Delta Distortion - Preset for Bitwig

Tutorial | Mar 16, 2025

In this video, I demonstrated how to recreate the Delta distortion plug-in in Bitwig Studio by using techniques such as amplitude modulation and signal subtraction to generate overtones and modulate the original signal. I outlined the patch setup, including using a band-splitter, AMRM module, and customizable distortion curves, allowing for modulation with either the side chain or the main signal itself. You can download my preset for free from my GitHub to experiment with these techniques in your own projects.

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Summary #

Maybe you don't watch the video, here are some important takeaways:

In the video, I delve into the process of replicating the functionality of the Delta distortion plugin within Bitwig Studio. The Delta plugin is essentially a distortion device that operates by distorting a side chain signal and then subtracting the distorted version from the dry signal. This leaves just the overtones, which are then used to amplitude modulate the original signal. Although it may sound complex, the concept and execution are pretty straightforward, and I aim to demonstrate this in Bitwig Studio.

I begin by showcasing an arpeggiated sound (ARP) and explain how the Delta plugin works with it. By selecting a bass as the side chain input, I increase the distortion applied to this signal. The distorted side chain signal is subtracted from the dry signal, keeping only the overtones, which then modulate the ARP's amplitude. However, users have reported and I also notice certain bugs, such as clicks and pops, which might be due to the plugin's interface.

Interestingly, the same process can be applied directly to the original signal rather than a side chain. In Bitwig Studio, this is demonstrated by increasing the distortion of the ARP itself. We explore different distortion types, essentially changing the transfer curve that affects the audio signal. Additionally, a band splitter allows for the isolation and distortion of specific frequency bands, although I didn't include this in my preset.

Next, I introduce my custom Bitwig preset designed to mimic the Delta plugin. The setup involves a band-split ARP signal fed into an AMRM module capable of amplitude and ring modulation. This module is modulated by a filtered and distorted version of the side chain signal, from which I subtract the dry signal to retain only overtones. These are used to modulate the original signal. Both transfer curve drawing and dual distortion device features provide flexibility to vary the distortion.

There's a follower component in the patch, which tracks the envelope of the side chain and manipulates output volume accordingly—operating as a ducking or inverse-ducking mechanism. Output filters and gain controls add further post-processing options.

Besides explaining the theoretical aspects, I demonstrate the sound differences using the main signal versus a side chain as input. Highlighting the flexibility of this Bitwig setup, the distortion's unique effect is showcased, whether through using the same input signal or a separate one.

In conclusion, my replication captures the Delta plugin's essence but with expanded flexibility, allowing various distortion implementations and parameter customizations. I plan to share this preset on my GitHub, and I encourage viewers to download, test, and tweak it to explore its full potential. Thank you for watching, and I look forward to sharing more insights in the next video.

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] Yo, folks, welcome back to another video.
[00:00:02] So some people asked me if you can replicate
[00:00:06] the Delta plug-in inside of Bitwig Studio.
[00:00:09] So the first question is,
[00:00:10] what does this plug-in actually do, right?
[00:00:13] And I figured out it's a distortion device
[00:00:17] and you distort the side chain signal
[00:00:20] and then you subtract the distortion from the dry signal
[00:00:24] and you're left with all the overtones.
[00:00:26] And then you take these overtones from the distortion
[00:00:29] and amplitude modulate your original signal.
[00:00:33] It sounds very complicated, but it's actually not.
[00:00:36] And I'll show you here how it sounds
[00:00:37] and how you can do this in Bitwig Studio.
[00:00:41] So here I have some kind of ARP.
[00:00:43] (upbeat music)
[00:00:46] Right, so on this ARP we have here this Delta plug-in
[00:00:51] that you can see here in the foreground.
[00:00:54] And we can take a side chain signal down here
[00:00:59] and we select the base.
[00:01:00] So now we can increase here the slider
[00:01:05] and add distortion to the side chain signal, to the base.
[00:01:10] And then we take the base subtracted from the dry signal,
[00:01:14] take the overtones and amplitude modulate
[00:01:16] basically here at the ARP and it sounds like this.
[00:01:18] (upbeat music)
[00:01:21] (upbeat music)
[00:01:23] So there are also a lot of click and pop.
[00:01:34] So I think there are some bugs left in there.
[00:01:38] I also read this from other people
[00:01:41] that they have the same problem.
[00:01:43] But anyway, I just want to show you how it works.
[00:01:47] So we can also, instead of using here
[00:01:50] the side chain signal, we can use the original signals.
[00:01:54] The ARP sound, right?
[00:01:55] So we increase it again and you can see this down here.
[00:02:00] Drive the main signal into the distortion,
[00:02:03] which means we can not only distort the side chain signal,
[00:02:06] we can also distort the main signal, which is the ARP.
[00:02:10] (upbeat music)
[00:02:12] (upbeat music)
[00:02:15] You know, there's a lot of click and pops here.
[00:02:27] I think this is because of the interface here, I guess.
[00:02:31] We can also change here the distortion type,
[00:02:34] but we have a few options here we can choose from,
[00:02:36] but it's just a transfer curve basically.
[00:02:39] So we select your something
[00:02:41] and then we can distort the side chain
[00:02:43] or the main signal and blend it together.
[00:02:45] Then we have here some kind of band splitter.
[00:02:50] So we can say we have a low signal and the main signal.
[00:02:53] So with this, we just distort basically
[00:02:56] the everything that's above here.
[00:02:58] And we can also do this here with the low part
[00:03:01] and only distort the low part.
[00:03:03] In my opinion, that's not really that interesting,
[00:03:06] but you can do also this in Bitwig Studio, of course.
[00:03:10] But I left it out of my preset.
[00:03:13] Then we have here a post-processing, this is envelope.
[00:03:17] So you then take the signal, the side chain signal,
[00:03:21] let's take in the base and follow the signal
[00:03:25] and then apply it to volume.
[00:03:29] So it's more like a slow envelope follower
[00:03:32] and then applying the volume curve or the volume shape
[00:03:36] to your output signal.
[00:03:40] Now let's use this here.
[00:03:41] (upbeat music)
[00:03:44] This is probably need to use your pre.
[00:03:51] So when you pull this down, you have ducking.
[00:03:57] So every time the base sound comes in,
[00:03:59] it brings the volume down here, you can see this.
[00:04:02] And the other way, if this is on zero, nothing happens.
[00:04:08] And if you pull this all the way up,
[00:04:09] then you basically do it the other way around.
[00:04:12] So when the base sound comes in, you amplify the sound
[00:04:15] and if your base sound goes away,
[00:04:17] you also de-amplify and so on.
[00:04:19] So it's more like a ducker and inverse ducker.
[00:04:22] Then we have here also a filter and output gain.
[00:04:25] So that's basically it.
[00:04:26] So the main feature of this thing
[00:04:28] is that you can take a side chain signal, distort it
[00:04:32] and then use the distortion result
[00:04:34] and auto rate modulate your main signal.
[00:04:38] So we can do this in Bitwig, of course.
[00:04:40] So let's disable this here and I show you my preset.
[00:04:45] This is the Delta distortion preset here.
[00:04:47] And this is of course, completely free.
[00:04:50] I show you this here, how it's built.
[00:04:52] So we have here the main input, let's put it this.
[00:04:58] We have the main input here with just the ARP.
[00:05:01] So it's band-splitted here into two signals.
[00:05:04] You can see here the band-splitter is all the way down.
[00:05:06] So everything above 20 hertz is basically processed.
[00:05:10] This goes in here into an AMRM module.
[00:05:14] So this is amplitude modulation.
[00:05:15] And if you push this here to 50%, then it's AM.
[00:05:19] Push this all the way to 100%, it's RM.
[00:05:22] So you can combine this here in one slider,
[00:05:24] which is very nice.
[00:05:26] And 0% is basically doing nothing to the signal.
[00:05:30] So we amplitude modulate here our main signal,
[00:05:35] which is the ARP.
[00:05:36] And it's modulated here with the side chain.
[00:05:39] You can see this down here, right?
[00:05:41] So we take the side chain here, which is the base.
[00:05:44] Then we filter it, high pass, low pass,
[00:05:46] which is also part of the original plug-in.
[00:05:49] Then we go here into an amplifier
[00:05:52] and we amplify the signal
[00:05:55] and then send it into a distortion device here,
[00:05:58] which is more or less a transfer curve.
[00:06:00] And you can change this transfer curve.
[00:06:02] So it's not like in the plug-in
[00:06:03] where you have multiple or six
[00:06:06] or 10 different distortion modes.
[00:06:09] Here you can just draw in your own transfer curve
[00:06:12] or your own shape bar,
[00:06:14] and then you end up with a different distortion.
[00:06:17] In my case here, I also implemented two distortion devices
[00:06:21] so we can blend between one distortion
[00:06:23] and the other distortion.
[00:06:24] So you have a morph.
[00:06:26] You can switch between different distortion types, basically.
[00:06:29] Then we distort here the side chain signal,
[00:06:33] which is the base,
[00:06:34] and then here we subtract basically the dry signal
[00:06:37] from the distortion signal
[00:06:39] and we end up with the overtones.
[00:06:41] So the main signal, the understorted signal is removed.
[00:06:45] So we only have the overtones.
[00:06:47] And then we use the overtones here
[00:06:49] and amplitude modulate this then with the main signal.
[00:06:53] So this is the main patch, basically.
[00:06:56] And then down here, I'm using a follower.
[00:06:58] I'm following basically the input signal
[00:07:00] of the side chain here and extract the shape,
[00:07:04] the volume shape,
[00:07:06] and then apply it here to the output volume.
[00:07:10] That's basically it.
[00:07:11] So this is the, I think the whole idea of this plugin.
[00:07:16] Like I said before, if you change the crossover,
[00:07:21] the lower part is never processed.
[00:07:24] It's always going through.
[00:07:26] I think you probably don't want to distort the low end.
[00:07:29] If you want to do this,
[00:07:31] then you have to route this also down here
[00:07:33] into a separate thing
[00:07:35] or maybe exchange this one for this one.
[00:07:37] But I would guess you probably will never use it.
[00:07:41] So let's see how this sounds, right?
[00:07:45] So here we have the same thing.
[00:07:47] We have the synthesizer.
[00:07:48] We have the delta distortion on there.
[00:07:51] As a side chain input here, we use the base pre
[00:07:54] so I can mute the base.
[00:07:56] This is how it sounds.
[00:08:00] (upbeat music)
[00:08:01] Let me see.
[00:08:02] So let's bring in here the side chain signal
[00:08:08] and nothing happens because we don't amplitude,
[00:08:12] modulate at the moment.
[00:08:15] So we push this up here.
[00:08:17] (upbeat music)
[00:08:20] (upbeat music)
[00:08:23] Okay, I hope this makes sense.
[00:08:37] So we drive up here the volume of the side chain signal
[00:08:42] which is the base
[00:08:43] and then we push up here the gain on the AMRM
[00:08:48] or just modulate this here.
[00:08:51] (upbeat music)
[00:08:53] So if you don't like the distortion,
[00:08:59] then you can blend here to the second distortion device.
[00:09:02] (upbeat music)
[00:09:05] Then we have here the envelope follower down here
[00:09:15] in the middle position, it doesn't do anything.
[00:09:18] If you pull this down.
[00:09:20] (upbeat music)
[00:09:22] You can see it's ducking or it's pulling down the volume.
[00:09:26] The other way around is pushing up.
[00:09:29] (upbeat music)
[00:09:32] Then you have here the follower fault time
[00:09:38] so you can ease out the volume shape.
[00:09:41] (upbeat music)
[00:09:45] If you pull this all the way down,
[00:09:46] it's even audio rate modulation again.
[00:09:49] (upbeat music)
[00:09:51] And then you can also bring up here
[00:10:15] the X over cross over frequency, which is this one.
[00:10:18] And with this, you only distort everything
[00:10:20] that's above this frequency, right?
[00:10:23] (upbeat music)
[00:10:25] So the meat of this ARP is actually going through this plug
[00:10:37] in untouched and only the top end is amplitude modulated.
[00:10:42] So you can bring in the effect only
[00:10:47] to certain frequencies if you want to.
[00:10:50] We can also use this device here without the side chain.
[00:10:54] So if you say no input here to the side chain,
[00:10:58] you also don't need to use this here
[00:11:01] because there's no input.
[00:11:03] But you can also bring in the main signal here, right?
[00:11:07] The ARP and then send the ARP through the distortion here.
[00:11:12] And then do the same process.
[00:11:14] Remove the original signal from the distorted signal
[00:11:17] and then use the same thing
[00:11:18] to amplitude modulate the dry signal.
[00:11:22] It has a different effect.
[00:11:24] It also sounds a bit like distortion.
[00:11:28] Let me solo this here.
[00:11:31] So bring in the main.
[00:11:33] (upbeat music)
[00:11:36] (upbeat music)
[00:11:39] So the main signal is basically distorted with itself
[00:11:57] but only with the distortion overtones from itself.
[00:12:03] So it's not like, you know,
[00:12:04] you distort one signal with the other.
[00:12:07] It's more like you have one dry signal
[00:12:08] and then you have second signal.
[00:12:10] The second signal is distorted
[00:12:11] and then you take only the overtones
[00:12:13] and the overtones you use then to amplitude modulate
[00:12:16] the first signal.
[00:12:18] So this is what you end up with.
[00:12:20] (upbeat music)
[00:12:23] So my opinion, you can do this.
[00:12:29] That's a nice setup.
[00:12:30] But you can see, you can go in many different directions here.
[00:12:34] So it's not, you don't need to just use this as it is, right?
[00:12:38] You can bring in here a lot of different distortion devices.
[00:12:42] You can also exchange this here for something else,
[00:12:46] wave folder or whatever you want to use, heat.
[00:12:51] But you have to use, instead of this knob here,
[00:12:56] you have to use this drive knob,
[00:12:58] which is basically the same thing.
[00:12:59] You just increase the volume here.
[00:13:02] And that's important because you want to subtract here
[00:13:06] the original dry signal, which needs to be,
[00:13:09] it needs to have the same volume so you can subtract it.
[00:13:12] If one signal is louder than the other,
[00:13:14] then it doesn't work anymore.
[00:13:16] So you have to use basically here the amplitude amplifier
[00:13:20] in front instead of using here the internal amplifier.
[00:13:23] But you can exchange this for everything you want
[00:13:27] and then just extend this preset
[00:13:31] in every kind of different direction.
[00:13:34] So at the heart, at its heart,
[00:13:37] it's basically just amplitude modulation,
[00:13:40] one signal with the other.
[00:13:42] It's a bit fancier cause of the also subtraction thing,
[00:13:47] but I think that's something you can do in Bitwig, pretty fine.
[00:13:54] So that's the Delta distortion for you.
[00:13:57] I put this on my GitHub.
[00:13:58] Also, the link is in the description below.
[00:14:00] So you can just download this and maybe try it out
[00:14:04] or change it or whatever.
[00:14:06] Have fun with it, okay?
[00:14:08] Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video.
[00:14:10] Bye.