Bitwig Studio 6.1
Sampler,
Redefined
What makes a modern sampler? We found many answers to this question, and decided to implement all of them in our radically updated Sampler, available in Bitwig Studio 6.1.
Now in public beta, the Sampler features quick, versatile slicing with advanced functions. It also offers two new play modes – the time-stretching Spectral and the granular Fragments – and major additions to existing modes, including authentic hardware emulation. Automatic tempo and pitch detection revolutionize old workflows and introduce new ones. And there are many more upgrades across the device, including improved multisample editing, a new Bell filter, and an updated interface with new playhead visualizations.
Our updated Sampler makes all audio playable – and ready to color, explore, and perform. It also invites you to sample in ways that weren’t possible before. Create layers from looping slices or apply modulation per slice. Bend a sample’s harmonics to your project key or “auto-tune” an entire sample to the note you’re playing. Modulate your sample’s pulse width, sculpt grains into hypnotic rhythms... The exploration never stops. This is Sampler, Redefined.
Advanced
Slicing
Sampler now offers slicing in all play modes. Click the Sliced icon to instantly convert a sample into slices that can be triggered from your MIDI controller or the piano roll. Or slice a clip from the Arranger or Launcher directly into a Sampler.
Slicing is about making a sample more accessible to your creativity. Slice a drum loop by beat division – or let Sampler automatically detect the onsets – and you have a playable drumkit at your fingertips. Find a new hook in an acapella by setting slices manually, or by pitch. Whatever the mode, you can adjust, create, and delete any slice with a click or two.
Once sliced, a sample is split into chunks that are triggered by an input. If triggering via notes doesn’t work for you, target your slices with the Select control to explore them with the turn of a dial (or via automation or modulation). You can also trigger your slices via note velocity. Then engage dynamic pitch analysis, and every slice will follow the pitch of the notes you play. A new kind of round robin.
Slicing in Bitwig’s Sampler starts off fast and easy, and ends up exploratory and deeply expressive. Per-slice looping lets you create complex bouncing textures and granular layers. And per-slice modulation means that any parameter in Sampler (or nested devices) can behave differently for each slice. Is this a sampler or a step sequencer?
Intelligent Pitch Analysis
Working with a sample traditionally starts with setting a Root Key, aligning its pitch with the notes on your keyboard. And Sampler lets you manually define a root, but it also revolutionizes this process with dynamic pitch analysis. Click the orb icon to get an analysis of your sample. Now the entire sample will dynamically match whatever pitch you play.
Pitch analysis works in all play modes and with slicing and multisample modes. As well as speeding your process, this presents exciting new possibilities. In Repitch mode, Sampler will dynamically speed up or slow down through the sample to match your chosen notes, for a whole new take on auto-tune. Whatever your mode, all kinds of material become playable melodies and chords. Or Freeze the playhead and modulate its position to enter outer space.
Powerful Time-Stretching
In traditional sample playback, time and pitch are connected: the faster the playback, the higher the pitch. Time-stretching algorithms break this rule, letting you change the speed of a sample while preserving its pitch. We looked closely at the many ways to time-stretch, then came up with our own, optimized for real-time use. Our Spectral play mode is designed to provide the cleanest possible time-stretching no matter your speed, and open a vast space for sonic exploration.
To hear what Spectral mode can do, throw in a drum loop and change the playback speed. We think you’ll be impressed by the results – particularly when you engage Preserve Onsets, which uses clever math to “unstretch” the sample around transients. By the way, Sampler can automatically detect your sample’s tempo. It can link your sample to the project BPM, too. Change the tempo and hear it keep step.
It’s not just about time: Spectral can also do wild things to timbre. Engage formant processing to morph your sample in ways subtle or uncanny. Then Bend its harmonics into bold new shapes. You can even quantize your sample’s harmonics to the project key signature to access delightful harmonic terrains.
Expressive Granular Engine
Spectral is just one of Sampler’s expanded collection of play modes. Joining it is Fragments, a new mode for advanced granular playback. Generating up to 256 independent grains per voice – with each grain having its own playback rate and direction, position, and size – Fragments is a mighty tool for precise and unusual grain-shaping.
With Fragments, dramatic clouds of sound are just the beginning. Slow playback right down to treat your grains like an oscillator. Add random Motion, and set your grains to run in different directions to create complex textures. Shape grain envelopes from smooth to clicky, sync grains to the project tempo for rhythmic effects, and make grains repeat up to 16 times for extra density.
Hardware Emulation...
The classic Repitch mode now features two new characters that emulate beloved hardware sounds. Analog brings you juicy saturation and tape flavor, while Digital can emulate iconic ‘90s samplers, or mangle your sound beyond recognition. And because Sampler is polyphonic, this processing can be applied differently per-voice, taking you places your hardware could never go.
...and Sonic Exploration
Also upgraded, Cycles mode now unites sampling and synthesis. Three new characters allow you to adjust the pulse width of your sample, apply phase modulation, or rebalance its odd and even harmonics. With Freeze engaged, Sampler becomes an oscillator with vast timbral possibilities, and the new Duophonic option crossfades two Cycles engines to give you a smoother sound.
Multisampling, The Grid, and More
Multisampling, The Grid, and More
The new Sampler features plenty more upgrades. Improved playhead visualizations show you more (and look nice, too). Edits can snap to onsets for quick adjustments. New loop behaviors allow you to decide what happens when you release a note, and the new Bell filter is useful for quick tone-shaping of each voice.
Multisample functionality has also been improved, including quick ways to get started. Drag multiple samples onto a track to instantly create a round-robin Sampler. Or drag with a modifier to layer your samples and have them tuned for you. Zones can be muted and soloed for easy editing, and with multiple zones selected, you can quickly edit their values using the Histogram. And Live Select Updating lets you crossfade between samples via pressure, modulator, or whatever else you've got.
Our pitch detection algorithm also appears in the new Tuner, a handy analyzer in both the device realm and The Grid. The reborn Sampler has come to The Grid too, so you can combine it with our 230+ modules – and enjoy some Grid-only features. In Fragments mode, grains can be triggered via signal input. And optional module outputs let you take Sampler’s analysis data to-go. Trigger drum sounds with synced onsets, match an oscillator to a sample’s moving pitch, layer sounds using amplitude data… We’re curious to see where that takes you.
Presets To Get You Started
We’ve stocked up the Essentials sound package with presets that put the new Sampler through its paces. Slicing and time-stretching, granular experiments, Poly Grid patches, and more. Update the package from inside the app, and search “6.1” in the Browser to find the new presets.
Availability
Bitwig Studio 6.1 is now in the beta testing phase, and we invite you to join. It’s available in all Bitwig editions. If you own a Bitwig Studio, Producer, or Essentials license with an active Upgrade Plan, you'll find the beta installers in your user profile. Sampler’s new Spectral and Fragments play modes are only available in the full version of Bitwig Studio.
We're aiming to release 6.1 in the summer. As always, this upgrade is free to all customers with an active Upgrade Plan (as of June 18, 2026).
View the full changelog here.