Bitwig has released Bitwig Studio 3.2. The latest version of the DAW comes with several new effects and sound shaping tools. New creative features for composition and production have also been added, along with workflow improvements and a handful of new Grid modules. Bitwig Studio 3.2 is a free upgrade to anyone with an active upgrade plan. For all others, the Bitwig Summer Sale gets you up to USD 100 off the price of the software.

Bitwig Studio 3.2

Things are evolving quickly in the world of Bitwig. After releasing Bitwig Studio 3 last summer and following up with version 3.1 in November, the Berlin-based company has just released another upgrade for the modular DAW. The developer says that Bitwig Studio 3.2 focuses on “greater control and sculpting possibilities for all sounds”.

The update adds two new audio effects: EQ+ and Saturator. EQ+ is a parametric EQ with up to eight bands, which can be edited by clicking and dragging the EQ curve. It offers a total of 14 filter types and an Adaptive-Q option, which narrows the width of a band as the gain increases. You can solo bands for precise editing, and there’s a global frequency shift option. Bitwig has also paid attention to looks: EQ+ applies a rainbow colour spectrum to the EQ curve and bands. The developers say that this visual connection makes editing more intuitive. EQ-2 and EQ-5 now sport the new colour scheme, too. So do the frequency controls in more than 20 other devices.

Saturator is a waveshaping effect for adding “buzzing, rumble and warmth”. With drive, gain normalize and low-pass controls, as well as separate threshold, transform amount and knee settings for the quiet and loud portions of a signal, Bitwig says that it can also be used as a dynamics processor. Saturator is also available as a new Grid module. This lets you use the Grid’s polyphony to shape each note of a chord independently.

New creative tools

Furthermore, Bitwig Studio 3.2 adds a number of features to the DAW’s creative tools. The Arpeggiator has gained a pitch control for each step. It also now tracks micro pitch changes and polyphonic aftertouch, which should be useful if you work with MPE-enabled controllers. New arpeggiation shapes and timing options have also been added.

The Instrument Selector, Note FX Selector and audio FX Selector have been expanded with voice modes for dynamic triggering of layers. Bitwig says that this lets you do things like assigning different presets or even different VST plug-ins to each note of a chord. There are various modes for switching layers automatically, including Round-robin, Free Voice and Random. Manual layer switching can be achieved with keyswitches, control changes or program change messages.

New Grid modules

Bitwig Studio 3.2 comes with a handful of new Grid modules, as well as improvements to others. New modules include XP (Filter), Array (Data), N-Latch (Logic), Saturator (Shaper) and Logic Delay (Logic). The Steps and AD modules have been updated with new features.

Workflow improvements

Bitwig says that they’ve implemented a number of user-requested workflow enhancements. This includes local audio returns for Drum Machine, better visualization in spectrum analyzers across the whole software and new mini displays in the mixer view. And dropping a sample into a Grid patch now results in the automatic creation of a Sampler module, which is quite convenient.

Price and availability

Bitwig Studio 3.2 is a free upgrade to all users with an active upgrade plan for Bitwig Studio.

If you don’t own Bitwig Studio yet, now is a great time to get it. During the company’s summer sale, which runs until July 1st, 2020, you can get the full version of Bitwig Studio 3.2 for USD 299 instead of 399. You can also save on upgrading from Bitwig Studio 8-Track and 16-Track to the full version, and on renewing your upgrade plan. Bitwig says that they’ll donate the proceeds from one day of the sale to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Reach Out, two groups working towards racial justice.

More information

• Developer’s page

Video

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A few weeks ago, we heard the first rumours that Endlesss, Tim Exile’s collab app for iOS, might be coming to the desktop. Things are starting to materialize now: The developer has just launched a Kickstarter campaign to finance the development of Endlesss Studio. This means that you can now take advantage of early bird pricing, with several options available. They’re mentioning things like DAW integration, controller support and an instrument designer – this could be good!

Endlesss Studio

Endlesss for iOS came out in late March. The collab app for iOS was developed by Tim Exile, whose other contributions to music tech include many fine creations for NI Reaktor, such as SLOW, FLOWs, SLOO, SLOR, The Finger and The Mouth. Endlesss lets you jam and collaborate online using a simple loop-based interface. It comes with a bunch of onboard sounds, but you can also record your own loops and riffs. Until now, Endlesss was only available on iOS, but that’s about to change.

According to the Kickstarter page, the desktop version of Endlesss will be available for Windows and Mac computers. It’ll come in the form of a stand-alone application, as well as VST and AU plug-ins to integrate with your DAW. This means that you’ll be able to use your DAW and studio setup to collaborate via Endlesss, which is a fabulous idea. Collaborate instantly to come up with ideas quickly, and then take it to your DAW for arranging and further production.

The developer says that Endlesss Studio will let you collaborate live directly from DAW to DAW. They also mention that you’ll be able to drag&drop audio files between your DAW and Endlesss Studio. Another planned feature is controller support for devices like Ableton Push, Novation Launchpad, AKAI MPC, and others. Endlesss Studio will sync with the iOS version, so you can create sessions in Studio and continue on the mobile device, and vice versa.

All of this sounds very cool and would turn a fun iOS app into a powerful collab tool for your DAW. It seems like Endlesss Studio is off to a good start, as the Kickstarter goal has already been met on the first day. But of course you can still sign up as a backer to take advantage of early bird pricing.

Price

Speaking of pricing: The developer plans to offer two options. You can buy the software outright for USD 199 (early bird pricing from USD 89 on Kickstarter). This gives you access to the stand-alone application and VST/AU plug-in, as well as the core instrument and FX packs. The caveat is that this version only gives you streaming quality audio for collaborations. There will also be a subscription plan for USD 11.99/month, which upgrades the audio quality to lossless and lets you sync instrument packs across devices. The Kickstarter page gives you the option to grab a lifetime subscription for USD 199, which could turn out to be a pretty great deal.

More information

• Developer’s page

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The ultimate way to deal with the incomprehensible DX7 is to get an artificial intelligence to program it for you – “This DX7 Cartridge Does Not Exist” has you covered.

DX7 Cartridge

Is this cool or just extremely lazy? I can’t quite decide. I guess we all like to benefit from randomising parameters when exploring sounds and ideas so how would this be any different? And rather than being random this is actually applying some intelligence to the process.

I always reject the notion that the DX7 was difficult to program. My first synth was a DX100 and I knew that thing inside and out. But it’s true enough that it can be quite exhausting with its 155 parameters. With this tool the AI uses a machine learning model known as a VAE that reduces these 155 parameters down to just 8. Those numbers are randomly generated and then the AI maps them back to the 155 parameters and 99.9% of the time it’s a generates a unique sound.

If you’d like to try this out and you don’t happen to have a DX7 knocking around then you can also use it with the Dexed emulation for Windows/MacOS/Linux or the Rockrelay FM Synth for Android.

It’s free and a new cartridge is generated with every click of the button. Apparently the preset naming is bizarre but you can’t expect an AI to have learned the nuances of human language – one step at a time.

More information

• This DX7 Cartridge Does Not Exist webpage.

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Fury-800 is a nicely realised Poly-800 from 1983 with 64 voices, sequencer and chord memory and it’s completely free.

Fury-800

Everyone loves the Korg Poly-800. It was Korg’s answer to the Roland Juno-106 and somehow managed to win people over even though it looked weird and awkward when compared to the hip and cool Juno. It was cheaper, lighter had a couple more notes of polyphony and handy guitar strap nuts so you would wear it around your neck.

Fury-800 attempts to capture the life of the Poly-800 and fleshes it out with two DCOs per voice with individual envelope generators, two waveforms with additive harmonics, a sequencer and chord memory function and a stereo chorus effect. It has up to 64 note polyphony with a “God Mode” for “real” polyphony. There’s only the one filter though as with the original which is articulated paraphonically.

It also has the classically annoying interface which is definitely where the Juno won out. But everything is accessible and controllable via MIDI.

Fury-800 is available for MacOS and Windows and you can have it for nothing although donations are very welcome.

More information

• Full Bucket Music webpage.
• More from Full Bucket Music.

Audio

 

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This week’s best sample packs include a majestic piano recorded in a gorgeous Austrian concert hall, a comprehensive bundle for cinematic scoring, a digital recreation of one of the most legendary organs of all time, a collection that provides everything for chill productions, and a group of sound effects that are literally the bomb.

Vienna Symphonic Library Bosendorfer Imperial

This is a digital representation of the one and only concert grand piano from Austrian manufacturer Bosendorfer – the Bosendorfer Concert Grand 290 Imperial piano. It has nine additional sub-bass notes bringing the total key count to 97. The inclusion of the additional bass strings augments the resonance of every note across the scale, making it sound fuller and richer than other grand pianos.

In order to capture the full majesty of this amazing instrument, it was recorded on the main stage of a famous Vienna concert hall with 11 microphone positions. The library comes in two versions – Standard and Full. The only difference between the two being the number of microphone positions. Also included is the free Synchron Piano Player sample engine. This being a premium library, prepare to dig a bit deeper into your pocket for this one.

• More information and pricing

Sample Logic CinemorphX

Composers looking for a comprehensive bundle for scoring need look no further than CinemorphX. It is a massive 30GB pack of cinematic samples perfect for sound design. Sample Logic’s aim was to create the most expansive and immersive set available in one plug-in and what we’ve seen of this plug-in looks very impressive.

The application includes 6,000 presets of instrumentals, loops, percussion hits, and loops as well as dozens of effects that are fully customizable with signal chains that can be hot-swapped. The GUI includes some of their proprietary XY Mixer, and Morph and Step Animator utilities so you can create compositions that are entirely unique. It runs on Kontakt 5.8.1 or higher. The intro pricing of $90 is pretty good, too.

• More information and pricing

Lostin70s Hanon B70

The Hammond B3 might be the most famous organ of all time, and this recreation has all the core elements you need for that classic sound. One of these is the Leslie cabinet that amplifies the sound, and this plug-in features a recreation of the Leslie 122. This includes the tube preamp/power amp sections as well as the rotors that power its spin.

The Hanon B70 emulates the physics of the instrument with great detail, including adjustable key clicks as well as the tonewheels. This includes percussion levels, harmonics, and note decay. It’s also easy to switch between slow and fast Leslie speeds. The B70 also has reverb, chorus, and vibrato built-in. The samples are compatible with Windows and Mac at every sample rate. As donationware it’s free to download and if you like what you hear, feel free to help out the

• More information and pricing

ADSR Sounds  – RISE Analogue Chill

 

Analogue Chill is all about adding texture to your productions. All you need to create entire productions in a variety of genres, the pack includes a variety of loops including synth, percussion, bass, and drums as well as a large number of drum hits. ADSR Sounds managed to fit these 350 files into a total of just 606MB. The only caveat is that it requires Native Instruments MassiveX to run.

• More information and pricing

Eplex7 DSP Psytrance SFX Bombs 1

SFX Bombs is a unique bank of multi-ocatve/multi-sampled sounds that allows for the creation of a psychedelic symphony straight out of a science fiction movie. This includes lasers, explosions, and bombs. It can be run as a standard plug-in or as an expansion set to the free Eplex7 player or with the company’s other virtual instruments. The 10 multi-octave banks can be played in polyphonic, monophonic, or legato with glide modes. With its integration into the Eplex7 software you can use external plug-ins to further enhance the sounds.

Sound parameters that can be controlled include the depth and rate of the LFO, velocity, and the entire ADSR curve of the envelope. There are high and low pass filters with adjustable cutoff as well as pan, volume, and reverb.

It comes in under 100MB running in VSTi, AU, VST 64/32-bit formats and utilizes a special kind of operation that reduces RAM and processor usage. You’ve probably never heard anything like this sample pack. Psychadelic indeed. And the price of only a few Euros may entice the more adventurous among you.

• More information and pricing

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