GuruBlog

I recorded a new jam session using my volcas, my kaospad mini, bitwig-studio and my launchpad.

The bass sequence was created using the stepsequencer in bitwig and is played on the volca keys. (dont let your self fool by the name, the keys can make really awesome basslines)

The arpegios are created using the volca bass and the kaospad mini. I used the bitwig arpeggio note effect and enter the notes using the launchpad.

Volca Bass vs Yamaha B55 - Analog gear from now meets analog gear from the late 70's

The session was recorded and mixed using Bitwig-studio.

I have a lot of sfz samples on my harddisk but unfortunately the only sample format the internal sampler from bitwig studio can use is the built in multisample format. I played a bit with the fileformat and found that it´s a zip-container with all the wav-files and a xml file that describes how to map the samples to keyboard regions. Thats very similar to the structure of a sfz sample so I wrote a simple converter script in java that can be used to convert sfz to multisamples.

The program is far from perfect and I consider it more as a prototype than a final program - so be warned. I also haven´t implemented more advanced features like velocity zones or groups yet.

You can download the sourcecode from my github repository at

https://github.com/ngradwohl/bitwig_scripts/tree/master/sfz2multisample

or a compiled version here: Sfz2Multisample-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar

to use it open a terminal and start the program with the filename of the sfz file as a parameter

java -jar Sfz2Multisample-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar sfzfilename.sfz

the program then creates a multisample with the same name.

UPDATE:

I made a new version of the sfz2multisample tool! see the new SFZ2Multisample Project Page for more info

Part II of my song "the long dawn" recorded using bitwig-studio, a lauchpad and my mininova

For this session I used the novation launchpad step sequencer for bitwig to create sequences for my volca synths (hence the name)

also on soundcloud

In bitwig-studio you controller mappings can be scripted using a javascript api. Fortunately most of the midi controllers I own (Launchpad, nanoKontrol, nanoPad, ...) are already mapped and all I had to do was to connect them. This weekend I found my very first hardware usb controller I bought back in the days when iMacs looked like candy and macos X was released. The M-Audio iControl for GarageBand. As the name suggests it was designed to work with GarageBand a very striped down version of Logic that came for free with MacOS X.

Since I wanted to play with the bitwig controler api for some time now I took the challange and wrote a midi mapping for the controller.

This is a recording of a bitwig/launchpad/volca jam session that evolved around a saxophone sample that comes with bitwig. I also intended to record a video of the session but unfortunately I forgot to check the batteries of my camera so I only recorded the first 2 seconds :-/

This is my second sverchok experiment. For this animation I used a bmesh creation tool and modified the transformation matrix using a node setup that's depending on the current frame number. The flapping sound was created using bitwig-studio

you can download the blend file here

A new Track using Bitwig-Studio and my Volcas - I controlled the Volca Bass using the External Instrument, and recorded it to an new audio track while turning the knobs. The effects on the bass track are from my Kaospad.

I got BitWig-Studio this week and this is the first complete track I´ve recorded. I used my volca beats and keys, my mininova and some of the internal instruments of bitwig. I really like the FM4-synth and the sampler in BitWig.

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