Topics / Bitwig Studio / Bitwig Grid / Bitwig Grid Modules / Grid Oscillator Modules / Sub

Sub

Bitwig Platform

Sub module panel in Bitwig Grid
Sub in Bitwig Grid 6.0.6.

A compact oscillator for fundamental and sub-octave layers with six waveform choices, inversion, and octave offset.

What it does

Sub follows the incoming pitch at a selectable octave and generates Sine, Half-sine, Triangle, 50-percent Pulse, 25-percent Pulse, or Sawtooth. Invert flips the chosen waveform, making it easy to adjust polarity and phase relationship against another bass layer.

Controls and ports

Control Label Official description
waveshape Waveshape Output shapes to choose from:
invert Invert Inverts all waveform options
octave Octave Pitch detune options by octave:

Practical uses

  • Choose Sine one or two octaves down for a clean low-frequency foundation beneath a brighter oscillator.
  • Use Half-sine or a pulse shape when the sub should add upper harmonics that remain audible on smaller speakers.
  • Toggle Invert and listen in the full mix when layering with another oscillator, because low-frequency cancellation depends on their relative phase.

Things to know

  • Octave changes oscillator frequency in exact 12-semitone steps rather than shifting already generated audio.
  • Half-sine clips the negative half of a sine cycle to zero and therefore contains DC before any later processing.
  • The two pulse choices use fixed 50-percent and 25-percent widths.
  • Trigger resets the internal phase; stereo detune can deliberately separate the left and right low-frequency cycles.

Technical details

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

The confirmed grid_sub4 implementation adds 12*octave to pitch before frequency conversion. It offers six enumerated waveforms: sine through sineWF5, positive half-sine through max(0,sine), ADAA triangle, fixed 50- and 25-percent pulses with finite edge gain 120, and ADAA sawtooth. Invert multiplies the result by -1. The wrapper also exposes trigger reset, optional opposite stereo detune, and an internal bipolar/unipolar rendering flag.

Nitro port Type
pitchValue InputAudioPortType
triggerIn InputAudioPortType
octave InputValuePortType
stereo InputValuePortType
detune InputAudioPortType
waveform InputValuePortType
invert InputValuePortType
bipolar InputValuePortType
out OutputAudioPortType

Open questions

  • Confirm the visible octave range and ordering of all six waveform icons.
  • Measure output level, DC content of Half-sine, reset phase, and the practical effect of stereo detune at sub frequencies.

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 Sub module, Bitwig Grid Sub, Sub Grid module