Pacer4Bitwig

Turn a Nektar Pacer into a live-looper pedalboard for Bitwig Studio, and edit the Pacer with a modern editor.

Part	What it is
bitwig/	PACER Looper Bitwig extension (Java, DrivenByMoss framework): five modes on one preset (looper, FX pedalboard, mixer, song, custom), smart record/play/stop per loop track, undo, scene rows, overdub, tap tempo, expression pedals, live LED colours
editor/	Pacer Studio: a Web MIDI preset editor with a hardware-first UI, templates and an LED lab — use it online: https://chillbeast.github.io/Pacer4Bitwig/ (Chrome or Edge)
tools/	Node scripts: read-only backup, preset generator, guarded preset writer
Manual	The setup guide and manual: interactive switch map, the one preset and its modes, settings, troubleshooting, test checklists (docs/manual.html)
docs/LOOPER.md	User guide: Bitwig setup, switch functions, LEDs, settings, test checklist
docs/FX-PRESET.md	FX mode guide: the Pacer as a pedalboard for live instruments (effects, instrument focus, snapshots)
docs/PACER-MAP.md	The MIDI contract between the Pacer preset and the extension

Download

Grab Pacer4Bitwig.bwextension and the Pacer preset (presets/bitwig-pacer-D1.syx) from the latest release (or from the artifacts of any CI run), copy the extension into Documents/Bitwig Studio/Extensions and follow docs/LOOPER.md. What changed: CHANGELOG.md.

Quick start (from source)

# 1. Back up the Pacer (read-only)
cd tools && npm install && node pacer-backup.mjs

# 2. Build and install the Bitwig extension
cd ../bitwig && mvn -q install
#    Bitwig: Settings > Controllers > Add > Nektar > PACER Looper (ports: PACER / PACER)

# 3. Put the preset on the Pacer (overwrites D1; backs D1 up first)
cd ../tools && node pacer-preset.mjs && node pacer-send.mjs ../presets/bitwig-pacer-D1.syx --confirm D1
#    ...or use the Bitwig Pacer template in Pacer Studio:
cd ../editor && npm install && npm run dev

Requirements: Java 21 + Maven, Node 24, Bitwig Studio 6, DrivenByMoss 26.6.5 installed to the local Maven repository (see CLAUDE.md).

Licenses and credits

• bitwig/ is LGPL-3.0-or-later (bitwig/LICENSE) and bundles DrivenByMoss by Jürgen Moßgraber (LGPL-3.0).
• editor/ is derived from pacer-editor by François Georgy; editor/ and tools/ are GPL-3.0-or-later (LICENSE).
• Contributions welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md and docs/ROADMAP.md.
• "Nektar", "Pacer" and related names are trademarks of Nektar Technology, Inc. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nektar.