How to use VCV 2 VST with Bitwig Studio

[@rjbush7955]

I haven't finished watching yet, but this has been mindblowing. Bitwig and VCV2 are an amazing combination.I also use Reason and this has addressed the problem I waa having using Reason drum players and VCV drums. Why they think MIDI to Gate C2 upwards is the same as C1 upwards in DAWS is daft. Thanks so much - learned a lot with this.

[@thelanavishnuorchestra]

Nice overview. I've been playing with this and you've added some good tips I hadn't tried yet. VCV and Bitwig are such a great combo.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Yes, totally. Everything is so intuitive...

[@SecretCinemaSound]

@2:12 I see STOERMELDER!! That just made my day.

[@SecretCinemaSound]

...and off course a very useful video for many people. Thanks once again.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Cheers! I actually still used the beta in this one, but I'm sure Stoermelder will be available soon enough :)

[@SpiritNode]

Thank you so much for this video. The combination of Bitwig, an impressively intuitive DAW, with VCV2, an accessible and flexible modular system, is pure creativity. Endless exploration, and a unique workflow as well. Inspired to try this out!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Oh, yes, the possibilities are endless! Have fun!

[@rootthis6997]

Loved this, thank you Omri! Glad to see you having fun with Bitwig. Really inspiring bit of software

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@beguile302]

I really enjoyed (and 'liked') this video about a year ago, but now that I purchased Bitwig a week ago, I absolutely ♥ this video! Where's the ♥ button KZbin?! Seriously, I don't think I would have ever figured out on my own how to multitrack record from VCV->Bitwig if it weren't for this video! Thank you SO MUCH Omri! Cheers!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Oh nice! I'm really happy this was helpful :)

[@JanDTio]

Amazing VCV, amazing Bitwig, amazing video, this is everything I was longing for. Thanks, Omri, you're... amazing!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

I appreciate it!

[@holydiver4728]

Top combination ! Life is Reverb🌻

[@kaykramer9045]

When you go to the mix panel instead of the arrange panel, you can also expand the single chains of the VST for muting or mixing (also by clicking on the double down arrows), without routing them to a dedicated audio track. And as far as I can see, you even can process each individual chain differently

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Oh wow... That's insane!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Thanks so much for this!

[@marcogirardin2433]

Thank you very very much! I think I'll buy bitwig quite soon! The possibilities are endless!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Cheers!

[@bobmylan9434]

totally great video, made my decision to switch to Bitwig definitive!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Glad it was helpful!

[@craig.bratcher]

Omri bringing it while it's hot! Great stuff brother!!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Cheers!

[@ellencooper8991]

Wow!!! Bitwig + VCV Rack is just SO cool! I think I'll be switching from Ableton very soon :) Thank you once again Omri!!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Bitwig is an amazing instrument... Cheers!

[@patricketp8356]

I just wanted to see how to multitrack recording. Amazing tutorial. Thanks a lot!!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Glad you liked it!

[@chrisnewman9693]

So glad you are doing this!

[@teroteki]

That was so cool to watch, learned a lot! So many possibilities! Thank you for taking the time to make and share this :D

[@OmriCohen-Music]

I appreciate it, thanks so much!

[@pyatinalexey5680]

Have you tried the free Cardinal stand? What can you say if you have tried...does it work just as well?

[@OmriCohen-Music]

No, I didn't get the chance to test it yet. From what I've seen though, it looks pretty solid. I think it doesn't have all of the modules but it has many I guess.

[@Jimantronic]

Oooh yeah! Great to see you doing Bitwig stuff. How great to combine it with vcv2 😎 Inspiring and beautiful sounding work!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Glad you like it!

[@LarsBjerregaard]

Great demo Omri, thanks!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Cheers!

[@IceLocus]

So cool! I need to try the VST in Bitwig.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

It's so much fun and very inspiring

[@sonalsystem]

Fantastic video…thank you!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kris-lv7ql]

fantastic tutorials, as always!!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Thank you!

[@VICTORR808]

for some reason when clicking automation the previously touch parameter doesn't seem to appear. Is that my personal bug on Bitwig 5 ?

[@mfortes451]

Thanks for the info.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

No worries!

[@ObviousComment]

Thank you! Previously you mentioned your mixing/mastering process in DAW, could you consider recording tutorial on this?

[@andewprod]

There are plenty of videos about that, please let him stay in the modular world 😂

[@ObviousComment]

@@andewprod but there is no teacher like sir Omri 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@geusensdriesmusic]

Oh man… this is insane! Thanks for this video. 👏

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Cheers!

[@ELEKTROGOWK]

THX 👍. I have a problem saving my VCV presets with Bitwig remote controls. Bitwig can't remember the remote positions and sets them all back

[@kaykramer9045]

With the Poly Grid of Bitwig, there is also a cool modular environment in Bitwig itself. I am wondering, if and how it would play together with VCV Rack. Actually you can build nearly whatever you want with the Poly Grid... you just have to know, what you want or what you need 🙂 And in Poly Grid you also work with CV. I think, Bitwig gets always more interesting with all the integration possibilities of the Poly Grid and now with the VCV plugin. It's just a lot to learn...

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Yeah, there's so much to learn and so little time...

[@kaykramer9045]

@@OmriCohen-Music So true… but nevertheless, it’s a lot of fun 😀

[@reggietelly]

Great and clear run through. Since Logic is not currently supported should I get the lite version of Bitwig or use my lite version of Ableton. Bitwig seems nice and fairly cheap for 16 tracks. just not sure what comes with it. Do you have the studio version?

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Yeah, I have the full version. I believe that it's not possible to output multitrack audio in the 16 track version, but I'm not so sure

[@JMGreen-nd4ev]

Hello, Great job ! Do you know if it is possible with VCV 2 to run VCV in logic pro ? I found nothing on vcv forum so far and no real answer. It seems many people are waiting for this topic to show up on the web Thanks.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Hey, thanks! Well, I believe that Logic Pro cannot load VSTs. Is this correct?

[@ignorestreetdealers2565]

Amazing video! so helpful! Now, how would you sync an external sequencer or something like a digitakt ?

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Through Midi I guess

[@edwardnixon1782]

Great to come back for a review of this, Omri. Have you done anything on hooking VCV up to Eurorack (and back) in Bitwig? I'm doing early experimenting with my T&MMM/0-Coast/0-Ctrl setup. With a MOTU Ultra-Lite modulating the hardware is pretty straight forward & of course audio back to Bitwig is easy. I'm still confused about modulation CV from hardware to Bitwig. Ultra-Lite does not have DC coupled inputs but Bitwig often has a AC button that promises compensation. Working in the cracks between devices is fun but a uncertain. Thanks for this one though.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Yeah, I have the ES9 so I can send signals back and forth. But I will try to experiment with the Motu and see how it goes

[@edwardnixon1782]

@@OmriCohen-Music The ES9 is the deal. I don't have enough space in my T&MMM case however. I'm looking at, say, the ES8 extended to the ADAT on my MOTU. Not sure what that gets me at the moment but seems worth investigating further. Thanks for anything you discover. And, as always, VCV wouldn't be anything like what it is without you! Congratulations!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

@@edwardnixon1782 I appreciate it :) I have my ES9 in its own case since it's too big for my setup, and takes too much power. It works great in its own case.

[@stonail665]

Hi omri I saw you used stormelder modules but I can't see them in available modules for V2. where do I get that ?

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Hi! They're not in the library yet but you can get them here - github.com/stoermelder/vcvrack-packone/releases/tag/Nightly

[@stonail665]

@@OmriCohen-Music thank you so much.

[@Sh1ken]

Thanks Omri! Killer content as always. In which context would you recommend Bitwig over Ableton?

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Thanks so much! I would go with Bitwig. It's very modular and fitting to the same mindset as VCV

[@ndf3]

In my experience bitwig is a lot more stable

[@jenniferw8963]

Is Bitwig the most powerful / easy to use DAW for VCV Rack Plugin? I was checking out Reaper and it doesn't even seem to have a clip launcher. Seems like launching clips with different sequences and automation would be great for a live performance no? How does ableton compare to bitwig in this regard? I don't know which daw to buy. I like the price of Reaper but no clips seems pretty weak. plus in yoru video on Reaper automation it seemed more difficult to draw the automation compared to Bitwig here.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Well, at the end, you will have to learn and get used to a DAW but I found Bitwig more intuitive. That said, Ableton has many more users and they're all seem happy...

[@neulant]

hey omri, thank you so much for your videoas, great! i have a question regarding routing. do you think it is possible to route audio from vcv direct to a soundcard channel, let´s say a es-9?

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Hi! Well, if you're on Windows, that might be an issue since you cannot select ASIO. But it should work on Mac :)

[@neulant]

Win unfortunatly

[@dominiquecamus8488]

Hi, and thanks Omri for this video! Unfortunately, MIDI CC messages are not usable, because Bitwig Studio seems to filter them if they don't come from controller (declared in Bitwig settings). My goal, for testing purpose, is to use VCV Rack as MIDI modulator (using CV MIDI CC module) a particular CC - in my case : CC#14, but all messages are blocked by the "VCV Rack device". I have tried many unused CC#, unsuccessfully. This experiment works perfectly in REAPER. I've sent a ticket to Bitwig support. Bitwig Studio v4.4.3, Windows 10.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Are you sure this doesn't work with the Midi modulator? try adding VCV before what you want to modulate and use the Midi modulator with CC14. It should work with unipolar signals

[@dominiquecamus8488]

@@OmriCohen-Music I've found the culprit : VST3 This plugin format s...cks, really I hate it! By using VCV Rack 2 (VSTi 2.4), all MIDI messages (including CCs) are transmitted, so I can modulate any by VCV Rack. Also, mine "MIDI Learn" issues are solved by using alternate controller script (developed by DrivenByMoss), now MIDI Learn works fine from my Komplete Kontrol S61 MK2. Thanks Omri.

[@owennovlatsky9562]

תודה רבה!!! Thanks for the great video. I am trying to use the MIDI->CV module like you did to take the Bitwig clock and use it sync a VCV module. However, I'm not getting a clock signal from either clock or clock/n. I can't figure out why. Am I doing something wrong?

[@owennovlatsky9562]

Problem solved. It appears to have been a problem with an older version of VCV Rack (2.2?). Upgrading to 2.4.1 fixed the issue. Sorry for the noise.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

No worries! I'm happy it works :)

[@mfortes451]

Hello! Does it work on the Bitwig Essentials subscription ?

[@OmriCohen-Music]

I guess that if you can load VSTs then it should work, yes. I didn't try it, though

[@andrewstevens6159]

Thanks for all you do! I've learned so much about VCV and eurorack in general from your videos. Your patches are always so creative and inspiring. Quick question! Did the chronoblob2 module update automatically from your library to work with VCV 2? It hasn't popped in my library just yet.

[@alexbaker4324]

just launched VCV one hour ago and Alright Devices releases their v2 I guess you just need to restart VCV :)

[@andrewstevens6159]

@@alexbaker4324 Ah that's wonderful! Didn't get the update prior to today. Thanks for that!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

I appreciate it, thanks so much! And yes, Chronoblob should be there 🙂

[@EdoardoMarcora]

Why in "22:34 - Sending Midi out from VCV to Bitwig" you are sending MIDI from VCV Rack 2 on one track to an instrument on another track? Couldn't you just add VCV Rack 2 on the same track as the instrument, much like an internal Note Fx (or other VSTs outputting MIDI)?

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Well, yeah, I guess that could work

[@mfortes451]

Can I plug my guitar into the VCV module (like Audio > CV) and use it as an effect as I play the guitar ?

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Yes, totally. There are outputs on the Audio module you can use to send external signals into VCV

[@MrToddbrannon]

When i insert a new module into rack any knobs I've moved on other modules reset back to where they were from the start.Also, what does "reserved" mean at the top of the vcv device in bitwig? I dont see that on mine.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

This sounds like a bug... I'm not so sure what's going on. Best would be to write VCV

[@MrToddbrannon]

@@OmriCohen-Music You're right Omri, I found another person on the VCV forums with the same issue. It seems to be a bug in the VST3 version, but the VST2 is working just fine. Bitwig hides the older version by default, so I didn't know it was there until I read the forums. Once you switch over to the older one everything works great.Thanks.

[@re8et355]

Hallo Omri, have you tried Reason with Silent way Rack Extension? Would it be possible to link multiple inputs module within the Mid-cv VCV module in one VSt iteration so it could be possible to choose multiple Silent ways from Reason?? Thanks for everything!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

I'm not so sure, I never really used Reason...

[@re8et355]

@@OmriCohen-Music tnx anyway.

[@re8et355]

@@OmriCohen-Music btw way, do you know if there's a recorder module within vcv that could save all audio played and later export that as wav??? I really miss exporting song in vcv! And automation... expert silent is also vst, and sure is an option for externally automate stuff from others daw, not reason only.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

@@re8et355 Well, yes, there's the VCV Record module that you can use for that. You can even record the screen with it :)

[@atomaalatonal]

nice. big thx! :D

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Cheers!

[@billB101]

The midi CC from rack to DAW implementation is way better than in Ableton, I'm thinking someone could write a M4L devices that would probably solve that issue. Must admit though BW looks like a modulation monster. Been looking at it for a while now, maybe time to buy a copy and dive in.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

It really is modular in many ways, and very intuitive to work with

[@billB101]

@@OmriCohen-Music What I need to work out with BW though is how fast is it to arrange music with compared to Ableton or Logic.

[@billB101]

@@OmriCohen-Music Can you answer me a quick noob BW question Omri: OK, VCV rack to CC to a synth works no problem, but I have to route VCV into the synth channel for CC to work, but I then lose the midi keyboard input by doing this, so how do I have both the midi keyboard and VCV on the same synth channel? It's gotta be something so obvious I'm missing here? Edit: I found a workaround be adding a note receive into the chain and making that MIDI input VCV rack and the main instrument MIDI input my keyboard. ( it's gotta be easier than that though, I'm missing something here? )

[@OmriCohen-Music]

@@billB101 To be honest, I'm not so sure it's possible... I will have to dig deeper. If you find something out, let me know!

[@billB101]

@@OmriCohen-Music Insert a ( note FX ) note receiver before your instrument, set the note receiver to VCV rack and then set your main MIDI input as per normal to your controller keyboard. You can then get CC from VCV and midi input from your controller. :)

[@Bruno-qy6mi]

Dear Omri, I don't know if you tried VCV 2 VST within Ableton but I have a big problem of latency. About 100 ms between the midi note and the audio out of the channel. Don't know if you could help I haven't found any info on it !

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Hi! How do you have it set up? Have a look here, maybe it will help - kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYLInpdvdtSpfpo

[@Bruno-qy6mi]

@@OmriCohen-Music Thanks a lot for your reply. Somehow it seems the patch I was using when trying was the culprit...

[@OmriCohen-Music]

@@Bruno-qy6mi Oh ok... So it works now?

[@Bruno-qy6mi]

@@OmriCohen-Music Yes it works as intended, no latency, just as a standard vst : )

[@chitlun]

Some great tips in here man, cheers. Do you know if there’s a way to get mono audio signals out of VCV into Bitwig? I don’t seem to be able to plumb anything but paired busses out of VCV to record. Maybe I’m missing something. Cheers for the vid man, peace ✌️

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Thanks! Yeah, I think that's not possible in Bitwig. It's really easy to do in Reaper, but I couldn't do this in Bitwig and Ableton...

[@chitlun]

@@OmriCohen-Music There’s also the slightly annoying nonsense of Bitwig and Ableton summing any midi input to channel one for VSTs… I discovered this while trying to use a step sequencer patch in VCV2, where I can use different midi channels on the Beatstep Pro into different instances of ADDR Sequencer. These are set to different midi channels and then piped to pitch, velocity, gate etc but you can’t do it inside of those 2 DAWs because the VST bus isn’t truly multitimbral it seems…

[@OmriCohen-Music]

@@chitlun Are you sure this doesn't work in Bitwig? I know that in Ableton it will not work but I think Bitwig is more forgiving with Midi...

[@chitlun]

@@OmriCohen-Music I was hoping Bitwig would do it but a friend and myself spent a couple of hours trying, sadly to no avail… I’m a newcomer to Bitwig so maybe yourself or someone out there may know a work around. Incredible piece of software though, I love it! To be fair, it was watching this video a while back that convinced me to take a punt, so glad I did.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

@@chitlun Can you tell me again what it is exactly you want to do? You have the BSP, and you want to send sequences into one instance of VCV through multiple Midi channels?

[@FearDisorder]

Very nice ! Someone know how to send cv's from vcv as an automation in bitwig?

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Do you mean like recording the modulation from VCV?

[@FearDisorder]

@@OmriCohen-Music yeah and sending it for example to a device's value.

[@jugs7157]

I'm having trouble getting vcv's midi-cv module to receive aftertouch data from the pressure parameter in Bitwig. I can send pressure to other plugins and chain Bitwig's expression parameters to vcv parameters but not the midi-cv module port for aftertouch like you did in this video.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

How do you have it set up?

[@douglashill3008]

Can you go over how to get MPE pitch bends? I have tried summing the pw and the v/oct, but I can't seem to figure it out.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

I will have to experiment a bit with MPE

[@douglashill3008]

@@OmriCohen-Music Thank you! I did hear back from moDIIz and they said they should have MIDIpolyMPE up to date in the next week 👍

[@OmriCohen-Music]

@@douglashill3008 Perfect!

[@robsinHL]

For all the fanfare around Bitwig, close to dumping it for Ableton again. I use vcv to generate CV and audio, and I use my rack for gates, CV and audio as well. Both can flow between Each other easily in VCV as a standalone. And as a VST app in Ableton I can route DC, AC, gates, CV whatever between host and plug-in bidirectionally. However in Bitwig you can’t send audio or CV to a plug-in without some sort of grid plug-in or repeater that I’ve yet to discover yet. To be honest, the workflow between Ableton and VCV is fine, it’s pretty much the same in Bitwig… unless you want to send audio from you interface to VCV which you can’t. This is absurd. And if it wants to tout itself as modular friendly should at least explain the path to follow. All the tutorials I see make no use of external gear, why bother with a DAW at all if that’s your use case.

[@JanDTio]

Re-watching this - so informative! - in section "Recording Midi from VCV" I noticed that the recorded notes don't all have equal length? Seems bizarre, as the gate length from DGate should presumably be constant.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Yeah, that's a Midi issue. Midi in VCV is not the most stable... But you can always quantize it in the DAW.

[@Robert-kx8mp]

chronoblob2 chronoblob2 chronoblob2 (sorry, low effort post)

[@duncanmaclennan9624]

BIT. WIG!!!!!!

[@vincentmartineau232]

I still think the best thing about VCV is that you do not have to deal with DAW or ableton! Sorry, I like vcv as it is!