Bitwig Studio 3.2 is out now, with precise shaping tools and evolving sonic possibilities. Do it.

System Requirements

Windows - Windows 7, 8, or 10 (all in 64-bit)
Mac - macOS 10.13 ("High Sierra") or above
Linux - Ubuntu 17.04 or later

What's New in Bitwig Studio 3.2.8 [released 21 September 2020]

New Features

Added controller script for Akai MPK mini MK3
Added controller scripts for Nektar Impact GXP49, GXP61 & GXP88

Improvements

When dropping files to create new tracks, more weight is now given to the primary tracks (instead of the effect tracks)
Generic MIDI controllers can now correctly assign MIDI to shortcuts
MIDI file import fixes:
- Automation lanes are added for imported MIDI clips in a logical order
- CC channel information is now preserved
- Pitchbend messages are now imported
Improvements to various Nektar controller scripts

Fixes

Double-clicking filters quickly in the Pop-up Browser would sometimes show the wrong device when the browser was next invoked
Manually-mapped MIDI could sometimes jitter when controlling parameters
Dragging bounced data from a temporary project could lead to missing sample files
Browsers no longer offer Delete option for things that can't be deleted (like content installed via the package manager)
XY modulator: Dot was not adapting to changed GUI scaling
Windows: Improved ASIO compatibility
Windows: WASAPI would crash when listing devices in some cases
Fixed some rare crashes
Some old controller scripts could make mappings from MIDI by mistake
History section of Contoller API documentation acted broken

What's New in Bitwig Studio 3.2.7 [released 11 August 2020]

Fixes

Regression (since 3.2.5): crash when recording a note clip over pre-existing MIDI automation when overdub and automation write were both turned off
Turning off automation write while recording a note clip did not stop writing automation for parameters that were recording
Regression: Using the Pop-up Browser to insert a sample file on a Drum Machine pad or device chain did not correctly update the displayed name of the track / pad based on the sample filename
Quickly selecting a sample in the Pop-up Browser (e.g double-clicking an unselected file) from within the Sampler device could close the browser without loading the sample
Rare crash when selecting devices in different chains within a track
macOS: relative mouse movements such as dragging faders or EQ nodes are not scaled correctly with system display scale settings
Controller API: CursorTrack.position always returned -1 when cursor was on a group track
Controller API: Clip.transpose would crash if the clip was an audio clip

What's New in Bitwig Studio 3.2.6 [released 18 July 2020]

Fixes

Regression in 3.2.5: if user was not activated then the login screen would crash if Caps Lock key was turned on or off
Regressino in 3.2.5: custom shortcuts for Toggle Track Mute, Toggle Track Solo, Toggle Track Arm, and Toggle Device Window did not work when a plug-in window was active

What's New in Bitwig Studio 3.2.5 [released 17 July 2020]

Improvements

Extension API is now at version 12, allowing finer control of specific devices and plug-ins

Automation Streamlining

When automation follow is enabled, automation and MIDI both follow when Arranger clips are moved or deleted
Certain parameters (such as pitch bend, pedal CCs, pressure) will always clear to 0, regardless of what the value from the left side of the time range was
MIDI automation is recorded in a proper hold mode (avoiding inadvertent ramps)
When recording and not overdubbing, each MIDI parameter that already has an automation lane write a flat line
When recording, MIDI automation is only played back when overdubbing
Automation thinning is not applied to certain MIDI parameters (pedal CCs) after recording
Automation thinning is not applied after pencilling certain parameters (non-continuous parameters, not related to MIDI)
MIDI parameters that already exist are no longer added twice on record
Fixed some GUI repaints in the Arranger

Fixes

Application could hang when there were very large Grid patches, in some cases
Changing a toggle parameter in a device now updates the status (in the window footer) immediately
Pressing the [DELETE] key, etc., in the plug-in host window will no longer delete project content. (Global shortcuts like controlling the transport, will still work though.)
Assigning shortcut to DSP Performance Graph window does not close it anymore after opening
Changing caps lock status in a plug-in window would not necessarily turn on note input
Keyboard note input did not allow some keys that weren't are used for note input to reach the plug-in (such as the arrow keys, etc.)
barStartPos value sent to VST 2 plug-ins would always be 0
Jack transport could be reported incorrectly to Jack when there were time signature changes
Windows: plug-ins always assumed that caps lock was used to turn on keyboard note input even, if the user disabled this in the (Shortcut preferences)
macOS: keyboard note input could invoke an action in a plug-in instead of playing a note in some plug-ins
Linux: keyboard input was not working for many plug-ins (such as u-he plug-ins, and Renoise's Redux)
Controller API: CursorTrack.createCursorDevice using a CursorDeviceFollowMode would not update correctly at the point a new device was inserted into the device chain

What's New in Bitwig Studio 3.2.4 [released 03 July 2020]

Improvements

Better precision when drawing boolean/integer automation using the pencil tool

Fixes

Pencil tool no longer allows point selection/dragging for automation
Fixed lots of issues when for auto-zooming/scrolling of the pitch ruler when selecting time/clips in Arranger
Master signal was mirrored across all outputs if none of them was configured as Speakers or Headphones
Follower RF Grid module: presets saved before 3.1 were missing their output connections
Rare crashes when disconnecting some controllers from a project
If a controller does not use MIDI to change parameters (e.g., OSC or some other form of input) still allow it to be mapped in the Mappings Browser Panel based on the logical controls it changes via the controller API
Plug-ins can no longer steal focus whenever the mouse moves over the plug-in window (e.g., LiquidSonics Reverberate 2), but we eventually give in to avoid fighting over window focus forever.
ASIO: removing an output routing sometimes left non-silence in the output buffer
Crash after starting the application in demo mode, then activating while in demo mode, and then switching Display Profile or activating the engine for a project

What's New in Bitwig Studio 3.2.3 [released 25 June 2020]

Fixes

Auto-scrolling was too harsh in the note editor, making it difficult to drag notes to the top or bottom displayed key
Prevent using invalid input or output audio channels in case audio device channel count changes
Doesn't allow adding an audio input or output in the preferences that would exceed the channel count of the device
Crash when selecting audio clip and note clip with exactly the same properties and then changing fade settings in clip inspector (fade section should be hidden in that case)
Show an error notification if user tries to start a second controller using the same MIDI inputs or outputs as another controller
Fix various problems with controllers when starting them and some MIDI inputs were not possible to open (e.g when in use by another application)
Doesn't show a window maximize button for windows where it doesn't make sense or where the OS would not do anything if you clicked it
Controller API: CursorTrack.position() wasn't working since 3.2 beta 6
Windows: if user sets the properties of the application to always open its windows maximized then don't allow the maximize to be applied to the login window or other windows that can't be resized
Windows: installer was setting the default application window mode to maximized, which could cause strange problems during the login window when user is not activated

What's New in Bitwig Studio 3.2.2 [released 18 June 2020]

Fixes

When showing the Commander window ([CTRL]+[ENTER]), plug-ins and other windows are now temporarily hidden
Pasting a time selection that spanned multiple track groups would only paste (or misplace) some of the data
Dragging a multi-track time selection between two projects would sometimes only bring (or misplace) some of the data
Moving a time selection to the end of an Arranger note clip in the Detail Editor Panel in Track mode could delete other notes
When showing Expanded Device View, don't steal input focus from the application window
Device parameters' default values were sometimes out of range
Fix rare crashes that could happen when deactivating the audio engine for a project that contained plug-ins
Rare crash when reshowing plug-in windows and a plug-in crashes
VST3: fixed message allocation
Values shown on controllers for choice style parameters could sometimes be wrong
Windows: fixed some occasional audio engine crashes when unplugging a controller

What's New in Bitwig Studio 3.2.1 [released 10 June 2020]

Fixes

MIDI CC modulator: Learn CC function could sometimes crash the audio engine
Crash when dragging a group track from the browser (in the Files tab) into an open project with fewer scenes available
When showing system file dialogs, plug-in windows are temporarily closed and keyboard input is suspended
When plug-in windows are temporarily hidden (e.g, when showing Pop-up Browser or Dashboard is called up), keyboard input is suspended. And when the plug-in windows are restored, they also restore their original display order.
Fixed audio engine crash when using audio interfaces with only one input or output channel
Random rare crashes when undoing with certain controllers connected
macOS: added entitlement that is required by plug-ins that use eLicenser
Use a weaker random seed generator to avoid failures when too many files are open

What's New in Bitwig Studio 3.2 [released 03 June 2020]

New Device: EQ+ (EQ)

EQ driven by a new algorithm and a unique style of graphic interface
14 filter mode types for each band
Global frequency Shift and Gain controls for moving all bands together
Adaptive-Q option, narrowing the Q of bands as their gain increases
Quick gestures for adding bands:

Peak filters are added by double-clicking at the current mouse cursor position
Low-/high-shelf filters are added by dragging the left/right edges of the EQ curve
Low-/high-cut filters are added by dragging the left/right edges of the EQ graph (off the curve)
Notch filters are added by dragging the lower edge of the EQ graph
Different mouse cursors are shown to identify each interaction's filter mode

Clicking on the selected band's audition target soloes that band while the mouse/touch is held
Numeric controls for the selected band are shown (with all bands displayed in the Inspector)
Expanded Device View for large/detachable version of the graphical editor (with all bands displayed in the Device Panel)
EQ curve is shown on a rainbow spectrum, with each band's color set by its frequency
Select a Reference track, which will be show as a purple curve inside the spectrum display
Spectrum display includes frequency Tilt and decibel range settings, as well as Speed and Resolution controls

New Device: Saturator (Destruction)

Unique signal shaper that works in the log domain (like us )
Basic panel interface with transfer function display, Drive amount, Normalize option, low-pass controls for just saturated portion of the signal, and Makeup Gain
Filter Slope setting offers two flavors of filter: G modes are a bit more gentle, and R modes tend to be rougher. So 3ᴳ is gentle at 18 dB/oct, 1ᴿ is a rough with 6 dB/oct, etc.
Expanded curve editor that provides:

Quiet and loud Threshold settings, to define each end of the sound
Quiet and loud Amount settings, controlling how the signal is proportionately changed beyond each Threshold
Quiet and loud Knee settings, for how gradual each transition is
Three Skew controls, for making the loud Threshold, Amount, and Knee controls apply differently to positive and negative amplitudes
An interactive log display of these controls and the incoming signal

New Grid module: Saturator (Shaper) - module version of the device, allowing for polyphonic applications in The Grid

Updated Device: Arpeggiator (Note FX)

Each step now has a pitch offset slider (in addition to the velocity and note length controls), and a global toggle for enabling all steps
New Humanize parameter randomizes velocities and step start times and lengths (either earlier or later)
Nine new Pattern options, for 17 in total
Rate can now be set in milliseconds
Micro-pitch expressions are now tracked for each note
Poly Pressure to Velocity option replaces initial note velocities with any polyphonic pressure message (like those from MPE controllers) received
Option to Allow Overlapping Notes can be toggled on (default) or off
Trigger Immediately option allows notes to start off the beat grid
Release Immediately option uses the final note off to instantly end sound (instead of lasting the full step length)
New Octave Behavior option, used when the Octave Range is greater than one. Settings include…

Broad - Takes each additional octave in sequence, stacking them up with possible irregular/repeating patterns. (This is the default.)
Thin - Flattens & sorts all notes into one linear shape. (This was the Arpeggiator behavior in v3.1.x and earlier.)
1 by 1 - Executes the full pattern in each octave before moving to the next octave.

Updated Devices: Selectors (Container) Get Voice Modes

Instrument Selector, Note FX Selector, and audio FX Selector now have voice modes in the Inspector for cycling thru the available layers in various ways
Modes (and example uses) include:

Manual (same as the behavior up to 3.1.x) - Target layer is set by user, controller, modulator, and/or automation
Round-robin - New note triggers the next layer (for notes in series, or individual notes within a chord)
Free-robin - Round-robin, but skips used voices when possible
Free Voice - New note uses the first free layer. Always starts with the first layer for more predictable results. (Also ideal for loading multiple layers with HW CV Instrument to create polyphony with Eurorack hardware.)
Random - New note randomly selects a layer (nice with a pile of different audio FX)
Random Other - New note randomly selects a different layer (to guarantee a change each time)
Keyswitches - Designated notes set the target layer (you define the lowest keyswitch; so if set to note C2 and the Selector has 3 layers, C2 switches to layer 1, C#2 switches to layer two, and D2 switches to layer 3). Good for film scoring with different sounds and articulations.
CC - Designated continuous controller sets target layer (you define a continuous controller [default CC1 - mod wheel], whose full range will morph evenly thru all layers). For example, using mod wheel to cycle thru various note FX.
Program Change - PC messages set the target layer (program change messages map directly to each layer). Common output from pedal controllers, etc.

Other than Manual, all other modes are aware of the layer count. So adding or removing layers will just work without additional configuration.

Delay Options, for Evolving Sounds

New device: Note Delay, to delay an entire device chain/layer either in beats or seconds
ADSR, AHDSR & Note Sidechain modulators: now have a Pre-delay option for delaying their start either in beats or seconds
New Grid module: Logic Delay (Logic), for delaying the high- or low-logic portion of gate signals
New modulator: AHD on Release (Envelope), a triggered envelope that launches at note off

Other New Features

New Grid module: XP (Filter) - a modulatable filter with key tracking and 15 modes, including combos
New Grid module: Array (Data) - a recordable sequencer, for keeping track of up to 1024 events, notes, velocities, or anything else
New Grid module: N-Latch (Logic) - tracks the last trigger received from up to eight inputs, for an exclusive solo-type relationship
The Mix Panel now has mini displays of various devices, showing EQ curves (for EQ+, EQ-5, and EQ-2) or gain reduction amounts (for Compressor, De-Esser, Dynamics, Gate, and Peak Limiter)
Drum Machine device: now supports internal audio returns
Drum Machine device: option to select drum pads by following played notes (the five-pin MIDI icon)
In The Grid : dropping a sample or multisample into a Grid patch creates a Sampler module and loads the sound source
EQ-2, EQ-5 & Resonator Bank devices: color each band by its frequency (like EQ+)
Test Tone device: Frequency parameter is colored with the rainbow spectrum
Added controller script for Befaco VCMC

Improvements

Interactive help window now includes links to related video tutorials (at the bottom of the window)
Opening a clip (BWCLIP) or preset (BWPRESET) file from the OS file manager will load the file onto a new track in the open project
Improved Ableton Link and MIDI clock slave synchronization
Transpose actions now work on audio clips (via the pitch expression)
Time and event selections display their length in minutes and seconds in the Inspector Panel
Both Arranger clips and cue markers can now be renamed with the standard command
User files can be renamed within the Browser Panel, and from the Files tab of the Project Panel
New preference for whether clicking a mixer solo button should disable all other solos ("exclusive solo") or not. Shift-click performs the inverse behavior.
Drum Machine device: drum cells now swap when dragged on top of each other
EQ-5 and EQ+ devices: spectrum analyzers now have Resolution and fall Speed controls
Spectrum device & Grid module: now have Resolution, fall Speed, Tilt, Scale, Range, and drawing Style controls
Tool device: now has an additional Volume control that bottoms out at silence
Vocoder device: Now suggests presets as either instruments or audio FX, depending on the contents of the Modulator chain
Steps & ParSeq-8 modulators: New with Groove mode, which syncs to the Global Transport with groove (when active)
Steps (Data) Grid module - new Interpolation option, for crossfading between step values; also a great way to create a lookup table
AD (Envelope) Grid module - new Looping option, to retrigger the envelope if the gate signal (often from the keyboard) is still held down when the envelope completes
New preference for whether middle mouse button drags will just pan in note editors, or pan and zoom
Audio engine: better parameter automation for VST2 and VST3 plug-ins (they now update at least every 64 samples)
The left/right edge of the clip's loop region can be dragged in the Detail Editor Panel (even when the edge is offscreen)
Note and clip stretching targets (left and right edges) are a bit wider
When dragging multiple notes, small chords (up to four notes) will preview all notes; larger chords will sound only the note clicked on
When moving multiple notes with the keyboard, only the earliest note will sound
Improved Tap Tempo, to recognize tempo changes more quickly
Tap Tempo can now be manually mapped in the Mapping Browser Panel
Toggle Device Window is now mappable
New Shortcut: Toggle Primary Device Window
DSP Performance Graph window now shows if the audio timing is coming from the audio interface or if it is approximated
Linux: it wasn't possible to drag files from some external applications (written using Qt, for example) into Bitwig Studio
ControlSurface API version 11:

ContinuousHardwareControl now has information about the name and value of the target it is controlling
Hardware controllers using the new API now have sub-buffer accuracy and no jitter when controlling parameters
Manual MIDI mappings in a project now have lower latency, sub-sample accuracy, and no jitter when controlling parameters
Indicators on the parameters are now automatically provided (no need to manually call Parameter.setIndication)
Now possible to map controls to MIDI pitch bend messages
Ability to choose between physical or logical knob/slider for a mapping in mapping browser
Ability to decide if a MIDI note mapping applies always or only when it is used for note input

Fixes

Undo was not possible after pressing escape key while dragging note velocity
Duplicating notes across multiple launcher clips in layered note editor did not select all duplicated notes
ALT-dragging a time selection on an instrument track to new track was bounces the selection, but was creating another instrument track
Gate device: input signal was stuck at zero
Instrument Selector device: playing the same notes on different channels created stuck notes
Oscilloscope device: deactivating trace B wasn't affecting the Expanded Device View
Random modulator: would sometimes jump when in Sync mode
Mix modulator: modulator source now follows the device's name
Fixed incorrect value on polyphonically modulated indexed controls
Some modulator values were not showing properly in the window footer on parameter hover
Fixed keyboard navigation between columns inside the Pop-up Browser
Scrolling through presets using a controller on the Pop-up Browser could be difficult because each preset was loaded instead of waiting a short time for the user to settle on a preset
Latest device descriptions are shown in the Inspector Panel
Crash when parsing some invalid SoundFont 2 files
No longer sends the MIDI Clock and MIDI Timecode when the engine is not processing in realtime
Fixed ghost note with some plug-ins when overlapping notes where played
Draw issue with open VST GUI button in the track mixer
VST2: kVstBarsValid flag was not set even when bar data was provided
If many underruns occurred, controllers that used the new hardware API may lag more than they should when adjusting parameters
Ignore mapping low level MIDI events that we detect are used for touch or release of a control
Random crashes that can happen when various controllers are running
macOS: dragging items might cause high CPU load in some cases
macOS: added missing entitlements for plug-ins that use eLicenser
macOS: drop operation occasionally happens only on the next mouse/key event when dropping items using trackpad
Linux: audio engine crash when selecting some ALSA audio outputs
Linux: crash when scaling GUI above 300%
Linux: When plug-in window is focused, allow key events to still work as though the Bitwig window was focused (for example, keyboard note input will still work)
Surge VST3: was showing a black window on Linux