EQ+ brings a new look and modern sound to Bitwig Studio. It's a feature-packed graphical equalizer with up to 8 bands, excellent visualization, mouse gestures, and new algorithms.

And while it is a graphical equalizer, EQ+ goes a step further by applying a rainbow color spectrum to the EQ curve, which can also be seen in EQ-2 and EQ-5. Seeing frequency settings colored predictably creates a kind of sonic muscle memory, connecting sound with visuals. Another feature we’ve included for the EQ+ is that you can select a Reference track and it will be shown as a purple curve inside the spectrum display. This way you avoid populating similar parts of the frequency spectrum with different tracks.

EQ+ is optimized for high efficiency, yet offers pristine audio quality. This is EQ+ in a nutshell:

• Freely assignable bands with quick mouse gestures (just click on the curve)
• Range selection: good for subtle detail work or radical reshaping
• Color-coded EQ curve
• Configurable Pre- and post-spectrum displays (with optional external reference)
• Solo of individual bands directly in the editor
• Optional Adaptive-Q
• 14 filter types available for each band
• Global frequency shift and gain

While tools like EQ+ and Saturator are made for fine control over sound, some tools bring life and pleasant unpredictability to your process. The play between will and luck is at the heart of these tools, just as it’s at the center of making music.

Arpeggiator, a source of creativity in all versions of Bitwig Studio, has added a number of features and possibilities. Along with controls for velocity and note length, each step now has a pitch control which functions like step sequencing new patterns on top of the notes being held. And for those using MPE-enabled or other advanced controllers, micro-pitch changes are now tracked, and per-note pressure messages will update note velocities for more dynamic performances.

Bitwig Studio’s Instrument Selector, Note FX Selector, and audio FX Selector have all gained voice modes, for dynamically triggering different layers. Whether each note of a chord needs a slightly different preset or a totally different VST, these modes will handle the details without any fuss. The same for a few arpeggiators set to do polyrhythms or a pile of audio effects that should be swept thru.

Some modes switch layers when a new note arrives, such as Round-robin and Free-robin, which pass each note (or individual chord notes) to different layers; Free Voice, which targets unused layers first (ideal for creating polyphony with Eurorack hardware); and Random and Random Other, which spread things out (particularly nice with a pile of different audio FX). And any of these modes will take the same sequence of notes and transform it into a new bouquet of sound.

Keyswitches turns a range of notes into controls that target specific layers (good for film scoring with different sounds and articulations). CC mode uses any control change message to sweep through the available layers (like using mod wheel to cycle through various note FX), and Program Change does the same with those kinds of MIDI messages (common from pedal controllers, etc.).

What all modes have in common is an awareness of how many layers are available. So when another audio effect or synth patch gets added, all the setup work has already been done.

Finally, evolving sounds are easier to create at all levels. To delay an entire device chain, Note Delay waits up to two bars (or five seconds) before passing notes to a layer. On the modulation level, the ADSR, AHDSR, and Note Sidechain modulators all have similar Pre-delay controls now. And within The Grid, the start or release of signals can now be suspended with the Logic Delay module. In addition, the new AHD on Release modulator animates any parameter note release for instant responsiveness. Sum it up and creating growing sonic landscapes has been made simple on every level.

To round out this release, some requested workflow enhancements are here. Drum Machine offers local audio returns, and spectrum analyzers across the program show the full audio range better. The Mixer View now has mini displays for some devices, and dropping a sample into a Grid patch creates a Sampler module with that audio, Tool gained an extra volume control that goes down to silence, and so on.

Bitwig Studio 3.2 also brings some new (and improved) Grid modules along for the ride:

• XP (Filter) - a modulatable filter with key tracking and 15 modes, including combos
• Array (Data) - a recordable sequencer, for keeping track of up to 1024 events, notes, velocities, or anything else
• N-Latch (Logic) - tracks the last trigger received from up to eight inputs, for an exclusive solo-type relationship
• Saturator (Shaper) - a loud/quiet threshold shaper in the log domain
• Logic Delay (Logic) - delays high-logic or low-logic transitions
• updated Steps (Data) - new Interpolation option, for crossfading between step values; also a great way to create a lookup table
• updated AD (Envelope) - new Looping option, to repeat the envelope if the gate signal (often the key) is still held down when the envelope completes

To coincide with Bitwig Studio 3.2 and its broader modulation possibilities, we present a package of Evolving Sounds and Sequences. Along with our friends Polarity and the irrepressible Joerg Sunderkoetter (aka "Jurgis"), 68 new presets have arrived, each bringing inevitable motion and a range of possibilities.

Listen to the sound examples and visit here for further details. Evolving Sounds and Sequences is available in your Package Manager now (requires Bitwig Studio 3.2).