Sternenherz Musik

Feature suggestions for Bitwigs Arranger and Piano Roll

Table of Contents

Bitwig’s announcement to improve the workflow of arranger and pianoroll is great and welcome. Here are some suggestions, based on daily use of Bitwig.

1. Cursor-Tool Improvements

1.1 Options to turn off automatic toolswitching

a) when moving Bitwigs Mouse-Cursor vertically across Tracks in the Arranger: Bitwig automatically switches between Objectselection (crosshair) vs. Timeselection.

when moving Bitwigs Mouse-Cursor vertically across Audioclips in the Arranger: Bitwig automatically switches between Objectselection vs. Clip-gain vs. Timeselection. 

Adding a button (shortcut!) which turns off automatic cursor-switching and grants users a pure object selection tool they can trust to stay, which is really helpful for pure arranging = dragging Clips without unwanted timeselections or clip-gain-changes.
Example (Cubase 14):
Example for a wonderful solution (De-coupling the tools): Cubase 14

Click here to show an additional Example (Studio One 7)

b) when moving Bitwigs Mouse-Cursor horizontally across selected notes in the piano roll: Bitwig automatically switches between three functions: Objectselection, Objectselection-range (white vertical lines with white background-spotlight) and Note-range-adjustment, which makes the edges of selected notes prone to missclicks.

The white vertical lines and background-spotlight of Object selection could be moved into the time-ruler-area, just like in Ableton. Result: The functionality to grab and stretch several notes will still be present, but won’t ever mess up the workflow by leading to unwanted missclicks! An additional upside is visual clarity: Users who just want to resize notes no longer are visually distracted by the white vertical lines and the white background-spotlight of object selection.

Thanks to theming, we can get a sneak peek of how clear and concise Bitwigs Piano Roll could look without white vertical lines and background spotlight of selected notes. However, theming of course doesn’t replace the necessary functional rework (of moving the object selection lines away from the note-edges into the time-ruler).

Click here to show an additional Example of how selected notes can be visualized (the black A4 note is already selected) and how note-edges can have a proper resizing-area without any chance of missclicking another function (Cubase 14)

If there should be any visual background highlighting, it would make much more sense to highlight all notes of the same value in a horizontal line, when clicking a specific note in the visual piano roll at the left side of the editor. Right now, when clicking a key in the piano roll, the background-highlighting also highlights notes which aren’t part of the selected key, which is visually distracting.


1.2 Improving existing Cursor-Tools and Cursor-behaviors

a) : Bitwig doesn’t have a real “snap to grid”, but rather a dynamic snap to grid, which lets users drag any element (clip, automation point, note, notelength) in between (!) gridlines.
With its magnetic pulling of the mouse-cursor, this ‘dynamic snap to grid’ feels quite bumpy compared to real snap to grid.
It’s also highly contra-intuitive, as users don’t expect elements to land in between grid lines, and the deactivation of snap-to-grid via Shift-Key almost makes no sense, as snap-to-grid is never truly activated anyway.

: Please add the option to have a real “snap to grid”. (Which affects both dragging already existing automationpoints and creating/clicking in new automation points.)


b) : The Shift Key disables snap-to-grid and at the same time activates fine-adjustment-mode. This leads to unsolvable combination problems and actually impairs fine-adjustments in cases in which axis-lock is necessary.
: Option to decouple these functions and put them into a separated modifierkey-logic. Adding additional functions for both x- and y-axis locking while fine-adjusting.

c) : Bitwigs automationpoint movement uses mouse-acceleration (for high automation lanes) and deceleration (for small automation lanes). This Cursor Movement for dragging Automationpoints feels indirect and vague. For testing purposes of the vertical movement, we can compare a Track with big vertical height, and a Track with the default minimal vertical height.

When we grab an automationpoint at the top, and drag it towards the bottom, the traveling time of the mouse decreases, when the automationlane is high, and increases, when the automationlane is small. Hence a weird and uncomfortable, vague, indirect, feeling.
If we have the physical reference point of a pen, we can clearly demonstrate this behavior of Bitwig: 



: Bitwigs cursor-acceleration and deceleration should be deactivateable, leading to a 1:1 transmission of movement for all tracksizes.

d) : The Knife tool only shows up at the cursor when hovering over elements like clips/notes – see next GIF. Same for the pointer tool, which unnecessarily switches between crosshair and pointer-symbol. 
: Currently activated tools should always be reflected via the cursor-symbol for improved visual feedback and UX clarity. This implies an option to permanently deactivate the Crosshair-Cursor-Symbol.


e) : When having several selected Clips/Notes, the Knife Tool should slice through all of them, instead of just one. 

Example (Cubase 14):

f) : Adding a Trim-Mode (both for either start or end of events) for the Knifetool upon holding modifier keys.


g) : Upon using the ALT-Stretch-Tool on a RAW Audio Clip, Bitwig should automatically enable the userdefined “processing Stretch Mode” for that Clip so it immediately gets stretched, instead of just stretching the empty Clip-Container.

h) : Option to make doubleclick create notes in the piano roll based on grid-size, instead of Alt+Doubleclick. It should be possible to create notes based on grid-size via doubleclick, and while holding the second click adjust the length of the note (and adjusting its velocity via modifierkey).

i) : Adding the option to show more Information directly at the cursor and in realtime.
When dragging Clips (and their length) in the Arranger, Bitwig should optionally show the positioning of the Clip – and the relative distance to the initial position – directly at the cursor.
Same for Notes: Right now, Bitwig only shows the adjusted length in the inspector, after the user lets go of the note. Realtime information at the cursor is much more efficient.

Same for note-expressions, specifically velocity.


j) : Adding the option to see the actual midi values of velocity instead of percentage.

k) : On hovering the mousecursor over automation-knobs of the Arranger, Bitwig shows the correct, real parameter values of automation. But when touching/moving automationpoints, only percentage values are displayed.


1: Seeing actual Parameter Values in the Automation Lanes instead of just percentages. Absolutely essential for many types of parameter values.

2: Option to permanently show parameter values next to the Automation-Knob in the Tracklanes of the ARRANGE view, without being forced to hover over with the mouse above the Automation-Knob in order to see the value!

l) : The maximum steepness of automation curves should be drastically increased.

m) : When being zoomed out a lot, Bitwigs Automation Lane looks like a mess:

 
: Optional setting: Automatic hiding of Automation Points, when not editing the Automation Lane. If Automationpoints would be hidden (and only shown upon mouse-hover-over or editingmode), users could see the actual automation lines.

n) : Option to manually type in Automation-Point-Values with Alt+click, instead of a TRIPLE Click or Ctrl+Click. 

o) : Renaming anything inside of Bitwig shouldn’t need an ENTER to confirm it.


1.3 Adding new Cursor-Tools

a) : Adding a glue tool for the Arranger and Editor
Notes could get merged via Gluetool for the first time in Bitwigs history.

: Being able to consolidate (glue) Audio-Snippets together in the Detail View. This implies a secondary container-level inside of Clip-Containers. This would be so great for quickly grabbing and arranging sub-groups of audiosnippets directly within the Detail View or the Editor.

: A gluetool would have the perfect synergy with an optional setting to enable non-destructive Editing, which means: Enabling Overlapping Clips. Which is not only great for merging Midi Clips, but also creating Crossfades and other Audio-Edits.

b) : Adding Drawing tools (a toolset sitting on a single shortcut-number):
Line (default), Parable, Sinus, Triangle, Square which can be used in Automationlanes, Modulators, and even the piano roll. 
Such tools are much more powerful than just inserting static envelope shapes (like in Abletons rightclick menu), especially because they can be adjusted in amplitude and frequency on the fly via modifierkeys – and applied to other areas of the DAW, like creating a strumming note-line in the piano roll via the line tool within half a second.

c) : Adding the Option to create a 4-point-segment of Automation just by one single click of a selected region.

d) : Modulation Bounce: Bouncing the modulation of Modulators into an Automation Clip should be possible, which then is saveable into Bitwigs Browser as Automation-Clip.

e) : Option to Insert Automation Clips (=Envelope-Clips) from Bitwigs Envelope Browser directly into the Automation Lanes, via rightclicking a time-selection region within an AutomationLane. The Clip then can be inserted RAW without change, or Stretched depending on the length of the time-selection. This implies a hybrid approach: having the original automationlane with optional, movable automation-clips.

f) : Adding a shortcut for “Delete Automation of Selected Clip” to quickly delete all automation of a selected Audio/Midi-Clip.

g) : Adding Batch-Creation of Automation-Points based on the currently selected Grid! This mechanic already exists for Batch-Creation of Clip-Snippets: When the knife tool is active, and ALT is held down, while horizontally dragging the mouse across the Clip, it gets cut along the Grid.

2. Further Improvements for Arranger, Piano Roll and Audio-Editor

2.1 More options for visual clarity, visual feedback and orientation

a) : Adding the option for “Show Event Names” and Sliders for “Grid Overlay Intensity” and “Event Opacity“. Which means being able to hide Clipnames to see far more Clip-Content, as Bitwigs Clip-Naming-Bar is quite big at the default Tracksize – and being able to see Gridlines in relation to Clip-Content directly inside of the Clip.

b) : Adding the option for adjusting Waveform and Midi-Note-Brightness/Intensity.

c) : If we look at the tooltip that appears when we hover over the “Pan & Pan&Zoom” button with the mouse, we see that Bitwig only offers us two options where there should actually be at least three.

: Giving users direct control over the options contained in the “Pan” and “Pan&Zoom” Settings of Bitwig. “Left/Right, Up/Down, Wheel” should be directly accessible. This enables otherwise impossible combinations like “Pan, Pan, Scroll”.

d) : Users have no control over Modifierkey-assignments (CTRL, Shift, ALT).
Example: Shift+Mousewheel only works for horizontal scrolling on MacOS, not on Windows. Users have no control over this.

: A settings tab to adjust Modifierkey-assignments and behaviors (CTRL, Shift, ALT) in general would be the great, and complete Bitwigs otherwise awesome philosophy of highly customizable shortcuts. Shift+Mousewheel should work for horizontal Scrolling of Arrangement and Editor-Areas. (Users who prefer ALT+Mouswheel for it should be granted the option to swap ALT and Shift-Modifierkeys.)

e) : Deactivating the button for “Use large track height” is the only way to zoom out vertically to the maximum level.

: Zooming into Tracks via shortcut also zooms in all of its Automationlanes, without any option to unlink this behavior. Automationlanes can’t even be adressed directly via shortcuts/arrowkeys. There is no modifierkey+mousewheel zooming for vertical Tracksize.

for Zooming and Scrolling:
– Seamless vertical Arrangement-Zooming via ALT+Mousewheel, to ensure consistent behavior, as this zoom combination already works in the piano roll. [An example for seamless zoom can be seen at the next point e)]
– Upon holding a second modifierkey: Just zooming into the Track OR Automationlane at the Mouse-Cursor-Position!
– Adding shortcuts for “zoom into selected track or automationlane” (new optional behavior), “zoom into selected track and all of its automation” (current behavior).
– Also, adding an option to link horizontal and vertical zooming via CTRL+ALT+Mousewheel to have a “pinch to zoom” (magnifying glass type zooming) function available for mousewheel-workflows.
– Giving users the ability to zoom in/out while dragging Clips via the usual CTRL+Mousewheel action.

f) : Option to show the content of Clips at minimal vertical Track-Height. Adding the option to (auto-)hide the naming-topbar of Bitwig-Clips, allowing users to see significantly more clip content even at Bitwig’s standard track heights. This is specifically useful when used in combination with the new pure, uncoupled object/time-selection-tools (see 1.1 a).
Example for seamless zooming and still seeing clipcontent on minimal track heights:

Another example (FL Studio): Still being able to see the content of Clips, despite minimal track height:


g) : Bitwigs way of visualizing the content of group tracks is rather uninformative. Grey nothingness in the Cliplauncher, and plain color-sausages in the Arranger. Also, Group Tracks cannot be vertically resized.

: Group Tracks should show their content (Midi Notes and Audio Waveforms), instead of color sausages, even when being very small in vertical size. Group Tracks should be vertically resizable. Even folded Group tracks with sufficient height will then be far more informative than ever before, leading to drastically improved visual feedback, both in Arranger and Cliplauncher. (Seeing the playheadposition in relation to actual notes/waveforms)

h) : Bitwigs Arranger colorizes Tracks in different shades of grey, based on Group-Level.

: Option to disable this behavior, to have a consistent arranger-look. Option 2: Instead of using shades of grey, using shades of the group-track-colorization.

i) : Bitwigs Playhead disappears when transport is stopped.

: The Arranger Playhead should stay visible at all times. The blue playback symbol in the top row is not enough, compared to a full line going over each Clip in the arranger for visual clarity and alignment/orientation. A new way to align events could be added, by including the playback-cursor-position into the “snap to events” logic.

j) : The “Follow Playback” button gets deactivated upon different actions, like dragging Clips. : The Follow Playback button should have a setting to become a real toggle on/off button which stays ON under all circumstances, instead of turning off automatically all the time.

k) : The Playhead should be moveable/draggable via mouse. Perfect synergy with additional features like scrubbing.

l) : Option to link/unlink Arranger- and Editor-Playhead-Scrolling and Zooming.


m) : Adding an optional minimap representation of the whole arrangement at Bitwigs top-bar, with intelligent selection and zooming functions.

n) : Right now, when dragging an event like a clip in the timeline from left to right, it will not snap to the next event to its right, but overwrite it!

: When “Snap to events” is turned on, it should work as expected (on all occasions).

o) : As can be seen on the GIF above, users need to open a pop-up-menu to see the currently active settings for “Adaptive Grid”, and all “Snap to” Settings.

: Option to permanently show the current Beatgrid- and Snap-Settings instead of hiding them away in a dropdown-menu = Improving visual Feedback of Bitwig. Even more importantly, these settings should be available for mouse-adjustment without any submenu.
The adjustment of the gridsize could be accessed directly inside of Bitwigs interface, by “mouse-dragging-action” of the gridsize number, or via dropdown-menu which enables users to immediately choose a specific gridsize. Not only will gridsize access be quicker, but also more precise.

p) : Right now, VU Meters inside Bitwig show dark orange when there’s still -10db headroom.

: Option to change the colorization of the VU Meters.

q) : Option to color Automationlanes based on Track color.

r) : Automationlanes should be clickable entities, with their own Inspector region for Colorization, Read/Write Buttons, and an Option to set the automation smoothing fade time (currently about 10ms, and unchangeable), especially for Volume Automation Lanes of Bitwig. The most elegant and powerful solution could be a valuebox for automation smoothing in the inspector for each automation lane of Bitwig. A more easy and simple solution could be via the Bitwig Settings: One Valuebox for Volume Automation Lanes, One Valuebox for all other Automation.

s) : Automationlanes should be reachable via the arrow keys of the keyboard and a Modifierkey. Right now, when pressing Down on the Keyboard, starting from a Clip in the arranger, the next Clip in the next Track will be selected. It should be possible to dive into the Automationlanes via Keyboard, for instance via Modifier-Keys.
When Automationlanes are clickable/selectable, the Keyboard Shortcuts for zooming in/out vertically should also work for one single Automationlane. This would be great for mouse-free precise editing. Right now, Zooming into Automationlanes is only possible when a) zooming into the whole Track, and b) zooming into all other Automation-Lanes.

t) : Adding a slider to adjust the automatic reduction of Automation Points 

u) : Thicker separation lines between Tracks and between Automation Lanes.
Furthermore, adding a line between Track and first automation lane. Advantage: Users then have a visual reference point, which is needed for areas where there are no clips. (No clips doesn’t necessarily imply no audio-signal being affected by automation)

2.2 Further Arranger Improvements

a) : Bitwig would profit from “Linked Clips”, also known as “Alias Clips”, or “Shared Copy” Example: Studio One “Duplicate Shared” Clip:

b) : Adding Audio-to-Midi. Shortcut for ‘transform to drumkit’, ‘transform to melody’, ‘transform to chords’. 

c) : Adding a Chord Track feature.

  • A chord track like in Cubase, which a) serves as audio-to-midi transformation pool, extracting chords out of any given audio. b) serves as scale-guide for pitch-tuning of vocal audio tracks. [This requires pitch tuning abilities in Bitwig first, either natively or via ARA integration of Melodyne]
  • Global Scale and Tuning Function like in Ableton
  • Chord Insertion and Suggestion Tool like in Cubase, based on the Circle of Fifths, and please a nice enough graphical interface, not like looking at an excel spreadsheet.

d) : Adding CPU Meters in Tracks and a general Performance-Panel which shows CPU/RAM/Latency impact of all Devices. This feature would offer perfect synergy with Bounce In Place, because users can quickly decide which Tracks to bounce first, when resources are short. 

e) : “Plugins missing” would profit from a “replace with” feature. To not lose Remote-Control Assignments of Custom Presets, when a VST Instrument was replaced with a newer version. Other Plugin Hosters like Bluecat Audios Patchwork have that feature. When a plugin is missing, you can manually find and select the new VST – and then the Remote Control Assignments still work.
“Plugins Crashed” would profit from a dedicated project panel section, which allows users to see and locate the specific plugins, instead of having zero information about which plugin is affected.

f) : The Detailview should be able to also show Automation (just like the EDIT view can do), even several Automationlanes at once (like the EDIT and automation-view should be able to do). Big Monitors could easily handle this and it would be great for faster editing.

g) : The (global) record quantization should include triplets (at least). Record-Quantization should be midi-assignable! (Just like Launch quantization and the post recording actions.) Changes in Record-Quantization should apply when Midi-Overdub is active. Right now, as long as Midi-Overdub is active, changes in Record-Quantization are not recognized, and the setting which was active before overdubbing remains intact. Record Quantization should – optionally – also affect Audio-Recordings. (This wish overlaps with further improving onset/transient detection to increase the precision of Audio-Quantization.)

h) : Improving Midi Export and Import!

  • Exporting single Midi Clips should be possible. 
  • Exported Midi files should include automation (CC Information)
  • Importing Midi should be possible without the nagging “Import Tempo & Time Signature” Dialogue Pop-Up! The Pop-Up must have a “remember selection” Setting and a permanent Setting in Bitwigs Preferences! 

i) : Mappings Panel improvements

  • The Mappings Panel needs a Scrollbar! 
  • The Mappings Panel must have a sorting function for midi cc and midi ch! 

j) : Adding an Articulations Manager, which is superior to the currently available grid-workaround.

k) : Option to make Copy&paste and duplicate non-destructive

  • Right now, audio/midi clips which are in the way of pasted or duplicated Clips get destroyed/deleted forever. There should be the option to instead of destroying clips, they just get overlapped, while staying intact (like in Cubase)!
  • This wish overlaps with (1.) the wish for a glue tool, which has great synergy with overlapping Events.

l) : Loop-Bracket Improvements

  • Adding a Shortcut for “Select everything in the Loop-Bracket”!
  • Letting users use the Cltr/Ctrl+Alt Shortcuts to set the start and end of Loops within the EDIT and DetailView, not just the Arranger!
  • When changing the size of Loops via grabbing the end and dragging it smaller via mouse-drag, the Loop-Size should not be restricted to 1 Beat, but go smaller than that!

m) : Retrospective Midi-Recording = Midi Capture, but with an optional smart function: Slicing to specific bar-length, adjustable in the preferences.

n) : Option for step recording

o) : Midi Comping. If Midi Comping is implemented, there should be an option to permanently turn it off with a simple on/off switch in the preferences/toolbar, so that the arranger will never be cluttered with empty/half-empty takelanes.

p) : Groove Pool

  • Groove extraction function
  • Save & Load Grooves
  • Apply Groove globally and individually onto Clips (strength slider for applying it in each Clip)
  • Grooves being more than just swing

q) : A Step-Sequencer-Track which is tightly integrated into the Arranger via Step-Sequencer-Clips. (Transformable into Midi, if pulled onto Midi-Tracks.) Example: Cubase 14.

r) : A Video-Track.

2.3 Further Improving Interface Customization, Shortcuts, and QoL

a) : Adding the option to set different default settings for Bitwigs arranger and detail view in general. For the piano roll, for example, this would mean: Options to set default settings for the vertical panelsize, which lanes are opened (like showing velocity lanes by default, and/or showing specific midi cc lanes by default), what beat grid settings are used (like permanently being fixed to 32th), whether note audition is turned off/on, and so on.

b) : Giving users the ability to save Macros, which lets users save the above mentioned customized settings to shortcuts for quick and effective switching of editing- and interface-settings on demand.

c) : Letting users decide to show Arranger, Mixer Panel AND Device Panel (or Arranger, Device AND Detail Panel) at the same time. 4k Monitors could show everything with ease, and the constant panel-switching (on single-monitor-setups) would stop forever. 

d) : Display/Interface-Scaling below 100% should be possible. Ableton allows for up to 50%. Also, Display/Interface-Scaling should be freely choosable from 50% onwards, in steps of 1%. (Currently it’s steps of 25%).

e) : Display Modes: Letting users decide what combination and configuration suits them best, instead of the currently very restricted options for dual/triple monitor setups. For example: Tablet Mode doesn’t even work for a second screen. Unlocking all the possibilities like the arrangement of panels to be freely arrangeable and customizable for the users on single- or several-monitor-setups.

f) : Adding a visibility Tab (visibility Panel) for Tracks, including the possibility to search for Tracknames, hide/show specific or several Tracks/Groups via just one Click.

g) : Improving the ARRANGE View to also suit the needs of Live performers. Options to show/hide Clip Playback Progress on Track level, Sends (FX Remote Controls, Track Remote Controls, everything which is also part of the MIX view)

h) : There should be an option to permanently save a custom Color-Palette as new default for all Projects.

i) : The Mixerpanel (when opened in ARRANGE View) should not be restricted in its vertical size! It’s impossible to see many send knobs at a glance now, for example!

j) : The Realtime Ruler should optionally show hours:minutes:seconds, with intelligent info-reduction on zoom-out, to prevent visual clutter.

k) : Increasing Scene-Size horizontally in MIX view should be possible.

l) : The Master Track is pinned in MIX view, why not also add an option for this in ARRANGE view? 🙂

m) : Option to Freeze Tracks

n) : Bitwigs Interface still has functions without a shortcut. E.g. Live Preview (Browser), Note Audition, The Loop Setting of Clips, Selection of “Audio Events” vs. “Comping”, “Stretch”, etc. Inside of the Editor/Detail View.

o) : All Shortcuts of Bitwigs Shortcut list should be draggable/pinnable into the Bitwig-Toolbar. Bitwigs Shortcut Toolbar should be resizeable, enlargeable to double-rows, or even a resizable hover-window (dockable), which would be incredibly awesome for users who control Bitwig via Touchcontrol.

p) : Ctrl+D should work when being held. Ableton, Cubase etc. automatically duplicate until letting go of the Shortcut. It would be nice, if Bitwig behaved the same way, as it’s quick and effective.

q) : It should be possible to copy & paste Track Remotes, including their linked devices! Otherwise setting up big liveset becomes incredibly tedious!

r) : BROWSER
– Midi Preview in the Browser should use the Instrument of the selected Track, instead of the organ.
– Categories of the Browser should be freely editable/deletable! Tags should be deleteable.
– Saving custom Presets of VSTs should include saving the “Live Preview On/Off” and “Plugin Window Opened/Closed” states.

2.4 Further Piano Roll Panel Improvements

Almost all of the above points related to improving the Bitwig tools, information flow, zooming and shortcuts fundamentally improve the piano roll – here are some additional suggestions for it:

a) : Automatic vertical and horizontal Zoom to fit when opening the piano roll! Alternative: Automatic zoom to selection, if a selection has been premade via Arrangeview. 

b) : Automatic vertical scroll towards where the actual midi notes are. No more showing of the wrong note-region (Bitwig often times shows empty octave-regions for the first time, like C7/8). 

c) : Improving Midi Overdub: There should be an option to make newly played (overdubbed) notes cut off old notes. Otherwise old notes which are very long will be triggered twice, because they’re cut in half by a newly introduced short note – which in 99% of all cases is not what the user intended to happen.

d) : New Shortcut which works for selected notes: “Fit to Time-Range”. Immediately pulling all selected notes to be the length of the currently selected time-range. [Example: See Ableton]

e) : For the Detail View: Users should be able to see Midi CC lanes (=Automation) & have an Option to automatically show the last used midi cc lane by default. The Detail View should be able to show Notes AND Automation.

f) : For the EDIT view: Option to see ALL used automation lanes, with a shortcut. Right now, Bitwig restricts the user to only see and edit one automation lane at a time.

g) : Clicking anywhere in the Editor should switch playhead position to that spot. Play from Cursor in the Editor (Detail View) should work by clicking anywhere in the Editor, and then pressing Space, like in the Arranger. Also: The playback-position of Clips in the Cliplauncher can’t be adjusted! The blue-playback-symbol doesn’t even show up in Clips in the Cliplauncher! Note: BW 5.2 already improved play-from-cursor lot, by introducing the “play-from-time-selection” shortcut.

h) : Note Colors should be a) improved b) customizable. “Note Color = Clip” should better and more clearly show differences in velocity. For “Note Color = Velocity” it should be possible to change which colors are used for which velocity in the settings. Poison green is simply not a nice view in the long run, and a customized color-spectrum could also help users of other DAWs switching over to Bitwig feeling at home with their favorite editing look & feel. 

i) : Notes should still show their letter/number, even when being shortened (cut off yet still visible naming of notes). 

j) : When jumping from note to note via keyboard via ALT+Arrowkeys, or selecting several notes via ALT+Shift+Arrowkeys, Note audition should work, at least optionally.

k) : Loop-Brackets of the Editor and Detail View should be adjustable via the Loop-Bracket-Shortcuts of the Arranger! (Ctrl+Click and Ctrl+Alt+Click)! 

l) : Intelligent Scales function for the Piano Roll, including a global Scaling/Tuning-System.

m) : Sheet of Music View-Option for the Piano roll and the new Chord-Tools

o) : Option to see the Chord-name of “live-played notes (via midi controller)” and “selected notes” in the piano roll (when selecting at least three notes).

2.5 Device View Improvements

For the Device-View: Being able to change the default state of Chains from being closed to being opened!

Device-View: The “Activate/Deactivate” Button for Plugins must be Midi-Assignable! The general shortcut ALT+A for “activate/deactivate selected item/track” is not enough, as it is useless for quickly managing Latency and RAM usage of specific Plugins in a huge Project via external controller. With midi-assignable “activate” function for each device, users can build their own customized “Low Latency” Mode Switch for their Templates.

Remote Control Pages should be more versatile: Bi-Directional Knob creation via rightclick, Option to set a default value other than 0, Option to set parameter ranges, Option to assign several Parameters [All of this is possible via workaround of course, using modulators, but why not put it as much faster rightclick option directly?]


2.6 Audio Editor Improvements

a) : When Playback is running (Looping), users should be able to immediately hear what they see! So when dragging an Audio Clip/snippet to another place within the currently running loop (and holding that dragging-click), users should immediately hear how its current position sounds, before (!) letting go of the clip to finally place it into that position. Right now, Bitwig needs the user to let go of the Clip, in order to hear the new position. Let us listen to Audio in real time
when doing edits, like dragging clips, stretching, or using the knife tool behind the playback position

b) : Repitch Mode of Audio Samples needs to be improved: Transposing by semitones and octaves should work!

c) : The regions for adjusting Fade in/out are far too small, especially for touch- and pen-control. Clip-Gain Regions have to be deactivateable to prevent missclicks, as mentioned in point 1.

d) : When recording audio into the arranger, and it overlaps onto an older recording / partially overwrites an older recording, the new recording gets included into the old recording as Audio-Comping-Lane. There should be an option to turn this behavior off by default.

e) : Layered Editing Mode feels bugged/weird when using the Pitch and Formant section (Weird scrolling of the black measurement bar which shows the scale, automation points getting lost in unseen regions). A dedicated Layered Editing Mode resembling “Audiomodern Loopmix” would be insanely great to have inside of Bitwig.

f) : Increasing versatility of Effects usage in Bitwig by letting users put Effects on Clips, and even on specific parts of Audio-Samples (Example: Cubase lets you put Effects onto specific parts of a waveform, reaching from transient to transient.)

g) : The Learning function for Chains to match Wet Gain to the dry signal should be introduced to all devices = Loudness matching.

h) : When vertically zooming into Tracks, Notes within Clips have a weird relative positioning from each other, which doesn’t always represent the vertical distances between notes in the piano roll – this could be improved.

i) : Option to adjust Loop length with a shortcut for +/- 1 bar, without having to open the detail-view and having to select the loop length, but rather just by selecting the Clip in the Cliplauncher and pressing the shortcut.

j) : Option to use “Edit in external Editor” in the Audio-Editor via Shortcut! This would improve Audio-Editing-Workflows a lot.

k) : ARA integration (Or a native pitch-editing equally good as melodyne 😉

l) : Cue Markers of Looped Clips get pushed into the wrong spot when changing Loopsize

  • When grabbing the Loop-Bracket of a Clip in Detail View, dragging it to the right to shorten the Loopsize, and then dragging it back to the left to lengthen the Loopsize again, the cue marker stays there and doesn’t follow back to its original position! The behavior of Ableton, in comparison, works as one would expect.

m) : Fixing the “Waveform Bug” (Win11), which occurs when resizing Audioclips or moving the cursor across the Waveform. This would make Bitwig look less unprofessional.

2.6 Improving custom Controllers (by improving API access)

: Adding support for the following functions by giving API access:

  • Full access to every aspect of Bitwigs Arranger, to enable incredibly powerful Arranger-Tools like “Arranged Live Looping” or “Song Sketch” (see Youtube Videos below).

: Further API Access:

  • Clip playback progress
  • VU meter value in decibel
  • VU peak hold level in decibel
  • VU peak hold level reset function 
  • Grid-Settings (Measure of beat time grid, beat grid subdivision, snap to grid, adaptive grid, snap to grid offset, snap to events)
  • Browser-API-Access to “Play at original speed / stretch to project tempo” button 
  • Please Update the API for the Browser to reflect the changes done since 5.0 – otherwise, controller scripts like drivenbymoss osc script are broken.
  • Please fix Group-Color-Feedback which has been broken since Bitwig 2.4: Group-Clips not giving proper color. To quote drivenbymoss: “It seems that the behavior of the group clip color has changed in 2.4. A group clip now displays ALL colors of the sub-track clips in its’ right half (which is nice). When you try to set a color for it, simply all sub-clips are colored. So, it seems a group clip does not have its own color anymore. Therefore, the color() property of the clip always returns grey, which results to grey-pads on Push, Launchpad, etc.” https://github.com/teotigraphix/Framework4Bitwig/issues/218
  • Api access to every part of the midi piano roll so it’s possible to build a fully functional piano roll type step sequencer in an external controller like Touch OSC.
  • Api access to the Track-Routing-Settings of the Mixer! So we can adjust routings on the fly, with just one button!
  • Access to “Restore Automation Control”
  • Option to deactivate bank-separation of FX tracks and normal tracks.
  • Option to increase bank-size of Device, Track and Project Remotes above 8 parameters.

3. Needed Fixes: Fade Options for Recording, Cliplauncher Bugs, Recording-Dropouts, Undo greyed out

  • : Recording audio leads to obvious blips/click-noises at the Beginning, when starting a clip-recording especially in the Launcher, while an audiosignal is already coming in before the recording starts. (This wouldn’t be a problem if Clips by default already had an activated FADE button like in Ableton)
    : a) Adding “FADE” as default setting for Audioclips, exactly like in Ableton, to prevent audible Clicks at the beginning of Audioclips! But unlike Ableton, please enhance this feature by letting users decide the amount of this automatically activated (non-destructive) FADE. Also, please make this function accessible via shortcut and via the API, so users can quickly decide when to turn it off/on in a live performance setup. Lush Pads will need it to be active, punchy Kicks might need it turned off.
    b) : Adding an Option to set the default fade length for recordings in general! (Right now, the fade section of Bitwigs preferences only affects edits, not fresh recordings – so an additional setting for recordings would be great)
  • Please allow us to use the Ctrl+F Shortcut for Autofade on Clips (=Clip Containers) in the Launcher! 
  • Undo/Redo, Cliprecording and Auto-Arm should work, while recording into the Arranger is active! This is absolutely essential for live-performers who want to a) perform live via the Cliplauncher with the full undo-redo-workflow of Bitwig b) record their performance at the same time.
  • Undo/Redo also doesn’t work, when Midi Clip Overdub is active!
  • likewise essential: When recording into the arranger is active, and at the same time you record Audio or Midi into a Clip-Slot of the Launcher, the Audio or Midi-Notes are not “passed through” and not recorded into the Arranger. Only Midi-CC(Automation) is recorded into the Arranger, while Clip-Recording is active. Notes and Audio are ‘swallowed’ by the clip-recording. Notes and Audio should no longer be ‘swallowed’ by the clip-recording and land in the Arranger-Recording, too.
  • Both undo/redo while recording into the arranger or having midi overdub active and passing through cliprecordings into the arranger is working just fine in Ableton!
  • When “Auto-Arm” is set to “on”, it should be on. Right now, as soon as recording into the arranger is active, “Auto-Arm” is set to “off” even though the interface shows “on”. Apparently this is supposed to be a “protection mechanism against missclicks”, but IF someone would be fearful of accidentally changing record-lanes while recording, he or she could simply deactivate Auto-Arm in general! Live Musicians need Auto-Arm to work, especially when recording into the Clip-Launcher-Tracks.
  • Clips should not lose synchronization after resuming Playback! Bug description here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ROaByqhFtI 
  • Another Bug, concerning dragging/copy&pasting several clips:
    When selecting several clips  of different Tracks within a group, dragging them into another group does not work properly. It only works when dragging one clip at a time. This is costing a lot of time, and seems like a bug / unexpected / unwanted behavior. 🙂 Multi-selection-dragging from group to group works for several selected Clips which are inside of one single Track, to another single Track of another group, or by dragging the whole Group-Scene. But that’s no workaround for just dragging specific clip-selections.

4. Improvement of Touchcontrol

  • Please fundamentally improve Touchcontrol: There are so many functions which are not available via touch, and which unnecessarily force us to go back to the mouse. The Bitwig way of touch control has its advantages in some specific areas, where the radial menu shines – but there must be a quickly accessible and assignable toggle button to deactivate it whenever needed.
    We could then enjoy normal mouse left and right click via touch, and whenever needed, we could temporarily activate the radial menu, or the tools sitting at the numbers 1 to 5.
    Or even a new additional smart function, which, when activated lets us grab those tiny areas more easily, which are usually only grabbable when you hover over them with your mouse.
    Such momentary or toggle buttons on a controller activate functions faster than having to press and hold and then choose something within the radial menu. With your left hand you decide what tool to choose, with your right hand you use it immediately at the same time. This would lead to the best touch experience in any DAW. Because it would finally combine the best of both worlds: every mouse function, every Bitwig tool, and the awesome Bitwig radial menu.
  • The Radial Menu should be customizable in a very in-depth way:
    a) all shortcuts, including all left/rightclick actions of the mouse should be available for assignment – b) The count, the size/scaling and the positioning of main and sub-sections of the radial menu should be customizable. Not only to include more functions, but to give users the ability to adjust the sub-section (functions which work via a second finger/drag action) to their physical hand and finger-size and flexibility.
  • Here’s a list to show how impaired touch control is, and what functions should be accessible:
  • Right now, you are unable to make normal selections of many clips, notes, audio events etc. by drawing a diagonal line, like you’re used to since years of using a mouse or a tablet. 
  • You can’t audition notes by touching/clicking them.
  • You can’t use the knife tool or any other tool which isn’t part of the radial menu. Sadly, pressing the numbers 1 to 5 to activate those tools doesn’t work in combination with touch. 
  • You can’t use lots of other functions which are part of the right-mouse-click menu. Ironically that’s something you can reach in Ableton and even in Cubase by holding the touch for a second. 
  • You can’t pin all shortcuts of the shortcut list in the preferences to the Bitwig-Toolbar. -> Would be great for mouse-control, too.
  • You can’t grab automation points and drag them! Of course you can draw automation in, just like in Ableton after activating the pen mode, but you can’t grab and drag any automation – which you can in Ableton, and even Cubase. 
  • You also can’t use any functions which are usually accessible via mouse-hover-over, like grabbing fades, grabbing clip-gain, loop selection size (grabbing start or end, not drawing!), cue markers, etc. and many more. 
  • Even when using a Pen, it’s still incredibly hard to even hit the “fade in/out” region, so this region has to be increased in size.
  • When using a pen, it’s inconvenient/an obstacle having to open a dropdown menu to reach the tools (pointer, knife, etc.)
  • When using touch in general, it’s inconvenient/an obstacle having to open a dropdown menu to reach the gridline and grid settings for the arranger or the piano roll.

Concerning the fear of some users that more options/preferences might be “overwhelming”:

a) Clarity is more important than simplicity https://www.eleken.co/blog-posts/why-simplicity-is-overrated-in-ux

b) Out of all DAW users, the Bitwig users, who are doing crazy modulation setups and grid devices, should be capable enough to neither feel overwhelmed nor ‘mess something up’, just by 10 additional items in Bitwigs preferences 😀 Not to mention my evergreen argument: If Bitwig hides “overwhelming” new functions by default and only shows them when activating a button called “Advanced”, then things are all sorted. There are far too many parameters of the UI and the workflow, which will never have the “perfect” default setting for everyone. Because everyone literally has his/her preferences. Prime example: Seeing gridlines behind/through Clips in the Arranger. I guess some people don’t actually want to see those lines through clips, but MANY want to see them. So a slider, and therefore an additional option is simply the best way to deal with this.

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