System Requirements

• Windows - Windows 7, 8, or 10 (all in 64-bit)
• Mac - macOS 10.13 ("High Sierra") or above
• Linux - Ubuntu 18.04 or later
• a CPU capable of SSE 4.1

Changes in Bitwig Studio 3.3.1 [released 15 December 2020]

Improvements

• Improved multi core performance for Bitwig instruments
• Zoom to Fit Selection shortcut (by double-clicking a scrollbar, or often the [Z] key) centers around the playback region when nothing is selected
• The Project Panel now restores the tab last open of your project
• Mono monitoring function (available in the Studio I/O Panel) is no longer restored when relaunching Bitwig Studio. To avoid confusion.

Fixes

• Clip stretching wasn't available for the full clip height (hold [ALT] for the interaction)
• When stretching sloped Arranger automation, the preview (on drag) looked broken
• Drum Machine device: Return chains weren't correctly delay-compensated
• Tap tempo didn't work while Ableton Link was active
• It wasn't possible to record with pre-roll while Ableton Link was active
• Waveform in Detail Editor Panel wasn't always painted correctly while recording
• Fixed a crash when adding a modulation scaling to a plug-in parameter that was not yet loaded by the audio engine
• Some keys on the numeric keypad could not be used for shortcut mappings on Linux and macOS
• Audio engine could crash after deleting automation data under certain circumstances
• Fixed issue with disk streaming
• Rare crashes were occurring when canceling an audio bounce
• Linux: Some plug-ins were randomly crashing or behaving strangely on Linux systems. To fix this, the oldest support version is now Ubuntu 18.04.

What's New in Bitwig Studio 3.3 [released 26 Nov 2020]

New Synthesizer: Polymer

• A hybrid modular synthesizer. Streamlined for quick, distinctive sound design. Hot, swappable.
• Uses switchable oscillator, filter, and amplitude envelope generators from The Grid:
  • 7 oscillator options: Sine, Triangle, Pulse, Saw, Phase-1, Swarm, and Wavetable (see below)
  • 5 filter options: Low-pass SK (Sallen-Key model), Low-pass LD (ladder model), SVF (state-variable, with low-, high-, and band-pass modes), XP (inspired by Mr Oberheim, with 15 filter configurations), and Comb
  • 4 envelope generator options: ADSR, AR, AD (with a looping option), and Pluck (exponential string-style decay), with a modulator routing option for controlling additional parameters
• Other front panel parameters include:
  • Sub oscillator with waveform, octave, and blend controls
  • Noise blend control
  • Filter envelope (FEG) generator with ADSR controls, free modulator routing button, and toggle to also envelope the sub oscillator and noise generator outputs
  • High-pass filter cutoff
  • A nested Note FX chain, Pitch, Glide, Velocity Sensitivity, Gain (pre-FX chain), Panning, and Output level (post-FX chain)
• For detail controls and a schematic view, the Expanded Device View shows a performance view of the underlying Grid patch with all module panel controls exposed and modulatable
• Any Polymer patch can be converted to a fully editable Poly Grid patch (right-click on the device header)
• Modulators like LFOs, sequencers, or sidechains can target any parameter of Polymer, same as for every Bitwig device and plug-in
• Polymer can be stacked in Instrument Layer or Selector devices, or can use Bitwig's voice stacking to create instant layers

New Grid module: Wavetable (Oscillator)

• New oscillator for playing back and modulating wavetables
• Embedded graphic shows the full table contents with the current interpolated output on top
• Clicking on the display loads a visual wavetable browser, showing previews of all files, side by side
• Includes 139 wavetables (WT files) across five categories:
  • Acoustic (42) - Based on real-world instruments & sounds
  • Analog (33) - Using analog techniques and sources
  • Digital (31) - Using digital techniques and sources
  • Fractal (18) - Spectra that grow recursively
  • Harmonics (15) - Basic wave morphs and harmonic series
• Any WT file (Surge format) can be read, as well as Serum- and WaveEdit-compatible WAV files, etc.
• All in ports are fully stereo including Table Index, so the left and right channels can read different parts of the same wavetable
  • Defaults to interpolating the loaded wavetable for smooth transitions, but has an option to disable this (so that only tables in the loaded file are available)
• Three unique unison modes:
  • Fat, for stacking detuned voices flatly
  • Focused, keeping in-tune voices more center and loud
  • Complex, producing polyrhythms between voices (and providing smoother retriggering)
• Spread Unison Phases option, which gives a different phase offset for each unison voice, resulting in a smoother unison sound with less beating
• Harmonic Phases post-processing option, with different modes for affecting the loaded wavetable:
  • Aligned - All harmonics use the same phase (for a "focused" sound)
  • Diffuse - All phases are randomized (for a "blurred" sound)
  • Original - Original wavetable file's values are preserved
• Context-specific anti-aliasing is applied on playback
• Standard assortment of pitch controls, including stereo detune

Free Content Scaling

• Notes and audio can be freely stretched by mouse interaction or by typing in a percentage (with the Scale… function)
• This works for selected note and audio clips, selected note and audio events, automation points, or any time selection
• [ALT]-dragging the selection's border on the right edge scales all items relative to the left boundary, and vice versa
• Scale 50% and Scale 200% functions stretch the selected events in time
• [ALT]-dragging the right edge of one selected events scales all items relative to the left boundary but preserves their start times, and vice versa
• Scale Each 50% and Scale Each 200% functions stretch the selected events but preserve their start times
• Scale… allows the user to enter an exact percentage for stretching, with an option for preserving start times or not
• Holding [SHIFT] toggles snapping

Project Panel gained a Sections page

• New Sections tab shows all Arranger cue markers and Launcher scenes in one list
• Provides full access to the project, even when something else (maybe a mixer, plug-in, or Grid patch) is taking most of the screen
• Displays the name and color of each marker/scene, as well as the position (for cue markers) and the number of contained clips (for scenes)
• Clicking a cue marker or scene selects it in the project. Pressing return triggers it.
• With one or more cue markers selected, right-click or use the key command to set and enable the Arranger Loop for that duration

Improved Clip/Event Editing

• New gesture to adjust an audio event's Gain expression by clicking near the object's header and dragging up or down
  • Available both in the Arranger and the Detail Editor Panel
• New gesture to slide clip/event edits, moving end and start times of abutting objects simultaneously
• New gesture to create pre-fades into edits by dragging the fade control on the start of an event further to the left
  • A pre-fade can also be created by entering a negative Fade in time in the Inspector
  • Dragging the fade control to the right still fades in from the current edit point
• Separating crossfaded events maintains the previous fade in with a new pre-fade before the editing point
• Improved handles for changing length of or moving crossfades

New Modulator Mapping Options

• For each modulation connection, seven various curves are available for either reshaping the signal or having it only respond to certain portions of the range (or the knob it is assigned to):
  • Linear - Flat response
  • Positives - Proportional response to positive values
  • Negatives - Proportional response to negative values
  • Absolute - Magnitude-only response
  • Toward Zero - Increases on approach to zero
  • Exponential - Increasing slope away from zero
  • Logarithmic - Decreasing slope away from zero
• Each modulation connection can now accept one modulator source to directly scale it
  • When in a modulator's mapping mode, go to the Inspector Panel and click on an existing modulation to scale it
  • This allows amount control of each modulation routing
  • Most modulators still have an Amount parameter, if you affect all modulations from a single source
• Modulations can now be bypassed (or deactivated) either by:
  • [SHIFT]-clicking each modulation's text in the Inspector Panel (or where shown in context menus)
  • [SHIFT]-clicking the modulator's name in the Inspector Panel, to toggle the (de)activated state of all its mappings

New Features

• New modulator: Vibrato (LFO), a musical LFO whose amount can be normalled to mod wheel or (poly) pressure
• New modulator: Ramp (Envelope), a simple ramp generator whose length can be set in time or beats, with switchable direction, curve, and optional looping
• New Grid module: Sub (Oscillator), simplified bass-oriented oscillator with octave switch and waveform chooser
• New Grid module: Velo Mult (Level), an attenuator controlled by note velocity messages, with Sensitivity range and a smoothing control
• New Grid module: Octaver (Pitch), for transposing incoming pitch signals by octaves (±3), with a control for which stereo channels to affect
• New Grid module: Ratio (Pitch), for transposing incoming pitch signals by ratio, with a control for which stereo channels to affect
• New Grid module: Pan (Level), panning placement control for one signal
• New Grid module: Gain In (I/O), providing polyphonic note gain expressions as signals
• New Grid module: Pan In (I/O), providing polyphonic note pan expressions as signals
• New Grid module: Ø Pinch (Phase), imposes an S-curve onto a phase signal, with Stereo-ize option
• New Grid module: Ø Split (Phase), equally distributes a phase signal across up to eight out ports
• New Auto-crossfade command, for creating anti-click pre-fades & crossfades
• Controller scripts added for Kenton KillaMix, Devine VersaKey, and Ez Creator Key series

Improvements

• New optimized AVX2 audio engine, for processors that can take advantage of it
• To use better optimizations for most processors, Bitwig now requires a CPU capable of SSE 4.1 (if this criterion isn't met, Windows shows an error dialog, and Linux writes a message to the stderr)
• Ableton Link sync method now offers a millisecond Offset, to shift forward or backward in time
• Arpeggiator (Note FX) device: Each step now has a Step Skip toggle, for jumping past that step when it is next reached. A nice touch for mixing things up when using the Transposition sliders to create melodies or bass lines.
• Micro-pitch (Note FX) device: Now has an EDO mode
  • Allows dividing an Interval into a set number of Divisions around a Root Key
  • EDO mode can visualize up to 24 Divisions (although Divisions can be set much higher)
  • Original behavior is now in the 12 Notes mode, unchanged
• Sampler device: Dragging a multisample file into the multisample editor now merges with the current context (rather than replacing it)
• Sampler device: Dragging a multisample file onto the Device Panel interface of Sampler allows it to be merged with the existing multisample content if the merge modifier is held
• Keytrack modulator: Absolute mode allows setting the minimum and maximum notes. By default, they are set to A-1 and C7, which are the previous unchangeable values (and the 88-key range of the modern piano).
• Dice & Chance (Random) Grid modules : Both now have pre-cords to update their random outputs on each note
• Bend (Level) and Ø Bend, Ø Shift, & Ø Skew (Phase) Grid modules: All have Stereo-ize parameters, for applying the inverse amount of processing to the right channel and putting more stereo play into any signal
• Ø Reverse (Phase) Grid module: Has a Stereo-ness parameter, for controlling which stereo channels are affected
• Dragging a MIDI file into Clip Launcher enables Looping by default
• Clicking a modulation routing button no longer selects the modulator
• Poly Grid device: Automatically applies note gain and pan expressions at the device output (pre-FX chain)
• Modulators (there are 36 now) have been reorganized into clearer categories:
  • Audio-driven (4) - devices that convert audio into a modulator signal
  • Envelope (5) - aperiodic generators triggered by note ons or offs
  • Interface (8) - providing panel elements for better/unique control
  • LFO (5) - regularly repeating patterns or noise
  • Modifier (5) - processor modulators
  • Note-driven (6) - devices triggered by notes or MIDI
  • Sequence (3) - step-/segment-based modulations

Fixes

• Playing a Raw audio event from the middle could start at the wrong position if tempo-automation was present
• When dragging the left border of a Raw audio Arranger clip, an incorrect area of the waveform was shown if tempo automation is present
• Recording touch automation when looping clips (or the arrangement) now stops only after the control has been released
• Dragging a time selection of clip automation did not allow moving the automation (and the quantize time modifier was inverted)
• Was possible to get a stuck buffer when turning solo on/off if a nested device layer used a send
• Send routings could cause clicks when switching solo on/off
• Using solo in parent group muted FX layer in child group
• Layer and Selector devices: Now properly respect MIDI channels and each layer's channel settings (in the Inspector Panel)
• EQ-2 and EQ-5 devices: When upgrading to EQ+, spectrum analyzers are now toggled on
• Samplerdevice: State of Keytracking parameter is now preserved when swapping or dragging in a sample
• HW Instrument device: Playback timing was off after changing block size, as latency wasn't recalculated
• Replacer device: Filter monitor broke between 3.1 and 3.2
• Amp device: Was producing silence when receiving right channel only
• FX Layer device: Default device preset now includes one empty layer
• 4-Stage modulator: Is more robust with stages of duration 0
• LFO modulator: Now starts with a randomized phase when in Free running mode
• ADSR Grid module: Was breaking with Attack and Decay at zero and Sustain at max
• X/Y Grid module: The dot is properly updated when resizing the module
• Various Grid modules that have trigger inputs coupled with pre-cords now have proper trigger behavior, even with sustained signals. This includes:
  • Pulse, Sawtooth, Sine, Triangle, Wavetable, Sub, Phase-1, and Swarm (Oscillator)
  • LFO and Clock (LFO)
  • S/H LFO and Dice(Random)
  • Ø Reset (Phase)
• X–Y device controls (such as EQ points or filter cutoff–resonance pairs) are now recorded properly in all automation modes
• If the delay compensation limit is exceeded, a notification is shown rather that the audio engine crashing
• Converting devices would lose sidechain inputs of modulators
• After deleting polyphonic modulation mapping to discrete parameters, setting the value would no longer work
• Copying or duplicating Grid modules no longer copies their input connections
• Copying and moving modulations now behave similarly in the Inspector's source and destination views
• Available actions (shown in the window footer) now include mouse gestures for modulation assignments
• VST3: We now notify plug-ins when we render offline for bouncing
• VST: After deactivating and activating a plug-in, modulated parameters are set to the correct values
• VST3: Improved plug-in unloading
• Vengeance's VPS Avenger plug-in: Was crashing when changing presets
• macOS: Arturia Analog Lab 4 VST3 was silent after changing presets
• MCU controller scripts would sometimes crash when updating the display during pre-roll
• Making time selections in the Arranger using touch was too slow
• Fixed various crashes related to touch input
• Track loading indicators (a spinning circle in the track header) would sometimes keep spinning
• Standby time selection was not shown correctly while making a rectangular selection
• Time selection range was not quantized correctly when created by making an empty rectangular selection
• Drawing a velocity ramp (with the pen tool in the Detail Editor Panel) now cancels cleanly when [ESC] is pressed, etc.
• Frequency spectrum displays throughout the program are now calibrated for peak sine
• Projects saved while within a group track sometimes couldn't navigate back out on reopen
• Sometimes crashed when dragging note clips containing lots of automation points
• When loading a broken file in the Pop-up Browser, it was possible that the browser could never be closed
• Crashed when having remote controls editor open, switching display profiles, and then closing the editor window
• Windows: Fixed crash when navigating into drives in the Files tab of the Browser
• Linux: Fixed rare crash or audio system hang when using Pulse audio backend
• Linux: Some plugins (such as Surge) that dynamically linked to certain libraries (xkb, for example) would crash when not hosted within Bitwig