I Just switched from FL to Bitwig.. I freaking love Bitwig. But FL is still in my routine. It's crazy because I've been on FL since Fruity Loops 3.. like 04 and Pro Tools 2.5 like 02-03 era. The Piano Roll expressions in Bitwig and the Modular racks right in the Work Flow was my reason for Going to Bitwig.and you're right. Learning the stuff behind Bitwig is not a chore at all. It's legit nice.
Bitwig is an amazing daw and has so many tool to add to our workflow. That being said, I still use FL and Pro tools depending on what km working on. Having all three daws is having access to a looooot of great tools.
Hey folks, loooong time FL user here, think I started in 2000. Have used Ableton but never liked it enough to switch. My main question for y'all that have switched to Bitwig are as follows: 1) is modulation easier / more intuitive 2) is recording easier (I have to always do everything in Edison, it's not a horrible workflow but I wish for something easier) 3) is the Grid all its hyped up to be? Love Reaktor, use Patcher all the time in FL for complex midi routings involving plugins with external gear etc Thanks in advance if you share thoughts on any of the above
@adamwetterhan Modulation works like a Charm. You have a Rack per Channel that you can place FX... LFOs... etc..etc... it's as if FL had a Patcher built into every bus. Not as Dynamic as Patcher though. But it's right there in Your workflow. More like if you had a quick Modular option in every FX slot in your Bus. And its parameters are simple and easy. As for Piano Roll though, I like everything about FL's better except the MPE support and editing in Bitwig. So if you like playing the keys and have things Roli and Osmose to work with it is simple and plug and go. And you can record Midi with the MPE information right into it. And it's editable. Furthermore, you can still create MPE expressions on any MIDI without having an MPE controller. Which right now might just really excite synth nerds like me, and sound designers more. But if Plug-ins start adding more MPE capabilities like Serum then it will be amazing. Or if like on an Arranger or Workstations, we can get some VSTs or CLAPS with physical modeling instruments then even better. But until then It still might only Be Novelty for the average Producer or Engineer. As for recording. FL is better. That's all there is to it. I remember when I used other programs to record instead of FL. But now I'll still keep FL for recording. And for Srock plug-ins FL has some ones that on the surface may be seem nicer. But for me, Bitwig's plug-ins are better and more practical to the workflow in general. Simple names and simple actions still clean high sample rates and everyone can have any of its parameters linked again to any modulation control you want. Like working with Serum or Phase Plant. Also, those same options can be used with third-party plug-ins as well.
@@emim_thinks thank you for the very thorough response. I'll have to try a demo and, maybe, just maybe, they could get me someday with a deal. The workflow looks Ableton-ish (I understand some of the Bitwig team originated from Ableton). If you say recording is easier in FL I'll probably stay there for now. Very interesting about the incorporation of MPE. I do have a hydrasynth desktop and have thought of using it as a controller since the pads are so nice. It would be interesting to draw / program in MPE events too. I believe Newfangled Audio Generate and Pigments also take MPE
@adamwetterhan Yeah, I mess Pigments. I'm just waiting for Twin 3 to add MPE support and I'll be happy. As for Arturia. I believe most of their Plug-ins have MPE support. I know their Augmented series and their Juno recreations do. Right now even if you do a demo then at least you can mess around with the MPE for a bit. But if you're well versed in Patcher and can speed run or have good presets ready then you might find the Modulation a bit lacking. I just like having it right there in front of me without opening or closing windows. I am still not a Fan of their Playlist-type workflow tho. I too have been on FL too long. I just find that with a mixer board more my pace. And the Piano Roll itself outside of MPE isn't my favorite just because the editing shortcuts aren't the same. If my PC had the Power I would probably attempt to use the FL vsti inside bitwig and work that way.
LOL The timing on this couldn't be better. I literally just made this which two weeks ago. I demoed Bitwig for two days before I was sold. If you're someone who works in the playlist and mixer in FL and don't care for using the channel strip stuff, you have to go through so many work arounds to do stuff. Immediately after using Bitwig for two days I realized that all those things I had to come up with work arounds for just worked intuitively. Want to raise a piece up or down or up an octave? Don't even need to go into the midi editor. Want to make the melody all legato? Don't need to go into the midi editor. Want to copy a melody to a new instrument? Well it's super easy to clone with control c and v, but if you already have the instrument prepared you can copy and paste the clip in the track and it automatically is associated with that instrument. Tired of going back and forth between playlist and mixer tracks? In Bitwig you can manage everything from the bottom and it's super easy to bus track and create sends to your hearts content. You don't even really need a template like FL since everything is intuitive and instant. And the automation.. my god. I used to not use that much automation in FL because it was a pain to input and manage. In Bitwig you get instant access to all of the knobs for a plugin (even on and off switchs) and the automation is super easy to draw in or record. Speaking of recording, Bitwig makes that easier too. I used to put in all the midi in FL because I couldn't be bothered with how recording worked. In Bitwig I don't even have to think about it. By default if you click on a track audio or midi, it's ready to go. Just hit R and rip. For audio it automatically compiles your takes and you can comp it all on the same track. At first, the only negative I found was the midi, but once I figured out how it works even that is better than FL as far as speed and precision. Only problem now is that I have to transfer all my old FL projects to Bitwig which is gonna take awhile. Oh, one more positive! A big one. Plugins don't crash your session. Since they are loaded if a plugin crashes it doesn't affect the project and you can easy reload it. Plugins also automatically update so if you add something new to a VST folder, it's basically there the next time you open Bitwig. Piece of advice: Since you might feel the same way I did about the midi at first. They key to the midi is NOT using the pen like in FL. Use the default pointer and double click the notes in. Took me a few days to figure that out lol. Also control D duplications. Just make sure the thin white lines are in the appropriate range. Some other tips: You can change the name and color of clips in the playlist by selecting multiple ones by holding down ctrl I think and in a range with shift I believe. Another cool thing you might miss is que markers. Under the tome bar where the measure number is listed you can right click and add cue markers. Unlike FL you don't have to go into a separate menu to do this. You can also change the color of them and then if you go to the browser panel on the right and click the speaker icon (project info) you can see all the cues in a list AND you can add little notes for each of them, which is great if you do vocals like myself because you can use them for lyrics. Let me know if there's anything you haven't figure out.
Thank you so much for such a detailed comment! I never really use the channel rack at all, mostly like you said playlist and mixer only. I'm gonna try a lot of the things you mentioned. I feel the same that I didn't use too much automation because of the extra steps it required, only the really important stuff. I'll def reach out if theres some stuff I'm unable to figure out, I appreciate it man!!
No problem. I've got two more awesome tips for ya! 1. Instrument layer If you want to layer multiple synths, in the launch browser type in layer or instrument layer and put that in your instrument track. Then you can add what ever synths or instruments you want in that container and it will automatically layer them. You edit the effects for individual layers or as a whole (blue is individual, white is the whole stack) 2. Chain This is really awesome. I'm still messing around with its potential. Basically anything you put in the chain plugin you can save as a preset and then from the browser you can directly search for and open that preset and all of the plugins in the chain will be opened to their exact settings and everything. This even works with VSTs and the layer plugin I mentioned above. @@jonaudio
- I have used 6 other DAWs After I discovered Bitwig, I regretted all that wasted effort - Bitwig is the most stable of them all - If an 3rd party crashes, it does not crash with it, it just tells you that it crashed - Bitwig is the least loaded on the processor - If you want to insert note effect , no need to rout anything, just throw it in front of the synth - The grid is amazing. You can do anything you can imagine inside it - Everything inside it makes sense . Even the modulation system is very organized - I don't think there is any other DAW competing with Bitwig or even close
@@michaelalexson8359 I tried Reaper for a while The Reaper's model system is very primitive and cannot be compared to Bitwig I wish I could attach a screenshot for comparison, but TH-cam doesn't allow it It also does not have a clip launcher 3d party management is also quite primitive For me there are two types of DAWs 1 - A type that is mainly concerned with helping you mix music together Which is most of DAWs like Reaper 2 - A typ that is primarily concerned with helping you create music These are NOT dividing lines. You will find the first has some mixing tools and the other has some creation tools, but I say as a general characteristic. only two of the second type who are interested in creation Ableton and Bitwig And Bitwig excels in creation by far
I tested so many DAWs, got stuck at Reaper in the end. Think I actually tested at least 90% of those available. I do own Bitwig and Renoise but never use them as I got used to Reaper's workflow. But they are just tools and always choose the one you are really comfortable with.
I know many Professionals switched to Reaper (some of them do mak yt content too) if you really want something cheap,lightweight and stable a good choice, but not easy to get into@@jonaudio
never say it does make things better than others except its damn stable compared to others,cheaper anyway...ugly? with themes it doesnt...and does not look more ugly than logic,pro tools or studio one^^ if I would choose only by pretty looking my choice would be rather dim...specially excel (ableton) I see so many people saying "oh that LOOKS good"...but CAN U WORK with it???? if not choose the one that suits your workflow NOT because it looks pretty @@KidKyroOffical
I´m also thinking in this direction. Is there a way to Midi out from the FL Samplers or step sequencer? I also have trouble with the FL VST Multi out in Bitwig mixer. Just the 1/2 are working. Does anybody use FL as plugin in Bitwig?
So. As a Bitwig Fanatic, you will indeed love the polygrid, and the modulation. Seriously, you can get sounds that can only be made in bitwig, even if you're using a 3rd party plugin because of the modulators and Note Fx. The stock FX plugins are the bomb too, especially the spectral ones. Those fucking RULE! Lastly perhaps the most important to me: the oprrators on the clips and notes. My favorite is the repeaters on the notes. It's akin to slice notes in FL, but you dont need to adjust the quantizing grid, you just dial how many notes you want, and can adjust the in and out and velocity, and BLAM, you get these crazy stuttering sounds, or like the sound of a bouncing ball or something. and this is all non-destructive until you chose to commit them Also, the slicing in Bitwig isn't dependent on the quantizing grid. You can select various divisions in the slice prompt Lastly, the quantizing divisions is NUTS. You can get up to something like 1/1000th notes or something like that. I might be off, as i have no need to go that high. But its bizarre. However, I use Five daws. Actually Six if you count Reason (which I've mostly use as a plugin) I use multiple daws for the same reason why you and I are such soft synth sluts. DAWs are intruments in them selves, and can peovide different results based on their work flow and features. Bitwig, Cubase, Studio one, and Reaper are my main guys. But there are things in FL I'm loving as well. Reason's daw kinda sucks, but i love the synths and midi players
I can't wait to go full 100% into the grid, that is gonna be so much fun! LOL we are 100% soft synth sluts lmao you got that right. It must be a little confusing to memorize all those shortcuts for all those daws id imagine.
I think the grids are overhyped. They are the flagship of Bitwig and people often start using the software because of them, but in the end it is not more than a modular system, and those are slow to use and have a bad cpu performance. It is often just a gimmick to use them. For example if you make ambient streams, like Polarity, it makes sense to use the grid, because it's flashy and stuff, but in a real music making context you just load a stock effect or a plugin to solve a problem if you can, because it's faster and often more geared towards the problem in question. The modulation system also has a few problems that are often not considered before making the purchase. That's why I like to focus just on the excellent routing workflows of Bitwig when I tell people how cool it is. Those are the real deal and actually come into practice
@@BeatsbastelnIt's ardly a gimmic and my performance has never suffered using Bitwig. In fact it's the most stable and best performing of all the DAWs I use (alongside Reaper). Once you get familiar with the grid, you can see it to be very powerful, yet easy to learn modular setup that has a unique flavor because of its filters and modulation system. I was scared of sound designing before I started using it, but now feel more competent in various other synths which now seam simple. I know that VCA and Cherries Audio Voltage are more "authentic" forms of modular synths, but that's why Bitwig's grid rules as it's modern, and you can get an array of more modern sounds. However, I understand if you're just not into using it. That's fine and we're all entitled to our opinions.
@@Beatsbastelndepends on what your goals are. There's plenty of people who only use bitwig for the grid. But most people didn't even go into using bitwig to use the grid
Bitwig's amazing. I've also been an FL Studio user from 1999ish, and finally picked up Bitwig last year with version 5. While i use both now, I mostly reach for Bitwig due to flexibility, integration, and just ease of use. For me, since moving towards a hybrid workflow (hardware/software) it's integration with hardware is unmatched (i.e. audio input/output management, HW Instrument to map MIDI w/ Audio), modulate anything & everything, and then save the whole chain as a preset & load in any project. in FL Studio, that would be saving plugin presets, individual mixer track states, MIDI config - and then hope it all works. I love FL Studio and have a 20+year history with it, but compared to Bitwig, it slows my creative process down.
I switched about a month ago from FL Studio to Bitwig. I only regret not doing it sooner. The reason for my switch was; all in one window, better workflow, crash prevention because of isolated plugin processes, possible to set a negative offset on channels / tracks (for slow instruments). I got so much more than that. Faster load, built in plugins and more. I am not affiliated with Bitwig, just loving it.
I use both FL and Bitwig. Both have thier ups and downs. Bitwig is great for modular jamming and modulation in general. FL is king in terms of visuals and UI friendliness. FL is king when it comes to sampling, the in house instruments are mid compared to what's available nowadays. (PP,Serum,Vital,Avenger ect. )
I am a newb so I’m not going to add much except an algo boost, but I always found all DAWs to be unintuitive and impossible for me until I found Bitwig, and now I know enough to go back and try to learn FL Studio which, again, always used to confuse me. After having gotten comfortable in Bitwig, I find myself spending a lot of time learning FL just to keep up with the joneses and understand FL people’s tutorials better. I’m always blown away by how fast people can work in FL, and no one in the Bitwig community is trying to do that, unless I’m mistaken.
You know what the best part of this video is? The fact that you're sitting around talking about Bitwig with Falcon open. In the words of the mighty luminary, Paris Hilton: "That's Hot."
If you like working in Patcher for FL Studio, Bitwig is basically like a much more extended version of this. You can combine devices in devices to create your own unique instruments and effects. The modulations and containers they provide you extends your creativity beyond limits. Not to mention the Grid, where you can create almost anything. It's a much simpler version of Max for Live, where the average Joe can create anyting such as recreating Serum. I've already sold my friend who is a FL Studio die-hard on it and you won't regret it.
@@roembol That's an interesting concept. Have you considered using the modulators available for the device to modify VST parameters or is there something specific you want to achieve by having VST's in the grid?
@@paradoxic1888 you would be able to easily put effects in parallel and modify parameters with the effects of the signal after the vst. you could technically do most of that kind of stuff without putting a vst in the grid, but that kind of defeats the point of having the grid in the first place, no?
switched from studio one to bitwig because I didn't feel creative in S1 anymore. In bitwig I was struggling to create the same in depth and long track I liked doing in S1 though, so now I'm using Reaper and couldn't be happier. It's fast and very efficient. Automation is a dream and makes up for the loss of modulation as I like a more automation heavy workflow anyway.
Ive been using Bitwig since 2016 and never looked back (i used a bunch of DAW such a FL as well). The only one I still use is Logic sometimes. But let me ask you a question? What made you tey Bitwig when most of the people would probably try Ableton first?
Great question! So I know quite a few people who use ableton and everytime I saw it seemed cool, and when I gave it a try, for some reason I didn't really like it. Not exactly sure why tbh. But when I tried bitwig the first time, I really liked it. And the more I used bitwig the more it grew on me. Strange how that works but yeah.
I was hoping for a litle more detail in comparing features. But I have been using FL for so long I have hard time adapting to a new daw. I tried some this year but I just felt so unnatural to me. So I just upgraded my FL Studio and I have committed. Whatever it is I just don't want to leave the piano roll, the plugins I already use. And now having all of them means I am sticking to it until for some reason I can't use it anymore.
Oh man, I have been back and forth on many DAW's. Played with FL for a while then landed on Cubase because I wanted to record guitars and I liked the flow of it. Up until 3 years ago I became more synth based and started learning some simple sound design. One day I figured I would give Ableton a demo and just fell in love with the work flow of it. The automation was so super easy. It just sang to me and made me feel way more creative. I also gave Bigwig a try and man o man It has everything Ableton has then some. I wished I would have just started with Bitwig and called it a day. Still on Ableton but I may just switch as well after this year. The grid in Bitwig is super fun and complex. What I like most about Bitwig is that it lends it's self to sound design and has so many tools specifically for that. The audio routing is pretty slick as well. I like Ableton's piano roll better than Bitwig's but FL's piano roll is sorely missed.
thats a super interesting daw journey you've had! The grid seems super super fun to just lose yourself in. I do agree with you 100% FLs piano roll will be very very very missed. It's one of FLs best features by far. I do hope bitwig adds some similar features like scale highlighting, chord stamps, and also how FL implements typing to computer keyboard
I went from Logic Pro to Studio One, then got annoyed and moved to Ableton Live despite the look of it. I was thrilled when I found out that Bitwig had a similar layout which I liked, but with so much more flexibility and many improvements over Ableton. Also, as a selling point, they seem to improve it at such a good pace, it's really nice. The contextual popup browser is also such a nice touch! Been with it for almost a year and it seems like I will stick to Bitwig Studio from now on.
Oh wow that's quite the daw journey! I also tried studio one for a little bit and really didn't like it for some reason, so I totally understand that! Bitwig has been amazing, spending time in the grid is a lot of fun!!
Hi I've come from FL waveform. This keeps on crashing FL I can't get my arturia keyboard to work. I have downloaded Bitwig this is fast becoming my favorite DAW. The ease and work flow is amazing. I pull the button this week.
Last year I eventually switched from FL Studio to Bitwig Studio and I don't regret the switch. (And I was using FL Studion since around 2004 as well). I'm not a pro but there are things I really like in Bitwig. As you already mentioned: the modulation system is gorgeous! I'm not so much in "The Grid" so I cannot tell about it. When I wanted to create a "send effect" in FL I had to wire a channel in the mixer and sometimes I made a mistake and it felt strange. In Bitwig I just turn a knob on the channel and it's sent to the desired FX channel. So it's the routing options I didn't liked about FL Studio. But I think it's kind of personal taste. What I'm missing (but not so much) in Bitwig is the automation "generator" of FL Studio. In FL I could create a sine wave automation and adjust the phase and size of the automation. It was nice for "breathing" effects (of a bass or so) without any hassle. But in Bitwig I easily can achieve this behaviour with a standard sine LFO ;-) I'm also missing tools like "NewTone". But as I initially stated: I don't regret the switch.
thats a good point you bring up about the sends, thats one thing I felt was a little strange in FL. I was used to the bussing system in protools and the wires in FL were an odd thing to get used to. And using the sends in bitwig was nice how once you add a send, all tracks receive their own send knob and its literally a twist of a knob. super fast!
@@jonaudioYes, exactly. I also didn't like the LFOs of FL Studio. They feel also a bit strange because they're combined with a limiter. It's not what I expect to be an LFO.
I have never tried FL Studio so cannot comment on what its like. I use Ableton exclusively on desktop just because I started with it (Lite version) and have never had a moment where I couldn't do something quickly. I probably only use 30% of the features so I doubt I will ever change. I do use Cubabsis 3.6 on my iPad though.
I have been considering BW for some time and I just started playing around with it. In the last few years I have been programming almost all my drums as samples in the playlist, gives me so much control to change every individual hit in subtle and not so subtle way, I have hardly programmed them in channel at all. Just a little poking around has convinced me BW will completely change how I do this for the better. Now I just have to deal with the guilt of cheating on my main DAW of 12 years. Not even joking it kinda hurts. FL will never fully leave me though. (Also realizing having the main cursor tools bound to the number keys just makes sense, I hardly even had to learn them despite B-P-E-C being very well burned in my memory.)
Totally know what you're feeling there. I would say though that if you do pick up bitwig, doesn't mean you completely stop using FL. I personally use bitwig, FL and pro tools depending on what I'm wanting to accomplish. They are all great tools to have. I see it in a way I see synthesizers, I absolutely love Avenger 2 but I also use Diva, Repro, pigments etc.. Depending on what I'm working on. Bitwig should be an addition to your tool box, not necessarily a replacement ya know?
i never switch tools from my tool box i often buy a new tool and learn how and when to use it. its not one tool and throw the others away. its the same with DAWs. i use bitwig logic pro and ableton live. mostly bitwig these days but the other have things that work on certain projects and certain parts of a project. you can transfer files and audio between projects or use one for mastering over another. if your awesome of a daw and start to use another its always great to keep this in mind. way less frustrating and actually adds and opens up certain possibilites without loosing the older more familar possibilites. this is how i work and some of my friends. Its not 1 or throw the other away. this is a lot more lberating and alot less stressful way to approach things
That's a great way to look at it. I still use FL for tools it has that I use, same for Pro tools, and the stand alone rx. Generally I keep my tools and use them when needed. As for my main daw thar I do most of my tracks and session work in has shifted to bitwig
Yeah I switched from Cubase to Bitwig. One thing you'll notice to be an absolute game changer is the MIDI routing workflow. FL Studio has the most terrible workflow imaginable for routing MIDI into a VST plugin. It essentially discourages its users from ever attempting to do that. I have a friend who's good at FL but he didn't know how it works immediatly, because it's so convoluted that the software never made him even try that. Even Cubase' MIDI routing workflow is not the best, but when you use Bitwig, it is just fantastic. MIDI is simply being passed on through the chain, from plugin to plugin and if you want different MIDI in the middle of the chain you just add a note receiver. It makes you slap these little fuckers every-fucking-where you can. It is so great! You will love it
Yeah, i switch between Logic pro and Bitwig. I used Logic pro but it just feels dated, cluttered and it crashed so frequently i gave up. Tested a few DAWs. Tried FL studio because it is a good deal. But boy oh boy FL was so clunky and unintuitive for me. Then i tried Bitwig and it was so good! Never crashes, since it got plugin sandboxing. It's a sound designers playground with all the modular capabilities and CLAP support. It feels fresh and inspiritaional. However nothing is perfect but its the DAW i like the most.
Thats interesting to know about logic. I used logic a long time ago, I think it was version 9? It was the version right before logic X launched. It was cool but a bummer that its not cross platform. You're right about bitwig though, it feels super inspirational!
I was looking for a new DAW too. I heard of Bitwig ages ago. But U-he and Bitwig's innovation of CLAP along with Bitwig's sick GUI (visual feedback) and its sound design and common sense UI and UI scaling, I think I'm gonna go with Bitwig. It's like Reason and FL Studio combined judging from what I have seen so far.
100%! It's a really great daw. It hasn't crashed on me one and I've used it literally every day since I've switched over. After you smooth out all the rough patches of switching daws, it's really really nice. Everything is where you'd expect it to be. It's a very straight forward and powerful daw.
I mainly work on Cubase but use Fl Studio too and Reason. Not so much Reaper. Bitwig have great modulation option but you have same with vst too. I love Cubase and I don't gonna switch permanently do another DAW
From Ableton standard 11 to Bitwig. It is so super cool. I am only a basic user nothing too fancy. I will next try to create a work flow with falcon. It's also amazing but I feel overwhelmed every time I boot it up. I tinker with it and grabbed the odd sound. It feel like Bitwig is my fridnd but Falcon is not quit yet.....
Yeah falcon takes a while to start feeling comfortable in. If start with making some simple patches and slowly start adding things here and there and maxing it a little more complex. Falcons Ms20 filter is really nice! For a while it will feel like the workflow in falcon is kind of a pain to work with, but once you spend more and more time with it, you'll oddly start to like the work flow. At least that's what happened with me
@@jonaudioYes you are correct. I had a rummaged through it again the other day. It's probably the fear that gets in the way. It's got so many cool sounds and I have lots of other UVI stuff as well. I always fear all my unchallenged equipment. I will crack on with Falcon on my next Trax. I use hardware & some software on every new Trax. Thanks 😊
I use Live,(and Reason for the synths, and Logic if I wanna make a 'song') and love Live for its 'session to arrangement' workflow. Also Max is insane. Bitwig seems to have improved on all of Live's pain points (that browser!), the stock plugins also seem better, everything is MPE ready if thats somewhere you want to go. The grid seems like a safer version of Max (Max is very powerful, but you gotta spend a lot of time debugging and its timing can totally suck unless you are very savvy / careful). Not sure I wanna spend all the time learning a new DAW myself though, but Bitwig is a totally different beast to FL and could be a blast - especially if your into sound design - Go for it!
Live seems so cool but for some reason I just didn't feel comfortable in it. Mac is indeed insane! I love losing myself in Reaktor so it's def something I enjoy. When I first started playing around in bitwig I instantly loved it!
Been weirding out on FL myself lately. Havent played too often with bitwig but it seems so THERE for sound design, and then there’s the A11 which i cant see a better option for live jamming and outboard sync modulation🤷🏻♂️ Wont be doing live anytime soon but have been REALLY enjoying design, PLUS i think bitwig is only $299 for a little bit dunno when it’ll go back to 4 but yeh🤔 dont tell mom😁🤣😂
100% agree!! it seems like a daw that's very modern and geared towards sound design which is really cool!! And the manual is so well written that its quite fun reading through it haha
As a bitwig user... the biggest reason i stay is sound design. Its so easy and fun to make insteresting sounds with nothing but bitwig native devices. I have saved so much money on VSTs because i dont buy them anymore. I used to look for the next big thing VST wise and they were always $200+ for high quality. Meanwhile i can do more than the VSTs can offer with Bitwig alone. Cant see myself using any other DAW.
That's true, or at least partially true...and since the MSEG is here, it makes a lot of plugins obsolete. For example you can pretty much make all the ShaperBox devices from CableGuys yourself. All the VST like Nexus are just not necessary anymore. Last time I was looking at the bundle from Output...I ended up only with one because you could make all the rest in Bitwig. However, Bitwig is very specific and in my opinion, it can't replace a suite of VST like Komplete by Native Instruments. But just like you I'm more cautious before buying a plugins and look if Bitwig doesn't have it or if I can build it.
I'm actually quite happy with FL Studio. However, I'm thinking about experimenting with a Linux based environment. Bitwig came on my radar since it is compatible with Linux. However, I'm a guitarist, and I like to dabble with genres that I can track guitars with. I like synths (I even enjoy making patches for them, but I wouldn't call myself a power-user), I LOVE orchestra sounds (however, I also like it when synthesizers can become orchestral stand-ins like Vangelis stuff), and my drum needs are mostly acoustic drumkits that I can compose tracks for (I currently use FL STudio's FPC as a poor man's EZDrummer). My genre needs are mostly metal/rock and even hybrid-cinenatic sounding stuff (My dream gig would probably be scoring an rpg with orchestral and rock/metal tunes thrown in for good measure). I'm actually thinking that I should pass on Bitwig since I'm almost too dad-rock for this new super-EDM sandbox. Change my mind?
Bitwig can handle all of that you mentioned. It's just the daw, the music and creativity is what you bring to the table. I'd suggest to give it a try. It's a really nice daw, and smooth to use
@@jonaudio Thanks for the feedback. Thanks to you and a few others, I decided to go for it. I wanted to make the decision in time to take advantage of the 50% off 10th Anniversary Sale. So, now I have it loaded up in a hand-me-down PC via AV Linux. The ship had sailed and I'm happy to be aboard.
1. Yes, the grid is absolutely amazing. Keep in mind that it’s quite different from VCV and the like, and that larger patches are very CPU-hungry, since the grid apparently runs at sample rate. I’ve built generative sequencers which I’m rather proud of, but they can kill the CPU. (I hear so can VCV, but I don’t know.) 2. Unlike FL Studio, if you allow, Bitwig is incredibly consistent in its design, doesn’t really feel as it has grown by accretion. In some ways it may mean that it’s simpler, but it’s also easy to learn. You will find that features and their placement in the UI are quite predictable, which - my personal opinion - could not ever be said about FL ?? 3. The plentiful modulators and MIDI FX. I think they’re killer, I no longer even care how many built-in LFOs a plugin has, and assigning modulations to third-party VSTs is very quick. 4. The grid and the all these other devices do let you replace a lot of third-party plugins, that’s often been said and in my experience it’s true. If you’re familiar with Orbitron, for instance, Bitwig has that built in, as an XY pad for instruments and another one for FX. Or you can build a better one in the grid. AudioThing’s Noises - build one yourself easily. Arturia’s EFX Refract - same. And so on. Other than that, you need to find out if the worklflow suits you. It's very, very different from FL - but I couldn't get used to FL, which is why I switched. Since you've been with FL for so long, and I guess you liked it :-) this may be an issue.
I’m not gonna say that you’re lying to say you had FL for a long time but I can definitely say you don’t know that much about it. actually the cool thing about FL Studio is its automation! you can automate anything and any knob or any oscillation knob with just one click, you don’t need to move on top of your playlist to select an automation you can just right click on anything and select automation, if its a 3rd party vst just browse the parameters. and you can definitely hide the clip!! , just hold the left click and drag up your automation clip and hit your clip on playlist it gets hidden you can link and hide as many clips as you want as a group, the cool thing about automation in fl is that you can target multiple knobs to do different things even inverted snd hundred other ways and link it just to one simple automation clip running on your playlist , you have more than 20 styles of curves that you can adjust your automation signal , playing around with it always gives you something innovative, so by not knowing your DAW, you’re actually misleading people in this video without knowing it. I suggest you stick around a little more be more pro then do a comparison video, much love
Thanks for taking the time in writing your thoughts. I do know all of that stuff but I rarely if ever use the automation like that. The automation in FL can be very cool and do lots of things, its just not the things I personally use in my workflow. For native plugins, yes you can right click and make an automation clip and that's cool. But I like the fact that in bitwig thats not even a thing. the 'clip' so to speak is already there, the second you move a knob. It's a stretch to say I don't know my daw and suggest my video is misleading when that's not in fact the case. This is my personal experience with the workflows that work best for me and my music. I wouldn't entirely leave FL since there are lots of things I like about it. I'd use both.
Okay.. nothing you typed Is relevant at all to anything other than your feelings. Fact... people have different tastes. And the OP seems to like the Automation of one DAW versus another. Anyone who likes modular racks and the automation control for multiple parameters would find it easier in Bitwig. Because the stuff in Bitwig's main Workflow can only be done through Patcher in FL. And there aren't a lot of options other than the LFO tool stock that is worth the effort for certain styles. Bitwigs entire stock is basically a PhasePlant DAW with Polyphonic Expression Support. Something else FL still hasn't added.
For me and my closest peers FL has always been, and always will be Fruity Loops. I know they did a "KFC" and don't like to be called that anymore, and have made great improvements to the software, but would you still use Magix Music Maker today? Anyways, besides the knocking down of FL Studio, I think any move from it can only improve your sound and skills. Bitwig looks like a proper, "grownups" DAW, and so does Reaper. Good luck if you decide to make the switch! I switched from 4 channel trackers to Reason (way back when it was still Propellerheads) to Logic Pro now-a-days, and found that rethinking my whole template and tracking/sequencing/recording process from scratch in the new software helps immensely.
absolutely! That's one thing I'm excited for. There is that concept where if you change the process you'll change the outcome and I'm very curious what the new outcome will be!
I switched to Bitwig from FL studio. I stay for the modulators. I found myself using a combination of the grid and native devices with modulators to create things I have used in eurorack modular format. Its very flexible. Compared to ableton, Bitwig doesnt crash, like ever. FL crashes all the time for me on OSX. Just randomly. But I was a fl user since Fruityloops so you just deal with it. The only downside to bitwig for me, same as ableton is that there is too much to do so I get lost. I'm wired like this, If I want to lower my sugar intake, I will remove every sugery product from my home. Others would just practice restraint. Bitwig is like a candy factory and I just have to try it all, always. Fl studios gets the job done for me, just keep making the same songs. Bitwig made music fun again, as far as me finishing something, Maybe.... BUT, I've been trying out some weird sound design tricks in FL studio so i might be going back. Plugin thumbnails are the bees knees:) Hope this helps.
I'm currently in the process of switching from Cubase to Studio one. I have worked with Cubase for many years and recently I have noticed a few things that bother me. I also have FL Studio. That's enough.
@@jonaudio Hopefully I can find the right words. Over time, Cubase became too bloated, unstable and resource-hungry for me. S1 somehow works more smoothly. But I'm looking forward to your future journey with Bitwig. Maybe I'll learn something and go to Bitwig.
Thanks dude!! I totally understand what you mean! I think at this point in time I only know a couple people who still use Cubase. But they've been using it for a looooong time and probably don't want to learn something new
I used Ableton for a few weeks a few years ago, I thought it was interesting, but it had a complicated user interface. I think you have a same opinion about ableton as sakura.😂
LOOOOL yeah I couldn't get into ableton either. Something about it just didn't click and felt strange. And if youre making music or sound design, you gotta feel comfortable in the daw you're in ya know?
Ableton and studio 1 is where I started. For many years. Got Bitwig on day 1 but it didn’t become my only DAW till v3 when the modulators came out. Then everything else became unusable to me lol Now its eurorack and bitwig 100%
Interesting take. My journey was Bitwig -> Ableton -> Logic 🧐 I wish I had started in Logic, it would have saved me a ton of money for plugins since the stock stuff is as good as the most expensive premium VSTs.
Since you have a better understanding of DAWs now I'd say you should give the others another try and see how they feel now. That's what I did. And now I'm a Bitwig guy lol
Bitwig all the way. When I started a few years ago, I was certain I would use Live because all the people making the music I wanted to make were using Live. I bought Live 10 maxed-out version (studio?). But, it didn't click with me. It just wasn't intuitive for me the way that Bitwig is (mostly, no DAW is perfect) intuitive for me. As Bitwig has gained new features and devices and capabilities, I'm increasingly happy with my choice. I use about 5% of the capability of Bitwig, but that 5% is excellent. I'm one who believes the best DAW is the one that clicks with you. Or, gives you access to the most projects (Pro Tools might be necessary if you need to import projects from clients).
I kind of felt the same when I tried out ableton. and when I gave bitwig a try it was a world of different, it was almost instantly intuitive. and like you said with the new features and devices it makes the experience amazing!
Im a Bitwig user and i love it, im a newb and enthusiast when it comes to music production, not a pro. Anyway check my last video, its ambient track i produced with Bitwig.
I'm looking forward to your sharing your experience with Bitwig. I'd sum the DAW up in one word: FLEXIBILITY. Modulated modulators modulating modulated modulators... The Grid exposing, for your tweaking pleasure, the modules used to create the built-in tools...or make your own new ones. Signal routing that will take your electrons down the path not taken. Sure I exaggerate but not much. And sure there are some wish list items, but with things like a scale-oriented piano roll option there are workarounds (e.g, th-cam.com/video/HspXCtDVcPg/w-d-xo.html&pp=gAQBiAQB). I highly recommend two Bitwig TH-camrs (you probably know them already): Polarity: th-cam.com/channels/6fkScAhWG63SUSr3D1MI6w.html Matthias Holmgren: th-cam.com/channels/PI1x2iyASeNaeRYVSGXTqA.html As you begin your dive into the Grid, I think you'll enjoy Polarity's work. He has some great videos where he recreates third-party tools using the Grid along with other aspects of Bitwig. Great fun. In fact, he'd make a great interviewee for Harmonic Horizons.
hey Jon,i have FL and studio one,FL is a good DAW for everything beats, and studio one is more of a professional DAW for orchestral music, all the rest,bitwig,pro tools are DAWs for beats,not so much for orchestral compositions, thats why S1 and cubase felt off to you cheers m8
I feel you!! Pro tools just didn't feel creative to me at all, for me its a tool to get recording/editing/mixing done but not really composing ya know? Which is, like you said, why studio one and cubase felt off to me. When I went back to FL many years ago, it finally felt like a creative environment. Bitwig seems almost like a hybrid of that, plus the playground of the grid and modulation system
Used it since v1. Was a fan until version 3.5-4 maybe. The things I like about bitwig is stability and ease of use of grid. The things I don’t like about bitwig, oh boy, get some popcorn it will be looooong. Fine, I’m not going to brag here for hours just want to outline major issues. Developers ain’t listening to users. Countless bugs not addressed for years. Most of new development ignore missing basic functionality and resources rather spent for unnecessary new plugins. Most of new features and plugins are half finished. And very arrogant community who don’t take any constructive criticism and like blind fanboys ready to protect some very weird decisions made by this company. Honestly if I can replace grid Id switch to reaper on the spot. To be honest I already installed reaper and learn it bit by bit. As soon as I find grid replacement bitwig will be binned.
Interesting perspective! thank you for sharing. What I have noticed upon researching it was that lots of people have wanted scale highlighting, which doesn't seem like a difficult feature to add (although I'm not a programmer so I could be very wrong). And people have wanted and requested that for years but it still hasn't been added. I've heard all sorts of reasons why they haven't added, personally I'm not sure why. but yeah hopefully that gets added soon. or even chord stamping would be nice to have as well.
@@jonaudio I even can guess why. Possibly because developers think their midi fx cover this base. Nothing against midi fx, they are great but not the same. I have different question. They were asked about MSEG when v2 was released in 2016. Releasing MSEGs in 2023 and proudly brag about it… too late for me personally. Maybe if I had MSEGs in 2016 I wouldn’t invest time and learn serum and phase plant and all other synths that had MSEGs for years. In 2023 they are bonus but I can live without them.
Oh, but let me add one thing I don’t like about Bitwig. You know how the Kilohearts team is always listening to users, holding chats, explaining their reasons for doing things, discussing what’s coming in new releases? Well, the Bitwig team is like that, but in the Mirror Universe. You never hear anything from them until they push a new release along with the usual „whats new” doc. They reply politely when you file a ticket, but that’s about it. No chatting with the developers on discord, and usually no way of knowing what’s coming by way of bug fixes or additions. If you’d ever like to know the devs hear you, not gonna happen. It’s a brick wall.
That's not true, exactly. They listen to their users in terms of what were hoping to see. Granted... this happened after the whole "spectral suite" disaster. Ever since, they have been really paying attention to what the users want because that's the best business model and it has been paying off. They just earned "DAW of the year" in 2023 after their latest update (5.1). Tech support is pretty good too they get back to you within a few days and really try to resolve the issue while keeping you in the loop.
I Just switched from FL to Bitwig.. I freaking love Bitwig. But FL is still in my routine. It's crazy because I've been on FL since Fruity Loops 3.. like 04 and Pro Tools 2.5 like 02-03 era. The Piano Roll expressions in Bitwig and the Modular racks right in the Work Flow was my reason for Going to Bitwig.and you're right. Learning the stuff behind Bitwig is not a chore at all. It's legit nice.
Bitwig is an amazing daw and has so many tool to add to our workflow. That being said, I still use FL and Pro tools depending on what km working on.
Having all three daws is having access to a looooot of great tools.
Hey folks, loooong time FL user here, think I started in 2000. Have used Ableton but never liked it enough to switch.
My main question for y'all that have switched to Bitwig are as follows:
1) is modulation easier / more intuitive
2) is recording easier (I have to always do everything in Edison, it's not a horrible workflow but I wish for something easier)
3) is the Grid all its hyped up to be? Love Reaktor, use Patcher all the time in FL for complex midi routings involving plugins with external gear etc
Thanks in advance if you share thoughts on any of the above
@adamwetterhan Modulation works like a Charm. You have a Rack per Channel that you can place FX... LFOs... etc..etc... it's as if FL had a Patcher built into every bus. Not as Dynamic as Patcher though. But it's right there in Your workflow. More like if you had a quick Modular option in every FX slot in your Bus. And its parameters are simple and easy. As for Piano Roll though, I like everything about FL's better except the MPE support and editing in Bitwig. So if you like playing the keys and have things Roli and Osmose to work with it is simple and plug and go. And you can record Midi with the MPE information right into it. And it's editable. Furthermore, you can still create MPE expressions on any MIDI without having an MPE controller. Which right now might just really excite synth nerds like me, and sound designers more. But if Plug-ins start adding more MPE capabilities like Serum then it will be amazing. Or if like on an Arranger or Workstations, we can get some VSTs or CLAPS with physical modeling instruments then even better. But until then It still might only Be Novelty for the average Producer or Engineer. As for recording. FL is better. That's all there is to it. I remember when I used other programs to record instead of FL. But now I'll still keep FL for recording. And for Srock plug-ins FL has some ones that on the surface may be seem nicer. But for me, Bitwig's plug-ins are better and more practical to the workflow in general. Simple names and simple actions still clean high sample rates and everyone can have any of its parameters linked again to any modulation control you want. Like working with Serum or Phase Plant. Also, those same options can be used with third-party plug-ins as well.
@@emim_thinks thank you for the very thorough response. I'll have to try a demo and, maybe, just maybe, they could get me someday with a deal. The workflow looks Ableton-ish (I understand some of the Bitwig team originated from Ableton). If you say recording is easier in FL I'll probably stay there for now.
Very interesting about the incorporation of MPE. I do have a hydrasynth desktop and have thought of using it as a controller since the pads are so nice. It would be interesting to draw / program in MPE events too. I believe Newfangled Audio Generate and Pigments also take MPE
@adamwetterhan Yeah, I mess Pigments. I'm just waiting for Twin 3 to add MPE support and I'll be happy. As for Arturia. I believe most of their Plug-ins have MPE support. I know their Augmented series and their Juno recreations do. Right now even if you do a demo then at least you can mess around with the MPE for a bit. But if you're well versed in Patcher and can speed run or have good presets ready then you might find the Modulation a bit lacking. I just like having it right there in front of me without opening or closing windows. I am still not a Fan of their Playlist-type workflow tho. I too have been on FL too long. I just find that with a mixer board more my pace. And the Piano Roll itself outside of MPE isn't my favorite just because the editing shortcuts aren't the same. If my PC had the Power I would probably attempt to use the FL vsti inside bitwig and work that way.
LOL The timing on this couldn't be better.
I literally just made this which two weeks ago. I demoed Bitwig for two days before I was sold. If you're someone who works in the playlist and mixer in FL and don't care for using the channel strip stuff, you have to go through so many work arounds to do stuff. Immediately after using Bitwig for two days I realized that all those things I had to come up with work arounds for just worked intuitively.
Want to raise a piece up or down or up an octave? Don't even need to go into the midi editor.
Want to make the melody all legato? Don't need to go into the midi editor.
Want to copy a melody to a new instrument?
Well it's super easy to clone with control c and v, but if you already have the instrument prepared you can copy and paste the clip in the track and it automatically is associated with that instrument.
Tired of going back and forth between playlist and mixer tracks?
In Bitwig you can manage everything from the bottom and it's super easy to bus track and create sends to your hearts content. You don't even really need a template like FL since everything is intuitive and instant.
And the automation.. my god.
I used to not use that much automation in FL because it was a pain to input and manage.
In Bitwig you get instant access to all of the knobs for a plugin (even on and off switchs) and the automation is super easy to draw in or record.
Speaking of recording, Bitwig makes that easier too.
I used to put in all the midi in FL because I couldn't be bothered with how recording worked.
In Bitwig I don't even have to think about it. By default if you click on a track audio or midi, it's ready to go. Just hit R and rip. For audio it automatically compiles your takes and you can comp it all on the same track.
At first, the only negative I found was the midi, but once I figured out how it works even that is better than FL as far as speed and precision.
Only problem now is that I have to transfer all my old FL projects to Bitwig which is gonna take awhile.
Oh, one more positive! A big one. Plugins don't crash your session. Since they are loaded if a plugin crashes it doesn't affect the project and you can easy reload it. Plugins also automatically update so if you add something new to a VST folder, it's basically there the next time you open Bitwig.
Piece of advice: Since you might feel the same way I did about the midi at first. They key to the midi is NOT using the pen like in FL. Use the default pointer and double click the notes in. Took me a few days to figure that out lol. Also control D duplications. Just make sure the thin white lines are in the appropriate range.
Some other tips: You can change the name and color of clips in the playlist by selecting multiple ones by holding down ctrl I think and in a range with shift I believe.
Another cool thing you might miss is que markers. Under the tome bar where the measure number is listed you can right click and add cue markers. Unlike FL you don't have to go into a separate menu to do this. You can also change the color of them and then if you go to the browser panel on the right and click the speaker icon (project info) you can see all the cues in a list AND you can add little notes for each of them, which is great if you do vocals like myself because you can use them for lyrics.
Let me know if there's anything you haven't figure out.
Thank you so much for such a detailed comment! I never really use the channel rack at all, mostly like you said playlist and mixer only.
I'm gonna try a lot of the things you mentioned.
I feel the same that I didn't use too much automation because of the extra steps it required, only the really important stuff.
I'll def reach out if theres some stuff I'm unable to figure out, I appreciate it man!!
No problem. I've got two more awesome tips for ya!
1. Instrument layer
If you want to layer multiple synths, in the launch browser type in layer or instrument layer and put that in your instrument track. Then you can add what ever synths or instruments you want in that container and it will automatically layer them. You edit the effects for individual layers or as a whole (blue is individual, white is the whole stack)
2. Chain
This is really awesome. I'm still messing around with its potential. Basically anything you put in the chain plugin you can save as a preset and then from the browser you can directly search for and open that preset and all of the plugins in the chain will be opened to their exact settings and everything. This even works with VSTs and the layer plugin I mentioned above.
@@jonaudio
- I have used 6 other DAWs After I discovered Bitwig, I regretted all that wasted effort
- Bitwig is the most stable of them all
- If an 3rd party crashes, it does not crash with it, it just tells you that it crashed
- Bitwig is the least loaded on the processor
- If you want to insert note effect , no need to rout anything, just throw it in front of the synth
- The grid is amazing. You can do anything you can imagine inside it
- Everything inside it makes sense . Even the modulation system is very organized
- I don't think there is any other DAW competing with Bitwig or even close
@@michaelalexson8359
I tried Reaper for a while
The Reaper's model system is very primitive and cannot be compared to Bitwig
I wish I could attach a screenshot for comparison, but TH-cam doesn't allow it
It also does not have a clip launcher
3d party management is also quite primitive
For me there are two types of DAWs
1 - A type that is mainly concerned with helping you mix music together
Which is most of DAWs like Reaper
2 - A typ that is primarily concerned with helping you create music
These are NOT dividing lines. You will find the first has some mixing tools and the other has some creation tools, but I say as a general characteristic.
only two of the second type who are interested in creation
Ableton and Bitwig
And Bitwig excels in creation by far
I tested so many DAWs, got stuck at Reaper in the end. Think I actually tested at least 90% of those available. I do own Bitwig and Renoise but never use them as I got used to Reaper's workflow. But they are just tools and always choose the one you are really comfortable with.
Reaper has really been coming up the last few years. Each year I see more and more people using it and talking about it!
I know many Professionals switched to Reaper (some of them do mak yt content too) if you really want something cheap,lightweight and stable a good choice, but not easy to get into@@jonaudio
Why reaper? I honestly can’t get past how bad it looks. Can you tell me why you like it so much and what you think it does better than other daws?
never say it does make things better than others except its damn stable compared to others,cheaper anyway...ugly? with themes it doesnt...and does not look more ugly than logic,pro tools or studio one^^ if I would choose only by pretty looking my choice would be rather dim...specially excel (ableton) I see so many people saying "oh that LOOKS good"...but CAN U WORK with it???? if not choose the one that suits your workflow NOT because it looks pretty
@@KidKyroOffical
@@daviHuggMonster from what I seen reaper turns you more into a programmer than audio engineer 😅
Using bitwig with FL 's piano roll and sequencer is fun
FLs piano roll is what im gonna miss the most by making the switch
@@jonaudiotrust me it’s not that bad especially if you know theory…for me besides Fl..the best piano rolls is studio ones followed by BITWIG
I´m also thinking in this direction. Is there a way to Midi out from the FL Samplers or step sequencer? I also have trouble with the FL VST Multi out in Bitwig mixer. Just the 1/2 are working. Does anybody use FL as plugin in Bitwig?
So. As a Bitwig Fanatic, you will indeed love the polygrid, and the modulation. Seriously, you can get sounds that can only be made in bitwig, even if you're using a 3rd party plugin because of the modulators and Note Fx. The stock FX plugins are the bomb too, especially the spectral ones. Those fucking RULE! Lastly perhaps the most important to me: the oprrators on the clips and notes. My favorite is the repeaters on the notes. It's akin to slice notes in FL, but you dont need to adjust the quantizing grid, you just dial how many notes you want, and can adjust the in and out and velocity, and BLAM, you get these crazy stuttering sounds, or like the sound of a bouncing ball or something. and this is all non-destructive until you chose to commit them
Also, the slicing in Bitwig isn't dependent on the quantizing grid. You can select various divisions in the slice prompt
Lastly, the quantizing divisions is NUTS. You can get up to something like 1/1000th notes or something like that. I might be off, as i have no need to go that high. But its bizarre.
However, I use Five daws. Actually Six if you count Reason (which I've mostly use as a plugin)
I use multiple daws for the same reason why you and I are such soft synth sluts. DAWs are intruments in them selves, and can peovide different results based on their work flow and features. Bitwig, Cubase, Studio one, and Reaper are my main guys. But there are things in FL I'm loving as well. Reason's daw kinda sucks, but i love the synths and midi players
I can't wait to go full 100% into the grid, that is gonna be so much fun!
LOL we are 100% soft synth sluts lmao you got that right.
It must be a little confusing to memorize all those shortcuts for all those daws id imagine.
I think the grids are overhyped. They are the flagship of Bitwig and people often start using the software because of them, but in the end it is not more than a modular system, and those are slow to use and have a bad cpu performance. It is often just a gimmick to use them. For example if you make ambient streams, like Polarity, it makes sense to use the grid, because it's flashy and stuff, but in a real music making context you just load a stock effect or a plugin to solve a problem if you can, because it's faster and often more geared towards the problem in question. The modulation system also has a few problems that are often not considered before making the purchase. That's why I like to focus just on the excellent routing workflows of Bitwig when I tell people how cool it is. Those are the real deal and actually come into practice
@@BeatsbastelnIt's ardly a gimmic and my performance has never suffered using Bitwig. In fact it's the most stable and best performing of all the DAWs I use (alongside Reaper). Once you get familiar with the grid, you can see it to be very powerful, yet easy to learn modular setup that has a unique flavor because of its filters and modulation system. I was scared of sound designing before I started using it, but now feel more competent in various other synths which now seam simple. I know that VCA and Cherries Audio Voltage are more "authentic" forms of modular synths, but that's why Bitwig's grid rules as it's modern, and you can get an array of more modern sounds. However, I understand if you're just not into using it. That's fine and we're all entitled to our opinions.
@@Beatsbastelndepends on what your goals are. There's plenty of people who only use bitwig for the grid. But most people didn't even go into using bitwig to use the grid
Bitwig's amazing. I've also been an FL Studio user from 1999ish, and finally picked up Bitwig last year with version 5. While i use both now, I mostly reach for Bitwig due to flexibility, integration, and just ease of use. For me, since moving towards a hybrid workflow (hardware/software) it's integration with hardware is unmatched (i.e. audio input/output management, HW Instrument to map MIDI w/ Audio), modulate anything & everything, and then save the whole chain as a preset & load in any project. in FL Studio, that would be saving plugin presets, individual mixer track states, MIDI config - and then hope it all works. I love FL Studio and have a 20+year history with it, but compared to Bitwig, it slows my creative process down.
That just about exactly how I feel at the moment. And I'm sure that once you got comfortable in bitwig, your productivity just shot through the roof!
I love Bitwig, and was introduced to you from the interview you did with Dash Glitch - subbed and looking forward to you Bitwig content going forward
bitwig has been super fun so far!! thanks for joining the channel dude! Very grateful to have you!!
I switched about a month ago from FL Studio to Bitwig. I only regret not doing it sooner. The reason for my switch was; all in one window, better workflow, crash prevention because of isolated plugin processes, possible to set a negative offset on channels / tracks (for slow instruments). I got so much more than that. Faster load, built in plugins and more. I am not affiliated with Bitwig, just loving it.
that's super inspiring to hear!! I'm excited!!
I use both FL and Bitwig. Both have thier ups and downs. Bitwig is great for modular jamming and modulation in general. FL is king in terms of visuals and UI friendliness. FL is king when it comes to sampling, the in house instruments are mid compared to what's available nowadays. (PP,Serum,Vital,Avenger ect. )
Its great to use both daws for their strengths!
I am a newb so I’m not going to add much except an algo boost, but I always found all DAWs to be unintuitive and impossible for me until I found Bitwig, and now I know enough to go back and try to learn FL Studio which, again, always used to confuse me. After having gotten comfortable in Bitwig, I find myself spending a lot of time learning FL just to keep up with the joneses and understand FL people’s tutorials better. I’m always blown away by how fast people can work in FL, and no one in the Bitwig community is trying to do that, unless I’m mistaken.
You know what the best part of this video is? The fact that you're sitting around talking about Bitwig with Falcon open. In the words of the mighty luminary, Paris Hilton: "That's Hot."
Hahaha yeah I love falcon so much. It's the amusement part of sound design in plugin Form lol
I have done exactly this. 2014. I love bitwig but I miss the pianoroll in FL 😂
If you like working in Patcher for FL Studio, Bitwig is basically like a much more extended version of this. You can combine devices in devices to create your own unique instruments and effects. The modulations and containers they provide you extends your creativity beyond limits. Not to mention the Grid, where you can create almost anything. It's a much simpler version of Max for Live, where the average Joe can create anyting such as recreating Serum. I've already sold my friend who is a FL Studio die-hard on it and you won't regret it.
That sounds super exciting!! I can't wait to really dive into the grid and just lose a few days of my life in there lol
One thing that really sucks tho is that you can't use vst plugins in the grid
I wonder if that's something that will change? Thats one thing J like about FLs patcher
@@roembol That's an interesting concept. Have you considered using the modulators available for the device to modify VST parameters or is there something specific you want to achieve by having VST's in the grid?
@@paradoxic1888 you would be able to easily put effects in parallel and modify parameters with the effects of the signal after the vst. you could technically do most of that kind of stuff without putting a vst in the grid, but that kind of defeats the point of having the grid in the first place, no?
switched from studio one to bitwig because I didn't feel creative in S1 anymore. In bitwig I was struggling to create the same in depth and long track I liked doing in S1 though, so now I'm using Reaper and couldn't be happier. It's fast and very efficient. Automation is a dream and makes up for the loss of modulation as I like a more automation heavy workflow anyway.
Ive been using Bitwig since 2016 and never looked back (i used a bunch of DAW such a FL as well). The only one I still use is Logic sometimes. But let me ask you a question? What made you tey Bitwig when most of the people would probably try Ableton first?
Great question! So I know quite a few people who use ableton and everytime I saw it seemed cool, and when I gave it a try, for some reason I didn't really like it. Not exactly sure why tbh. But when I tried bitwig the first time, I really liked it. And the more I used bitwig the more it grew on me. Strange how that works but yeah.
I was hoping for a litle more detail in comparing features. But I have been using FL for so long I have hard time adapting to a new daw. I tried some this year but I just felt so unnatural to me. So I just upgraded my FL Studio and I have committed. Whatever it is I just don't want to leave the piano roll, the plugins I already use. And now having all of them means I am sticking to it until for some reason I can't use it anymore.
Oh man, I have been back and forth on many DAW's. Played with FL for a while then landed on Cubase because I wanted to record guitars and I liked the flow of it. Up until 3 years ago I became more synth based and started learning some simple sound design. One day I figured I would give Ableton a demo and just fell in love with the work flow of it. The automation was so super easy. It just sang to me and made me feel way more creative. I also gave Bigwig a try and man o man It has everything Ableton has then some. I wished I would have just started with Bitwig and called it a day. Still on Ableton but I may just switch as well after this year. The grid in Bitwig is super fun and complex. What I like most about Bitwig is that it lends it's self to sound design and has so many tools specifically for that. The audio routing is pretty slick as well. I like Ableton's piano roll better than Bitwig's but FL's piano roll is sorely missed.
thats a super interesting daw journey you've had! The grid seems super super fun to just lose yourself in. I do agree with you 100% FLs piano roll will be very very very missed. It's one of FLs best features by far. I do hope bitwig adds some similar features like scale highlighting, chord stamps, and also how FL implements typing to computer keyboard
I went from Logic Pro to Studio One, then got annoyed and moved to Ableton Live despite the look of it. I was thrilled when I found out that Bitwig had a similar layout which I liked, but with so much more flexibility and many improvements over Ableton. Also, as a selling point, they seem to improve it at such a good pace, it's really nice. The contextual popup browser is also such a nice touch! Been with it for almost a year and it seems like I will stick to Bitwig Studio from now on.
Oh wow that's quite the daw journey! I also tried studio one for a little bit and really didn't like it for some reason, so I totally understand that! Bitwig has been amazing, spending time in the grid is a lot of fun!!
Hi I've come from FL waveform. This keeps on crashing FL I can't get my arturia keyboard to work. I have downloaded Bitwig this is fast becoming my
favorite DAW. The ease and work flow is amazing. I pull the button this week.
Hey Jon
Funny thing is I have eight track Bit wig I just started using it. I’m trying to make the transition away from GarageBand.
my man!! Let's make the switch together and become grid wizards lol
@@jonaudio yeah I just came from GarageBand so I literally know nothing about a real DAW
how to do send, and buses 🤔
It's gonna be a super rewarding journey for you my man!!
Last year I eventually switched from FL Studio to Bitwig Studio and I don't regret the switch. (And I was using FL Studion since around 2004 as well).
I'm not a pro but there are things I really like in Bitwig. As you already mentioned: the modulation system is gorgeous! I'm not so much in "The Grid" so I cannot tell about it.
When I wanted to create a "send effect" in FL I had to wire a channel in the mixer and sometimes I made a mistake and it felt strange. In Bitwig I just turn a knob on the channel and it's sent to the desired FX channel. So it's the routing options I didn't liked about FL Studio. But I think it's kind of personal taste.
What I'm missing (but not so much) in Bitwig is the automation "generator" of FL Studio. In FL I could create a sine wave automation and adjust the phase and size of the automation. It was nice for "breathing" effects (of a bass or so) without any hassle. But in Bitwig I easily can achieve this behaviour with a standard sine LFO ;-)
I'm also missing tools like "NewTone". But as I initially stated: I don't regret the switch.
thats a good point you bring up about the sends, thats one thing I felt was a little strange in FL. I was used to the bussing system in protools and the wires in FL were an odd thing to get used to. And using the sends in bitwig was nice how once you add a send, all tracks receive their own send knob and its literally a twist of a knob. super fast!
@@jonaudioYes, exactly. I also didn't like the LFOs of FL Studio. They feel also a bit strange because they're combined with a limiter. It's not what I expect to be an LFO.
I have never tried FL Studio so cannot comment on what its like. I use Ableton exclusively on desktop just because I started with it (Lite version) and have never had a moment where I couldn't do something quickly. I probably only use 30% of the features so I doubt I will ever change. I do use Cubabsis 3.6 on my iPad though.
The automation system is so intuitive in ableton/bitwig and thats such an important thing!
I switched from Fruity Loops to Ableton Live. I wish I'd done it sooner.
I know the feeling haha
Switched from Logic to Bitwig, yeah the workflow and modulation in the wig is 🔥
its soooo good. I fallen in love with bitwig
I have been considering BW for some time and I just started playing around with it. In the last few years I have been programming almost all my drums as samples in the playlist, gives me so much control to change every individual hit in subtle and not so subtle way, I have hardly programmed them in channel at all. Just a little poking around has convinced me BW will completely change how I do this for the better. Now I just have to deal with the guilt of cheating on my main DAW of 12 years. Not even joking it kinda hurts. FL will never fully leave me though. (Also realizing having the main cursor tools bound to the number keys just makes sense, I hardly even had to learn them despite B-P-E-C being very well burned in my memory.)
Totally know what you're feeling there. I would say though that if you do pick up bitwig, doesn't mean you completely stop using FL.
I personally use bitwig, FL and pro tools depending on what I'm wanting to accomplish. They are all great tools to have.
I see it in a way I see synthesizers, I absolutely love Avenger 2 but I also use Diva, Repro, pigments etc.. Depending on what I'm working on.
Bitwig should be an addition to your tool box, not necessarily a replacement ya know?
i never switch tools from my tool box i often buy a new tool and learn how and when to use it. its not one tool and throw the others away. its the same with DAWs. i use bitwig logic pro and ableton live. mostly bitwig these days but the other have things that work on certain projects and certain parts of a project. you can transfer files and audio between projects or use one for mastering over another. if your awesome of a daw and start to use another its always great to keep this in mind. way less frustrating and actually adds and opens up certain possibilites without loosing the older more familar possibilites. this is how i work and some of my friends. Its not 1 or throw the other away. this is a lot more lberating and alot less stressful way to approach things
That's a great way to look at it. I still use FL for tools it has that I use, same for Pro tools, and the stand alone rx. Generally I keep my tools and use them when needed. As for my main daw thar I do most of my tracks and session work in has shifted to bitwig
Yeah I switched from Cubase to Bitwig. One thing you'll notice to be an absolute game changer is the MIDI routing workflow. FL Studio has the most terrible workflow imaginable for routing MIDI into a VST plugin. It essentially discourages its users from ever attempting to do that. I have a friend who's good at FL but he didn't know how it works immediatly, because it's so convoluted that the software never made him even try that. Even Cubase' MIDI routing workflow is not the best, but when you use Bitwig, it is just fantastic. MIDI is simply being passed on through the chain, from plugin to plugin and if you want different MIDI in the middle of the chain you just add a note receiver. It makes you slap these little fuckers every-fucking-where you can. It is so great! You will love it
I use Ableton and FL but I gonna test Bitwig very soon
I'm super curious what you're gonna think of bitwig when you try it!!
I switched four or five years ago and haven't looked back. Bitwig Rocks!!
I've been having a great time in bitwig so far!! such a cool daw
Yeah, i switch between Logic pro and Bitwig. I used Logic pro but it just feels dated, cluttered and it crashed so frequently i gave up.
Tested a few DAWs. Tried FL studio because it is a good deal. But boy oh boy FL was so clunky and unintuitive for me.
Then i tried Bitwig and it was so good! Never crashes, since it got plugin sandboxing. It's a sound designers playground with all the modular capabilities and CLAP support.
It feels fresh and inspiritaional. However nothing is perfect but its the DAW i like the most.
Thats interesting to know about logic. I used logic a long time ago, I think it was version 9? It was the version right before logic X launched. It was cool but a bummer that its not cross platform.
You're right about bitwig though, it feels super inspirational!
I was looking for a new DAW too. I heard of Bitwig ages ago. But U-he and Bitwig's innovation of CLAP along with Bitwig's sick GUI (visual feedback) and its sound design and common sense UI and UI scaling, I think I'm gonna go with Bitwig. It's like Reason and FL Studio combined judging from what I have seen so far.
100%! It's a really great daw. It hasn't crashed on me one and I've used it literally every day since I've switched over. After you smooth out all the rough patches of switching daws, it's really really nice. Everything is where you'd expect it to be. It's a very straight forward and powerful daw.
I mainly work on Cubase but use Fl Studio too and Reason. Not so much Reaper. Bitwig have great modulation option but you have same with vst too. I love Cubase and I don't gonna switch permanently do another DAW
Yeah man the modulation in bitwig is just insane!
From Ableton standard 11 to Bitwig. It is so super cool. I am only a basic user nothing too fancy.
I will next try to create a work flow with falcon. It's also amazing but I feel overwhelmed every time I boot it up. I tinker with it and grabbed the odd sound. It feel like Bitwig is my fridnd but Falcon is not quit yet.....
Yeah falcon takes a while to start feeling comfortable in. If start with making some simple patches and slowly start adding things here and there and maxing it a little more complex. Falcons Ms20 filter is really nice!
For a while it will feel like the workflow in falcon is kind of a pain to work with, but once you spend more and more time with it, you'll oddly start to like the work flow. At least that's what happened with me
@@jonaudioYes you are correct. I had a rummaged through it again the other day. It's probably the fear that gets in the way. It's got so many cool sounds and I have lots of other UVI stuff as well.
I always fear all my unchallenged equipment.
I will crack on with Falcon on my next Trax. I use hardware & some software on every new Trax.
Thanks 😊
I use Live,(and Reason for the synths, and Logic if I wanna make a 'song') and love Live for its 'session to arrangement' workflow. Also Max is insane. Bitwig seems to have improved on all of Live's pain points (that browser!), the stock plugins also seem better, everything is MPE ready if thats somewhere you want to go. The grid seems like a safer version of Max (Max is very powerful, but you gotta spend a lot of time debugging and its timing can totally suck unless you are very savvy / careful). Not sure I wanna spend all the time learning a new DAW myself though, but Bitwig is a totally different beast to FL and could be a blast - especially if your into sound design - Go for it!
Live seems so cool but for some reason I just didn't feel comfortable in it. Mac is indeed insane! I love losing myself in Reaktor so it's def something I enjoy.
When I first started playing around in bitwig I instantly loved it!
@@jonaudio If you love learning it I’m pretty sure you’ll love using it even more :-)
Been weirding out on FL myself lately. Havent played too often with bitwig but it seems so THERE for sound design, and then there’s the A11 which i cant see a better option for live jamming and outboard sync modulation🤷🏻♂️ Wont be doing live anytime soon but have been REALLY enjoying design, PLUS i think bitwig is only $299 for a little bit dunno when it’ll go back to 4 but yeh🤔 dont tell mom😁🤣😂
o, think id use both in tandom for now since i only recently got the full boat of FL. unless bitwig makes what i learned obsolete dunno we/ll see
100% agree!! it seems like a daw that's very modern and geared towards sound design which is really cool!! And the manual is so well written that its quite fun reading through it haha
As a bitwig user... the biggest reason i stay is sound design. Its so easy and fun to make insteresting sounds with nothing but bitwig native devices. I have saved so much money on VSTs because i dont buy them anymore. I used to look for the next big thing VST wise and they were always $200+ for high quality. Meanwhile i can do more than the VSTs can offer with Bitwig alone. Cant see myself using any other DAW.
That's true, or at least partially true...and since the MSEG is here, it makes a lot of plugins obsolete. For example you can pretty much make all the ShaperBox devices from CableGuys yourself.
All the VST like Nexus are just not necessary anymore.
Last time I was looking at the bundle from Output...I ended up only with one because you could make all the rest in Bitwig.
However, Bitwig is very specific and in my opinion, it can't replace a suite of VST like Komplete by Native Instruments.
But just like you I'm more cautious before buying a plugins and look if Bitwig doesn't have it or if I can build it.
I recomend Bitwig over Ableton anyway! Far more stable and cheaper too
I'm actually quite happy with FL Studio. However, I'm thinking about experimenting with a Linux based environment. Bitwig came on my radar since it is compatible with Linux. However, I'm a guitarist, and I like to dabble with genres that I can track guitars with. I like synths (I even enjoy making patches for them, but I wouldn't call myself a power-user), I LOVE orchestra sounds (however, I also like it when synthesizers can become orchestral stand-ins like Vangelis stuff), and my drum needs are mostly acoustic drumkits that I can compose tracks for (I currently use FL STudio's FPC as a poor man's EZDrummer). My genre needs are mostly metal/rock and even hybrid-cinenatic sounding stuff (My dream gig would probably be scoring an rpg with orchestral and rock/metal tunes thrown in for good measure).
I'm actually thinking that I should pass on Bitwig since I'm almost too dad-rock for this new super-EDM sandbox. Change my mind?
Bitwig can handle all of that you mentioned. It's just the daw, the music and creativity is what you bring to the table. I'd suggest to give it a try. It's a really nice daw, and smooth to use
@@jonaudio Thanks for the feedback. Thanks to you and a few others, I decided to go for it. I wanted to make the decision in time to take advantage of the 50% off 10th Anniversary Sale. So, now I have it loaded up in a hand-me-down PC via AV Linux. The ship had sailed and I'm happy to be aboard.
1. Yes, the grid is absolutely amazing. Keep in mind that it’s quite different from VCV and the like, and that larger patches are very CPU-hungry, since the grid apparently runs at sample rate. I’ve built generative sequencers which I’m rather proud of, but they can kill the CPU. (I hear so can VCV, but I don’t know.)
2. Unlike FL Studio, if you allow, Bitwig is incredibly consistent in its design, doesn’t really feel as it has grown by accretion. In some ways it may mean that it’s simpler, but it’s also easy to learn. You will find that features and their placement in the UI are quite predictable, which - my personal opinion - could not ever be said about FL ??
3. The plentiful modulators and MIDI FX. I think they’re killer, I no longer even care how many built-in LFOs a plugin has, and assigning modulations to third-party VSTs is very quick.
4. The grid and the all these other devices do let you replace a lot of third-party plugins, that’s often been said and in my experience it’s true. If you’re familiar with Orbitron, for instance, Bitwig has that built in, as an XY pad for instruments and another one for FX. Or you can build a better one in the grid. AudioThing’s Noises - build one yourself easily. Arturia’s EFX Refract - same. And so on.
Other than that, you need to find out if the worklflow suits you. It's very, very different from FL - but I couldn't get used to FL, which is why I switched. Since you've been with FL for so long, and I guess you liked it :-) this may be an issue.
I’m not gonna say that you’re lying to say you had FL for a long time but I can definitely say you don’t know that much about it. actually the cool thing about FL Studio is its automation! you can automate anything and any knob or any oscillation knob with just one click, you don’t need to move on top of your playlist to select an automation you can just right click on anything and select automation, if its a 3rd party vst just browse the parameters. and you can definitely hide the clip!! , just hold the left click and drag up your automation clip and hit your clip on playlist it gets hidden you can link and hide as many clips as you want as a group, the cool thing about automation in fl is that you can target multiple knobs to do different things even inverted snd hundred other ways and link it just to one simple automation clip running on your playlist , you have more than 20 styles of curves that you can adjust your automation signal , playing around with it always gives you something innovative, so by not knowing your DAW, you’re actually misleading people in this video without knowing it. I suggest you stick around a little more be more pro then do a comparison video, much love
Thanks for taking the time in writing your thoughts. I do know all of that stuff but I rarely if ever use the automation like that. The automation in FL can be very cool and do lots of things, its just not the things I personally use in my workflow.
For native plugins, yes you can right click and make an automation clip and that's cool. But I like the fact that in bitwig thats not even a thing. the 'clip' so to speak is already there, the second you move a knob.
It's a stretch to say I don't know my daw and suggest my video is misleading when that's not in fact the case. This is my personal experience with the workflows that work best for me and my music.
I wouldn't entirely leave FL since there are lots of things I like about it. I'd use both.
Okay.. nothing you typed Is relevant at all to anything other than your feelings. Fact... people have different tastes. And the OP seems to like the Automation of one DAW versus another. Anyone who likes modular racks and the automation control for multiple parameters would find it easier in Bitwig. Because the stuff in Bitwig's main Workflow can only be done through Patcher in FL. And there aren't a lot of options other than the LFO tool stock that is worth the effort for certain styles. Bitwigs entire stock is basically a PhasePlant DAW with Polyphonic Expression Support. Something else FL still hasn't added.
For me and my closest peers FL has always been, and always will be Fruity Loops. I know they did a "KFC" and don't like to be called that anymore, and have made great improvements to the software, but would you still use Magix Music Maker today? Anyways, besides the knocking down of FL Studio, I think any move from it can only improve your sound and skills. Bitwig looks like a proper, "grownups" DAW, and so does Reaper. Good luck if you decide to make the switch! I switched from 4 channel trackers to Reason (way back when it was still Propellerheads) to Logic Pro now-a-days, and found that rethinking my whole template and tracking/sequencing/recording process from scratch in the new software helps immensely.
absolutely! That's one thing I'm excited for. There is that concept where if you change the process you'll change the outcome and I'm very curious what the new outcome will be!
I switched to Bitwig from FL studio. I stay for the modulators. I found myself using a combination of the grid and native devices with modulators to create things I have used in eurorack modular format. Its very flexible. Compared to ableton, Bitwig doesnt crash, like ever. FL crashes all the time for me on OSX. Just randomly. But I was a fl user since Fruityloops so you just deal with it. The only downside to bitwig for me, same as ableton is that there is too much to do so I get lost. I'm wired like this, If I want to lower my sugar intake, I will remove every sugery product from my home. Others would just practice restraint. Bitwig is like a candy factory and I just have to try it all, always. Fl studios gets the job done for me, just keep making the same songs. Bitwig made music fun again, as far as me finishing something, Maybe.... BUT, I've been trying out some weird sound design tricks in FL studio so i might be going back. Plugin thumbnails are the bees knees:) Hope this helps.
I'm currently in the process of switching from Cubase to Studio one. I have worked with Cubase for many years and recently I have noticed a few things that bother me. I also have FL Studio. That's enough.
What made you go with studio one?
@@jonaudio Hopefully I can find the right words. Over time, Cubase became too bloated, unstable and resource-hungry for me. S1 somehow works more smoothly. But I'm looking forward to your future journey with Bitwig. Maybe I'll learn something and go to Bitwig.
Thanks dude!!
I totally understand what you mean! I think at this point in time I only know a couple people who still use Cubase. But they've been using it for a looooong time and probably don't want to learn something new
I used Ableton for a few weeks a few years ago, I thought it was interesting, but it had a complicated user interface. I think you have a same opinion about ableton as sakura.😂
LOOOOL yeah I couldn't get into ableton either. Something about it just didn't click and felt strange. And if youre making music or sound design, you gotta feel comfortable in the daw you're in ya know?
What is bitwig ?
Ableton and studio 1 is where I started. For many years.
Got Bitwig on day 1 but it didn’t become my only DAW till v3 when the modulators came out. Then everything else became unusable to me lol
Now its eurorack and bitwig 100%
Modulators were available since v1. Do you mean the Grid? That was the big release of v3.
Interesting take. My journey was Bitwig -> Ableton -> Logic 🧐 I wish I had started in Logic, it would have saved me a ton of money for plugins since the stock stuff is as good as the most expensive premium VSTs.
Since you have a better understanding of DAWs now I'd say you should give the others another try and see how they feel now. That's what I did. And now I'm a Bitwig guy lol
I switched from Fruity Loops to FL Studio. Everything else to the trash 🗑️
Bitwig all the way. When I started a few years ago, I was certain I would use Live because all the people making the music I wanted to make were using Live. I bought Live 10 maxed-out version (studio?). But, it didn't click with me. It just wasn't intuitive for me the way that Bitwig is (mostly, no DAW is perfect) intuitive for me. As Bitwig has gained new features and devices and capabilities, I'm increasingly happy with my choice. I use about 5% of the capability of Bitwig, but that 5% is excellent. I'm one who believes the best DAW is the one that clicks with you. Or, gives you access to the most projects (Pro Tools might be necessary if you need to import projects from clients).
I kind of felt the same when I tried out ableton. and when I gave bitwig a try it was a world of different, it was almost instantly intuitive. and like you said with the new features and devices it makes the experience amazing!
Im a Bitwig user and i love it, im a newb and enthusiast when it comes to music production, not a pro. Anyway check my last video, its ambient track i produced with Bitwig.
Bitwig just feels super intuitive and creative to me!
I'm looking forward to your sharing your experience with Bitwig. I'd sum the DAW up in one word: FLEXIBILITY. Modulated modulators modulating modulated modulators... The Grid exposing, for your tweaking pleasure, the modules used to create the built-in tools...or make your own new ones. Signal routing that will take your electrons down the path not taken. Sure I exaggerate but not much. And sure there are some wish list items, but with things like a scale-oriented piano roll option there are workarounds (e.g, th-cam.com/video/HspXCtDVcPg/w-d-xo.html&pp=gAQBiAQB).
I highly recommend two Bitwig TH-camrs (you probably know them already):
Polarity: th-cam.com/channels/6fkScAhWG63SUSr3D1MI6w.html
Matthias Holmgren: th-cam.com/channels/PI1x2iyASeNaeRYVSGXTqA.html
As you begin your dive into the Grid, I think you'll enjoy Polarity's work. He has some great videos where he recreates third-party tools using the Grid along with other aspects of Bitwig. Great fun. In fact, he'd make a great interviewee for Harmonic Horizons.
hey Jon,i have FL and studio one,FL is a good DAW for everything beats, and studio one is more of a professional DAW for orchestral music, all the rest,bitwig,pro tools are DAWs for beats,not so much for orchestral compositions, thats why S1 and cubase felt off to you
cheers m8
I feel you!! Pro tools just didn't feel creative to me at all, for me its a tool to get recording/editing/mixing done but not really composing ya know? Which is, like you said, why studio one and cubase felt off to me. When I went back to FL many years ago, it finally felt like a creative environment.
Bitwig seems almost like a hybrid of that, plus the playground of the grid and modulation system
Used it since v1. Was a fan until version 3.5-4 maybe. The things I like about bitwig is stability and ease of use of grid. The things I don’t like about bitwig, oh boy, get some popcorn it will be looooong. Fine, I’m not going to brag here for hours just want to outline major issues. Developers ain’t listening to users. Countless bugs not addressed for years. Most of new development ignore missing basic functionality and resources rather spent for unnecessary new plugins. Most of new features and plugins are half finished. And very arrogant community who don’t take any constructive criticism and like blind fanboys ready to protect some very weird decisions made by this company. Honestly if I can replace grid Id switch to reaper on the spot. To be honest I already installed reaper and learn it bit by bit. As soon as I find grid replacement bitwig will be binned.
Interesting perspective! thank you for sharing. What I have noticed upon researching it was that lots of people have wanted scale highlighting, which doesn't seem like a difficult feature to add (although I'm not a programmer so I could be very wrong). And people have wanted and requested that for years but it still hasn't been added. I've heard all sorts of reasons why they haven't added, personally I'm not sure why. but yeah hopefully that gets added soon. or even chord stamping would be nice to have as well.
@@jonaudio I even can guess why. Possibly because developers think their midi fx cover this base. Nothing against midi fx, they are great but not the same. I have different question. They were asked about MSEG when v2 was released in 2016. Releasing MSEGs in 2023 and proudly brag about it… too late for me personally. Maybe if I had MSEGs in 2016 I wouldn’t invest time and learn serum and phase plant and all other synths that had MSEGs for years. In 2023 they are bonus but I can live without them.
Oh, but let me add one thing I don’t like about Bitwig. You know how the Kilohearts team is always listening to users, holding chats, explaining their reasons for doing things, discussing what’s coming in new releases? Well, the Bitwig team is like that, but in the Mirror Universe. You never hear anything from them until they push a new release along with the usual „whats new” doc. They reply politely when you file a ticket, but that’s about it. No chatting with the developers on discord, and usually no way of knowing what’s coming by way of bug fixes or additions. If you’d ever like to know the devs hear you, not gonna happen. It’s a brick wall.
That's not true, exactly. They listen to their users in terms of what were hoping to see. Granted... this happened after the whole "spectral suite" disaster. Ever since, they have been really paying attention to what the users want because that's the best business model and it has been paying off. They just earned "DAW of the year" in 2023 after their latest update (5.1). Tech support is pretty good too they get back to you within a few days and really try to resolve the issue while keeping you in the loop.
Come to the dark side jon 😂 jokes aside it is a great daw
haha I most likely will lol
Reaper wins
Nooooooooooo!😂
People who just switch DAWs are producers that blame the DAW for there short comings
That can happen for sure but I wouldn't say that's the case 100% of the time.
No. It’s about workflow and overall feel
i love fl studio i just want a different viewpoint for making beats,fl is amazing