Bitwig 6 Preset for Global Scale and Root Note Transposition
Tutorial | Sep 04, 2025
In this guide, I demonstrate how to use Bitwig Studio 6’s global scale and a custom preset to automatically transpose notes to the correct root when switching scales, solving the tedious process of manual transposition. By leveraging the note grid and new modules like root key and pitch class, you can easily adapt your melodies and harmonies across changes in key signatures. This method lets you freely compose in different scales without worrying about root note adjustments, making scale modulation seamless and creative.
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Short Overview #
Recently, I explored how Bitwig Studio 6 handles global scales and discovered that you can easily set up a global note transpose using the Note Grid. By creating a simple preset, you can automatically transpose your notes whenever you change the root of your global scale, making it seamless to switch keys mid-song. This approach keeps your chord progressions and melodies aligned with the correct root note, saving you the hassle of manual adjustments. It’s a practical workaround that leverages Bitwig’s modular features, making complex key changes much easier to manage across your projects.
- Demonstrates how to use Bitwig Studio 6’s global scale and the importance of root note transposition when changing scales.
- Shows a workaround for global note transposition using the Note Grid and new Bitwig 6 modules like Root Key and Pitch Class.
- Explains how to automate note transposition when switching scales or root notes using the circular fifth (e.g., from C minor to G minor).
- Offers a preset solution in the Note Grid for automatic global transposition, making it easy to play in any scale section by simply transposing the input notes.
- Details setup steps: adding a synthesizer, effects, setting up scales, building chords, and using arpeggiators.
- Demonstrates how the preset correctly transposes all notes when changing key signatures, allowing flexible and creative workflow.
- Emphasizes user-friendliness: you don’t have to know the target scale in advance since the preset handles all transpositions.
- Mentions that the preset will be available for free download and compares it briefly to other harmonizer devices, highlighting its advantages.
Introduction to Bitwig Studio 6 Global Scale and Transposition #
A few days ago, I demonstrated how to use the global scale in Bitwig Studio 6. Many users, myself included, noticed that while the global scale feature is powerful, it misses true global note transposition functionality. This limitation can be frustrating if you want to switch between different root notes or scales and have all your notes automatically follow, rather than having to manually shift every note by the right interval.
The Challenge With Root Note Switching #
When you change the scale in Bitwig using the global scale setting, the root note switches as well. For example, if you’re composing in C major and switch to C minor, that’s straightforward. But if you want to modulate to another scale, say G minor, you don’t just want the scale to shift, you want every note to move so that what was your root in C (C) becomes the new root in G (G). Without this, your harmonic functions get lost, and what was a tonic in one scale might become a dominant or subdominant in another.
Creating a Global Transpose Preset #
While it seemed at first like Bitwig didn’t have a direct “global transpose” feature, it turns out you can easily make one yourself using Bitwig’s Grid system. This involves creating a preset device that you can use anywhere in your workflow.
Setting Up the Example Project #
To illustrate, I start with a C minor scale, draw a simple MIDI clip, and add a synth (Polymer) with some effects like reverb and delay. After adjusting the levels, I create a chord by stacking notes using the scale steps and test the sound with an arpeggiator.
Switching Scales and Identifying the Transposition Need #
I demonstrate duplicating the MIDI clip and then inserting a “Key Signature Change” device. If I modulate from C minor to G minor (up 7 semitones on the circle of fifths), the notes remain the same while the root has shifted. The result is that the chord is not functionally equivalent in the new key.
This means I need to transpose all notes up by the interval between the old and new roots, 7 semitones in this case. Doing this manually every time is tedious.
Building the Grid Preset for Global Transpose #
Here's how the grid preset works:
- Input Note and Output Note: The device takes the MIDI notes from the piano roll.
- Root Key Module: This gets the root key from Bitwig’s global scale setting.
- Pitch Class Module: This defines which notes are being sent in.
- Subtract and Transpose Logic: By comparing the old root and new root, it finds the interval difference, calculating how much each note should be transposed. The difference is added to all incoming notes, so they follow the new key as intended, automatically.
If you change from C minor to F minor, for example, the patch tells you that you need to transpose everything up by 5 semitones and then does it for you.
- Polyphony Support: The patch can also be set to support multiple voices, making it work for chords and complex passages.
- Sample and Hold: I add a sample and hold module so sustained notes don’t get lost or skipped during scale changes.
Now, whenever I switch the global key in Bitwig, all notes automatically transpose the correct number of semitones, keeping my progressions harmonically correct across every key.
Flexibility and Workflow Benefits #
With this setup, you can always play in your preferred input scale and transpose to any key or mode using the global scale function. You don’t have to worry about remembering what scale or key you’re in. This is especially useful when layering instruments or switching between keys during composition.
Comparison to Bitwig’s Harmonizer #
Bitwig has a built-in Harmonizer device that’s supposed to offer similar features. However, it doesn’t always work as expected and sometimes the results are musically incorrect. With the custom grid preset, the process is more transparent, and you can see and control exactly how the transposition happens.
Saving and Sharing the Preset #
I saved my grid patch as a preset called "global transpose" or "scale transpose." It leverages Bitwig 6’s new global scale features and makes modulations, key changes, and reharmonizations seamless. You can download this for free from my GitHub, as I believe it will help others looking for the same kind of workflow improvement.
Conclusion #
This global transpose preset empowers you to treat every section of your song as a new key, and all your playing and composition remains harmonically intact. You really don’t need to think about the technicalities of key and scale shifting, just create music and let the preset handle the rest. If you found this useful, you’re welcome to try it out and integrate it into your workflow for seamless key changes. Let me know what you think and happy composing with Bitwig Studio 6!
Full Video Transcription #
This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by Whisper, 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.
Click to expand Transcription
[00:00:00] Hey folks, welcome back! So a few days ago I showed you how to use the global scale of
[00:00:05] Bitwig Studio 6, how it works and so on. And I kind of mentioned that it misses some node
[00:00:11] transpose or global node transpose, because you usually just play in one scale and then
[00:00:17] you switch the scale to something different, but then also the root node switches, it changes.
[00:00:24] And what you want to do is basically take all your nodes and also transpose it up or
[00:00:28] down, so the root node is in the right place of the next scale. And I said this is something
[00:00:34] that I need to implement, but it's actually already in there. All we have to do is to
[00:00:38] create some kind of small little preset that you can copy or clone or insert at any place
[00:00:43] at any time. I show you this here in Bitwig. So we have here now at the moment C major,
[00:00:50] but we want to use C minor, because I like it more. And we want to create some kind of
[00:00:55] melody, maybe in 85 bpm. So we create here a new node clip. And I don't want to open
[00:01:04] up the editor. So then we want to insert here a polymer synthesizer and maybe we want to
[00:01:15] add a bit of reverb and delay. Okay. And you want to maybe go down three decibels. So here
[00:01:25] we see now the C minor scale. And if you want to play some small little chord, so I used the root
[00:01:32] note here, which is C. And then I just skip here one note, skip one scale note, also skip one,
[00:01:39] skip one. Let's see how this sounds here. It's a nice little chord. So we use an
[00:01:46] arp to make some kind of melody out of it. Nice. Then we duplicate this. And we want to switch
[00:01:56] now here from one scale to the other. So we insert here a root key switch or maybe
[00:02:04] insert key signature change, that's how it's called. So we have here C minor. And then we have here,
[00:02:10] let's say, we go to the next scale inside of the circular fifth, which is 7 semitones higher,
[00:02:17] which is then G. Okay. So one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, G. Okay. So when you open up here,
[00:02:27] the detail editor in track mode, you can see we have different scales here and here, of course,
[00:02:34] because we changed it. But we still play the same notes. So inside of C to C minor scale,
[00:02:42] this is here, I don't know, a root root chord inside of the G minor scale. This is actually
[00:02:51] maybe the dominant or the fourth of the scale. So it's not the same. So what you want to do is
[00:03:00] you want to transpose everything here to the new root. So the root here is C, which is correct.
[00:03:05] But here we are on G minor. So we need to push this up by one, two, three, four, five, six, seven
[00:03:12] semitones, right? So we end up on G. And you need to do this basically every time you switch the scale
[00:03:20] or the root note. So it's a tedious, right? So people said, well, there needs to be some kind
[00:03:25] of global transpose feature. But like I said, we can do this right now inside of the grid here.
[00:03:31] All we have to do is to open up here the note grid. And you can save this as a preset and just call
[00:03:37] it global transpose or whatever. So in here, we have input note, output note. This is basically
[00:03:45] the note we get from the piano roll. And we want to transpose this. And now we can utilize some
[00:03:50] of the new modules from Bitwig 6, which is called the root key. And of course, we need the pitch
[00:04:00] class, this one here. So the pitch class is actually something we need to define, because we
[00:04:08] need to define what kind of notes we are actually insert into the note grid. And then we want to
[00:04:14] transpose. So here it's C because we play here C minor. And also here we play everything in C
[00:04:23] minor. So we tend to use basically the notes of the C minor scale, but we want to transpose it
[00:04:29] into the correct scale because we change it here and we need to transpose it. Okay, so all we have
[00:04:35] to do in here is basically to, I say basically a lot, right? We need to subtract or find a difference.
[00:04:44] So let's use subtract. Subtract this from that. And we end up on zero, of course, because we're
[00:04:54] not in G. So we switch here. So you can see it's plus seven semitones. So this one calculated
[00:05:01] basically for us that we need to pitch or transpose everything up by seven semitones,
[00:05:06] which is exactly what we want to do. So now we add this to our input pitch here.
[00:05:14] So we take our input pitch and then we add seven semitones to it. That's all we do.
[00:05:23] When we change this here, maybe do something different. Let's go here to G or maybe F.
[00:05:34] You can see here it shows F and then we need to transpose by five semitones. So it's kind of,
[00:05:40] yeah, gives you the right transposing number to write a note offset kind of. So then we need to
[00:05:50] reattach this here and maybe say we want to have multiple voices because we want to play
[00:05:56] polyphonically. We want to insert multiple notes, not just one. So we go for 16 possible voices here.
[00:06:04] And then we can just play this back.
[00:06:06] Right. And it transposes all the notes from C to G.
[00:06:15] And then we want to switch here to the next inside of the circle of fifth. So let's insert
[00:06:26] key signature change. So from G, the next one is, let me see, one, two, three, four, five, six,
[00:06:34] seven. It's D. Okay. And then we switch here maybe to the next one. It's at Q or not Q.
[00:06:41] Insert key signature change. So the next one is probably A. One, two, three, four, five, six,
[00:06:50] seven, let's say. Okay. So then we just duplicate here all the clips and we transpose automatically.
[00:06:58] That's one problem you can hear sometimes there's a note not correctly switching.
[00:07:13] And here we need to implement, of course, a sample and hold.
[00:07:19] And we use here that. So it holds basically the input note holds the pitch for as long as you
[00:07:30] hold the note in here. I think it's a bit cleaner. Let's play it. Perfect. So all we have to define
[00:07:53] on this patch now on this preset is more or less here our pitch class. So here we define
[00:08:00] what kind of input notes we are giving this note grid and this maybe we can we can recall here to
[00:08:08] global transpose scale or whatever and save it here also scale transpose uses the global scale
[00:08:27] feature of Bitwig 6 to transpose input notes to the correct root of the chosen scale. Damn.
[00:08:44] Digital probably let's say note. Is it digital? Yeah, it's probably everything is digital. I mean
[00:08:55] digital is always right as a tech. Okay. So with this you can basically say, oh, I just don't want
[00:09:04] to use the C minor scale as an input. I play always the sharp minor. You know me, right? So
[00:09:10] instead of your C, I probably play here on E flat. Okay. So then I have to change it to E flat.
[00:09:22] And then it's the same thing.
[00:09:23] And the cool thing now is that we can insert here a new, let's say, Polymers synthesizer
[00:09:39] and play on top. And we don't need to know in what kind of scale we are because the global scale
[00:09:51] does this far. So let's activate here my
[00:09:55] my keyboard and I play just in D sharp minor. So I put this also here.
[00:10:01] And it transposes everything automatically.
[00:10:07] All I do is basically these two notes. Let's try it out.
[00:10:15] Right. And all my input notes are kind of changed to the new root of the global scale.
[00:10:33] So I can just play in my scale in my C minor scale in my D sharp minor scale.
[00:10:38] And then I modulate here through all of the global scales and the global transpose preset
[00:10:45] basically changes or transposes everything up or down. So it matches exactly the new scale,
[00:10:52] which is kind of dope, I would say. Maybe I could play a bass.
[00:10:58] Maybe an arp here. Let me see. Yeah, nice.
[00:11:08] Yeah, it makes it very easy to play in multiple scales without you knowing the scale. So you
[00:11:31] treat basically every section as a new scale and you play only with your keyboard in exactly this
[00:11:37] scale. And this global transpose preset helps you to transpose everything to the correct root
[00:11:48] note. Which is dope. I put this here in the description below. I put it on my github. You
[00:11:53] can just download this for free if you want to. It's a pretty simple setup. And it works great
[00:11:59] because we have now these new tools. It's kind of similar, I would say, to what's the name
[00:12:07] harmonizer here in between this one. I think someone made on YouTube a few videos about
[00:12:13] this how it's not correctly working. So here again, you can change the incoming key, right?
[00:12:19] It's the same what we have here. And then you say harmonized is to a different track.
[00:12:25] But this kind of device here is a bit flawed or something is not working correctly. I haven't
[00:12:29] used this actually that much. Anyway, but this one here, we change the input notes,
[00:12:34] we change the global scale, and then everything is taken care of. I want to show you this because
[00:12:42] I just played around with this and I thought it's a great video and some people want to know
[00:12:46] how it works. So here it is. Leave a like, leave a subscription, let me know what you think.
[00:12:52] and I'll see you in the next video. Bye, have fun.