Bitwig Hello World — Orca / Sonic Pi / TidalCycles → Bitwig → SunVox / Automatonism

A true musical hello world that wires up three independent external MIDI generators, Bitwig as the hub, two external software synths, and virtual audio return — all free and open source, zero VST plugins inside Bitwig.

The cast

Tool	Role	Format
Orca	Esoteric livecoding MIDI generator (grid language)	Electron app
Sonic Pi	Ruby-based livecoding environment, MIDI out	Standalone app
TidalCycles	Haskell pattern livecoding, plays via SuperDirt	tidal lib + SuperCollider + VS Code extension
Mididash	Virtual MIDI router between apps (node GUI + Lua)	Standalone
Bitwig Studio	Hub / sequencer / mixer / FX	DAW
SunVox	Tracker/modular synth (melody voice)	Standalone
Automatonism	81-module synth inside Pure Data (bass/drone)	Pd patch
BlackHole 16ch	Virtual audio driver (16-channel return bus)	CoreAudio driver

Signal flow

  ┌─ MIDI sources ─────────┐
  │ Orca                   │──┐
  │ Sonic Pi               │──┤      ┌─ Mididash ─────────────────────────────┐
  │ TidalCycles (via SC)   │──┤      │                                         │
  └────────────────────────┘  └─────→│→ Bitwig (MIDI IN, Generic Controller)   │
                                     │                                         │
                                     │  Bitwig HW Instrument ── MIDI ──────────┤→ SunVox
                                     │                                         │
                                     │  Bitwig HW Instrument ── MIDI ──────────┤→ Pd (Automatonism)
                                     └─────────────────────────────────────────┘

      SunVox audio ────┐
                       ├── BlackHole 16ch ── Bitwig Audio Track (input)
      Pd audio ────────┤
                       │
      SC/SuperDirt ────┘   (Tidal outputs audio via SuperCollider directly)

Any of the three livecoding sources (Orca, Sonic Pi, Tidal) can clock themselves and emit MIDI into Mididash. Bitwig receives them on one track and forwards them out two HW Instrument tracks — one to SunVox, one to Automatonism. Their audio returns through BlackHole 16ch into Bitwig audio tracks where you mix/record/FX. TidalCycles is special: it both generates patterns (Haskell) and produces its own audio (through SuperCollider's SuperDirt), so for Tidal you can skip the MIDI route entirely and just capture SuperCollider's audio into Bitwig via BlackHole.

One-time setup

1. Install BlackHole 2ch

brew install blackhole-2ch

Reboot CoreAudio or log out/in. Verify it appears in Audio MIDI Setup.

2. Create an Aggregate Device (so Bitwig sees your speakers and BlackHole)

• Open Audio MIDI Setup → + → Create Aggregate Device
• Check your output (e.g. MacBook Speakers) and BlackHole 2ch
• Name it "Bitwig Aggregate"
• In Bitwig: Settings → Audio → Output Device = Bitwig Aggregate
• Add stereo Input Bus in Bitwig audio settings mapped to BlackHole channels 1–2

3. Launch Mididash

Open /Applications/Mididash.app. It exposes virtual MIDI ports that every other app will see in CoreMIDI. Leave it running.

4. Bitwig controllers (MIDI IN from Orca)

• Settings → Controllers → Add → Generic → Generic MIDI Keyboard
• Set MIDI input to a Mididash port (e.g. Mididash In 1)
• This is how external MIDI (Orca) reaches Bitwig tracks.

The hello world project

Track 1 — "Orca In" (Instrument track, MIDI receiver)

• Input: the Generic Controller you just added
• Arm for record
• No instrument — it only forwards MIDI out to another track via Note FX → Note Receiver, or simply records the incoming notes as clips.

Track 2 — "SunVox Out" (HW Instrument)

• Add device: HW Instrument
• MIDI Out: Mididash In 2 (or any free Mididash port), channel 1
• Audio In: Bitwig stereo input bus → BlackHole 1–2
• This is a real round trip: MIDI leaves Bitwig, audio comes back.

Track 3 — "Pd Out" (HW Instrument)

• Add device: HW Instrument
• MIDI Out: Mididash In 3, channel 1
• Audio In: same BlackHole bus (sum with Track 2, or use a second BlackHole instance for separation)

About HW CV Instrument: Skip it. That device sends analog control voltage out a DC-coupled audio interface to real Eurorack/Moog hardware. With software-only synths, HW Instrument (MIDI) is the right tool. HW CV Instrument only enters the picture when you wire an actual jack into physical gear.

Configure the external synths

SunVox

• Launch /Applications/SunVox.app
• Preferences → MIDI controller → Input → select Mididash In 2
• Preferences → Audio → Driver/device → BlackHole 2ch
• Load or create a synth module (Generator → Output). Click the module so it's selected — selected module receives incoming MIDI.

Automatonism (in Pure Data)

• Launch /Applications/Pd-0.56-2.app
• File → Open → ~/Documents/Pd/Automatonism 3.1/main.pd
• Media → MIDI settings → Input device → Mididash In 3
• Media → Audio settings → Output device → BlackHole 2ch, DSP on (Ctrl+/)
• In main.pd, drop a MIDI-IN module, connect to an OSC, then to OUTPUT. Or load a demo patch from the quick guide.

MIDI source option A — Orca

Launch /Applications/Orca.app.

• Cmd+, → MIDI Output → pick Mididash In 1
• Paste a minimal generator:

  .......8D...
  .......:03C.
  ............
  

  8 = clock divider (every 8 frames), D = bang, : = MIDI output on channel 0, octave 3, note C. Run it (Space to play).
• Or the classic:

  aTCAFE
  .:03C.
  

  T tracks across a row of notes driven by a (incrementing A).

MIDI source option B — Sonic Pi

Launch /Applications/Sonic Pi.app.

• Preferences → IO → MIDI → Default MIDI output → pick Mididash In 1
• In the buffer:

  live_loop :drip do
    midi (scale :c3, :minor_pentatonic).choose, channel: 1
    sleep 0.25
  end

• Cmd+R to run. Ruby → MIDI notes → Mididash → Bitwig.

MIDI source option C — TidalCycles

TidalCycles normally plays its own audio through SuperCollider/SuperDirt, so the MIDI-into-Bitwig route is optional. Full setup (one-time):

1. Launch SuperCollider, install SuperDirt:

   Quarks.checkForUpdates({Quarks.install("SuperDirt", "v1.7.3"); thisProcess.recompile()})
   

2. After recompile: SuperDirt.start (downloads sample packs first time).
3. In VS Code, open a new file hello.tidal. The vscode-tidalcycles extension will auto-boot ghci + tidal. (Set Tidalcycles › Ghci: Base Path to ~/.ghcup/bin/ghci in settings.)
4. Paste and Shift+Enter:

   d1 $ sound "bd sn hh cp"
   

5. hush to stop.
6. Audio comes out of SuperCollider → route SC's output device to BlackHole 16ch (in SC: s.options.outDevice_("BlackHole 16ch"); s.reboot;) and capture it in Bitwig on an audio track.

For MIDI-only Tidal (to drive SunVox/Pd instead of SuperDirt), use the tidal-midi connection pattern — heavier setup, skip for hello world.

Wire it up in Mididash

Open Mididash's node canvas and draw these cables:

[Input: Mididash In 1] ──→ [Output: Mididash In 1]   (Orca → Bitwig)
[Input: Mididash In 2] ──→ [Output: Mididash In 2]   (Bitwig → SunVox)
[Input: Mididash In 3] ──→ [Output: Mididash In 3]   (Bitwig → Pd)

(On macOS a single IAC/virtual port is bidirectional — one side is "input" to one app and "output" to the other. Mididash just needs the node cables drawn so routing is explicit and loggable.)

Make sound

1. Start Orca playing (Space). Notes flow → Bitwig Track 1 lights up.
2. On Track 1, enable Note FX → Note Receiver on Tracks 2 and 3, or duplicate the MIDI clip onto them. Both HW Instrument tracks now send MIDI out via Mididash.
3. SunVox and Pd receive the notes and play.
4. Their audio lands on the BlackHole input bus → Bitwig Audio tracks show levels.
5. Record-arm the audio tracks and hit record. You are now capturing a generative patch driven by Orca, voiced by two external synths, summed and mixed inside Bitwig — with Bitwig adding zero instruments of its own.

What you just proved

• MIDI IN to Bitwig from three different non-keyboard sources (Orca grids, Sonic Pi Ruby, Tidal patterns)
• MIDI OUT of Bitwig via HW Instrument to two apps in parallel
• Audio return from external software via a virtual driver (BlackHole 16ch)
• Routing topology managed explicitly in a single place (Mididash)
• Zero VST plugins loaded inside Bitwig — the DAW is the mixer/recorder/clock hub

From here you can swap Orca for a Bitwig clip, replace SunVox with Cardinal (the one thing that would live as a VST inside Bitwig), add effects, automate, record performances, and so on. The plumbing is the same.