Bitwig Studio 5.3

What's new in this version:

Three New Drum Families:
- New compact, expressive drum instruments have arrived
- The devices work well both within their families and beyond
- This includes Bitwig's first Cymbal devices (there are four), and five new Percussion elements (including a famous cowbell)
- Output scopes animate the sound result
- All of these devices have a Tune control (generally ±1 octave)
- In their default mode, pitch is controlled by the device's central pitch, plus the Tune value, plus any relative pitch expressions (so triggered or drawn notes can include custom pitch envelopes and bends)
- This works well for notes that are edited with micro-pitch curves, or triggering notes from MPE-type controllers that support pitch expressions
- Clearly tuned instruments will also visualize their current device pitch just above the Tune knob
- When Keytracking Mode is enabled, full-range pitch signal will be used to tune the device (including the current Tune parameter value)

This works well on tracks or layers where keyboard signal makes it to the device, and can be useful for various cases, including:
- Kicks and toms that are pleasantly playable
- Many devices can now be simple, decaying synths
- Noisier devices (such as cymbals and hats) offer more variation and special-effect flavor
- Gain and panning expressions are also fully supported
- All instruments have Velocity Sensitivity, an FX chain for nested processing, and a post-level Output control
- Nearly all devices also have a Decay control
- Some devices have a Consistent Sound toggle in the Inspector Panel, to create reproducible sound (via filters, oscillators, and/or noise generators) on each note
- Some devices have a Sound Variation range in the Inspector Panel, to give it more (almost a multisample feel), less, or no (0 %) randomness from note to note
- New drum instruments: The v8 Family
- Inspired by the TR-808, these ten instruments cover the core elements and most of the iconic percussion
- Additional parameters and extended ranges are available, giving room for new sounds and responsiveness
- New instrument: v8 Kick (Kick), with additional controls for Punch, Shape, Drive, and Click
- New instrument: v8 Snare (Snare), with additional controls for Tone, Snappy (or noise), Stereo Width, and Click, as well as an Alternate Tuning toggle in the Inspector Panel
- New instrument: v8 Tom (Tom), with additional controls for Punch and Click, as well as a Noise element added to the drum with Tail and Stereo Width controls
- New instrument: v8 Hat (Hi-hat), with additional controls for Color, Noise, and Dirt
- New instrument: v8 Clap (Clap), with additional controls for Flam and Stereo Width
- New instrument: v8 Cymbal (Cymbal), with additional controls for Color, Noise, and Tilt
- New instrument: v8 Rimshot (Percussion), with additional controls for Tone, Noise, and Bite
- New instrument: v8 Cowbell (Percussion), with an additional Color control
- New instrument: v8 Claves (Percussion), with a Decay control
- New instrument: v8 Maracas (Percussion), with Attack and Decay controls
- New drum instruments: The v9 Family
- Inspired by the TR-909, these nine instruments cover all elements of the original hardware
- Additional parameters and extended ranges are available, giving room for new sounds and responsiveness
- New instrument: v9 Kick (Kick), with additional controls for Punch, Shape, Buzz, Click, and Compression (to give a suppressed envelope character)
- New instrument: v9 Snare (Snare), with additional controls for Snappy (or noise), Drive, Tone, and Click
- New instrument: v9 Tom (Tom), with additional controls for Punch, Shape, Tone, and Snap
- New instrument: v9 Closed Hat (Hi-hat), with additional controls for Impact, Density, and Stereo Width
- New instrument: v9 Open Hat (Hi-hat), with additional controls for Impact, Density, and Stereo Width
- New instrument: v9 Clap (Clap), with additional controls for Flam and Stereo Width
- New instrument: v9 Crash (Cymbal), with additional controls for Impact, Density, and Stereo Width
- New instrument: v9 Ride (Cymbal), with additional controls for Impact, Density, and Stereo Width
- New instrument: v9 Rimshot (Percussion), with a Tone control
- New drum instruments: The v0 Family
- A group of drum instruments sharing varied digital approaches
- All manner of techniques are used, including detuned oscillator banks, FM, sets of filters that are sometimes harmonic, and even physical models
- New instrument: v0 Kick (Kick), with additional controls for Punch, Click, Shape, Body, and Noise, as well as a toggle for whether to use Stereo Noise or not
- New instrument: v0 Snare (Snare), with additional controls for the Noise, Click, and Shell Level components, as well as Shell Ringing, Shell Size, and Shell Spread parameters
- New instrument: v0 Tom (Tom), with additional controls for Punch, Click, Rumble, Air, Shape, and Stereo Width
- New instrument: v0 Hat (Hi-hat), with additional detune controls named Carrier Bank Spread and Modulator Bank Spread, as well as a single Oscillator Banks Range (set in semitones), as well as Tone, Phaser Mixer, and Frequency Shift (for the phaser) parameters
- New instrument: v0 Cymbal (Cymbal), with additional detune controls named Carrier Bank Spread and Modulator Bank Spread, as well as a single Oscillator Banks Range (set in semitones), as well as Tone, Phaser Mixer, and Frequency Shift (for the phaser) parameters
- New instrument: v0 Zap Kick (Kick), a psy-inspired kick drum, for any sound that wants to swoop
- Tune setting defines the target pitch… unless the Tuned toggle is disabled, in which case the target pitch is zero Hertz
- Gated toggle (on by default) makes this a sustaining drum instrument, and accordingly adjust the behavior of the Release / Decay timing parameter
- Zap Depth (Zap on the faceplate) defines how far the pitch swoops, and Zap Decay sets its timing
- The gear icon exposes three direct modulation targets, allowing you to create your own modulation of the exponential Pitch (when Tuned is on), linear Frequency, and Phase
- Controlling Pitch Mod with a Segments (Envelope) modulator could let you shape your own zap
- Freq Mod and Phase Mod can be used as synthesis targets, but the choice(s) are yours
- New device: Stepwise (Note FX)
- A playful step sequencer device has joined Bitwig's 30+ note processors and containers
- The first device made to generate notes, Stepwise has eight identical rows with these parameters:
- A bank of steps, each of which can be off, a normal note, or an accented note
- The Note (in MIDI notation) being triggered by this row
- The Rate (note values, or Bar) that each step takes
- Notes are triggered for half of the step duration
- The Length of each row, from 1 to 16 steps
- The Velocity used for this row
- Normal notes use the row's Velocity value
- Accented notes use the row's Velocity value plus the global Accent Boost parameter, which is found in the Inspector Panel
- The Timing Offset (as ±100 %) to position where each step lands
- So if Rate is set to Bar and Timing Offset is to +75 %, each step would land on beat 4 of the current bar (assuming 4/4)
- A Use Global Groove option, to follow the transport's groove when it is enabled
- A Mute option, to silence this current row (unless it is set to Solo)
- A Solo option, to silence notes from other rows and only hear this row
- Except for the bank of steps and Solo, all other parameters can be modulated or controlled
- A global Mode parameter (in the Inspector Panel) controls playback of all lanes:
- Pulse - Each enabled step triggers a note on for the first half of the step, and returns to off for the second half of the step
- Gate - Each enabled step triggers a note on for the full length of the step, so two or more steps enabled in a row result in a single, longer note — using the initial trigger velocity
- Gate mode also visualizes the steps without gaps in between
- In either mode, control/modulation of the Note, Rate, or Length parameter will trigger the next note only on the appropriate beat
- Global Actions are available in the Inspector Panel for all lanes:
- Clear All Lanes - Sets every step to off
- Invert All Lanes - Turns every note into a rest (and every rest back into a note)
- Randomize All Lanes - Randomizes every step (per lane, roughly ½ rests, ? normal notes, and ? accented notes)

Functions are also available for each row, which are exposed by clicking the monkey wrench icon in the device headers:
- Nudge Left (?) wraps the visible steps to the left
- Nudge Right (?) wraps the visible steps to the right
- Invert Pattern (Flip) turns all notes off, and turns all rests to notes
- Randomize Pattern (dice) creates a new pattern for this row
- By right-clicking on the row's bank of steps, options for Copy Steps, Paste Steps, and Clear Steps are also available
- A global Use MIDI Channels option (in the Inspector Panel) uses the row number for each note's MIDI channel, which can be extracted after Stepwise by:
- Triggering the Channel-16 (Note-driven) modulator on a following instrument or device
- In any Grid patch, parsing each lane's stream (via the Note In module)
- Using the Note FX Layer device to separate the lane outputs into individual chains (for example, see the factory preset "by MIDI Channel")
- Recording the note output onto another track
- Using bar 1, beat 1 as its starting point, this device's unique approach to phase will:
- Only wrap each lane at the end of its length
- Reproducibly start each lane at the same point when triggered from any particular bar/beat location
- The device will pass thru any incoming notes, so:
- You can still trigger clips (or use live controller input) along with a running Stepwise
- Adding two (or more) Stepwise devices in a row will provide more lanes
- Master Recording for Direct Capture
- The new Master Recording feature allows you to record and capture your audio in new ways
- A new section at the right side of the transport display includes:
- Master level is shown by audio meters, now always visible at the top of the screen
- Master Recording toggle is shown as circular record button, for starting/stopping a Master Recording
- Show Master Recordings is a folder icon, which is bright (and clickable) when your project has made Master Recordings

Click the small Master Recording toggle to write whatever is reaching the Master track directly to disk:
- A red timer will appear (where the Transport Time normally is), to show you the elapsed recording time
- Recording will start, even if you never start Bitwig's transport
- Recording will continue, even if you stop (or restart, or jump) Bitwig's transport
- When you click the Master Recording button again, recording will stop
- If you click the folder icon (beneath the The Browser Panel will automatically jump to the master-recordings folder of the current project, in case you want to drag the audio straight into the Arranger/Launcher, or a Sampler (or Convolution) device
- The new section also shows your master track output meters at all time
- This provides many new workflows, including:
- Capturing a full live performance straight to disk
- Recording performance gestures that include starting, moving, and stopping the transport
- Recording anything that is triggered by transport stop
- Capturing audio and then dropping it into a Sampler (or Convolution effect) without ever stopping the transport
- Directly capturing ideas, without ever hitting play
- Three New Ways to Audio Shift
- Two higher-level Grid modules (Freq Shift+ and Pitch Shift) have joined the Delay / FX category
- And one has a device version, Freq Shifter+ (Audio FX), that can go directly on any track
- Each changes the frequency of incoming signals, either in a linear (Frequency-oriented) fashion, or musically (by Pitch)
- To start, run audio thru any of them and turn the big knob to begin shifting
- Even tho they process any incoming audio signal, both Grid modules have special key-tracking options, so…
- Using these in Poly Grid will just work with the incoming note stream
- Remember that FX Grid has a Note Source option (in the Inspector Panel), for routing note signals in from other tracks
- Being Grid modules means they will work as mono or polyphonic components, to match your patch; have fun~
- New Grid module: Freq Shift+ (Delay / FX)
- An analog-style frequency shifter module, with optional delay network and much more:
- A central Frequency Shift Amount control offers a range of ±100 %, as defined by the current Range and Unit settings found just beneath the knob
- Various options and potential uses for Unit include:
- Hz & kHz offer regular frequency units for shifting
- Note values (like bar, Eighth note, Triplet quarter note, etc) offer time-synced values for rhythmic effects
- Hold disables the center Shift controls, giving you direct control over the shifting oscillator via the Phase In port and Phase control (in the Inspector Panel)
- Keytrack uses incoming note pitches (via pre-cord, for all notes reaching the Grid device) to relatively adjust shifting, and the big Frequency Shift Amount knob becomes the only attenuator for the Rate In port
- The Rate In signal is scaled by its attenuator (based on the current Unit in use), and then added to the frequency shift amount
- In the special Keytrack mode, the Rate In signal is attenuated by the normal Frequency Shift Amount knob, and the pre-cord for note pitch is used without attenuation
- Feedback is applied directly within the frequency shift function
- In the Inspector Panel are parameters for the Feedback Low-Cut Frequency and Feedback High-Cut Frequency, letting you tame or shape the feedback
- An additional Feedback Direction control lets you pick whether feedback cascades upward in frequency (positive values) or downward (negative values)
- Enable Delay toggle wraps the frequency shift in a delay line (whose Delay Time can be set in time, up to 1 second), good for classic analog effects

Several Filter Options are in the Inspector Panel:
- Filter Quality sets the precision being used for the frequency shift
- Anti-Reflection Filter will filter out negative frequencies (which can happen when shifting down)
- Additional All-pass adds an extra all-pass network to the circuit, for extra phase-y goodness
- The stereo Phase In signal (as scaled by its Phase Modulation Amount attenuator) allows phase modulation of the oscillator that is doing the frequency shifting Additionally:
- The Phase of this oscillator is available via parameter in the Inspector Panel
- A Phase Offset (R) for the right channel is available both in the bottom right corner of the module and in the Inspector Panel, for some instant stereo
- New device: Freq Shifter+ (Audio FX)
- An analog-style frequency shifter device, with optional delay network and much more:
- A central Frequency Shift Amount control offers a range of ±100 %, as defined by the current Range and Unit settings found just beneath the knob

Various options and potential uses for Unit include:
- Hz & kHz offer regular frequency units for shifting
- Note values (like bar, Eighth note, Triplet quarter note, etc) offer time-synced values for rhythmic effects
- Hold disables the center Shift controls, giving you direct control over the shifting oscillator via the Phase control (also in the Inspector Panel)
- The Enable Delay toggle —
- Feedback is applied directly within the frequency shift function:
- In the Cuts section are Feedback Low-Cut Frequency and Feedback High-Cut Frequency, letting you tame or shape the feedback
- An additional Feedback Direction control lets you pick whether feedback cascades upward in frequency (positive values) or downward (negative values)
- Beneath the Feedback Direction control is an Anti-Reflection Filter toggle, which filters out negative frequencies (this can happen when shifting down)
- The left edge of the devices offers two parameters:
- Filter Quality sets the precision being used for the frequency shift, ranging from 6 poles ("Rough") to 24 poles ("Excellent")
- The Additional All-pass toggle adds an extra all-pass network to the circuit, for extra phase-y goodness

The phase of the shifting oscillator can also be controlled by two parameters in the Inspector Panel:
- The Phase of this oscillator is available in the Inspector Panel (and is presented as the center knob when the Frequency Shift Unit is set to the special Hold mode)
- A Phase Offset (R) for the right channel is available both in the Inspector Panel and on the right side of the device (labeled Width), offering instant stereo
- New Grid module: Pitch Shift (Delay / FX)

A pitch transposer, with keytracking, grain control, and various modulation options (including phase modulation of any signal):
- A central Pitch Shift control offers a range of ±48 semitones (or ±4 octaves)
- A Keytrack toggle enables a pre-cord adding the pitch of any note(s) reaching the Grid device to the module's pitch buss (as a regular Bitwig pitch signal, where C3 is a "zero" signal)
- The Pitch In signal is also added to the pitch buss of the module, after being scaled by its attenuator
- Grain Rate sets the windowing rate for the transposition function
- If the Grain Rate In port is connected, the Grain Rate parameter is replaced by this incoming signal (as scaled by its Grain Rate Attenuator setting)
- In either case, the Adaptive Grain Rate toggle adjusts the grain rate relative to the pitch transposition amount, for an often cleaner sound
- The Grain Fade parameter (in the Inspector Panel) sets the transition time between successive frames, which keeps the module from producing pitch chirps
- The Phase / FM In signal allows phase/linear frequency modulation of the oscillator that is doing the pitch shifting
- Phase modulation will work even when pitch shift is not active (or zero), so this module could be used to phase modulate any signal
- The Use Linear FM toggle (in the Inspector Panel) switches the Phase / FM In to perform linear FM, which will only work when pitch shifting is occurring
- Audio System Overhaul
- The audio engine has been rewritten on Mac to support switching interfaces quickly
- A special System Out configuration will follow the OS's choice of audio output (and a System In + Out configuration will follow the audio output and input devices)
- When the manually selected interface becomes unavailable, you will automatically be switched to a previously selected audio interface (if available)
- When audio interfaces become available, a notification will ask you if you want to switch to it
- Audio interfaces are now auto-populated within Bitwig Studio, offering routings to all physical inputs and outputs (as well as stereo versions, where sensible)
- When an audio interface is found, a notification is offered to switch to that device directly
- Configuration of each interface allows renaming of ports, favoriting of ports (so they show in top-level choosers), hiding unwanted ports from choosers
- Stereo output busses can also be designated as Speakers, Headphones, or generic Output, as before
- All of these options are available as icons on hover, or via right-click in the device configuration (under Dashboard > Settings > Audio)
- Configuration is only necessary if you want to customize these elements; the ports will be available automatically within Bitwig Studio
- Configurations are singular for each interface and will be remembered
- Names you had previously setup will be imported
- The new way of configuring audio devices is also available on PC for setting up ASIO devices
- On macOS & Linux, you can now create a Combined Audio Device within Bitwig, letting you pool multiple audio interfaces and use them simultaneously
- It is now possible to enable multiple speakers by
- The default behavior for switching speakers is exclusive, as before

New Features:
- Bitwig Studio is now available for Windows ARM

The English User Guide has been updated:
- Version 53 PDF manual is here
- Version 53 online manual is here
- For the manual's "Device Descriptions" (chapter 19), many "thesaurus" notes have been added for devices / modulators / modules that have similar counterparts of another type Such as:
- CV Pitch Out module ?? HW CV Instrument device
- Multiband FX-3 device ?? Crossover-3 module
- Globals modulator ?? Transport Playing module
- Humanize device ?? Chance Operator
- Etc etc
- Translations will follow
- New Accents (Data) Grid module: Tri-state event sequencer, with an out port for Normal steps and a separate out port for Accent
- New Step Access (Phase) Grid module: Transport-relative phase signal generator, for reaching particular step ranges (good for data sequencers)
- New Dome (Filter) Grid module: a Hilbert transform, providing any signal's real & imaginary portions, as well as its magnitude & phase
- New CV Pitch In (I/O) Grid module: Specialized input module, with DC and AC modes, as well as Octave Range, Root Key, and Smoothing parameters
- Note FX Selector (Container) device: Now has a Solo Active Layer option in the Inspector Panel
- This provides a way to exclusively switch between note generators
- So if you load multiple Stepwise variations, or Note Grid generators, etc, you can use the Note FX Selector to cleanly switch between all available layers
- Note In (I/O) Grid module: Now has a MIDI Channel(s) setting, for either allowing in All MIDI channels (the default setting of 0), or specifying one channel for the module to receive

CLAP plug-ins:
- Has been updated to v125
- Implemented the gain adjustment metering extension (to show gain reduction in any mixer view)
- Implemented the scratch memory extension
- Implemented the plug-in location extension (letting a plug-in know about where it is located within the project)
- Controller script added for Novation's SL MkIII (including a native step sequencer)
- Controller script added for Reloop Keypad Pro

Improved:
- Projects and presets now load faster on all computers
- Bitwig Studio's device/DSP code now compiles in parallel for quicker loading of projects or even preset browsing
- The result is now cached more efficiently so after presets are loaded the first time, they will load faster thereafter
- Note FX Selector, Instrument Selector, and FX Selector (Container) device improvements:
- All note-triggered modes now switch to the new target layer before sending their note
- Now have a Show Active Layer option (the chain link icon), to automatically display the current layer
- Visible devices are now processed, even if the chain isn't active

HW CV Instrument (Hardware) device polish:
- GUI overhaul, leaving the device leaner and more readable

The Tuning Mode options are now called:
- Trained - For self-tuning via the Pitch CV Out and Audio Return
- Manual - Exposes Octave Range and Root Key parameters
- Pitch Offset and Octave Range parameters can now have their whole number adjusted directly by dragging the numeric on the left side of the decimal
- Various GUI adjustments also came to HW Instrument, HW FX, HW Clock Out, and HW CV Out (Hardware) devices
- CV Pitch In and CV Pitch Out (I/O) Grid modules: Both have scopes on their faceplates, showing active signal along with any range processing
- Drum Machine (Drum Kit) device: Now uses better text shortening/abbreviations, to make the slots of the device more readable
- Accents and Gates (Data) Grid modules: When in the Gate mode, the steps are visualized without gaps in between
- Ø Counter (Phase) Grid module: Now has a better visualization of the reset status (changing the yellow Reset In trigger icon to red when the next Step In will go to step zero)
- Various Bounce workflow options:
- Bounce dialog now has an optional toggle to execute In-Place

New mappable functions for:
- Bounce In Place (Pre-Fader) (default mapping:
- Bounce In Place (Post-Fader) (default mapping:
- Bounce In Place function has been renamed Bounce In Place (Pre-FX), which was how it worked already (default mapping: still
- When dragging a clip, additional modifiers are now offered (shown in the window footer) for Pre- and Post-Fader options, when possible
- Control Surface API is now version 20 (which adds support for the Master Recording feature)
- Clicking on a plus button while the Pop-up Browser is already open now cancels the browsing session
- The original drum instruments (E-) have been renamed the v1 family, as they were the originals:
- E-Kick (Kick) is now v1 Kick
- E-Snare (Snare) is now v1 Snare
- E-Tom (Tom) is now v1 Tom
- E-Hat (Hi-hat) is now v1 Hat
- E-Clap (Clap) is now v1 Clap
- E-Cowbell (Percussion) is now v1 Cowbell
- VST3 plug-ins: implemented PreSonus's gain reduction info extension (to show gain reduction in any mixer view)
- Linux PulseAudio: This backend is no longer supported by Bitwig Studio

Fixed:
- Presets were sometimes sounding incorrectly after preview (such as Drum Machine presets using internal sends, etc etc)
- Incorrect gain expression was being created for monophonic devices
- Note: Gain expressions that were previously drawn (for v1 drum instruments and all others) can now make the sound significantly softer — or louder
- Fixes/improvements to Key Filter (Note FX) device:
- Mode shift / Pitch Offset parameter now works correctly for negative values
- Help description is now correct, explaining how this parameter moves in-key and corrected notes by steps within the current scale
- Older Keep option (for the Foreign Notes mode parameter) has been added back, preserving incoming accidentals — and not applying any Mode shift to them So Foreign Notes options are now:
- Filter - Simply ignores notes that are out of key
- Keep - Uses accidentals as-is (with no Mode shift applied to them)
- Constrain - Corrects accidentals to in-key values
- HW CV Out (Hardware) device: Now forwards incoming audio signal thru to the device output
- This does not affect the CV send function
- Projects or user presets saved previously will function as they did previously, with an Upgrade button to switch to the new behavior
- Drum Machine (Drums) device: Latency compensation is now working correctly for instruments on return channels, when receiving audio
- Arpeggiator (Note FX) device: Automation of Time Rate parameter (for milliseconds, seconds) now results in a smooth, gradual curve
- Randomize (Note FX) device: Now works consistently when modulated, whether the track is in focus or not
- Note Counter (Note-driven) modulator: No longer displays weird values on mono devices
- Consolidate function on a Launcher clip now preserves its Enable Next Action setting
- Devices no longer suspend / sleep when an earlier device is active
- Generic Controller properly supports CC encoding modes now
- Fixed a possible MIDI clock slave drift, during long sessions
- Fixed a rare crash when activating (or de-activating) Ableton Link
- Fixed a bug where grid lines were sometimes disappearing in the Arranger view
- Group scene color now updates when changed (instead of after playing contained clips)
- Launcher clips on group tracks now visualize their selection
- Moving the loop bracket to the left via keyboard no longer stops working
- Fix app crash when a project contained an empty group track
- Fixed a rare crash when saving files
- Fix random engine crashes
- MacOS: Fixed rare graphics crashes
- MacOS: Fixed a rare crash when tooltip gets closed before it was shown
- Plug-ins: We now initialize the loop info in seconds as well

CLAP fixes:
- Fixed a sidechain issue with u-he Presswerk
- Fixed a crash when scanning preset discovery providers
- Novation Launchkey MK4 extension: Recorded notes are no longer doubled