Bitwig has announced that, after a short beta phase, Bitwig Studio 4.2 is out now and available to the world. With the release they're also introducing a new sound package, Notes in Motion, that showcases the new sound design possibilities with Note Grid.
Here's what they say:
Notes in Motion Sound Package
Notes are signals in Bitwig Studio, and Note Grid is just the newest way to set notes in motion. The Notes In Motion package includes 30+ patches that generate music, reimagine arpeggiators, sequencers and note repeaters, and offer modular drum interfaces, and more.
You can load them into your Instrument track as Note Grid presets (these have a blue Note FX icon) and feed the output of processed notes into the Instrument of your choice.
36 Instrument Presets come ready to make sound as Note FX devices embedded in FX slots, with handy Remotes already mapped. There are also 31 Bitwig note clips for melodies, chords and leads with pitch FX to provide a quick and easy way to get going with Notes In Motion.
Bitwig Studio 4.2
What sounds good? We got inspired by some classic audio effect units and then made a suite of excellent effects for Bitwig Studio 4.2. Please welcome new choruses, flangers, phasers, and just one more note FX to the family.
Bitwig
New Audio FX: Chorus+, Flanger+, Phaser+
Each device has four unique Characters that have their own DSP architecture, similar to different eras of vintage studio hardware:
- Chorus+ Characters:
- CE - A synth-style friend, with different tone inspirations.
- DD - Subtle, 80s, and coming from all sides.
- 8v - Eight voices swirling thru caverns of feedback.
- X2 - Classic voice doubling circuit.
- Flanger+ Characters:
- DP - That digital, scrappy cousin who chews up sound.
- MX - A firm, pedal-style classic.
- TFX - Smooth and sparkly, with some edge.
- WA - Stronger, but subtly delicate.
- Phaser+ Characters:
- GS - Our spikey #1 friend.
- EHx - Classy and smooth, with silky motion.
- MX - A raspy devil, but solid.
- MF - Pleasantly greasy and deep.
Bitwig spent a lot of time and care shaping each Character, including the LFOs that make each sound move. But you can also "override" Flanger+ or Phaser+ and get direct control. By mixing and matching LFOs, step sequencers, and any of Bitwig's 38 modulator devices, you are free to animate our algorithms and make them your own.
Chorus+, Flanger+, and Phaser+ are also available as Grid modules. So throw these full effects into any Grid patch, with the freedom to craft a stereo modulation signal or make it fully polyphonic. As always, whatever you can imagine is possible in The Grid.
Note Grid
The Grid is Bitwig Studio's modular sound-design environment, where building instruments and audio effects with Poly Grid and FX Grid is effortless, intuitive, and fun. Bitwig Studio 4.2 introduces a third device: Note Grid. With access to The Grid's 184 modules and polyphonic structure, Note Grid is made to process notes or even generate them.
With the new Note Out module, connecting a gate signal will start outputting notes. Pitch, velocity, and channel can be set manually or with dynamic signals. And since Bitwig fluently speaks MPE, unfolding Note Out allows signals for each note's timbre, pressure, gain, and panning expressions. As with all other Grid modules, Note Out (and CC Out) are available to Poly Grid and FX Grid as well.
Eight musical presets are included today, including new kinds of arpeggiators, swarming polyphonic randomness, modular drum sequencers, and even music-generating patches. The presets are production-ready, and together they show a range of possibilities with Note Grid.
4.2 has further updates to mention:
- New mini views for the Oscilloscope and Spectrum devices. With new audio effects in the works, it was especially handy to have mini views for devices that visualize their effects.
- A new Anti-aliasing option for most Grid Shaper modules.
- And a new Hard Clip module joining the team.
- A new Channel-16 modulator. Since Note Grid can sort signals into16 MIDI channels, the new Channel-16 modulator helps you use those groupings on any instrument or plug-in.
- And when generating notes with a module like Probabilities, it just made sense to add a Confidence output, good for per-step velocities or just a little self-assurance.
- Bitwig is now available in French.
The changelog and release notes are here.
Availability
Bitwig Studio 4 is out now and it is a free upgrade to everyone with an active Upgrade Plan for Bitwig Studio. All the new features except the sound package 'Notes in Motion' can also be explored in our new 30-day trial version.