Free EQ for Bitwig Studio: a dynamic EQ that loads as CLAP

Bitwig's EQ devices, and what they leave out

EQ+ is the main one: up to eight bands, 14 modes per band, global Shift and Gain, Adaptive-Q, and a spectrum that can show a reference track. EQ-5 and EQ-2 are compact five- and two-band EQs (EQ-5 adds Amount and Shift controls that morph the whole curve), EQ-DJ is a three-band with kill switches, Focus and Sculpt are Pultec-modeled color EQs, and Tilt EQ does exactly what its name says.

None of them change with the input level. In Bitwig you can build level-reactive EQ yourself, with a Multiband FX container and a Dynamics device per band, or by modulating an EQ+ band. That's flexible, but it takes a patch for every problem. A dynamic EQ is the ready-made version: one narrow band, placed on the problem, with its own threshold.

• EQ+: static shaping and checking your mix against a reference track.
• Focus, Sculpt, Tilt EQ: broad color strokes.
• A dynamic EQ: sibilance, a resonance that only rings on loud notes, kick/bass overlap, harshness that comes and goes.

CLAP or VST3? Tell Bitwig to prefer CLAP

Bitwig hosts VST 2, VST3 and CLAP on all three platforms. It doesn't load Audio Units on macOS or LV2 on Linux, so AURORA's AU and LV2 files are for other hosts. When a plug-in is installed in more than one format, Bitwig can show only your preferred one: in Settings → Locations → Plug-in Locations, choose Preferred formats and turn on Prefer CLAP over VST (when available).

CLAP and VST3 sound identical. Settling on CLAP keeps the browser tidy and every project consistent.

Install AURORA and find it in the browser

Bitwig scans the folders listed under Plug-in Locations on the Dashboard's Locations page. Install the files into the standard folders, check they're listed, and AURORA shows up in the browser next to Bitwig's own devices.

• Windows: run Install Aurora.cmd. macOS: copy 13x Aurora.clap (and the .vst3 if you like) into ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins. Linux: run install.sh, which installs to ~/.clap, ~/.vst3 and ~/.lv2.
• Open Settings → Locations and check that the folders under Plug-in Locations include the ones you installed to. Add a folder if one is missing.
• If AURORA doesn't appear in the browser, restart Bitwig so it rescans.
• Plug-ins run outside Bitwig's audio engine by default (hosting mode Together), so a crashing plug-in shouldn't take the engine down. Settings → Plug-ins offers Within Bitwig, Together, By manufacturer, By plug-in and Individually. A change applies to newly added plug-ins until you reopen the project.

Recipe 1: sidechain a band from any track, or a single drum pad

Bitwig's sidechain chooser is more flexible than most: on a plug-in with a sidechain input, click the sidechain icon at the top of the device and pick any track in the project, before or after its fader. Nested menus reach individual Drum Machine pads and points inside a track's device chain.

• Put AURORA on the bass track and open its sidechain chooser.
• Pick the kick, either its own track or the kick pad inside your Drum Machine. Choose pre-fader if you don't want kick-level automation to change how hard the band ducks.
• In AURORA, place a bell where the kick's weight sits, make the band dynamic, set the detector to sidechain, and lower the threshold until it dips a few dB on each hit.
• The same move works the other way round: key a dynamic band on a pad or synth from the lead vocal, so the pad only clears space while the vocal sings. The idea is explained in how to fix frequency masking.

Recipe 2: Smart Ops on a vocal, then Mid-Side on the bus

On a vocal, choose De-ess in Smart Ops and play the most sibilant section for at least two seconds. The suggestion appears dashed on the curve and is applied only when you click Apply. It writes a real dynamic band you can edit, and Revert removes only what Smart Ops wrote. Delta plays only what AURORA removes, which is the quickest way to hear whether it's taking words as well as 's' sounds.

On a synth or pad bus, switch AURORA to Mid-Side. The analyzer splits into mid and side, and each band can sit on the mid or the side on its own. A low cut on the side only keeps the low end centered, and a gentle dynamic band on the mid can clear room for the vocal in the presence range.

Recipe 3: linear phase on the master

AURORA's Linear phase mode reports its latency, and Bitwig's plug-in delay compensation handles it without any settings to change. For recording or playing instruments live through the project, use Zero latency or Natural (analog-matched, also zero latency) instead. Auto gain keeps every A/B and bypass comparison at equal loudness.

If Bitwig shares your system with another host, AURORA's settings work the same in REAPER, which also runs natively on Linux, and in Ableton Live. For the wider picture on Linux plug-ins, see free EQ plugins for Linux.