Bitwig has announced the availability of Bitwig Studio 4.1, the latest version of its increasingly popular DAW.
The headline here is the introduction of 8 new Note FX (Bitwig's term for MIDI effects) which manipulate incoming MIDI data in various ways.
The effects range from the functional to the creative, and can be combined together (or modulated with Bitwig's Modulators) to create some pretty unusual results.
Bitwig's updated range of Note FX includes some effects that producers will recognise from other DAWs, such as Note Repeat and Quantize, and some more creatively stimulating options.
The Humanize effect applies randomization to timing and velocity to give rhythms a more natural feeling, while Randomize takes this up a notch by randomly modulating any note expression, including pitch.
Our pick of the bunch is Ricochet, which models notes as bouncing balls in an enclosed space, which retrigger when they collide, using their position to modulate panning and timbre.
There are a few other updates worth mentioning, too. Colour palettes can now be applied to tracks, clips and layers, with the option to transform image files into palettes within Bitwig.
Track MIDI output is now directly accessible, and Bitwig's Sampler has been upgraded to feature a Release chain, triggering an instrument of your choice when a note is released.
Find out more on the Bitwig website. Anyone with an active Bitwig Studio Upgrade Plan can download the v4.1 installer from their account. Only the new devices Bend, Humanize, Quantize and Randomize will be available in Bitwig Studio 16-Track.
If you're new to Bitwig Studio, you can currently purchase it for $299/€299 rather than for the regular price of $399/€399, while Bitwig Studio 16-Track can be had for $79/€79 rather than $99/€99. These offers run until 11 January 2022.
