Power

Raises the first input value to the exponent supplied by the second input.

What it does #

Power is the continuously controlled form of exponentiation: both the base and the exponent can change sample by sample. It can produce static curve shaping or audio-rate nonlinear processing.

Controls and ports #

The wrapper exposes two ordered signal inputs and one output: the first or upper input is the base, and the second or lower input supplies the exponent.

Practical uses #

• Raise a unipolar 0-to-1 modulation signal to an exponent above 1 for a slower start, or between 0 and 1 for a faster start.
• Modulate the exponent to animate the curvature of an envelope or control signal.
• Use integer exponent signals when the base can become negative and a real-valued result is required.

Things to know #

• Input order matters: the first input is the base and the second is the exponent.
• Measured output is bounded to the finite range -1,000,000,000 through +1,000,000,000; Value Readout formats those exact endpoints as -∞ and +∞.
• A negative base with a non-integer exponent maps to the -1,000,000,000 sentinel instead of exposing a blank NaN.
• There was no integer tolerance at the tested one-millionth scale: (-4)^2 = 16, while typed exponents 1.999999 and 2.000001 both selected the negative sentinel.
• The measured special case 0^0 outputs +1.
• Zero with exponent -1 outputs +∞.
• For integer exponents 2 and 3, Power matches Exponents exactly on the tested negative base -4.
• A genuine upstream NaN used as the base with exponent 1 also maps to the negative sentinel display.

Technical details #

No Nitro implementation has been confirmed for this visible module. The behavior is described conservatively from module metadata and editorial research.

The core operation is base^exponent, but the measured wrapper behavior is consistent with mapping overflow and invalid-domain results into the finite sentinel range [-1e9, +1e9]. 2^29 remained below the cap (ln(output) = 20.10), while 2^30 and larger tested powers produced ln(output) = 20.72 = ln(1e9). Invalid negative-base fractional cases produced -1e9, confirmed by ln(abs(output)) = 20.72. This is observed behavior, not a claim about the internal source implementation.

Open questions #

• Test audio-rate modulation across valid, invalid-domain, and cap boundaries, including recovery on the next finite sample.

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

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