First Impressions: Bitwig Studio

The day finally came. Bitwig Studio has been released to the public after a seriously long tease and hype. Is it really the next generation of music making software?

First thing I realised that the interface is a nice mix between Ableton's, Logic's and Cubase's GUI which is something that I dreamed of for years. If you've ever seen any of these software in action, there is automatically something familiar. This was good in my case cause it took me some time to get to know Live. So after few minutes I could actually make music with Bitwig.

After checking out the built-in synths and loops, I have to say, the guys at Bitwig really wanted their customers to have production-ready loops and sounds out of the box. On this side, they gave a really big smack in the face for Ableton. I seriously hope they will work more on their built-in content in the future after this. I was in a relative good flow after spending few minutes with these sounds, but I didn't touch any Ableton presets since I started using Live. (Not even to tweak them...)

I love the creative effects too. I constantly find myself sucked into Bitwig, just messing around with the Modulators section, checking out the multi-instrument chains (!!!) and whatnot. Chopping/modulating/f***ing up audio has never been easier. Functions I didn't know Live is missing can be found here. I got really hyped up like in the days when I started making music.  But..

I haven't dived too deep into Bitwig yet (hence the title) but I can surely say, the throne still belongs to the Ableton crew. Such small, yet so outrageous flaws, which make me think twice, before opening up Bitwig. (Not to mention, spending 300 euros on it.)

Where are my Audio Units?

That's right, you won't find them. After giving a smack to Ableton, they give one to the users of the format too. I can't use my plugins cause I preferred to install them in AU not VST... WTF Bitwig are you serious?

Why did Bitwig disappear?

Yeah, sometimes, out of nothing, when I drop a modulator, effect, etc. on one of my channels, Bitwig decides to crash. (No popups whatsoever.) I am not sure about the source of the problem but I never see this during a session with Ableton. And it's very frustrating in Demo-mode, where you cannot even save your progress.

It's all familiar. But a bit clunky.

First thing for me was to close the "info" tab on the display, and what a mistake it was...It took me some minutes to figure out that for example, this is the tab where I can reverse audio. Yeah I figured it out, but still...And there are some really minor differences which I think are only different so Bitwig won't resemble Ableton a hundred percent. For example CMD+T makes an instrument track and CMD+Shift+T makes an audio track. Not a big deal, I know, but I think the majority who will use this software are from the Ableton community. Newcomers will probably stick to the 'classics', so I don't see why small things like this have to be different. A built-in analiser for the EQ would be nice too.

Final Verdict:

I know I said some really bad things, but the truth is, Bitwig is a really solid DAW. But on the other hand I think it is just a very well made beta-release still. I see a bright future for Bitwig but at the moment, I think it simply does not worth 300 euros. The best functions are still yet to come. (Online, real-time collaboration!!! I want it now!!) Give me those and AU support, and you guys got a new fan. I will mess around with Bitwig a lot in the future, I hope they will deliver.

Getting Started pt. 2

As I promised, here is the second part of how to get started. At this point I assume you have everything at your disposal: your computer, your soundcard, your DAW, a beverage, some cigarettes, maybe some food cause you are not gonna move away from the screen for a while.

First, let's go and make a default set for Ableton Live. Since I make beat driven bass music, I need a couple of tracks for the drums and of course one additional track for my sub bass. The problem is that by default, Ableton opens up with one Audio and one Midi track which doesn't fit my needs.

This is how my fresh, empty project file looks like in Live:

I have four audio tracks grouped together for my drums, accurately named: kick, snare, hats, stuff (for extra effects, percussion, whatever). On the hats there is also an EQ to cut out all the unnecessary frequencies.

Another thing I madly love about Live is that if you play Operator on the lower octaves you have an instant sub-bass. Applied kind of the same EQ settings just the other way around.

That's pretty much it, a few easy steps, but in the long run this can save you a lot of time especially if you have an already clear idea for your tune. Open up Live's Preferences menu, switch to the File/Folder tab and save your default template.

Unfortunately the built-in sounds in Ableton are pretty uninspiring (the Clips section is pretty neat though) so you might want to build up a sample library of your own. Thanks for the internet, you can easily achieve this without going bankrupt if you carefully look around. But helping is the purpose of this blog so let's dive in.

First, Samplephonics offers a massive (2.5 GB!!!) amount of samples for every new member. Sure, they are only demo packs, but these guys are really amazing designers. You'll find packs here from guys like Ghostek or Ipman for example. Truly inspiring sounds, 30 seconds away from you.

Second, it might be a good idea for you to invest in a portable recording device. I recommend the ZOOM H2N, cause I think it has a very high price/value ratio. If you want to add some organic feel and uniqueness to your beats, it's surely a great investment.

Last but not least be sure to check out sites like Freesound.org and CCmixter and use Google to your advantage. You don't have to be a pirate to have great samples at your fingertips. There are plenty of dudes and dudettes who are out there to help.

I know this post was very brief, but once you have everything set up it's time to make beats and to step it up a notch on this blog too. I am very excited to help you guys make some beats finally. Until the next post, I wish everyone a happy messing around with music.

Be sure to ask if you have a question, if you'd share this blog it would be awesome too. Also if you have any suggestions, requests for future posts, feel free to point that out too. Namaste!

Getting Started pt. 1

Being the first post I think it's appropriate if it's about how to get started. Note that I am not a hardware elitist and I'm not against it either. But in my opinion you won't become a better producer just by spending tons of money on software and equipment. I know people who make amazing tunes on the saddest rigs out there but there are loads of others who can't create a decent arrangement even though they have everything you can imagine. Try to find a sweet spot in the middle. But for the sake of getting started easier I'm going to focus on the very basic needs right now. Moving on...

1. The computer

This is pretty obvious isn't it? You're gonna need something to produce on right? So it may be obvious, but choosing the right computer for the job is a must. In my opinion anything would do which has at least 2 cores and 4 GB of ram. (You'll be freezing tracks a lot though, but that's another post...)
I am not willing to get into the Windows vs. OSX argument you can read plenty on that if you Google it. I'm on OSX and even though I prefer it over Windows you can't argue that there is more software available on the Microsoft side and also, in my humble opinion, OSX is more stable, but it can be placebo...It all comes down to personal preference, but be sure to double check everything considering the following factors:

• What kind of music do you want to produce?
• Which OS has more and better software available to do so? (Logic is MAC-only and FL Studio is Win-only you see?)
• Will you use any external equipment? (Cause it's a bummer if you don't have the necessary ports/buses.)
• Do you plan to produce more on the road or in your bedroom/studio? (A battery which can last for 9 hours may not be necessary in your house.)

Bottom line: don't rush with the decision, I think you don't want to buy a new laptop every year. (With this section I'm assuming you don't wanna buy a desktop setup.)

2. Soundcard

Not an absolute must in my eyes but if you want less stress on your CPU and want more IN/OUT channels you must seriously consider purchasing one. I don't recommend USB ones (unless 3.0), if you have the chance, stick with Firewire/Thunderbolt interfaces. Mostly because Firewire can reserve bandwidth for itself which nothing else can touch. But this is also a never-ending argument which too, comes down to personal preference. The more you try the more you can see what's the best for you.

3. DAW

A very, if not the most important part. I tried out a lot, but for me, nothing came close to Live. The reason is simple.  It's simple. I don't have to switch between pencil and cutting tools and whatnot, I got familiar with the built-in effects and instruments, the interface and of course the ability to switch between Live and Arrangement View. That's me, but I always envied FL's pattern based step-sequencer or Logic's massive built-in sound library and even Reason's ability of routing synths/effects to each other.  But I am an Ableton dude, I wouldn't have been able to finish any tunes without it. Be sure to make an informed decision based on your personal requirements and experience with these software. It's more than enough to know just one DAW inside out.

To be continued in pt. 2