Ø Shift, & Ø Skew (Phase) Grid modules: All have Stereo-ize parameters, for applying the inverse amount of processing to the right channel and putting more stereo play into any signal
Ø Reverse (Phase) Grid module: Has a Stereo-ness parameter, for controlling which stereo channels are affected
Poly Grid device: Automatically applies note gain and pan expressions at the device output (pre-FX chain)
Modulators (there are 36 now) have been reorganized into clearer categories:
Audio-driven (4) - devices that convert audio into a modulator signal
Envelope (5) - aperiodic generators triggered by note ons or offs
Interface (8) - providing panel elements for better/unique control
LFO (5) - regularly repeating patterns or noise
Modifier (5) - processor modulators
Note-driven (6) - devices triggered by notes or MIDI
Sequence (3) - step-/segment-based modulations
FIXES

Raw audio event playback doesn't take tempo automation into account anymore
Layer and Selector devices: Now properly respect MIDI channels and each layer's channel settings (in the Inspector Panel)
Copying or duplicating Grid modules no longer copies their input connections
EQ-2 and EQ-5 devices: When upgrading to EQ+, spectrum analyzers are now toggled on
EQ-5 device: When upgrading to EQ+, sidechain-style modulators no longer lose their routing
FX Layer device: Now passes audio through when no layers are present
Frequency spectrum displays throughout the program are now calibrated for peak sine

[fairlyclose]

very happy with the features added for this update - really glad I made the move away from Reaper (since the very beginning) to Bitwig and S1. Wont take much for me to be just Bitwig, although S1 is pretty good

[pdxindy]

3.2 Wes released in June so it’s been 4 months.

Also 3.2 has had 8 small updates (bug fixes and improvements) since June...

3.2 was announced 6 months ago... (in April)

It has been longer than usual...

[SLiC]

3.2 Wes released in June so it’s been 4 months.

Also 3.2 has had 8 small updates (bug fixes and improvements) since June...

3.2 was announced 6 months ago... (in April)

It has been longer than usual...

I have been tending to track from release dates rather than announced dates (as that's recorded on the changelog) but I guess it doesn't really make a lot of difference if we have a new interesting release every 4-6 months....

https://www.bitwig.com/previous_releases/ is a great way to see all the progress!

3.2 was subject to quite a lot of change after it was announced, additions and improvements during the beta (a lot of it from forum, users input!) so the release took longer that normal which in this case was a good thing.

We have had quite a few bug fix releases and improvements along the way for 3.2 (8 of them) so maybe that delayed things a little, who knows, pesky virus may not have helped...

[jarnold]

It does feel like a slowed down update cycle this time. The problem for BWS is the yearly subscription model means that more updates = more percieved value for your $169 investment.

[m43lstr0m]

It does feel like a slowed down update cycle this time. The problem for BWS is the yearly subscription model means that more updates = more percieved value for your $169 investment.

Yeah, I got BWS 3 last December and there have only been a few updates since. Though I absolutely love everything done since version 3, it is what makes me love it over every other DAW out there.
We can blame the Covid shutdown for the delayed release schedule.

But if this new 3.3 release leaves beta before my December 8th expiration, I have no reason to continue my sub until the next big update sometime in 2021. Which I will gladly do. But why sub in December when it might be 3-4 months until the next update. That's basically subbing for no new content and wasting valuable months of a costly yearly subscription.

[pdxindy]

But why sub in December when it might be 3-4 months until the next update. That's basically subbing for no new content and wasting valuable months of a costly yearly subscription.

Yeah... no reason to activate an upgrade until there is a new .x update out or in beta. For me it has worked out about every 14-15 months

[pdxindy]

It does feel like a slowed down update cycle this time. The problem for BWS is the yearly subscription model means that more updates = more percieved value for your $169 investment.

It has been $129 for me. I always buy the upgrade on sale, then wait until the right time to activate it.

[liquidsound]

I think I paid $114.81 last year. No bad!