Bitwig has released Bitwig Studio 1.3 – the latest version of its music production software for Windows, Mac and Linux.
The latest version of Bitwig Studio features multi-touch, tablet display profile, gestures, pen control, and more cowbell.
Here are the official intro video:
Features:
- Multi-Touch – Control multiple faders, knobs, and device displays at the same time. Multi-touch is limited only by the capabilities of the hardware on which Bitwig Studio is installed.
- Radial Menu – Press and hold anywhere on the screen for a quick access menu for multiple actions.
- Touch Keyboard – An integrated keyboard that includes X/Y axis controls independent for each finger. An additional dimension, “Pressure” is available when using the Touch Keyboard with Pen and Microsoft Surface Pro.
- Track Header – One single button has effectively replaced four. Simply tap and swipe in a direction to activate
- New E-Cowbell Device – You’ve got a fever, and the only prescription …is more cowbell.
Bitwig Studio 1.3 is a free update for existing users. A demo version is also available. See the Bitwig site for details.
For the record: I don’t really like Bitwig, it’s simply not for me. Though I’ll also easily admit that some part of that sentiment is likely fueled by me being a vivid Live user.
But having said that I also think that it’s only fair to state that they have come a long way. Bitwig most certainly has some ties into Live, but it’s no longer the software which I’d approach as “that obvious Live ripoff” (which was my initial impression / opinion some time ago). And another good example of that can be seen here. Live doesn’t have this kind of interface for example.
And even though I also don’t care too much for Microsoft’s Surface I have to say that Bitwig might be quite suitable for that. It sure seems like an ideal combination: having the option to either use the keyboard/mouse or stick with the touch interface. It most certainly provides more freedom of choice than being confined to one only.
So yeah, this looks quite impressive if you ask me.
All touchinterfaces suffer from the fact that our hands are solid and you can’t look through them. Working with touchinterfaces avaible today is a real p.i.t.a . Working with a stylus is not as different as working with a mouse, one object a time. Imho
the other thing that isnt immediately obvious is how much we rely on tactile feedback by touching things that move around in physical reality rather than a virtual 2d plane
touch interface is perfect for some things, in fact better than anything else at certain things – but not as a general purpose, overall way to control everything – dedicated physical control surfaces seem to be far superior in that way
I have Auria on the iPad and it seems like similar to it. Hopefully Auria Pro will be awesome!
I have tried 1.3 RC2 only briefly, but kudos for developers for the touch UI work! Initially I just thought that a keyboard layout had been added for it to be usable with tablets, but the tablet UI has really been rethought with gestures and simplified layouts.
Great work!
I just watched all of the demo/showcase videos for 1.3 and I am impressed that they’ve managed to take a desktop DAW and turn it into a portable touch DAW (if you so desire). I feel like that’s the direction and addition DAWs in the future should be going towards so that users can have the best of both worlds. I know FL Studio is also working on trying to bring their DAW into a touch-friendly interface in the future. There’s nothing wrong with current setups, but I don’t see the problem with adding another option for users.
dope so dope!
This looks godly. The only “touchscreen” DAW I would consider putting my hard earned money into. Well maybe FL Studio too, but Bitwig on the unrestricted windows tablet looks awesome.
It has a new cowbell feature but still no Audio Unit support for Macs. Hmm. Looks impressive though.