Exploring the Tasty Sounds of Bitwig Studio 5.1's New Byte Oscillator

Tutorial | Oct 19, 2023

In this video, I explore the new oscillator called Byte in Bitwig Studio 5.1. It offers various modulation possibilities such as exponential FM, hard sync, pulse width modulation, and ring modulation from dual oscillator feedback. By playing around with the different settings and modulation options, you can create gritty and versatile bass sounds, making it perfect for genres like drum and bass or dubstep.

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Questions & Answers #

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

What is the new oscillator called in Bitwig Studio 5.1 and what features does it have? #

The new oscillator in Bitwig Studio 5.1 is called "Byte." It offers features such as exponential FM, hard sync, pulse width modulation, and ring modulation from dual oscillator feedback.

How does the Byte oscillator function and what are the key controls? #

The Byte oscillator consists of two oscillators, with volume or gain knobs for each (A and B). Users can choose to bring in only oscillator one, only oscillator B, or a mixture of both. There is also a pulse width modulation knob that modulates the pulse width of the first oscillator using the second one.

What is exponential FM and how does it differ from other forms of frequency modulation? #

Exponential FM in the Byte oscillator means that the output of the first oscillator is used to modulate the frequency of the second oscillator. This type of FM is different from linear FM or phase modulation found in other synthesizers like FM8 or DX7. Exponential FM produces unique overtones and is useful for percussion sounds and adding atonality to a sound.

How can the Byte oscillator be used for sound design and modulation? #

The Byte oscillator offers various modulation possibilities. Users can play one oscillator with A, ring modulate with the second oscillator, pulse width modulate the first oscillator with the second one, and use exponential FM by modulating the second oscillator with the first. By experimenting with these settings, users can create unstable and gritty sounds, making it particularly useful for bass and percussion sounds.

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.

[00:00:00] Inside of Bitwig Studio 5.1 we have now a new oscillator called Byte.
[00:00:06] Exponential FM, hard sync, pulse width modulation and ring modulation from dual oscillator feedback.
[00:00:13] So it's already sounding pretty tasty.
[00:00:16] And in its purest form the default state sounds like this.
[00:00:20] And the oscillator itself consists of two oscillators.
[00:00:29] The first one here on top and the second one at the bottom.
[00:00:32] And we have also two knobs here A and B which are basically just volume or gain knobs.
[00:00:37] So we can bring in only oscillator one which is at the moment triangle.
[00:00:43] Or only oscillator B which sounds like this.
[00:00:48] Or we can bring in a mixture of both.
[00:00:52] Or we can say we just want to ring modulate A and B together.
[00:00:59] Or bring in also B and A.
[00:01:04] And we also have here pulse width modulation knob which when you turn it up
[00:01:12] you modulate the pulse width of the first oscillator here with the second one.
[00:01:17] So we take the output of the second oscillator here
[00:01:21] and use it as a modulation source for the pulse width on the first oscillator.
[00:01:28] Sounds like this.
[00:01:31] So when we change the outcome of the pulse width modulation
[00:01:41] we can change here the second oscillator and see what happens.
[00:01:46] [Modulation]
[00:01:56] We can also of course use here a modulator in the front panel
[00:02:00] and then modulate here this kind of knob if you want to.
[00:02:04] So let's do this for a moment here.
[00:02:06] I left all.
[00:02:08] Right. So you can also do it in this kind of way
[00:02:11] if you want to pulse width modulate differently than just using here the second oscillator.
[00:02:17] You can also attach of course a modulator and do it this way.
[00:02:21] So the second oscillator here is kind of the same thing.
[00:02:28] We have here multiple shapes we can choose from.
[00:02:31] It's the same shapes we have on the first one.
[00:02:34] But here we can kind of offset the pitch slightly.
[00:02:38] So when we input here basically D#
[00:02:41] and do here one semitone offset we are on E.
[00:02:45] Let's actually bring this in.
[00:02:49] So we can kind of offset the oscillator from the initial pitch
[00:02:57] or from the input key.
[00:02:59] Then we have this exponential FM button on knob here
[00:03:04] which means you take the output of the first oscillator
[00:03:08] and use it to modulate the frequency of the second oscillator.
[00:03:13] And this is exponential FM.
[00:03:28] It's not linear FM or phase modulation
[00:03:32] like you used to from FM8 or DX7.
[00:03:35] It's like exponential so it sounds different
[00:03:38] and it's, yeah, it gives you a lot of overtones
[00:03:42] and it's probably nice for percussion sounds
[00:03:45] and to get some A tonality into your sound.
[00:03:48] And of course it becomes interesting if you don't use the sound
[00:03:55] and use it as a source for pulse width modulation.
[00:03:59] So let's bring this in.
[00:04:01] [Music]
[00:04:25] So therefore this kind of oscillator is interesting
[00:04:29] because you have a lot of modulation possibilities.
[00:04:34] You basically can just play one oscillator here with A.
[00:04:38] Then you can say you want to ring modulate with the second oscillator.
[00:04:42] You can also say you want to pulse width modulate the first oscillator
[00:04:46] with the second one and then you can use on the second one
[00:04:49] exponential FM by modulating the second oscillator
[00:04:54] with the first oscillator.
[00:04:55] So it's back and forth basically.
[00:04:57] So one oscillator influences the other oscillator
[00:05:00] and then you can bring it together here with these two mix knobs
[00:05:03] and also of course with the ring modulate.
[00:05:06] So it gets interesting the more you play around with these settings here.
[00:05:25] So you can bring in a bit of instability.
[00:05:28] You can also switch on the other hard sync.
[00:05:31] Which basically resets the phase of this oscillator
[00:05:36] every time the cycle of the first one is complete.
[00:05:40] I think this is how it works.
[00:05:42] So every time the cycle is complete,
[00:05:44] it completely resets here the phase of the second one.
[00:05:47] So you have basically the same size of the cycle.
[00:05:53] It helps you a bit with the pitch control.
[00:05:56] So if you switch this off here, this oscillator 2 is completely free
[00:06:01] in terms of how long the cycle is
[00:06:03] and then therefore you get a lot of a tonality into the sound.
[00:06:18] So if we take here let's say a saw
[00:06:22] or maybe let's take a pulse
[00:06:25] and then we take here maybe +1.
[00:06:28] You get easy nice resh baselines.
[00:06:35] Let's put this here onto mono
[00:06:44] and make this a bit shorter here.
[00:06:47] Maybe bring in a bit of glide.
[00:06:50] Maybe bring in a bit of glide.
[00:06:54] [engine revving]
[00:06:57] [engine revving]
[00:07:01] [engine revving]
[00:07:04] [engine revving]
[00:07:25] [engine revving]
[00:07:28] And then of course phase modulation amount here
[00:07:44] where you can bring in what change
[00:07:46] I think you can phase modulate the first oscillator
[00:07:50] with the second one.
[00:07:52] I'm not really sure if this actually is the case
[00:07:54] and let's see.
[00:07:56] "Death of phase modulation from sub oscillator".
[00:08:02] Okay.
[00:08:03] So I think this is oscillator B here.
[00:08:06] I'm not really sure.
[00:08:08] But I think that's the case.
[00:08:10] [engine revving]
[00:08:13] [engine revving]
[00:08:16] So the name "Bite" fits basically.
[00:08:28] You get a lot of gritty overtones
[00:08:31] with this nice oscillator.
[00:08:33] It's probably also nice for pad sounds,
[00:08:36] not only for bass sounds,
[00:08:38] but I think the real benefit lies
[00:08:41] in making dirty overtones.
[00:08:43] And if you combine this with, let's say,
[00:08:46] a sweep here,
[00:08:48] where you have basically two filters
[00:08:54] and also distortion device
[00:08:56] and you can sweep here through the frequencies
[00:08:59] with both frequency sliders.
[00:09:01] Let's bring out the res back.
[00:09:06] [engine revving]
[00:09:09] So it's basically a heaven for bass lines
[00:09:25] for drum bass or dubstep.
[00:09:27] Just a bite here inside of polymer.
[00:09:30] Then using sweep here to sweep through the frequencies
[00:09:34] just with one knob with two filters
[00:09:36] at the same time and distortion in between.
[00:09:40] It's basically perfect for bass sounds.
[00:09:42] Okay.
[00:09:43] So this is just bite.
[00:09:45] I probably do another video on my Bitwig Guide channel
[00:09:49] just about this one here.
[00:09:51] But I want to give you a rough idea
[00:09:54] about this oscillator, how you can use it
[00:09:56] and how it works.
[00:09:58] And there are probably also more videos
[00:10:02] on this in the future about specific sounds
[00:10:05] and sound design for pads maybe
[00:10:07] and for bass sounds.
[00:10:09] That's it for this video.
[00:10:11] Thanks for watching.
[00:10:12] Please leave a like if you like the video.
[00:10:14] Subscribe to the channel.
[00:10:15] And I'll see you in the next video.
[00:10:17] Thanks for watching and bye.