frankly, clip launcher being alien or not to traditional daw users is not a reson to not use it for this (especially since Bitwig is not exactly traditional type in first place), but I can see reason to use alias clips on launcher itself, if you want to have organised scenes with some borrowed clips that you normally have to copy to include in a different scene.
2 Likes
I think weāre defining alias differently. In Audition, a clip on a timeline is simply a container that references an audio file in the project (on disk). I can change in/out points on the container to āseeā different parts of the same audio file (on disk). In one case, I created many Foley recordings, and used pieces of those files all over the timeline. Each clip (container) on the timeline would reference the same file, but would act as a window into that file based upon my in/out points. I could slip the audio content within that container window to see earlier or later parts, without changing the container length, automation, FX, or anything else applied to the clip (container). I could even replace the audio file referenced by the clip (container) on the timeline with another one, and the only thing that would change is the actual content (not the length, position, FX applied, routing, automation, fades, etc.). I could also detach the container from that file, in which case it will create a new copy of the audio file to reference on the fly, so that I now have two completely distinct and separate files with no relationship to one another. What I do to the underlying file in one container has no effect on the other containers referencing the original. Very powerful.
I do not believe this is the same as having a particular clip parked in the launcher and then just pasting it various places as needed in the Arranger.
2 Likes
first of all, Bitwigās audio clips are already acting as containers and you can replace samples via project tab, where your used files are listed. to create distinct copy of the sample you need to resample it or bounce it.
whatās talked about in this thread is not about linked insides of clips, but linked clips as containers. so it goes both for audio and note clips. plus in Bitwig you can apply some automation on audio event level, and that in itself can be different for different clips. so you could be using same sample, but with different stretching and automations in different containers. although you could swap out sample still.
2 Likes
I love the visual aspect of working in audio using drums. Sometimes I just want to slap in a few drums to get the general idea. If I want to replace the samples later on, it is a massive pain.
it encourages me to use lower quality drum samples so that I dont spend too long finding them in the initial stages, and then Iām just stuck with those for the rest of the project unless I āreplace fileā which is impractical as I canāt even hear the sample, and god fobid I have that sample used anywhere else on a different track as that would be replaced too.
using Midi for drums just doesnāt fit how I make music at all.
+1
I was just thinking about this again recently, and recalled a related idea I actually sent in to Bitwig feedback last year. Looking at it again, I think I might indeed prefer this to alias clips.
Perhaps even better than ghost clips might be āghost scenesā ā the ability to have a scene start and stop at different points in the arrangement. What I like about this is that it could potentially be much simpler than ghost clips, while further enhancing songwriting workflow. It calls to mind Reasonās hidden gem āBlocksā feature, which is great for creating the repeating foundation of a section that can then have individual clips recorded over it for variations at different points in a song.
The ability to layer is key to this. The aliased scene in the arranger can have mutes drawn over it, or any number of clips overridden by local ones, and if you delete the overrides, they revert to what the scene has.
1 Like
As a workaround you could make a sampler, replace the clips with midi notes and then put the changed clip in the sampler.
How is that a workaround?? The whole point of this idea is that you have a clip thatās cloned in multiple places and if you change it in one of them, the changes are reflected everywhere.
How is replacing the clip with audio a solution to that? Lol.
would be so nice to just select the first Midi-Clip, and all the following selections, before and after the first selection, are linked to the first selected clip.
you will have the chain-icon if you choose from the mouse menue or Clip Button
mostly i would use this feature in a creative process at the beginning of build up a track, finding ideas
in my workflow i mostly have 4 to 8 bars of 4 to 8 clips to create variations to a main melody or something
optional this selection can ported to an empty track, to have a clean overview.
Additionally it would be nice to have some sort of clips browser. Clips are one of the most important building blocks.
There is similar concept for all used samples, but there is none for used clips (does not matter if audio or midi).
1 Like
I see a lot of varied discussion in the comments, which is good. Iām in favour of the idea, having previously used Cubase, but it needs to be done very carefully.
Iāll be happy if the solution solves a problem I had last night: I had copied a very brief piece of audio to three locations on the same track, and when mixing I realised that its level wasnāt quite high enough. I had to go and adjust the gain on every instance of the clip. That feels clunky to me ā if the clips had been linked, including all the attributes like gain etc., then I would only have had to adjust it once.
3 Likes
The sampler serves as a container for your audio file. When you change the sample in the sampler every occurrance of that note which previously triggered the old sample will now trigger the new sample.
Alias clips is my most wanted feature in Bitwig.
Coming from Logic X and Cubase using alias clips (including everything audio, midi, automation) was so much of an integral part of my workflow that without this feature I find it harder to finish arrangements/tracks. Being able to quickly alter clips on multiple locations in the arrangement stimulates me to start arranging, without it it keeps me from it.
Canāt believe they still havenāt implemented it in version 5.
Bitwig has a very good clip launcher view and it would complement that perfectly.
1 Like
@SonikHorizon then vote for it! Click the box with the number of votes on the top left corner. You have 10 votes to support your preferred feature requests.
1 Like