Creating a Self-Running Grid Patch in Bitwig Studio

Tutorial | Apr 06, 2022

In this video, I showed how to build a self-running grid patch in Bitwig Studio. I started by selecting the grid and setting it to monophonic mode. I then connected a trigger to a phaser and an XP filter, and then used a face in to create notes. I added a sample and hold, a dice module, and a reverb to the patch. I also added a pitch signal to switch between an octave higher or lower. Finally, I used a global shuffle to change the pattern.

You can watch the Video on Youtube - support me on Patreon

Questions & Answers #

Maybe you dont watch the video, here are some important takeaways:

How do I create a self-running grid patch in the Bitwig Studio? #

To create a self-running grid patch in the Bitwig Studio, first select the poly grid and switch it to monophonic mode. Then delete everything on the grid and create each element from scratch. Use a clock quantize to create a pattern, and then use a filter, pitch modulation, and other effects to change the sound. Finally, use a reverb, delay, and other external effects to shape the sound.

What elements are used to create a self-running grid patch? #

To create a self-running grid patch, you will need the poly grid, a clock quantize, a filter, a pitch modulator, an AD envelope, a sample and hold module, a note out signal, and a reverb/delay. You may also need other effects/modules depending on the sound you are trying to create.

How do I change the notes in a self-running grid patch? #

To change the notes in a self-running grid patch, you can use a face in and set it to a sign mode. You can also use a modulator out to change

Transcription #

This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by AI, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.

[00:00.000] So in this video I thought maybe we build some kind of self-running grid patch together
[00:14.040] in the Bitwig Studio and I'll show you how it works.
[00:17.400] So first we need the grid, the poly grid and we need to select the grid and also switch
[00:24.960] it to monophonic modes.
[00:26.840] We have only one voice and we may be dial in here at different speed settings, 85
[00:34.000] pm and just let it run.
[00:39.400] In here I delete everything because I want to create everything from scratch.
[00:46.880] So yesterday I showed you how you can excite the phaser or the flanger and I want to do
[00:52.760] exactly the same thing today and I'm using here maybe trigger or triggers and then output.
[01:02.960] So in this time here I'm using the trigger signal not to trigger an envelope or something
[01:11.240] I use it as an audio signal straight into the phaser here and out of the phaser.
[01:16.760] I need a lot of feedback, maybe not so much modulation speed, maybe different mode, this
[01:29.840] one here, maybe we need it in stereo and also we want to probably filter the signal here
[01:42.920] in front with the high pass or we probably get a lot of low end, let's see, let's see
[01:56.320] with a lot of low end here, that should be okay.
[02:08.080] So the triggering is a bit boring so we need, we want to create some kind of pattern so
[02:13.000] we can use a clock quantize here and then quantize to 16 beats a bar which is a triggering
[02:26.040] mode so you can get to fast, as you can see it also triggers here when we switch off
[02:49.160] the trigger, so maybe we use here an AD in front, we can only send in one odd trigger and
[03:08.360] that should be nice, yeah, yeah this is cool.
[03:24.960] Speed at 0, 1.1, 0.01 hertz and a bit of depth, we get some nice stereo effects here and
[03:37.920] maybe you also want to use an AD at the end here so we can cut off tail, so we also trigger
[03:43.760] this here and then we send this into the output here of course and also, first the mixer,
[03:56.280] so we can mix the two signals together and also we send this into an XP filter, so there's
[04:02.800] the second line here and it goes straight into the filter, double click, so we are at
[04:09.240] C3 here and we dial in a band pass filter and with the resonance here, we get some
[04:16.320] tonality here, okay, we also use an AD for this one here and maybe we also don't need
[04:34.880] here the pre-quart because we want to change the notes here in a minute, so now we create
[04:41.040] some, we want to create some notes, actually just mute it here and I use this time the
[04:51.160] face in, face in and I use the sign mode, attenuate to change the scale here and also
[05:05.120] quantize of course, so we go for D sharp polarity here, my favorite scale and then we use
[05:16.280] a modulator out here and maybe modulate here the ala a bit because it changes the pitch
[05:25.200] of the percussion sound a bit, okay and then we use a sample and hold here maybe and we
[05:34.040] trigger this of course also with this trigger signal, let's see how this sounds, okay cool
[05:45.360] and then we can use the note out signal here and change the filter position, you can hear
[06:05.480] this percussion sound here just creates the transient, the transient for this whole sound
[06:12.200] it sounds like almost like one sound, they use the first line as a transient and the second
[06:20.800] one as a tail sound, yeah let's use the smooth,
[06:49.240] mode, okay nice, so now that we have this, okay maybe modulate this here, so for modulating
[07:16.440] this we probably can also just use here the note, so the higher the note is the longer
[07:31.000] it rings out a bit, just to get a bit of variety of different sounds in here a bit of modulation,
[07:42.760] so then we can use here outside of the grid, we can use a nice little reverb, we get a
[07:54.780] high EQ down, high frequency content so we get this plug sound out of the way, let's
[08:18.880] use the delay here at the end, so now we can change here also the note range,
[08:48.880] okay maybe we use a step mod for this, so at the end we have a want to change the melody
[09:07.840] a bit, nice, so maybe it just runs a bit too fast, so we need to bring this playback speed
[09:27.120] a bit down, so we can do this by disabling here the pre-core of the phase input, so it
[09:35.680] stops and then we delivering basically the phase signal here manually and then use the
[09:43.360] scale in between, scale it all down, nice, it's like a small little sequencer that changes
[10:07.440] the notes at the end here of this pattern, maybe use it this way so we can see which notes
[10:30.000] which know this correctly playing, transpose this up here a bit so we land on D sharp
[10:41.800] at first, we need to land on D sharp so it's you know, don't like the scale
[11:09.080] maybe you should modulate this here a bit more, so I use a dice module and a dice module
[11:18.280] spits out different values each time you trigger it, so we trigger it every time, use the
[11:25.960] modulator out and we have here now a different value for each note.
[11:55.880] Okay, we do this again here and I change the decay time here, so for every plug we get
[12:13.120] a different decay time, nice,
[12:42.360] maybe it could be interesting to change here also the trigger time at some point, maybe
[12:52.600] do this here this one, not too much just a bit, so now it starts to change every now and
[13:21.840] then and it doesn't get too boring, okay so what else, this is good, maybe you can bring
[13:35.760] us everything here a bit together.
[14:05.320] Nice.
[14:23.000] One octave lower, so we could use here the pitch signal, this is the light.
[14:52.960] And maybe use the same signal here, but this time we use it one octave higher, and we switch
[15:07.800] between the two, let's random, and we trigger it, cross with the signal.
[15:36.760] We maybe could use it, let's see, maybe bring any other oscillator, let's go for the
[16:01.240] Wavetable, and then this one here, we use, let me see in,
[16:26.200] local sound maybe, so we blend here this together with this, and we need of course a pitch
[16:43.880] signal.
[16:56.800] And we maybe switch it through the Wavetable with the dice.
[17:26.800] Maybe in the front row, let me try this one, a low pass could be nice.
[17:49.360] And that's the final stage, let's always.
[18:18.880] I almost want to use a different trigger for this one here, so let's do it.
[18:31.360] Alright, just the latest here. So we delayed the trigger here, just the trigger signal
[18:56.920] by 3 bits. This modulation we don't need. And maybe also we use a chance so we don't
[19:21.640] trigger every time. For 50% chance of being triggered here. And also maybe a chance here.
[19:49.960] And now we have basically this played by chance. Then the tail signal here with the filter
[19:58.440] played by chance. And also this. That also later by chance. Oh yeah, that is much
[20:14.200] later here. And also a dice. So when this is triggered here below, we also change the
[20:26.400] text setting for each node. And we can use the output of the phaser as a phase modulation
[20:39.280] input of the Wavetable. So maybe I'll shoot much later here.
[21:03.200] I want to light out. And put so, yeah. A bit like Tetris.
[21:18.520] A lot of peaks here are disappear from our percussion sound here. Oh yeah, I want
[21:48.000] to modulate the studio. So we use the trigger from here. And I also maybe more want to
[22:07.360] modulate the set even more. Nice.
[22:37.360] Maybe I can bring an oscillator right now. Oh yeah, it fits nice.
[22:55.200] So the nice, a nice block of sound.
[23:19.120] So all you can do is probably use an octave I am. And everything, pull down one octave.
[23:47.640] Also, when we pull this up here to zero, we are one octave higher. And then you can utilize
[24:16.960] this here by beloved halftime. And pay the dance, we have the original signal and the
[24:33.040] slow down version. And maybe I'm not happier with this Wavetable. Maybe you go for a
[25:02.080] sign partials.
[25:29.800] And then you can use some of these knobs and play around and perform the patch or maybe
[25:34.760] modulated even more. And maybe speed is up here to 120.
[26:04.680] And use this device phase length of two. So we slow it down. So we speed up the transport
[26:12.560] here, PPM. But we stretch out basically the phase signal here by two bars. Go for bars.
[26:21.040] Let's see how it sounds. Place a bit slower. So now that we have this, then go back into
[26:32.520] here. And kick drum.
[27:01.320] So now let's see how it sounds.
[27:31.240] A bit of shuffle. And also the grid. We can use shuffle here, the global shuffle.
[27:55.160] And there you have it. I think you can download this patch in the description. Yeah, free
[28:12.440] fall. Have fun recreating. And thanks for watching. Leave a like if you like the video, subscribe
[28:18.640] to the channel. And I'll see you on the next one. Bye.