live performing?

[alan9990]

Hi all,

New to Bitwig and this forum. I have searched and tried to discover my own answers prior to asking here but thus far I've failed. So please excuse me if I've somehow overlooked some blindingly obvious or already answered question...

I'm using Bitwig with an Akai MPK mini Mk3. Still just finding out what everything does and how everything works, me being a complete beginner in terms of music making.

One of the things that drew me to buying a DAW and controller was watching the very many demos out there of people tapping in beats, using the controller to start/stop; switch; layer the various sounds, thereby creating tunes "on the fly".

I deliberately didn't buy Ableton because at end of day surely it's all about some software and hardware? Being prepared to do the work means I don't need to buy something set up in a certain way, I can learn how to do what I want in something as open-ended and flexible as Bitwig by understanding mappings or scripts or some other aspect which will allow me to e.g. start/stop a clip from a pad on my controller?

But I simply cannot find any kind of guide or "get started" video showing me how I could do the above, or how to use my controller to tap out a beat, use it to start/stop sounds (stems) etc. as I've seen demonstrated with multiple other programs.

Does such a guide exist? Or is it in the manual and I've simply failed to notice? Can anyone please point me in the right direction?

[drovers88]

Bitwig is a little younger and obscure compared to other DAWS, That might be why you are not finding the answer in a concise video on YouTube. Everything you said is possible, Relatively easy and Bitwig is capable of even more.

I recommend reading the manual ( skip “the grid” section for now) and/or watch some beginner Bitwig videos.

What you need should be covered within the first 20 mins. Maybe look for videos around the “launcher”.

The midi control stuff will be specific to your control. Mine automatically assigns the Launcher clips to pads. I press a button and now pads are playing samples instead of stems in the Launcher. With help from the extension by Drivenbymoss you can also make your midi control do even more.

Good luck

[dupont]

Myself : Bitwig on Linux laptop, 2 JBL 110 party, AKAI APC40 MKII. A minimal techno live set. I spend approx 10/15 hours to prepare a set : sound design, clips arrangement, effects, assign controlers...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK5hgtVaf5U&t=419s

[seipster]

My live setup for the band Polardegos.

Bitwig and Resolume hybrid setup

Basic audio backing track and video from resolume. (Audio is going into Bitwig via BlackHole 2CH)

In Bitwig I have then

IN:
Audio from Resolume - Stereo
Audio from a DJ on Turntables - Stereo
Audio from one person playing on a MPC - Stereo
Audio from one person playing a mono-synth - Mono
5 vocals in from mics (FX Selector that gives different sounds for each song on each channel. I only have native BWS effects in the different chains)

FX Tracks
2 Stereo delays in dub style (Delay 2 on both of them)
1 huge reverb for dub style reverb effects (Convultion)
1 stereo slap-back delay (Delay+)
1 Vocal reverb (Convultion)

Out:
Music (Mix of all audio ins minus vocals) - Stereo
Vocals (Mix of all vocals) - Stereo
DUB FX - The 3 dub FX channels - Stereo
FX - The other two FX channels - Stereo
3 to 6 Mono monitor mixes depending on the size of the stage.

HDMI video out

Resolume is controlled by the APC40mk2 (And GUI displayed on a Android pad using Duet Display)
BitWig is controlled by the MidiMix for all FX parameters and a APC Mini to trigger the correct scenes containg tempos, correct changes to FX selectors for vocals and so on.

Latency in Bitwig is 2,67 ms using 128 buffer size. Audio in 48Khz

Soundcard is a Focusrite Clasrett+ 8pre (and an ada8200 adat expander)

Running on a MacBook Pro M1 Max 32 GB ram

[drovers88]

@seipster thanks for posting all of this info. Really cool to read, I’m getting a set together and I’ve been striving to make it simple and barebones for the sake of computer performance ( almost no live efx, 7 audio tracks, 1 instrument track for a vst + bitwig synths) …. But we’ve got more or less the same computer and you are really making it work. Extremely impressive to me , I’d love to see some clips sometime .

[seipster]

Will post video from our last gig soon, and we will be doing a small 5 date tour later this fall. Will post something from the preprod and first gig.

[zippybungle]

Techno traveller cool

[snowcreative]

To what device are you sending the mono monitor mixes from Bitwig?

[nowiamone]

Hi all,

New to Bitwig and this forum. I have searched and tried to discover my own answers prior to asking here but thus far I've failed. So please excuse me if I've somehow overlooked some blindingly obvious or already answered question...

I'm using Bitwig with an Akai MPK mini Mk3. Still just finding out what everything does and how everything works, me being a complete beginner in terms of music making.

One of the things that drew me to buying a DAW and controller was watching the very many demos out there of people tapping in beats, using the controller to start/stop; switch; layer the various sounds, thereby creating tunes "on the fly".

I deliberately didn't buy Ableton because at end of day surely it's all about some software and hardware? Being prepared to do the work means I don't need to buy something set up in a certain way, I can learn how to do what I want in something as open-ended and flexible as Bitwig by understanding mappings or scripts or some other aspect which will allow me to e.g. start/stop a clip from a pad on my controller?

But I simply cannot find any kind of guide or "get started" video showing me how I could do the above, or how to use my controller to tap out a beat, use it to start/stop sounds (stems) etc. as I've seen demonstrated with multiple other programs.

Does such a guide exist? Or is it in the manual and I've simply failed to notice? Can anyone please point me in the right direction?

Hi there,
although i really like Bitwig, and i like seeing Bitwig thrive with new people,
i really don't get your reasoning behind choosing Bitwig
Out of curiosity i'd love to know why you did not choose Ableton?
I guess those Videos of live performances you saw mostly were based on Ableton?
I myself used Ableton for quite a long time, and see no reason not to recommend it for live performance. Especially concerning hardware connectivity and tutorials, Ableton is rock solid, while Bitwig still has problems with some specific hardware-midi connections and scripts (the developers rely heavily on the support of a private person who writes midi scripts for fun in his spare time, called Jürgen Moßgruber!! imagine that), and has a MUCH smaller amount of in-depth high quality tutorials on youtube, especially when it comes to very specific workflows for live performance! The vast majority of Bitwig Tutorials are about basic stuff, devices, and especially countless hours about the Grid - which is awesome, but has nothing to do with Live performing.
Bitwig itself just recently got an incredibly necessary update for Clip-based Live performers:
- v5 release note says: "By default, the Next Action timing is set in loop iterations (the loop icon button), with a value of 1x, or trigger after the clip plays once" Before, next action timings for next clips had to be typed in manually via bar count!!!!! It's mind-blowing to me that this wasn't included earlier, and this indicates to me that Live Performance tools are not top priority for Bitwigs development!
- Also, depending on the size of your live-set, you will realize that there are no Clip-Playback-Progress informations on the Track Level. So a very standard and essential part of controlling a big liveset is not available in Bitwig. If you're remixing on the fly, using 8 Tracks with many scenes, you have to manually scroll around in search for the currently playing clip in each Track, in order to find out its current playback-position. BUT at least you can see the playback-progess within the Clip, which is awesome, compared to Ableton I just wish Bitwig would realize how short sighted the decision was to not show clip playback progress ALSO on the Tracks itself.

Don't get me wrong: Bitwig is awesome and a good choice.
Ableton AND Bitwig both have their ups and downs.
If your hardware isn't working like you want, the drivenbymoss scripts might help you get things running.

Concerning your question about how to layer sounds on the fly:
Go to Bitwigs Preferences "Shortcut" list and Midi assign your prefered knobs/buttons to the respective functions. I recommend assigning the Navigation within the Clip launcher, so you can easily go in all 4 directions, go from clip to clip/ track to track, then press record again (also assign that clip launch/record via the Shortcut list)
If you're asking about how to quickly make a beat with your AKAI, you'd profit from watching drum machine tutorials on youtube for Bitwig. Load your favorite samples in there, have your AKAI properly connected within Bitwigs preferences-controllers and voila.

[seipster]

I guess the first reason I use Bitwig for live stuff is that is my primary DAW.
It has never failed me in a concert and it is pretty easy to set up a single project for a whole concert with 6 stereo ins / 6 mics in and the channels back out to FOH (and also control 4 different monitor mixes by having them as FX Channels with separate outputs as well). I have a Focusrite 8 Carlett+ and a adat 8/8 expansion.

But I do not used it to play a lot of short clips. Each song is then set up as one, two or three scenes with the basic music. Then the rest of the music and vocals is done live from DJ-decks, a MPC, a synth and 6 vocals going through the Bitwig mixer.

The thing that is perfect for me is that I then have different effects, tempos, and settings for each channel mapped out in each scene and it is easy to mix and ad dub effects live. I a certain you can do this in other software as well, but it just works really good for me in Bitwig. I have latency at 2,67 ms with all plugs running. So I do not use any plugins that adds to that latency. Only "live" or "real-time" plugins (meaning I have to resort to some waves plugins for some things like pitch-correction, ovox and vocal rider live). It also works flawless with the Akai controllers I use and I can map everything I need easy.

As I said I am absolutely certain other software can do all of the above just as well (The main reason I use Bitwig is for production), but I see absolutely no reason for me to use anything else.

[alan9990]

Hi there,
although i really like Bitwig, and i like seeing Bitwig thrive with new people,
i really don't get your reasoning behind choosing Bitwig
Out of curiosity i'd love to know why you did not choose Ableton?
I guess those Videos of live performances you saw mostly were based on Ableton?
I myself used Ableton for quite a long time, and see no reason not to recommend it for live performance. Especially concerning hardware connectivity and tutorials, Ableton is rock solid, while Bitwig still has problems with some specific hardware-midi connections and scripts (the developers rely heavily on the support of a private person who writes midi scripts for fun in his spare time, called Jürgen Moßgruber!! imagine that), and has a MUCH smaller amount of in-depth high quality tutorials on youtube, especially when it comes to very specific workflows for live performance! The vast majority of Bitwig Tutorials are about basic stuff, devices, and especially countless hours about the Grid - which is awesome, but has nothing to do with Live performing.
Bitwig itself just recently got an incredibly necessary update for Clip-based Live performers:
- v5 release note says: "By default, the Next Action timing is set in loop iterations (the loop icon button), with a value of 1x, or trigger after the clip plays once" Before, next action timings for next clips had to be typed in manually via bar count!!!!! It's mind-blowing to me that this wasn't included earlier, and this indicates to me that Live Performance tools are not top priority for Bitwigs development!
- Also, depending on the size of your live-set, you will realize that there are no Clip-Playback-Progress informations on the Track Level. So a very standard and essential part of controlling a big liveset is not available in Bitwig. If you're remixing on the fly, using 8 Tracks with many scenes, you have to manually scroll around in search for the currently playing clip in each Track, in order to find out its current playback-position. BUT at least you can see the playback-progess within the Clip, which is awesome, compared to Ableton I just wish Bitwig would realize how short sighted the decision was to not show clip playback progress ALSO on the Tracks itself.

Don't get me wrong: Bitwig is awesome and a good choice.
Ableton AND Bitwig both have their ups and downs.
If your hardware isn't working like you want, the drivenbymoss scripts might help you get things running.

Concerning your question about how to layer sounds on the fly:
Go to Bitwigs Preferences "Shortcut" list and Midi assign your prefered knobs/buttons to the respective functions. I recommend assigning the Navigation within the Clip launcher, so you can easily go in all 4 directions, go from clip to clip/ track to track, then press record again (also assign that clip launch/record via the Shortcut list)
If you're asking about how to quickly make a beat with your AKAI, you'd profit from watching drum machine tutorials on youtube for Bitwig. Load your favorite samples in there, have your AKAI properly connected within Bitwigs preferences-controllers and voila.

I honestly have no idea why I'm only now aware of your great reply (and others here)! It now being many months hence I can actually provide a better answer at least. Sorry, was NOT ignoring anyone

When I posted my question it was for a number of reasons.

1: I purchased Bitwig because I really liked the fact that one can have full access to the unlicensed version, albeit not save anything. This is a great way to satisfy oneself that it really does offer the desired features.

2: I'm a huge fan of open source. My daily driver is a Linux system, and a bit like with Bitwig, where everything looks a bit complex and mysterious at first, the effort is rewarded by having access to lots of parameters and settings. No doubt that Ableton is a very capable (and popular) DAW, but Bitwig appealed to me.

3: The initial interest in "live performing" wasn't so much to do with actually wanting to go out and perrform, it was more that I wasn't ready (I didn't think at the time) to learn to play a keyboard. So being able to sketch out musical ideas via tapping buttons, and having grid-style editing, looked really appealing.

Things seem to have changed considerably in the months since. I bought a piano course on Udemy. I bought a 61 key controller (difficult practicing piano on 25 keys). And with both of those events, plus a better grounding in what a DAW is/does (and specifically Bitwig and its depth of control), I find I'm very happy "making music" via VSTs and a keyboard, and lots of static editing, tweaking etc.

So yes, I not only accept that perhaps I could have just gone with what was already a leader in its field (Ableton), just as I see that it's not uncommon for people to have 2 or 3 DAWs each for different things.

And yes, while one can use the "I cannot believe they haven't got <x> feature", it seems no DAW is everything to everyone. Variety is surely what makes the world such a fascinating place?

[pdxindy]

So yes, I not only accept that perhaps I could have just gone with what was already a leader in its field (Ableton), just as I see that it's not uncommon for people to have 2 or 3 DAWs each for different things.

And yes, while one can use the "I cannot believe they haven't got <x> feature", it seems no DAW is everything to everyone. Variety is surely what makes the world such a fascinating place?

I get more done sticking to one DAW. DAW's are complex and require lots of learning and have different key commands and so on. I prefer to stick to one and learn it well. Same reason I limit the number of installed plugins. My plugin collection had grown a lot and then I went on a purge and deleted 80+% of them. I got more done after that.

[Tj Shredder]

I come from Max/MSP and though Live with M4L would look like the perfect combination I never found Live inspiring or intuitive. This changed with Bitwig, and that was long before the Grid arrived… I guess its just a matter of taste…