Bitwig Studio (Sneak Preview Demo)

Remember Bitwig Studio, the upcoming DAW created by some of the guys that created Ableton Live? The app that managed to get 60 votes in our recent DAW poll, despite being unreleased?

Bitwig Studio now moving into beta testing – and the developers posted this sneak preview video so you could get a better idea of what Bitwig is going to look like.

Check it out and let us know if you’re believing the hype!

34 thoughts on “Bitwig Studio (Sneak Preview Demo)

  1. This might be the greatest software ever, I don’t know, looked like every other DAW. But that was one of the most boring demos I’ve ever seen. Yawn.

    And I think beta software is pronounced “B-AAA-Ta” not “B-EEE-Ta” unless you’re making a pun on “Beat-Ta” testing.

  2. I’m reserving judgment…but I’m not seeing how this is quantifiably better than Live or any other DAW. Also..and I know this is subjective, but for a music app…I’m not wowed by the music that I can only assume was made with it. Again, I’m gonna wait and see. Not gonna hate or praise it prematurely.

    1. If Reason added Midi out, the DAW landscape would really get a shake up. I used to be a big Cubase user, then moved to Reason for quick writing, Cubase for Audio. Cubase was eventually dumped for Studio One, but was too buggy at the time so I’ve moved to Logic. I’m not overly keen on it though. Maschine has snuck in but it’s not sticking. Can’t decide whether to go for Bitwig or not. Procrastination – the art of a wannabe producer! Reason will still whatever though.

  3. I do like that the arrangement and the clip view can coexist. That’s really smart. However, I didn’t really see anything that would make me jump ship and fork over more money for a different DAW. Still, looks pretty good. I hope more demos surface sooner rather than later.

  4. I can’t wait for this to come out. In a perfect world I would remove myself from the apple-sphere, and run bitwig on linux on an “ethical” computer.

    At worst I am also very happy to see another solid daw giving ableton the competition it needs.

  5. I’m really hoping that the Ableton guys see this and get very worried. I want Bitwig to succeed, but only because I want Live updates. I’ve spend waay too much money on Live and updates since version 1 to have to change my DAW now. I really hope the staff at Ableton is scared sh$%less.

  6. I like where this is going in terms of lacking Ableton features, but this is just.. too Ableton. Its a shameless knock off. Yes, it has former Ableton devs, I get that, but.. You can’t rewrite a book previously coauthored with a new revised 24th chapter and sell it as a new product solely of your own work. You know? I’m not going to touch on the IP side of it, its just.. lazy. This isn’t the only way to design a live clip orientated DAW. I really like it’s features, and I would love to get my hands on a beta, just for the hell of it, but.. Come on. I was a little concerned earlier when I saw the first demo, but now it seems the mimicry is too blatant. Unless the conspirators are correct and this is just a new direction for Ableton, but it doesn’t really have their polish either. Hrm.

    1. New products are developed on top of old designs all the time. You could just as easily apply most of your comments to all linear based DAWs. The nature of their function and design will necessitate a similar look and feel, and as those functions become more refined by use, all product will start to look more and more alike. Think of televisions, computers, cars, etc.

  7. Only this?

    Truly boring. Geez, we really need some company to develop a new and exciting DAW; we need a new way to record, sequence, and produce music, because the ones we have are becoming very boring.

    1. I agree with you very much. Me personally I’m surprised no DAW incorporates video completely and naturally with audio, at a reasonable price point. Geez, it’s 2012 not 1967. Audio without video is too yesterday, and I think any creative program should let you work with both directly and naturally at the same time.

  8. Bitwig has a few really powerful things going for them:

    1 – People will know how to use this software right away, which reduces the barrier to entry. Users are ready for something new, but not so new that it will be hard to convert to.
    2 – They have a fresh, modern code base. Their app is going to run leaner and faster, which will give an edge for a while.
    3 – They seem to be taking steps to position in-between linear tracking DAWs and Clip/DJ style DAWs, but in a way that is truly functional.
    4 – They appear to have a very smart and extensible architecture under the hood. Features like device nesting, a native modular system, and multi-user production over the internet point to some pretty awesome growth opportunities for all of us!
    5 – They are coming out of the gate with a really mature feature set and it’s only their 1.0 release. Most companies hit the ground with a feature-lite product (like the first version of Studio One), but these guys are ready to go toe-to-toe right now. Give them a couple years to grow and we could see amazing things
    6 – The landscape is shifting. DAWs are in general specializing by either focusing heavier on track-based editing, sound design, Clip/DJ, or just simply aging (and a combination of those things in several cases!). Users are ready for something new, and many of our old standards haven’t been updated in a while and have an unknown future (Logic, Ableton, etc) If Bitwig can launch this product by Q3 at a competitive price point they could really accelerate the shift and pick up a ton of users.

  9. Many Live users are still suffering MIDI latency issues. Heck, without disabling MIDI monitoring whilst recording, it’s impossible to accurately play a VST instrument from a master keyboard! This is ridiculous in 2012. Let alone try and sync some hardware synths and an Electribe ESX in time (which never works with Live, the ESX is always late by half a beat or so).

    If Bitwig have also managed to build in some rock-solid MIDI timing, both for software instruments and hardware instruments, I may well ditch Ableton just for that. Come on Abes, get Live 9 out there with decent MIDI timing!

    1. hmm.. I have no problems in syncing my MC-808 and korg R3 with ableton’s midi out. maybe there’s an issue with your soundcard/midi interface. but I have to say that I run these machines by their own USB-Midi port. with my M-Audio Fast Track Pro I had similar issues like latency problems and stuck midi notes.

      1. slaving to external clock is not reliable either unfortunately, tried on multiple macs with clean lion and snow leopard install, different midi interfaces, 5 different solid master clocks, bpm fluctuates sporadically in live and is not usable

    1. I like where this is going in terms of lacking Ableton features, but this is just.. too Ableton. Its a shameless knock off. Yes, it has former Ableton devs, I get that, but.. You can’t rewrite a book previously coauthored with a new revised 24th chapter and sell it as a new product solely of your own work. You know? I’m not going to touch on the IP side of it, its just.. lazy. This isn’t the only way to design a live clip orientated DAW. I really like it’s features, and I would love to get my hands on a beta, just for the hell of it, but.. Come on. I was a little concerned earlier when I saw the first demo, but now it seems the mimicry is too blatant. Unless the conspirators are correct and this is just a new direction for Ableton, but it doesn’t really have their polish either. Hrm.

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