The musically-minded amongst may be interested to hear that pro-level music production software Bitwig Studio 6 hit beta this week, bringing some sizeable changes with it.
As a refresher, Bitwig is a cross-platform digital audio workstation (DAW). It’s used by music producers, composers, and live musicians, both professional and hobbyist alike. It is not free or open-source software, but has been available for Linux for over a decade.
Currently in beta, Bitwig Studio 6 is a major update, and the testing period gives users an early chance to sample an array of new features — and there are a lot.
Bitwig Studio 6: What’s New?
For many music makers, the tangible benefits to using Bitwig Studio 6 is going to come from the “extensive upgrade to automation editing” it offers. Automation is what controls how parameters like volume, effects, and filters change over time.
For instance, there are now two ways to interact with automation: tapping A switches to Automation Mode, which overlays parameter curves on each track, while a newly-rejigged Detail Editor Panel gives top-level access to all automation on any track.
New automation behaviours are also included: “spread” randomises automation point values within a range on each pass, while “hold” maintains flat values between points. These offer creative opportunities and, with new gestures, lessen the need for monotonous adjustments.
Editing automation curves freehand with the Pencil tool now translates gestures into simple curves (fully editable), while a new Spray Can tool is able to “paint a series of held points at the current grid interval. Because techno”, per Bitwig’s makers.
Bitwig DAW also introduces Automation Clips. These let users work with automation on specific blocks directly, rather than being tied to entire tracks. Like regular audio clips, automation clips can be looped, stretched, moved, and copy/pasted – and support clip aliases.
Clip aliases let users create ‘alias’ that share a pattern, and editing one updates all, saving the need to duplicate clips and manually apply changes to each in turn. Nifty.
Beyond that, Bitwig Studio 6 sees UI changes – changes Bitwig says make it “smoother to navigate and easier to customize” by its users. An editing tools palette sits on the right-hand side, and track headers dynamically resized based on available space.
There’s a new Auto Zoom option to enlarges selected tracks while keeping the rest as they are. This should prove useful for those working on sprawling, multi-track, multi-clip edits without losing sight of their overall arrangement.
There’s also new Audition tool for playing track and clip previews; Step Input for note entry; new background options in Piano Roll Editor; project-wide key signatures (with 23 Scale choices); an overhaul to the Drum Editor, and more.
—A whole lot more: the beta release notes provide a long list of changes, big and small.
Making music on Linux is better than ever!
Video editors and 3D modelling software tend to get the most attention from Linux users eager to stress the health of the platform for creative work, but music production and DAWs are the flip side of the artistic coin.
A surprising amount of top-tier, pro-orientated audio software is available on Linux, including Tracktion T7, Studio One, Reaper, Ardour, and Audacity. Fender recently launched its Studio One-based DAW on Linux, too.
This upcoming release focuses on improving fundamental workflow, making repetitive tasks faster, and making complicated process easier. Fancy filters may catch the ear but, to those wanting to get stuff done with less friction, a change set like is a solid hit.
Get Bitwig Studio 6
Bitwig Studio 6 is in beta, and only available to existing customers. The beta offers automatic backup creation when opening projects made in previous versions so that if the beta proves too buggy, it’s possible to downgrade and continue working .
For more details on Bitwig Studio 6 see the official website, which has plenty of videos showcasing the changes in action along with links to pricing and a 30-day free trial (should you fancy trying before you buy).
The Linux version of Bitwig Studio is available as a Flatpak, or as a DEB for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and above – and yes: Bitwig supports PipeWire on Linux.