Really Great and Surprising Update
Sweet times ahead. Always liked this app and this update is pretty over the top cool. Thanks for this.
Great app for making HARD kicks, that would be absolutely perfect with a few tweaks.
This app is a pretty great kick drum app. I was put off by the reviews initially, but took the plunge as the price is so fair that it was worth the risk regardless but I was pleasantly surprised.
I’d been searching for a good kick drum generator or a bass drum synth app for a while now, and there’s only really this app and ChowKicks that seem to come close to matching the sound I want to make (which is probably closer to Acid or Techno or something like that). While ChowKicks is pretty good as well, and probably a bit easier to use than this due to the ability to manually type a value into a button, something which is missing from this app and very necessary on a smaller iPhone screen, the kicks just don’t go as hard as they can with this app.
It’s probably easier to make a standard kick sound in ChowKicks, but to make a hard bouncy kick is more difficult, and there’s only a limited range where it actually sounds good before veering off into cartoon style ridiculousness. This app allows for more of a range of different sounding kicks that are still able to actually hit hard, and some of the kicks I’ve made with this app can seriously go HARD, and there’s just more controls than there is with other apps I’ve tried, so you have more options for shaping the sound (and it can also make a variety of other percussive or drum sounds too, much like a real life synth could).
There’s some features that I think are missing that would make this app near perfect though. Mainly, like I said before, being able to manually type the various values of the different buttons instead of relying on turning the tiny little buttons, which most apps seem to allow now by double clicking on the value to edit it. I found a way around this for now though, by loading the app via Drambo and using the ‘midi map’ function to create some new buttons controllable from within Drambo tied to the functions in the app. These buttons are easier to manipulate and you can be more specific with them and then you can save these settings in the preset function of the app to load later.
The variety of settings that allow for more variety and control, also seem to make it harder to wrangle this app too, and it’s easy to go off track fairly quickly, even if your kick sounded great a second ago. Regular saving within the app or from within AUM which allows for external saving, helps to create more starting points in case you go off track, but I would appreciate it if you could also do something like snap the knobs back to a preset position or saved value, by double clicking them or something similar like other apps, or maybe even an undo feature which would help avoid going off track too much.
Finally one feature that I would REALLY love to see added is macOS compatibility, as to be able to use this from within a DAW like Reaper or something similar, which ChowKicks allows (sorry to keep comparing this to ChowKicks, but it’s the only app I know that comes close lol), would be so amazing and hopefully it’s not too much work to port or enable the cross compatibility as I’d so love to see that happen in the future. Overall this app is pretty great if you want hard solid sounding kicks and other percussion sounds, and it is certainly worth the extremely cheap price. An app that makes hard bouncy pumping kicks has actually been pretty hard to find, and the majority of other apps I’ve used so far (which is a fair few over a good few years now) only seem to be able to make a standard weak sounding kick. This is why this is such a good addition to add to your workflow especially if you use AUM or Drambo etc, or even GarageBand, and with a few tweaks it will be perfect, so definitely worth getting. Thanks!
I’d been searching for a good kick drum generator or a bass drum synth app for a while now, and there’s only really this app and ChowKicks that seem to come close to matching the sound I want to make (which is probably closer to Acid or Techno or something like that). While ChowKicks is pretty good as well, and probably a bit easier to use than this due to the ability to manually type a value into a button, something which is missing from this app and very necessary on a smaller iPhone screen, the kicks just don’t go as hard as they can with this app.
It’s probably easier to make a standard kick sound in ChowKicks, but to make a hard bouncy kick is more difficult, and there’s only a limited range where it actually sounds good before veering off into cartoon style ridiculousness. This app allows for more of a range of different sounding kicks that are still able to actually hit hard, and some of the kicks I’ve made with this app can seriously go HARD, and there’s just more controls than there is with other apps I’ve tried, so you have more options for shaping the sound (and it can also make a variety of other percussive or drum sounds too, much like a real life synth could).
There’s some features that I think are missing that would make this app near perfect though. Mainly, like I said before, being able to manually type the various values of the different buttons instead of relying on turning the tiny little buttons, which most apps seem to allow now by double clicking on the value to edit it. I found a way around this for now though, by loading the app via Drambo and using the ‘midi map’ function to create some new buttons controllable from within Drambo tied to the functions in the app. These buttons are easier to manipulate and you can be more specific with them and then you can save these settings in the preset function of the app to load later.
The variety of settings that allow for more variety and control, also seem to make it harder to wrangle this app too, and it’s easy to go off track fairly quickly, even if your kick sounded great a second ago. Regular saving within the app or from within AUM which allows for external saving, helps to create more starting points in case you go off track, but I would appreciate it if you could also do something like snap the knobs back to a preset position or saved value, by double clicking them or something similar like other apps, or maybe even an undo feature which would help avoid going off track too much.
Finally one feature that I would REALLY love to see added is macOS compatibility, as to be able to use this from within a DAW like Reaper or something similar, which ChowKicks allows (sorry to keep comparing this to ChowKicks, but it’s the only app I know that comes close lol), would be so amazing and hopefully it’s not too much work to port or enable the cross compatibility as I’d so love to see that happen in the future. Overall this app is pretty great if you want hard solid sounding kicks and other percussion sounds, and it is certainly worth the extremely cheap price. An app that makes hard bouncy pumping kicks has actually been pretty hard to find, and the majority of other apps I’ve used so far (which is a fair few over a good few years now) only seem to be able to make a standard weak sounding kick. This is why this is such a good addition to add to your workflow especially if you use AUM or Drambo etc, or even GarageBand, and with a few tweaks it will be perfect, so definitely worth getting. Thanks!
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Easy Goto
Great sounding kick with the right controls to get what you need quick and easy. If you need one of those “classic” kicks, this works every time .
Add simple sequencer
Please
Response from developer
I'd recommend using this as a AUv3 plugin in a 3rd party sequencers. Though I see having a sequencer in the standalone app would be useful. Please email me to discuss it info@designbypaul.co.uk
Great drum app!!
Very intuitive app with all the functions needed to shape great drum sounds and all sorts of kicks. I have Ruisemaker, Noir, Drumcomputer and a few others, i like them all but find myself using this app just as much. Very light weight on cpu and easy to use. It can get pretty tough and dirty too. Great surprise. Highly recommended.
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Pointless really.
Brilliant tool to make hardcore kicks but not if you want to use those kicks in a tune.
User presets don’t save, closing a project then reopening it causes the synth to reset all parameters.
Once you make a kick, there is literally nothing you can do with it. Even if you try to close the project then export your kick as a sample, the parameters on the synth reset so there is no way to use the sounds you make.
Looking for a full refund. Such a shame because you can make really good kicks on this.
User presets don’t save, closing a project then reopening it causes the synth to reset all parameters.
Once you make a kick, there is literally nothing you can do with it. Even if you try to close the project then export your kick as a sample, the parameters on the synth reset so there is no way to use the sounds you make.
Looking for a full refund. Such a shame because you can make really good kicks on this.
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Response from developer
This is no longer a bug. This was due to an early iOS 14.0.1 bug effecting versus AUv3 apps. Thank you for having brought this to my attention and discussing it with me through email. Any other problems just email again info@designbypaul.co.uk
garageband support please
I just bought this app but I have Garageband and its not compatible, can you guys please make this app compatible for garageband.
Good Job Good Price
Fonctionne parfaitement.
Au niveau améliorations souhaitées il faudrait pouvoir mettre à 0 start et speed dans PITCH EG.il faudrait aussi pouvoir mettre à 0
Freq et delay dans PITCH MOD.
Au niveau améliorations souhaitées il faudrait pouvoir mettre à 0 start et speed dans PITCH EG.il faudrait aussi pouvoir mettre à 0
Freq et delay dans PITCH MOD.
Essential Business
Bass Drum not a kick drum, you won’t find anything as programmable. It makes perfect sense and teaches the dynamics of what is the most essential element in electronic music production.
Not quite there
I initially thought this was good but I never really use it at all. Basically, it’s just too difficult to get anything good-sounding out of it. The Ruismaker apps beat this by a country mile, which is a shame because it does have promise.
Response from developer
Sorry to hear you are having difficulty synthesizing the sounds you want. You might like the manual https://designbypaul.co.uk/SynthDrumKickManual.pdf
Could be awesome...
Came across this app in my downloads after purchasing it a while ago. I thought I would give is a go in AUM and you can make some nice kicks from soft & bassy (a bit like an 808) to strong & harsh (a bit like the 909). It’s not heavy on cpu so you can run loads in auv3 without too much problem. There is a problem though and a fellow reviewer hit the nail right on the head...
Those knobs. Seriously are infuriating. It’s so difficult to fine tune them. What could and should take seconds takes minutes as they just aren’t responsive enough. You could be sliding your finger across the screen and nothing happens or you could lightly touch it and it spins 90 degrees.
A simple enough solution would be to double tap a knob and you get a slider/bar which would allow you to adjust it more precisely. As it is I feel bad giving it just the 3 stars as the sound can be amazing and I did have some fun messing about tweaking kick drums.
Please, please, please fix the knobs and I will definitely give it the 5 stars the sound deserves.
Those knobs. Seriously are infuriating. It’s so difficult to fine tune them. What could and should take seconds takes minutes as they just aren’t responsive enough. You could be sliding your finger across the screen and nothing happens or you could lightly touch it and it spins 90 degrees.
A simple enough solution would be to double tap a knob and you get a slider/bar which would allow you to adjust it more precisely. As it is I feel bad giving it just the 3 stars as the sound can be amazing and I did have some fun messing about tweaking kick drums.
Please, please, please fix the knobs and I will definitely give it the 5 stars the sound deserves.
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Response from developer
Knobs have been updated to a more intuitive movement since this review. I hope you can now enjoy your app as intended. :)
Iamhousemachines top 5
Awesome drum synth can we get midi learn?
Knobs
Interface... make some knobs..... really really realllllllllly badly. I’m sure this makes great sounds.... if only the knobs would turn. How hard can it be..... make a knob...... how hard?
Response from developer
Knobs had three different input modes that could be selected from the settings page. This has since been simplified. Please contact me at info@designbypaul.co.uk if you have any other problems.
Not your average kick.
I’m really impressed! By accident I stumbled on this au and I’m glad I did. It isn’t just a bog standard drum synth. It appears to have an attitude. The attitude is thick, deep, snappy and raucous. Whatever circuits are being modelled, it’s working. Thanks a lot.
