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Bidule currently supports ReWire functionality in both master and slave modes. In master mode, it can load ReWire devices in its patchbay as a ReWire master. Using ReWire devices in Bidule in this way is similar to using VST plugins (with outputs only) or instruments (in the case of Reason, for instance). In ReWire slave mode, the ReWire Device bidules acts as the Audio output within the patchbay, with MIDI input from the ReWire master application.
In order to use a ReWire device in Bidule, you must :
- Close any other ReWire Mixer applications (like Cubase SX)
- Start Bidule
- Add the appropriate ReWire device to the patchbay (right-click the patchbay and select ReWire Devices, then the desired device)
- Start the device's application (Live/Rebirth, etc, - but Reason will start by itself)
Then to end your ReWire session:
- Close the device's application (Live/Rebirth, etc, - but Reason will close by itself)
- Remove the device from Bidule's patchbay (or close the current patch)
The order in which these steps are taken are of utmost importance more info here: ReWire Info .
Slaved ReWire devices can have quite a few audio channels available and take up a lot of space on the patchbay. The Project 5 ReWire device bidule, for instance, has 128 total audio outputs by default! In addition to this, the ReWire devices can also have a potentially large number of MIDI outputs. To keep the size of your ReWire device bidules more manageable, select Tools > ReWire Devices Config dialog to manage the number of audio outputs, number of MIDI inputs, and the Auto Launch behaviour (if the ReWire device application supports Auto Launch).
Note that this only restricts the audio outputs/MIDI inputs visible on the ReWire device bidule in the patchbay. As far as the slaved ReWire application is concerned, nothing has changed and the full number of inputs/outputs is available.
In order to slave Bidule to another ReWire master device, you must do the following steps in the exact order below:
- Launch the ReWire master application
- Activate at least one output of the Plogue Bidule ReWire device. (How you do this varies from program-to-program - consult your ReWire application's manual for more details.)
- Launch Bidule. The splash screen will indicate that Bidule is in ReWire mode.
- Connect any MIDI outputs from the master ReWire device to any desired instruments in Bidule, and connect all audio from Bidule to the appropriate audio inputs on the Bidule ReWire device to send audio to the ReWire master application.
Special notes:
- Windows Digidesign hardware and software users : before trying to use Bidule as a ReWire device, please launch Bidule in standalone mode and go to the "Preferences" entry in the "Edit" menu and double-click the "Use Alternate ReWire Bridge" entry. The default ReWire bridge implementation is causing problems with the Digidesign drivers.
- Bidule will only receive tempo/transport sync from the ReWire master if this one runs at a specific audio buffer size, matching Bidule's 512,256,128,64, or 32. Running your ReWire master at one of those buffer sizes also guarantees you zero added latency when running with Bidule.
When Bidule is in ReWire master mode, most ReWire devices will be able to act as either Master or Slave sync interfaces. This means that they can be slave or master to other devices, other bidules (like the Audio File Looper), and plugins requiring sync (timing) information. Starting play in the slaved ReWire application will start play for all items synched to the ReWire bidule. If the ReWire device is synched to a master in Bidule, then its playing will not start until the tempo master in Bidule gets started.
When Bidule is in ReWire slave mode, the ReWire device can only act as a tempo master. Bidule still can, of course, contain other independent sync masters in addition to the ReWire device.
Be aware that not all ReWire devices supports that feature.
You can control the number of MIDI ports available on a slaved ReWire device in the ReWire Devices Config dialog (see above).
If you double click on the patchbay representation of the ReWire device, you will get an info popup, which gives information on the current channel mapping for each bus currently though ReWire. By using Bidule's MIDI Channel filters/re-mappers, you can then reach the specific unit you require in Reason.
- Bidule is not launching in ReWire slave mode when I start it!
Did you remember to add the Plogue Bidule Device to the track...? If you didn't, then Bidule has no way of knowing you wanted it to be a ReWire slave.
- Bidule is always launching in ReWire slave mode, but I want it to be in independent mode.
This will usually happen if there was a crash while running as a ReWire device. Use the "Clear ReWire Mode status" menu entry under "Edit" to fix this.
ReWire, Reason, and Rebirth are trademarks of Propellerhead Software, Stockholm, Sweden
Ableton Live is a trademark of Ableton AG, Berlin, Germany.