pushvspush

There may be an Ableton logo splashed on it and integration designed specifically for Live. But one of the nice things about Ableton’s Push and Push 2 hardware are that, at their core, they’re open. Everything sends and receives standard MIDI messages. As we’ve seen, even the display is hackable. And that is admirable not only from an engineering standpoint, but because it means the hardware you invest in has a life beyond just specific drivers and software updates.

Now, that extends even to rival software Bitwig Studio – which means you can even use a Push 2 on Linux.

News broke over the weekend that the Push4Bitwig script by Jürgen Moßgraber (aka “moss”) supports both the new Push hardware and existing Push hardware. Here’s a tutorial on how to set it up:

And more discussion on the forum KVR:
Push4Bitwig [kvraudio]

It’s also worth noting that this is what happens when you open stuff up – users surprise you with their own ideas. This isn’t Bitwig support, and as someone griped recently here on CDM comments, Ableton didn’t even document their MIDI implementation. It’s just intrepid, relentless users. And I think at the end of the day, that makes both Bitwig (for providing this kind of scripting) and Ableton (for adhering to standards rather than, cough, proprietary implementations) look better.

I know there’s some fear associated with this for manufacturers – heck, as a manufacturer myself, I know how serious support obligations can be. But I think there are real rewards when you can overcome some of those fears.

And if you use this – especially if any of you are braving Linux – we’d love to hear how.

19 responses to “Push 2 hardware now works in Bitwig – including on Linux”

  1. itchy says:

    loving live 9.5 🙂

  2. itchy says:

    loving live 9.5 🙂

  3. itchy says:

    loving live 9.5 🙂

  4. Ed Markey says:

    Bitwig keeps on breaking boundaries 🙂

  5. Ed Markey says:

    Bitwig keeps on breaking boundaries 🙂

  6. Ed Markey says:

    Bitwig keeps on breaking boundaries 🙂

  7. MRosePush says:

    Wow, so easy to setup 😉 plug and pray

  8. MRosePush says:

    Wow, so easy to setup 😉 plug and pray

  9. MRosePush says:

    Wow, so easy to setup 😉 plug and pray

  10. metabeat says:

    Why use Push with Bitwig? Because it is possible. But it’s not good. Better use Push with Live. IMHO.

  11. metabeat says:

    Why use Push with Bitwig? Because it is possible. But it’s not good. Better use Push with Live. IMHO.

  12. metabeat says:

    Why use Push with Bitwig? Because it is possible. But it’s not good. Better use Push with Live. IMHO.

  13. Lloyd Barrett says:

    PXT General is THE essential tool for Push 1 – allowing it to be configured as a useful MIDI controller for anything. It doesn’t support Push 2, not sure if there are plans to allow it and haven’t heard of any similar tools on the horizon. Without this flexibility Push 2 doesn’t seem like such a great deal.

  14. Lloyd Barrett says:

    PXT General is THE essential tool for Push 1 – allowing it to be configured as a useful MIDI controller for anything. It doesn’t support Push 2, not sure if there are plans to allow it and haven’t heard of any similar tools on the horizon. Without this flexibility Push 2 doesn’t seem like such a great deal.

  15. Lloyd Barrett says:

    PXT General is THE essential tool for Push 1 – allowing it to be configured as a useful MIDI controller for anything. It doesn’t support Push 2, not sure if there are plans to allow it and haven’t heard of any similar tools on the horizon. Without this flexibility Push 2 doesn’t seem like such a great deal.

  16. mububu says:

    Because “Ableton Live” do not run well on Linux! 😉
    I have actually no Push, but there will come one on my System quite soon

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