Btiwig's website contains scripts for pretty much every popular controller currently on the market, including, impressively, Ableton's Push and Push 2. This approach also extends to dedicated MIDI controllers. This means that Studio 2 could become a seamless and integral part of your entire studio, rather than merely the endpoint of your signal path. There are also new devices that exclusively deal with CV and gate information. Combining the MIDI CC device with the modulators effectively adds modular-style control to any hardware synth, which massively expands its capabilities. MIDI CC, MIDI Program Change and MIDI Song Select devices all allow direct control of external gear from within the program. You also save the Remote Controls on a per-device or per-preset level.īeyond the internal routing options offered by the modular architecture, Studio 2 has greatly expanded its ability to integrate with hardware. Both can be used to control the same parameters if desired, leading to some interesting push and pull as the modulator's influence works within the absolute boundaries set by the automation. Splitting up modulation and automation makes a lot of sense. Macros, the previous means of modulation and automation in Bitwig, have been swallowed up by the modular system and replaced by Remote Controls, which deal exclusively in automation. Each modulator can affect any number of device controls, with the specific amount of modulation being unique to each control. Every device, including third-party plug-ins, now has the ability to be affected by a seemingly infinite number of new modulators ( Check out Polarity's Ultra-Chord preset for a great example of how these modulators can be put to use). The banner feature of this release is the expansive and comprehensive update of Bitwig's "unified modulation system." While it's not quite the "fully modular device architecture" mooted back in 2012, Studio 2 gets us considerably closer to this vision. But given a little time, it's a workflow addition that forces you to focus on the task at hand, whether it's micro-editing audio samples, jamming out an arrangement or building custom device mappings. This constant readjustment and rearrangement could be seen as a bit of a pain, especially for those coming from the all-in-one aesthetic favoured by Logic and Pro Tools. Once you familiarise yourself with the various keyboard shortcuts, the ability to reveal and hide the different sections of the layout quickly becomes second nature. Thankfully, Bitwig's modular approach extends to its layout. I appreciate the need for padding as a means of visual differentiation but on smaller screens a lot of that space just seems wasted. A large part of this is down to the spacing between the different elements that make up the UI. However, it still feels somewhat cluttered, especially when in comparison to the sharp, pared-down aesthetic that Ableton has long been known for. The UI appears flatter, echoing a general move away from the skeuomorphic design language that's dominated the tech scene. As such, the program has swiftly matured, and this rapid progression has made version 2.0 a more stable, cohesive and useable product, which innovates while refining its core components. This allowed them to rapidly address early issues and adopt a number of user-requested additions, including a number of new audio and MIDI devices, the ability to group tracks and expanding its multi-touch support platforms. Although other companies have to balance the needs of a loyal and stable customer base with a dependable release schedule, Bitwig's smaller and more focused development team has been able to quickly roll out incremental updates, bug fixes and new features as point releases. However, for many, it simply wasn't revolutionary enough to coax people away from their trusted DAW-and the fact that it bore a number of fairly obvious resemblances to Ableton didn't help the situation and only provided ammo for the sceptics. There was per-note MIDI expressions, cross-platform VST sandboxing and the side-by-side clip launcher and arrangement page that has become one of the original DAW's hallmarks.
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