KickLab XXL Manual
Virtual kickdrum designer
Virtual section continued
The filter section consists of a mono State Variable filter with multiple modes (the
filter is mono as the Virtual Section is mono, which is desired for low and subsonic
information. The high quality filter is useful to get rid of unwanted frequencies or to
roll of subsonic frequencies, for instance, with a High Pass filter. The modes are:
Low Pass
High Pass
Band Pass
Notch or Band Reject
Peak
Bypass
The filter also has velocity sensitivity. Vary the input velocity of the Midi notes sent to
Kicklab XXL slightly between each other to change the filter position and thus make
each Kick sonically different. This is especially useful for samples to bring to life an
otherwise static Kick sample.
The Amp section consists of a click generator and a AD (Attack,
Decay) Envelope. The click generator produces a more apparent
attack on the Virtual Kick, making it more dominant in your
groove. If you do not like the sound of the click, use a low pass
filter in the virtual section to give the click more mid range
characteristics, rolling off the high frequencies. You could also
raise the resonance giving the click even more midrange, changing the “click” into
“stick”. Mid range boost gives the click naturally more decay as well. Please note that
you might also mess around with sub frequencies, so be careful.
The amplifier envelope sets the Attack and Decay of the Virtual Kick. All the envelopes
are in Sync with the oscillators, so you have a consistent, a precise defined sound
every time a MIDI trigger is received from your controller or host MIDI track. The
envelope will stop only if a note off is received with a predetermined release, just
enough to eleminate any clicks. KickLab will play the kick as long as you hold a note.
If you paint a note in your host sequencer make sure your note is as long as you want
it to sound. Note that KickLab is polyphonic, it will not cut a MIDI note or overlapping
notes when a new MIDI note is received. It will always play the note until a note off is
received. This could result in unwanted sub frequency cancellation. In FL Studio's step
sequencer notes will overlap as the step sequencer does send notes on only, not any
notes off. To tackle this problem use the piano roll instead to sequence KickLab XXL.