Topics / Bitwig Studio / Bitwig Grid / Bitwig Grid Modules / Grid Envelope Modules / AD Envelope

AD Envelope

AD Envelope module panel in Bitwig Grid
AD Envelope in Bitwig Grid 6.0.6.

A triggered Attack-Decay envelope and amplifier that can loop while its gate remains high.

What it does

A rising trigger starts Attack from the current envelope level toward one. Once the peak is reached, Decay returns the signal to zero without waiting for the gate to close. Loop mode starts another Attack after Decay reaches zero, provided the gate is still high.

Controls and ports

Gate In or the note-gate pre-cord triggers the contour. Attack and Decay set its two stage times; Relative and Digital permit curve shaping, Model selects Analog, Relative, or Digital, Loop repeats complete cycles under a sustained gate, and Affect Voice Lifetime can keep a polyphonic voice alive. The module exposes envelope, amplified audio, and wireless modulator outputs.

Practical uses

  • Create one-shot amplitude or pitch drops for kicks, plucks, percussion, and transient layers.
  • Combine two AD envelopes with different times and amounts to separate a drum's click from its body.
  • Enable Loop and hold the gate high to turn the envelope into a shapeable unipolar oscillator.

Things to know

  • AD has no Sustain stage: Decay begins as soon as Attack reaches the peak, even while the input gate remains high.
  • A new trigger during Decay starts another Attack from the current level rather than necessarily jumping to zero first.
  • Looping requires the gate to remain high; a short trigger normally produces one Attack-Decay cycle.
  • The gate pre-cord adds the device note gate to the patched input when enabled.
  • Model choice changes timing and contour behavior as well as the available curve controls.

Technical details

A high-confidence Nitro implementation candidate supports the technical summary, but the visible-module mapping remains inferred.

The exact envelope/grid_ad wrapper selects Relative adsr.proc, Analog adsr.grandmother, or Digital adsr.digital with the shared engine configured as type AD, Sustain fixed to zero, and Release parameters derived from Decay. The output is linearly upsampled, while Analog audio uses grandmotherVCA. The companion AD body confirms rising-edge retriggering, Attack from the current state, automatic transition to Decay at state 1, and Loop restart only after state reaches zero while gate remains high. Its curve-rate multiplier uses the same ((1+0.8c)-1.6c*x)^2 * (1+2.4|c|) form as the companion ADSR body.

Nitro port Type
gateIn InputAudioPortType
useDeviceGateIn InputValuePortType
deviceGateIn InputAudioPortType
attack InputAudioPortType
decay InputAudioPortType
attackCurve InputAudioPortType
decayCurve InputAudioPortType
affectVoiceLifetime InputValuePortType
loop InputValuePortType
character InputValuePortType
out OutputAudioPortType
outGateScalar OutputAudioPortType
outScalar OutputAudioPortType
outVCA OutputAudioPortType

Open questions

  • Measure exact Attack and Decay durations for all Models and curve extremes, especially after retriggering from a nonzero state.
  • Verify Loop boundary samples, held-high versus pulse triggering, zero-time stages, and Analog VCA level.
  • Confirm the current UI-to-inner time conversion and four-sample gate downsampling at high trigger rates.

Version and sources

Checked against Bitwig Studio 6.0.6. This page combines Bitwig's module metadata, the existing Grid course and guides, and Nitro analysis where the mapping is strong enough to support a technical statement.

Return to Bitwig Grid Modules or the Grid Modules course lesson.

Also matches: Bitwig AD Envelope, Bitwig AD module, AD Grid module, Bitwig Grid AD, AD envelope, AD

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