Tags: posts polarity-music Bitwig synthesizers Tutorial Audio-Effects

Using Filter+ and Sweep to create a Synth in Bitwig Studio 5.1!

Tutorial | Nov 13, 2023

In this video, I explore the new possibilities of creating synthesizers with effects in Bitwig Studio 5.1 using the Filter+ and Sweep devices. I demonstrate how to use the Chappie Chef as an oscillator and the Wavetable LFO for modulation, resulting in a polyphonic synthesizer. Lastly, I introduce the Sweep effect, which allows for interesting sound creation by combining filters and shape bars.

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

Hey everyone, I'm back with another video. First one after rona 😀 I'm still a bit under the weather, so my voice might sound different. Today, I'll explore the new possibilities in Bitwig Studio 5.1, particularly with the Filter+ and Sweep devices. Here's a summary of what I covered:

Questions & Answers

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

What new possibilities are explored in this video?

In this video, the new possibilities of creating synthesizers with effects in Bitwig Studio 5.1 are explored. The Filter+ device and Sweep device are introduced, which allow for unique sound design possibilities. While not necessary knowledge, it is a fun exploration of these new features.

How is the Filter+ device used as an instrument?

Instead of loading an instrument into the channel, the Filter+ device is loaded as an audio effect. By disabling the DC offset and using a wave shaper like Chappie Chef and an oscilloscope, wave shapes can be created. The Wavetable LFO is then used to modulate the DC offset device, creating a sound similar to a mono synth.

How is the Sweep effect used to create synthesizer sounds?

The Sweep effect in Bitwig Studio is used to create interesting synthesizer sounds. By routing one filter into another filter, and using the Chappie Chef and Wavetable LFO for modulation, unique sounds can be achieved. The gain and delay knobs can also be used to further shape the sound.

What is the main takeaway from this video?

The main takeaway from this video is the ability to use the Chappie Chef with the DC offset disabled as an oscillator, opening up new creative possibilities for sound design. This technique can be used to create unique synthesizer sounds and inspire new ideas.

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] Hey folks, welcome back to another video.
[00:00:02] I'm still a bit sick, so that's why I'm maybe sounding a bit different than usual.
[00:00:08] But in this video I want to talk about the new possibilities of creating synthesizers
[00:00:12] with some effects in Bitwig Studio 5.1, because we got the new Filter+ device and Sweep
[00:00:18] device, which opens up some possibilities.
[00:00:22] And it's not something you need to know, but for me it's kind of fun to explore these
[00:00:28] new possibilities.
[00:00:29] So here we have a new instrument track, and instead of loading an instrument into the
[00:00:34] channel here, we load in an audio effect.
[00:00:38] In fact the Filter+ device, and you can see it doesn't show up because it's reselecting
[00:00:42] all the instruments.
[00:00:43] Do we have to change up here the browser filter?
[00:00:46] So I'm using Filter+, and I'm using it as I use an instrument.
[00:00:54] So I'm making here this, I arm this track, so I'm receiving some MIDI notes from the
[00:00:59] keyboard, as you can see here.
[00:01:02] So instead of using a DC offset device to create waveforms, we can also use here a different
[00:01:09] wave shaper.
[00:01:10] We use, let's say, Chappie Chef here, and we use at the end here an oscilloscope.
[00:01:18] Put this in the play mode.
[00:01:21] So when you change a DC offset, Chappie Chef amount, you can see nothing changes, but when
[00:01:26] you disable the DC option, then it looks like this.
[00:01:33] Basically can create wave shapes with this.
[00:01:36] So to make this to play a sound, we use here a new modulator, and we go for Wavetable LFO.
[00:01:44] And the Wavetable LFO here uses some interesting timing settings.
[00:01:47] You can use Hertz, Kilohertz, which is audio rate, right?
[00:01:51] But we want to use here, of course, pitch of current note.
[00:01:55] So it changes basically the frequency based on the MIDI key you are pressing on the MIDI
[00:02:00] keyboard.
[00:02:03] And we're going to use this to modulate basically a DC offset device.
[00:02:06] Maybe we'll go down here with the loudness a bit.
[00:02:10] So let's modulate this here.
[00:02:25] So all we have to do now is to create here some kind of new modulator, let's say, segments.
[00:02:32] We dial in here a new envelope, something like this.
[00:02:42] And then we modulate basically with the segments, we modulate the amount of the Wavetable LFO.
[00:02:57] And we can play notes and, yeah, on the keyboard like you used with a normal mono synth.
[00:03:04] The Wavetable LFO here, we want to switch into per voice mode.
[00:03:08] Of course, we want to play this polyphonically, right?
[00:03:10] So we switch this to per voice mode.
[00:03:13] The segment itself is also in per voice mode.
[00:03:17] And we maybe also want to use your expressions for that and use velocity to change the amount
[00:03:25] here of the segments modulation.
[00:03:29] So the harder we press on the keyboard, the more we modulate basically the LFO.
[00:03:41] Expressions is also in per voice mode.
[00:03:43] And so we selected the device for the plus device and then we increase here just the
[00:03:48] voices too, maybe let's say 16 voices.
[00:03:58] So we have more or less like a polyphonic synth now here.
[00:04:03] We probably also have to increase the out gate.
[00:04:22] And let's use the velocity also for the index.
[00:04:33] Let's see how this sounds.
[00:04:35] It's an interesting way of creating a synthesizer, a polyphonic synthesizer just with an audio
[00:04:41] FX device inside of Bitwig Studio here.
[00:04:45] So we can also apply, of course, your filter because we have to, you know, we can choose
[00:04:50] all the filters here from Bitwig and just use that.
[00:04:54] And we use the, yeah, the shape up basically as an oscillator.
[00:04:59] And then the rest is like a normal synthesizer.
[00:05:01] We can also attach here, say a reverb.
[00:05:07] Let's go for space here.
[00:05:09] Let's go for different filter.
[00:05:39] So fitter plus device is basically also a nice instrument.
[00:05:44] I showed you in some of the recent videos how to create some kind of an additive synth
[00:05:50] or modal synthesizer with this.
[00:05:53] But this is also possible here.
[00:05:55] Just use JappyChef to basically create an oscillator on the fly.
[00:06:01] Another interesting way of creating a synthesizer could be to use the sweep effect here of Bitwig
[00:06:10] Studio.
[00:06:11] It looks like this.
[00:06:12] We have two filters basically.
[00:06:13] One filter goes into this kind of shape here and then into the second filter.
[00:06:21] So what we can do here is maybe choose here, let's say low pass, open this up and this one
[00:06:27] gets also a JappyChef here.
[00:06:35] And the first one we use, let's say SVF because it's a highly resonant multimode filter.
[00:06:41] So we use an SVF here, go to Pan Pass and as soon as you increase here the resonance,
[00:06:50] you get a sign.
[00:06:52] Okay.
[00:06:53] So we can say ADSR, something like this and then increase here basically the resonance
[00:07:07] with this.
[00:07:15] And then we use a key track, relative key track.
[00:07:20] This one needs to go here of course to C3, right?
[00:07:24] Then we modulate this by exactly 64 because the spread range of the key track is 64 semitones.
[00:07:38] So we use now this routing here which goes this filter into this JappyChef and then into
[00:07:55] the slow pass filter here.
[00:07:57] So we can create here with different shape bars, different overtones because this is
[00:08:05] just a sine wave, there are no overtones.
[00:08:08] So the second filter doesn't make any sense.
[00:08:11] We need to introduce here some overtones with this.
[00:08:26] Let's go to 4 wave table LFO here and do the same thing, pitch and yeah, we put this into
[00:08:34] the per voice mode.
[00:08:36] Then modulate this here and maybe switch off here bipolar setting.
[00:08:52] Maybe different ADSR here for this one.
[00:09:00] But you may be better in the first example to also switch here the bipolar setting off,
[00:09:05] but too late.
[00:09:18] So you can hear it can create kind of interesting sounds.
[00:09:22] It's a bit of a different synthesizer concept here.
[00:09:26] It's not like you know, polymer, you have like two filters and just one shape bar in
[00:09:32] the middle.
[00:09:34] Can be interesting to create sounds this way.
[00:09:36] Maybe put this here into polyphonic mode, 16 voices.
[00:09:44] Also here out the gate needs to go up.
[00:09:53] It's probably better instead of using the resonance to keep the resonance up and then
[00:09:59] use here this gain knob, drive knob.
[00:10:15] Maybe some delay here.
[00:10:34] Maybe a different filter.
[00:10:56] It behaves a bit strangely after adnit.
[00:11:26] What you get sound out of it, that's the important part.
[00:11:40] So yeah, I just want to give you this idea for some inspiration.
[00:11:46] Maybe you have an idea how to create something interesting with that.
[00:11:49] Maybe it's also interesting later down in the effect chain to create sounds in a certain
[00:11:55] way.
[00:11:56] So the takeaway from this video is that you can use here the Chappychef with this DC disabled
[00:12:04] and you can use it or misuse it as an oscillator.
[00:12:08] So it's maybe something interesting for the first video after me being sick, coming back
[00:12:12] to this channel, give us some ideas.
[00:12:15] I think that's it for this video.
[00:12:17] Thanks for watching guys.
[00:12:18] If you have some questions, leave me in the comments what you want to know and leave a
[00:12:23] like, subscribe to the channel and I'll see you tomorrow.
[00:12:26] Thanks for watching and bye.
[00:12:27] [BLANK_AUDIO]