Knobula Kickain - Kick drum and sidechain first impressions

Knobula sent me a Kickain - it's changed my life. Apologies for my terrible techno.
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[@wishbonebrewery]

You can get pretty good results with an envelope hitting a Stereo VCA, something i should patch more often.

[@wherearewewherearewe]

Maths does it pretty well too. (Albeit mono). Using one side to envelope a kick and the other to do a hi hat or snare and playing with positive and negative voltage and the different outputs, you can get some pretty interesting side chain ish results 🤌🏼

[@AnalogDude_]

the cheapest Doepfer VCA rated at 60€ is stereo, the model above rated at 80€ is also a dual VCA, stereo. accept you need a stackable patch cable. The Frequency Central XVCA (linear/exponential) based on the Roland 100M is also stereo and many more.

[@EleniEliades_]

Sounds incredible Robin ! Especially with that Soundscape you created here. There are so many levels of sound upon different sound... This is an amazing patch ~🎶👏🏽💥🎛🔥🥁✨🚀❗

[@mindrobber1962]

i put all my synth tracks through a 2hp comp. That little module has side chain. Plus a full on distortion!

[@localhost4460]

Kickain is such a freaking good name for a module.

[@Nachtdwaler]

You could make a sidechain using a VCA, mult or env. follower and a attenuverter!

[@philtobin9510]

To a degree, more of a duck with no compression. You need to invert the Env.

[@RubiconRecordings]

At the moment I use the God'sBox Lollipop compressor with sidechain which is amazing.

[@SOUNDMIT]

Very interesting concept and... you rock on techno stuff!

[@sammadden5540]

That's the most 'produced' I've heard one of your jams Robin, getting ever closer to making regular music on the modular 😅

[@declanallan885]

FYI, really enjoyed the ongoing product demo jam, really nice music brother. "came for the Euro module review, stayed for the music"

[@Paintopia_VR]

To my understanding (and this is how i do it) generally you sidechain only your bass synth to your kick drum and use EQ to move everything else out of the bottom end. So you only need to move the bass synth out the way to hear the kick. But this is a cool method also. Thanks for the video! Peace

[@MoltenMusicTech]

Often, sometimes and yes, it depends on what's filling the space i guess - but you hear it all the time on pads and stuff.

[@Nachtdwaler]

Really dependant on the sound you are trying to achieve. I've heard tracks where the kick is sidechained to the entire mix, reverb and everything haha.

[@Paintopia_VR]

@@MoltenMusicTech Very true it is one of many options. And nice to see the feature in the voice!

[@RubiconRecordings]

@@MoltenMusicTech Pads is cool, I have been doing this technique for the past 30 years on my releases, and it never ceases to amaze me how much it can change the vibe of your track or performance depending on what intrument you apply it too.

[@zachstarr2543]

I’ve been using WMD MSCL on my master with a kick input to its side chain and then Polycinematic going through a Worng Vertex for more rhythmic pumping with a tides modulating it’s volume CV, I want a kickain but use sampled drums 😢

[@TheMachinesWon]

Also, you can get a 2hp sidechain compressor to use with your erica synths kick drum for the same desired effect with more flexibility.

[@MoltenMusicTech]

Other sidechain compressors are available :D

[@rainerzufall6512]

Its mono though.

[@BeniRoseMusic]

You would need a second mixer at the end of the chain to mix the kick drum with the sidechained "everything else" tho, right? I think part of the beauty in this module is that it also mixes your kick in with the sidechained material.

[@MoltenMusicTech]

Absolutely - this is far simpler

[@RubiconRecordings]

WOW....this is perfect for my eurorack set

[@bdc-muzik]

Great unit but I wish there was an additional out so I can just send a copy of the kick signal to a delay/distortion/filter for some additional rumble, or have it within the unit like they did with the reverb all while the stereo out sum the dry(side chained) kick with the main audio. There are work arounds to this but would be an add that would make it an absolute must have.

[@MoltenMusicTech]

It would also be good to be able to route an alternative kick through the module

[@AnalogDude_]

i got one for You. Akai (professional) MPC X, the best C.V. / GATE nerve center there is, 8 C.V. outs and midi via a touchscreen keyboard control ... or Akai MPC LIVE mkII. You should do a evaluation on that. Side chain is basically a second internal "audio" path along side the main path with a (full) wave rectifier (Mutable Instruments Kinks, has one) and use this rectified signal via mixer/attenuater on a VCA. so the VCA is basically sound controlled and follows the contour of the input wave.

[@ThMntnst]

Maybe the Kickain is more of a solution for compact performance racks. In a Kickdrum-module I'd search for intense shaping-options for the sound instead of additional functions for mixing as a substitute for that. The options seem to be absolutely ok, concerning you could synthesize a kick with a combination of modules in another "sound-design-philosophy"which would be quite less immediate and costs more space. Your statement on the sidechaining-aspect of it feels almost mistaken for "I have no idea of sidechain in general" - which for sure cannot be true :) I myself would - and will - go with a messor or another stereocompressor to have more flexibility in patching (and for what seems to be way wider options on dialing in the sidechain-ducking, maybe I am wrong about that). Seeing your system growing: Are you aiming for keeping a transportable live-performance-case or are you getting more open to the "shelf-approach" of using more modules and therefore more space to go deeper into individual design of sounds? Or both?

[@MoltenMusicTech]

I have lots of open shelves with lots of modules :D I think i aim for a level of simplicity that provides more room for creativity and the making of the music. I would much rather be playing with basslines and experimenting with changes and transitions rather than engineering the sound of a kick drum. But it all depends on the individual and what pulls you into your modular. In this particular rig i am looking at pulling it together for live performance within the conext of this pair of Rackbrutes. As many people have pointed out there are more versatile solutions but this one just drops in and solves a couple of problems that i won't have to worry about anymore.

[@ThMntnst]

@@MoltenMusicTech …so you‘re secretly hiding walls of Synth in a backroom? ;) I don‘t want to engineer a kickdrum either but went that route simply because of limited budget „per purchase“. So I looked at what I had and which thing I could aquire to exponentially boost the potential of what was already there. For me, my modular is there to compensate for techniques which cannot be done in fully integrated hardware. - might acquire a cv/gate-to-midi-module to include my Nord Drum 3 so I have immediate drums and can shell out even more money disregarding drums. To come back to a question with added information about your aim to build that cases: So the Messor is out of the race because of space and additional patching?

[@MoltenMusicTech]

Messor- yes and no depending on what I’m trying to achieve and where. Nothings off the table.

[@monotribe6506]

Merv Pepler would love this module.

[@acidbat4441]

MAN this track is sounding really nice tho

[@declanallan885]

side chaining is kind of necessary when it comes to dance music, don't go too overboard with it though or otherwise you are heading straight into the territory of French house, that being said, if French house is your jam, grab an alesis 3630, throw it on the master bus and have it suck most of the life out of your mix, with the trade off of you instantly sounding like daft punk and getting that awesome French house super pumpy vibe!

[@AppleKid]

I wish it was 100 bucks. But dude this video is hype, you should do a follow up and just jam for a while.

[@MoltenMusicTech]

It will be a permanent feature in my rack

[@kyudechama]

hey, what modules are creating the 303-type bassline? sounds really nice! and where does the sequence come from?

[@MoltenMusicTech]

Ona VCO into Jove filter, sequence coming from Wavefonix 8-step Sequencer via a uScale quantizer.

[@kyudechama]

@@MoltenMusicTech Cheers, thanks a lot!

[@nigelvegas2319]

Might be late to the party here with this but rather than use the divkid mutes to switch the trigger on/off, if you set the 4th dip switch on the back of the kickain to on, you can then mute/unmute the kick trigger via the trigger button.

[@MoltenMusicTech]

Ah, cool, didn't know that. I'm using Mutes for all my percussion channels so it's a good solution but i will look into the other thing.

[@rednekcomp9879]

@@MoltenMusicTech I Think knobula has updated kickain´s soft

[@brokenscart7989]

This is timely, I’ve been worrying about how my kick gets lost in the mix entirely. The Disting has a side chain function that I need to check out..

[@ValdeckRocher]

Ok ok . It's a sidechain.... Thank you.

[@AndrewPRoberts]

Basically an insta-buy for me

[@candyflip6345]

Killer Techno!

[@wishbonebrewery]

Nice groove btw :)

[@thejuice1254]

If you wanted to utilise the side chain of this but sculpt your kick else where, could you route the audio that you want to side chain into this and then bring its internal kick level down to zero? Thanks

[@MoltenMusicTech]

Yes

[@thejuice1254]

@@MoltenMusicTech Thats just what I wanted to hear. Thanks!

[@TheMachinesWon]

If this could switch 707/808/909 it would be an insta buy. Still cool though.

[@JerryGartnerPersonal]

Came for the gear. Stayed for the acid.

[@FakthorX]

Excellent thank you for the video! How do you like tiptop 909/808 kicks?

[@MoltenMusicTech]

Never tried them

[@mortarmopp3919]

Who's Nora?

[@MoltenMusicTech]

someone who is annoyed at being flipped

[@BeniRoseMusic]

Honestly, I was pretty blown away by the opening track, it was fantastic! Are you using the VEGA for those hats? How did you get a nice variety on them, I didn't think that module had any CV input.

[@MoltenMusicTech]

Yes I am and i've done nothing other than plug the Vega in so far - i keep fiddling with the knobs and i'm never sure what i'm doing but there's a lot of stuff in there. And Thanks!

[@BeniRoseMusic]

@@MoltenMusicTech Wild! Was I making up the modulation or does it kind of do that on its own?

[@MoltenMusicTech]

It does things

[@summarity]

@@BeniRoseMusic The hats have a unique randomness that is provided by the "freak" parameter, based on a key unique to each physical module.

[@BeniRoseMusic]

@@summarity Cheers! I think I remember diving into the manual after seeing this and finding similar info. I should give that module another look!

[@stephenspackman5573]

A thudding mammoth. Yeah. I wonder if my _neighbours_ want me to want one of these…?

[@stephenspackman5573]

Hm. Would BIA→Axys do this-ish? What if, say, Zadar controlled the amplitude, and not a simple envelope follower? I need a free afternoon.

[@stephenspackman5573]

Which is all to say, thanks so much for this one, Robin.

[@effiksmusic]

This is a out of case experience.

[@latenightfortunecookie]

whats that love system module on the left?

[@MoltenMusicTech]

Do you mean the Jove? Orange lettering? It's a filter from System 80.

[@latenightfortunecookie]

@@MoltenMusicTech thanks!

[@jasoneskridge6453]

you seem to have a fair amount of Befaco stuff, ever tried the Kickall?

[@MoltenMusicTech]

No, I haven't