The latest version of the Bitwig Studio journey focuses around space and tone aiming to give your music reverb and delay of epic proportion. We take a look at the latest offering from the German DAW developers in our Bitwig Studio 4.3 review.
I always look forward to a new release of Bitwig Studio. Major releases are always good to see that development is always happening and even the steps in between offer some tasty new additions to the utilities available.
Our Bitwig Studio 4.3 review offered the opportunity to uncover some of these hidden gems along with those which have been announced.
Contents
What’s new in Bitwig Studio 4.3?
- Convolution A reverb effect featuring 270 presets
- Delay+ Slapback style delay allowing ping pong effects to animate your mix
- Polymer Modules Two new modules, Union (an additional oscillator) and Low-pass MG filter
- Perfect Drift Synth patches
- FX track sends An update seen in our Bitwig Studio 4.3 review to allow FX tracks to have their own sends
While these are the key changes and new modules, there are plenty of useful additions too including new control scripts, CC in on the grid, arranger notes (to allow comments on a track layer) plus the all important support for the CLAP plugin format.
Bitwig 4.3 Licensing
Let’s check out some of the newest features and devices that are on offer. Before we can do this Bitwig Studio 4.3 review of course we need to upgrade to the latest version. This can be achieved providing you have an active subscription.
I must confess that my subscription had expired in December and so didn’t allow me to upgrade until I did renew. However I had spotted the summer sale and grabbed myself a discounted version of the upgrade package so was able to get it a little cheaper.
Of course you could always buy a code during the sales and apply when you need to at a later date to your account, there are no rules against that.
For those who don’t have a subscription then you would need to purchase the full version (or an upgrade from 16 track) in order to get your full version of 4.3. To help explain the Bitwig Studio licensing structure I have written this post to discuss in further detail so I won’t go in to it as part of our Bitwig Studio 4.3 review.
New features noted in our Bitwig Studio 4.3 review
Now we are all set up we can take a look at some of the new features for our Bitwig Studio 4.3 review. The first features that I’m keen to start investigating are the Convolution reverb effect and the Delay+ delay effect.
Both these are going to come in handy in a “Stranger Things” type track that I am currently working on. The whole 80’s vibe is quite popular at the moment due to the TV show (and the revival of Kate Bush) so I’m keen to put to the test those types of sounds.
My track mainly consists of Arpeggiators and strings with rising filters gradually opening up in the last bar and this gives that nice 80’s effect.
Both these tools already give it the sound so I wanted to be careful just how much Delay+ and Convolution was added. The way to do this was add them as a Send FX device, and then dial in the right amount on the Jupiter-8 track.
You can over do reverbs and delay quite easily so my technique is to dial it in until you can hear it, then just pull back a little. That’s normally enough.
The presets I could choose from for these two devices were endless and so trying to get the right one was not easy. I opted for a basic Broken Tape effect for Delay+ and for a gradual effect called Grain Redux for the Convolution device.
With this amount of new presets to choose from, the possibilities to experiment are plentiful and so many effects can be used, from the subtle to the extreme. Even doing this Bitwig Studio 4.3 review I have been able to discover new features which I did not know were in there.
How do the new Polymer modules sound?
I’ve been on and added a new track on to my production as there was the need for a higher synth line to play some melody. I wanted to make use of the new modules in the Grid and so took some time to add the Polymer module and see what that produced.
That was fun. I selected Union from the Wavetable type and it definitely gave a nod to the Moog Modulator style sound. However as with all Bitwig testing I like to expand on this. So I added a note FX to the sound (choosing Delay+ again of course!). Wow, the width that opened up on the track was unbelievable.
During our Bitwig Studio 4.3 review we noted that the fun is endless. This is why I really love Bitwig Studio because it offers the experimenter the chance to experiment. The artist to create art. The audio nerd to get nerdy and the rock and roller to rock out. It caters for everyone and every style without prejudice.
And Another Thing
The extra features this version of Bitwig has opened up are those types of tweaks which just make sense.
Comments can be added/seen in the Inspector Panel for any item. Track and layer comments can all be seen/edited together in either Mixer Panel. On the Launcher scene and Arranger, cue markers can be seen and edited together in the Sections page of the Project Panel.
The comments are good for whatever you what — recording settings, performance notes, lyrics, etc. — and even more they can be written in any language that Bitwig can display. A useful addition to any session.
Bitwig Studio 4.3 Review FAQ
Does Bitwig have a free version?
There is Bitwig 8 track which can be used as a Lite version. It’s not always free but quite often it gets given away as part of a magazine offer, or free plugin with other purchases from some sites such as Plugin Boutique. Keep an eye on the newsletter and updates for more info.
What is the latest version of Bitwig?
As of this Bitwig Studio 4.3 review the latest version is 4.3.
Where can I learn to use Bitwig Studio?
There is plenty of online resource for learning how to start and use Bitwig Studio. The included instruction manual is a good place to begin to get in depth analysis of the workings of Bitwig. However there are plenty of video resources on YouTube along with some excellent how to videos from Bitwig themselves here: https://www.bitwig.com/learn/
Is Bitwig Studio a good DAW?
Bitwig Studio is an excellent DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) that caters for all styles of music. With the ability to adjust tempo and time signatures both manually and automatically, it makes it a great purchase for any music producer.
How much is Bitwig Studio?
There are 3 versions of the software: 8 track, 16 track and full. The 8 track version normally is free and given as a plugin giveaway sometimes with additional purchases from chosen partners or magazine subscriptions. 16 track costs around £80 and the full version around £260. There are occasional sales (normally twice a year) where these prices can be discounted by about 20%.
There are upgrade plans from 8 and 16 track to the full version so try outs are available to be done before committing fully.
Furthermore there is the option to get Bitwig Studio on rent to own with a subscription from Splice which costs around £14 per month (over 25 months) and can be installed on up to 2 computers.
Bitwig Studio 4.3 Review In Conclusion
Our verdict on when completing the Bitwig Studio 4.3 review is that the content and value just gets better and better. With more plugins, presets and extras being given in each release, there is no sign yet of a price increase either and so value for money is impeccable.
Bitwig Studio is one of the products I have no problem in recommending to others who have an interest in music production or song writing. The versatility of the product is just another string in its bow and it just keeps on giving.
Whether you are a starting our singer song writer, bedroom producer or a full blown music producer with A list clients, I hope this Bitwig Studio 4.3 review has given you the inspiration to give it a try and use it.
