>Free software PC MAC

8-Track gives you a free taster of Bitwig Studio’s easy-to-use interface. Let’s look closer…

Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files atbit.ly/cm323downloads

> Step by step

1. Install and activate

1 To get started, head over to our content service and this month’s page www.bit.ly/cm323downloads. With the current issue to hand, answer the quiz questions. Once you’ve gained access follow the instructions to grab your personal Bitwig Studio 8-Track code.

2 Next head over to www.bitwig.com/ account-register/ where you can create a user account. Make sure to verify your email address by clicking on the link they email you then log in and go to your Account Info page. At the bottom there’s an option to add a serial number. Enter the code from Step 1.

3 Bitwig Studio comes in three tiered versions, offering different track counts and content. However, beyond this the DAW’s behaviour is the same. To that end there is only one global installer, so the next stage is to download and install the correct one for your platform www.bitwig.com/download

4 When you first launch Bitwig Studio it asks you to log into your account. This will check your authorisation and activate the correct version. This will be followed by a third party plugin scan. Subsequent launches will be more straightforward as they will go straight to the Bitwig Studio 8-Track splash screen and Dashboard.

5 Following this you can install the included content. The Dashboard Packages tab shows you the content available based on the 8-Track licence. The Bitwig tab includes the Essentials package and the Classic Drum Machines – about 350MB in total. A further 1.5GB of teaser bundles can also be found under the Partners tab.

6 Bitwig’s Dashboard is the main launcher screen that handles upper level features including content packages, templates, projects and help files. You can also change important settings such as audio interface options, and also access the plugin management. The Dashboard is accessed at any time via the Bitwig icon.

7 We suggest taking this opportunity to check your audio interface settings. You’ll find these under the Audio tab on the Settings page. The Settings page also includes access to extensive DAW customisations although we suggest sticking with the defaults until you’re more familiar with Bitwig.

8 To start producing you’ll need to create or launch a project and this is done under your user tab in the Dashboard. In addition to keeping track of your own projects, you’ll also find a bunch of templates and also handy demo Projects. For our first walkthrough we’ll be using a demo project: In the Dark by Tauri.