New kickdrum synthesizer: Audija KickDrum VST/AU

[Jan_Audija]

Great news.
That was my first observation after moving the eq to 100Hz.
I'm happy to see that you can read between the lines. English is not my mother tongue. The devil is in the details

so true . To make it even better, it needs to preserve the timbre and now with the better pitch analysis that then will be able to recreate a wider variety of sounds.
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i kept a copy of kickdrum.vst3 again, this beta installer deleted it.
not sure why this happens, as you said they are named differently in finder and in Cubase

thank you for the feedback! yes, since it's two different setups and two different plugins in there. but it seems to be rare and since the setups merge together in 10 days anyway, let's skip this for now.
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If you have a clean sample there is strong reason to not need a bass drum synth analysis and to just use the sample you already have.

It would be good if all kick synths would now focus deeply on their ability to analyze bass drums that are not clean samples but in tracks with music surrounding. Code them to try and be able to discriminate musical information from bass drum info with greater accuracy.

Difficult, but that is the ultimate benefit of analyze.

totally, if you are happy with how the sample sits in your track there's no need to change that, but if the sample achieves only 80% of what you have in mind - you can enhance it.
I think you are referring to demixing capabilities, that rely on transformers (AI) - that is a really interesting topic.
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I've been following this thread since page 1 and bought KickDrum about 8 months ago. My ignorance is obviously on full display here. I thought the purpose of adding a sample layer to version 2 was to combine the best of both worlds- the transient from the sample and the body and the tail from the sine wave. But now, I am just so confused. You've added a sample import just so we can take it and emulate it with the sine wave, envelope and EQ? If I wanted my kick to sound like the sample... why wouldn't I just use the sample?

awesome you are here and hopefully we can clear things up again:
It's just we have more options now:
-you have an old project with a rendered kick you created in an old plugin you don't use anymore - now you can easily port it
-the sample is really nice, but the tempo of your project changed and the phase isn't aligned anymore, now you can quickly repair it
-you like the general direction the sample goes, but you want to have it sounding exactly like in your mind: then use the analyze result as starting point
-how was this kick created? - now you can analyze to learn

and also there are additional features coming that utilize this, that hopefully will be a little bit of a surprise

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[...] Personally, I'm finding Kick3 to be just easier to look at compared to Audjia but I like the featureset of Audija a bit more. Anyway, it's fun to make the same kick in both- really useful learning exercise. Audjia seems better at making ckicky/plastic kicks without using a transient sample, Kick3 better at rougher more acoustic sounding (but can do clicky plastic too). I'm mainly using the latter.

thank you for the feedback! I am looking forward to improve the gui, but features have been more important than looks for now - but yes, i want everyone using it to be maximally happy with it and looks are important for that as well.
can you pinpoint what you are missing to achieve more analogue sounding kicks?

[oobesan]

Thanks for your thoughtful response, Jan. That makes more sense. I’ll be honest, I think without a simpler/slicker interface, KickDrum is a very, very niche product for a select group of people (PsyTrance, Goa) that need PERFECT phase alignment and tuning. But for most people, who don’t need that level of perfection, they just want to be able to make a kick that sounds good and do it quickly. They’re not kick experts. They just know when a kick sounds good and when it doesn’t. For that, they need an interface that is way less busy and more elegant. Do you have a Discord?

[audio/fault]

Thanks for your thoughtful response, Jan. That makes more sense. I’ll be honest, I think without a simpler/slicker interface, KickDrum is a very, very niche product for a select group of people (PsyTrance, Goa) that need PERFECT phase alignment and tuning. But for most people, who don’t need that level of perfection, they just want to be able to make a kick that sounds good and do it quickly. They’re not kick experts. They just know when a kick sounds good and when it doesn’t. For that, they need an interface that is way less busy and more elegant. Do you have a Discord?

these are somehow my thoughts, too. all demos/videos online seem to be tailored to goa and psytrance. when I tested kickdrum
(briefly) I had the same impression, but all I want is a simple, fat dance-kickdrum. i was hoping to get this, but it didn‘t worked out for me unfortunately. though i‘m sure it’s possible at all.

[Jan_Audija]

Thanks for your thoughtful response, Jan. That makes more sense. I’ll be honest, I think without a simpler/slicker interface, KickDrum is a very, very niche product for a select group of people (PsyTrance, Goa) that need PERFECT phase alignment and tuning. But for most people, who don’t need that level of perfection, they just want to be able to make a kick that sounds good and do it quickly. They’re not kick experts. They just know when a kick sounds good and when it doesn’t. For that, they need an interface that is way less busy and more elegant. Do you have a Discord?

these are somehow my thoughts, too. all demos/videos online seem to be tailored to goa and psytrance. when I tested kickdrum
(briefly) I had the same impression, but all I want is a simple, fat dance-kickdrum. i was hoping to get this, but it didn‘t worked out for me unfortunately. though i‘m sure it’s possible at all.

What I would need is a list with things you'd like to see improved and I'd be happy to write them down

[audio/fault]

What I would need is a list with things you'd like to see improved and I'd be happy to write them down

Good question. Only tested Version 1.3 so far, so don’t know what changed in 2.0.
as the gui is quite crowded and to me confusing, i‘d love to have some kind of easy view with for example only pitch, decay, lenght and Overall Character. Think of klanghelm dc8c. It’s a really complex Compressor with lots of Control, but still can be used in Easy Mode.

[oobesan]

What I would need is a list with things you'd like to see improved and I'd be happy to write them down

Well, I think I need to start with the Big Picture first. KickDrum appears to be feature-complete. If you can imagine it, you can make it in KickDrum. And for those that truly understand phase, tuning, and timing, KickDrum gives them all the tools they need to do that, and quicker and better that most other kick drum synths. I guess my point is, those users are a relatively small number of people. I would wager that there are many more people like me, who are not at that level, but want to grow and learn and have the option to become better and use all those tools in the future. But we need a GUI and workflow to get us started making great sounding kick drums quickly as well as to help us grow along the way. It’s no small task.

Should I send you an email about my specific thoughts on the GUI and workflow?

[Jan_Audija]

What I would need is a list with things you'd like to see improved and I'd be happy to write them down

Well, I think I need to start with the Big Picture first. KickDrum appears to be feature-complete. If you can imagine it, you can make it in KickDrum. And for those that truly understand phase, tuning, and timing, KickDrum gives them all the tools they need to do that, and quicker and better that most other kick drum synths. I guess my point is, those users are a relatively small number of people. I would wager that there are many more people like me, who are not at that level, but want to grow and learn and have the option to become better and use all those tools in the future. But we need a GUI and workflow to get us started making great sounding kick drums quickly as well as to help us grow along the way. It’s no small task.

Should I send you an email about my specific thoughts on the GUI and workflow?

Thank you, I'd love to here your ideas - please share them here, so others can follow the train of thought and add their views.
that professional sound designers are not the majority is a fair premise. I can only speak for myself, but I learn the best from videos or hands on - so it is planned to make good videos, that explain everything, providing a good manual, extensive tool-tips and a good variety of presets for each genre to choose/learn from - these are the things planned or in the making so far.

[Dr.Gunjah]

From what I can tell the sample analyzer works pretty well. However, only if you have a 'standalone' hit in a WAV file. It's not really possible to extract a kick from a full track and I don't even talk about 'demixing', just extracting a single hit from, let's say, the beginning of a track, where only the kick plays. MP3s don't even show up in the browser.

I've tried to extract a single hit from a full track WAV file and couldn't manage to extract just a single hit. If it's even possible it doesn't seem to be very intuitive. It would also help to let the user change values directly on the number displays on the left side. Currently you have to find the correct handle in the window to change a value instead of just dragging the value up and down.
At some point the plugin crashed when I tried to move the start point. (log deactivated unfortunately)

It would really be helpful if we could load more file types and were able to shift the input file left/right in the import window so we can select the hit we want. I think both Kick3 and Kick Ninja show you window where you can select the hit with markers, but I don't think it has to be that fancy.

[Jac459]

What I would need is a list with things you'd like to see improved and I'd be happy to write them down

Well, I think I need to start with the Big Picture first. KickDrum appears to be feature-complete. If you can imagine it, you can make it in KickDrum. And for those that truly understand phase, tuning, and timing, KickDrum gives them all the tools they need to do that, and quicker and better that most other kick drum synths. I guess my point is, those users are a relatively small number of people. I would wager that there are many more people like me, who are not at that level, but want to grow and learn and have the option to become better and use all those tools in the future. But we need a GUI and workflow to get us started making great sounding kick drums quickly as well as to help us grow along the way. It’s no small task.

Should I send you an email about my specific thoughts on the GUI and workflow?

Thank you, I'd love to here your ideas - please share them here, so others can follow the train of thought and add their views.
that professional sound designers are not the majority is a fair premise. I can only speak for myself, but I learn the best from videos or hands on - so it is planned to make good videos, that explain everything, providing a good manual, extensive tool-tips and a good variety of presets for each genre to choose/learn from - these are the things planned or in the making so far.

I didn't follow too much the beta... And now I just watched the analyse function video in your YouTube.
I am still looking for my jaw on the floor...

You have been busy man. Awesome work.

[audio/fault]

ok, bought! nothing to lose at this price and the analyzing function-video looked great. maybe i get used to the gui, though i still think an easy mode would be great. and more „general“ techno/house-presets

[Dr.Gunjah]

If you have techno/house samples you can now turn them into presets with the analyzer. Load them in a sample device to preview and if you find one that is almost there, analyze it and then customize to taste.
I know it's not exactly the same as presets, but I think I was one of the first that criticized the presets in Kickdrum and imo it's not a big priority anymore because of the analyzer.

[audio/fault]

If you have techno/house samples you can now turn them into presets with the analyzer. Load them in a sample device to preview and if you find one that is almost there, analyze it and then customize to taste.
I know it's not exactly the same as presets, but I think I was one of the first that criticized the presets in Kickdrum and imo it's not a big priority anymore because of the analyzer.

yep, thx! need to dig deeper into this, but that was the reason that convinced me to just buy it

[jeyz1176]

Hi Jan, is there a "key tracking" feature planned ?
An option that would allow to control the pitch of selected nodes based on incoming MIDI.
The idea is to keep the kick in tune with the bass line at all times without sacrificing transients.
And thank you so much for everything you have already done for us.

[audio/fault]

Hi Jan, is there a "key tracking" feature planned ?
An option that would allow to control the pitch of selected nodes based on incoming MIDI.
The idea is to keep the kick in tune with the bass line at all times without sacrificing transients.
And thank you so much for everything you have already done for us.

was trying to figure out, how this is possible. so it‘s obviously not. but great idea. would be also much easier to figure out the right pitch for the song.

[Jan_Audija]

From what I can tell the sample analyzer works pretty well. However, only if you have a 'standalone' hit in a WAV file. It's not really possible to extract a kick from a full track and I don't even talk about 'demixing', just extracting a single hit from, let's say, the beginning of a track, where only the kick plays. MP3s don't even show up in the browser.

I've tried to extract a single hit from a full track WAV file and couldn't manage to extract just a single hit. If it's even possible it doesn't seem to be very intuitive. It would also help to let the user change values directly on the number displays on the left side. Currently you have to find the correct handle in the window to change a value instead of just dragging the value up and down.
At some point the plugin crashed when I tried to move the start point. (log deactivated unfortunately)

It would really be helpful if we could load more file types and were able to shift the input file left/right in the import window so we can select the hit we want. I think both Kick3 and Kick Ninja show you window where you can select the hit with markers, but I don't think it has to be that fancy.

no, your're right it wasnt designed to extract regions from whole tracks, but rather to select a region in your daw and then to further work on the cutout audio in KickDrum. but it's a nice idea to give it a region selector, and something like that is needed anyway for another feature that is coming - so that's on the list now

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I didn't follow too much the beta... And now I just watched the analyse function video in your YouTube.
I am still looking for my jaw on the floor...

You have been busy man. Awesome work.

thank you so much! yes, indeed

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ok, bought! nothing to lose at this price and the analyzing function-video looked great. maybe i get used to the gui, though i still think an easy mode would be great. and more „general“ techno/house-presets

nice, thanks! an easy mode is a really nice idea - it's a bit down the line, but definitely doable.

_____________________________________________________________________________

If you have techno/house samples you can now turn them into presets with the analyzer. Load them in a sample device to preview and if you find one that is almost there, analyze it and then customize to taste.
I know it's not exactly the same as presets, but I think I was one of the first that criticized the presets in Kickdrum and imo it's not a big priority anymore because of the analyzer.

..and also because there's a dedicated preset section coming to the webpage

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Hi Jan, is there a "key tracking" feature planned ?
An option that would allow to control the pitch of selected nodes based on incoming MIDI.
The idea is to keep the kick in tune with the bass line at all times without sacrificing transients.
And thank you so much for everything you have already done for us.

no, there is not yet, but it has quite a high priority and will come right after some things that are even more urgent atm - like propper multiband capabilities, folding devices & a dedicated pitch device...