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TagWig Beta for Bitwig Users

25 Mar 2026 nate

Hey all.

I’ve been dipping my toes into writing some applications recently… couple of things on the go but thought I’d share this idea first.

Tagwig is a little utility to help with renaming audio files in your sample library and relocating them to a more Bitwig friendly library to aid with sample management using Bitwig’s own browser instead of having to use something third party like LoopCloud or Sononym. This will make copies of your files currently rather than rename in place, so you’re essentially duplicating your samples but with optimised tags and folders etc.

Bitwig doesn’t allow for custom tagging of wav files… I’ll look into perhaps implementing some sort of export to .bwmultisample files perhaps down the line, as well as maybe some sort of ML function that will auto detect the contents of your audio.

Probably a fair amount of junk in this still… loads to implement and fix, but may be fun to get some feedback from the community and build this out together.

Should be able to grab it here or download at the end of this post:

https://github.com/marulamusic/tagwig

Currently Mac only build… I’ve compiled it with python for Windows too, but haven’t had the chance to test or package that up yet. Drop some feedback if you find this useful or have ideas.

I’ll also try get round to doing a quick video on this soon.

TagWig

TagWig is a sample management tool for music producers using Bitwig Studio. Drag in your audio files, enrich them with metadata, generate clean Bitwig-friendly filenames, convert to lossless formats, and import everything into a tidy organized library — all in one workflow.

What it does

Organizes samples into a structured folder hierarchy that mirrors Bitwig’s category browser
Tags samples with BPM, key, category, type, custom tags, and group labels
Converts any audio format (WAV, AIFF, MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A) to lossless AIFF, WAV, or FLAC
Embeds metadata directly into file tags (ID3 for AIFF/WAV, Vorbis comments for FLAC) so Bitwig’s browser can search them
Generates structured filenames from a configurable token format (number, name, tags, BPM, key, category, label, type)
Detects BPM and key automatically in the background using librosa
Re-tags already-imported files from the library panel without re-converting
Relocates files to a different category folder if their category is changed during editing

Interface Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ [Logo] [Set Library] [Settings] [Re-tag Library] Library: … │ Toolbar ├──────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Library │ ┌─ Drop Zone ──────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ Tree │ │ Drag audio files or folders here │ │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ ▶ Drums │ ┌─ Queue Table ────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ Kicks │ │ Original File │ Category │ New Name │ Status │ │ │ Snares │ │ ──────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────── │ │ │ … │ │ kick_raw.wav │ Drums/Ki │ 0001_kic │ Ready │ │ │ ▶ Bass │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ ▶ Synth │ ┌─ Playback ───────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ … │ │ ▶ AUTO [~~~waveform~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~] 0:00 │ │ ────────── │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ Files ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ in folder │ [Generate Name] [Clear] [Import All] │ │ kick.aif │ Name ____________ Category ▾ Type ▾ │ │ snare.aif │ Tags ____________ BPM ___ Key ___ Label ______ │ │ │ [Bitwig quick tags grid] │ │ │ [Custom tags grid] │ └──────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ Status bar │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Getting Started

Requirements

Python 3.11+
FFmpeg in your PATH (for MP3/M4A/OGG conversion)

Run from source

git clone https://github.com/marulamusic/tagwig.git cd tagwig pip install -r requirements.txt python main.py

macOS app bundle

Pre-built .app bundles (Apple Silicon) are available on the Releases page. Download TagWig.app, move it to your Applications folder, and open it.

Windows

Build from source on a Windows machine (see Building below), or download the pre-built .zip from Releases.

Workflow

1. Set your library folder

Click Set Library Folder and choose where you want your organized samples to live. TagWig will create the full folder structure inside it automatically.

2. Drop files into the queue

Drag audio files or entire folders onto the drop zone. Supported formats: .wav, .aif, .aiff, .mp3, .flac, .ogg, .m4a, .mp4.

TagWig immediately:

Reads any existing metadata from the files
Parses BPM and key from the filename if they are embedded there
Launches background analysis to detect BPM (for Loops) and key via librosa

3. Edit metadata in the tag editor

Select one or more rows in the queue table to load them into the tag editor below:

FieldNotesNameThe filename stem. Affects single rows only.CategoryFolder destination inside your library (e.g., Drums / Kicks). Applied to all selected rows.TypeOne-Shot / Loop / Other. Triggers BPM detection when set to Loop.TagsComma-separated list. Use the quick-tag buttons or type freely.BPMAuto-detected for loops; edit manually if needed.Keye.g., Am, Cmaj, F#. Auto-detected; edit manually.Group / LabelAdds a named subfolder inside the category folder (e.g., 808). This subfolder name also becomes a Bitwig-browsable tag.

Quick-tag buttons let you toggle standard Bitwig tags and your own custom tags with a single click. Buttons light up when the tag is active for the selected file.

4. Generate filenames

Click Generate Name from Tags to build structured filenames from your configured format (number, name, tags, BPM, key, etc.). Numbers increment per category/label group, continuing from the last file already in that folder.

5. Preview and audition

Click any file in the queue or the library panel to load it into the waveform player. Click anywhere on the waveform to seek. Enable AUTO to start playback automatically whenever a file loads.

6. Import

Click Import All. TagWig converts each queued file to your chosen format (AIFF, WAV, or FLAC), embeds the metadata, writes the file to the correct folder, and saves a record to its internal database.

Library Panel

Once files are imported the left panel becomes your library browser.

Folder tree (top): navigate the category folder structure
File list (bottom): see all audio files in the selected folder

Right-click any file for:

Edit Tags… — opens the full tag editor for that file
Reveal in Finder — shows the file in macOS Finder

Double-click any file to open the edit dialog directly.

Editing existing files

The edit dialog lets you change any field and apply the update without re-converting the audio. TagWig rewrites only the embedded metadata (ID3 / Vorbis) in place.

If you change the Category, TagWig will:

Generate a new filename with the next available number in the target folder
Physically move the file to the new category folder
Update the database record
Refresh the library tree

Settings

Open Settings from the toolbar to configure:

Output format

FormatTagsBest forAIFFID3 v2Bitwig (best compatibility)WAVID3 v2Universal — works everywhereFLACVorbis commentsOpen standard, slightly smaller

Filename format

Add tokens to the active format and drag them into the order you want:

# Number · Name · Category · Type · Key · BPM · Tags · Label

Choose a separator: _ – . ,

A live preview updates as you configure.

Always write tags to metadata

When this checkbox is enabled, all tags are embedded into the file’s metadata even if the Tags token is not part of the filename. This lets you keep filenames short while still making full tag metadata searchable in your DAW.

Bitwig tag registration

For custom tags to appear as filterable tags in Bitwig’s browser they must be registered in Bitwig’s internal index. TagWig shows the registration status of your custom tags and provides a Register Tags with Bitwig button.

After registering:

Quit Bitwig Studio completely
Re-open Bitwig
Rescan your library

Note: Bitwig builds its tag cross-reference table at startup. Changes to the index during a running session won’t be visible until Bitwig restarts.

Custom tags

From the main window, right-click the Custom Tags header (or use the edit button) to open a plain-text editor. Enter one tag per line. Tags you define here appear as quick-select buttons in the tag editor and the library edit dialog.

Bitwig Integration

TagWig’s folder structure is designed to match Bitwig’s sample browser categories:

TagWig CategoryBitwig BrowserDrums / KicksKickDrums / SnaresSnareBass / One-ShotsBassSynth / LeadsLeadSynth / PadsPadFX / AtmospheresAtmosphereVocals / PhrasesVocal……

How filename tags work in Bitwig:

Bitwig tokenises filenames on separators (_, -, .) and cross-references each token against its tag index. A token appears as a filterable tag in the browser only if it exists in both tags.ids and file-name-words.ids. Built-in tags (808, 909, dark, bright, etc.) are always registered. Custom tags need to be registered via the Settings dialog.

Label/Group subfolders are also tokenised by Bitwig as folder names, making them another route for custom tags without needing index registration.

BPM and Key Detection

Detection runs automatically in the background when files are added to the queue.

MethodSpeedTriggerRead source file metadataInstantAlwaysParse BPM/key from filenameInstantAlwayslibrosa beat trackingSlow (up to 60s)Type = Loop AND bpm = 0librosa chroma analysisSlow (up to 30s)Key field is empty

Results populate the tag editor automatically. You can always override them manually.

Undo / Redo

Cmd+Z / Ctrl+Z — Undo
Cmd+Shift+Z / Ctrl+Y — Redo

Undo tracks all changes made in the tag editor: field edits, tag button toggles, category changes, and generated names. The undo stack is per-session (up to 100 steps) and does not persist after the app closes.

Building

macOS (.app bundle, Apple Silicon)

pip install pyinstaller pyinstaller TagWig.spec –noconfirm # Output: dist/TagWig.app

Windows (.exe folder)

Run on a Windows machine with Python 3.11+:

build-windows.bat REM Output: distTagWigTagWig.exeProject Structure

TagWig/ ├── main.py # Entry point ├── requirements.txt ├── TagWig.spec # PyInstaller macOS build spec ├── TagWig-windows.spec # PyInstaller Windows build spec ├── build.sh # macOS rebuild script ├── build-windows.bat # Windows build script ├── assets/ │ └── marula_logo.png ├── ui/ │ ├── main_window.py # Main application window │ ├── settings_dialog.py # Settings / naming format dialog │ └── playback_bar.py # Waveform player widget └── core/ ├── database.py # SQLite persistence ├── converter.py # Audio conversion + metadata writing ├── detector.py # BPM/key detection (librosa) ├── organizer.py # Folder structure, filename generation └── bitwig_tags.py # Bitwig index registration utilities

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