Ø Pinch

Applies a symmetric S-shaped warp around the midpoint of a phase cycle.

What it does #

Ø Pinch redistributes phase travel on both sides of 0.5. The beginning and end of the cycle remain connected while the center region is compressed or expanded, changing how a downstream oscillator, table, or sequencer traverses its source.

Controls and ports #

The wrapper exposes a phase input, a Pinch amount input/control, a Stereo-ize option that applies opposite pinch directions to alternating stereo lanes, and a wrapped phase output.

Practical uses #

• Warp the phase feeding a simple oscillator to create a richer waveform.
• Modulate Pinch for animated oscillator motion without crossfading tables.
• Place it before Steps or another lookup module to change traversal timing while leaving the stored data unchanged.

Things to know #

• Pinch affects phase timing rather than audio level directly.
• A Pinch amount of zero passes valid phase through unchanged.
• The result is wrapped after the S-curve, including inputs outside the normal phase range.
• Six measured mono transfer and wrap points matched the reconstructed equation in Bitwig Studio 6.0.6.

Technical details #

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

The confirmed grid/phase/grid_phase_pinch.nitrobin maps phase to a = 2p - 1, takes u = abs(a), and applies v = v * (1 + c * (1 - v)) twice. It restores the original sign, maps back with y = 0.5 * (copysign(v, a) + 1), and outputs y - floor(y). Stereo-ize alternates c and -c. No state, smoothing, or feedback appears in the implementation.

Nitro port	Type
in	InputAudioPortType
b	InputAudioPortType
stereoize	InputValuePortType
out	OutputAudioPortType

Simple process assignments:

• x = (x * (1 + (c * (1 - x))))
• out = (y - floor(y))

Open questions #

• Measure Stereo-ize lane behavior, a dense transfer plot, and rendered latency.

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.

Related material #

• Grid Modules course reference
• Oscillator Warp Modes in Bitwig for Cool Sounds

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