KICKGRID User Manual
Patch anything into anything.
KICKGRID is a modular effects processor built for making kicks for Hardstyle, Hardcore, Uptempo and other hard dance genres. Drop the plug-in on an audio source (a sample or a VST instrument), place modules on a canvas, cable them together to shape the sound, then automate everything with envelopes, LFOs, macros and a full mod matrix.
You can go from a clean 909 to a finished kick in minutes, or completely destroy one in a few clicks. This page gets you to your first sound; the other three pages cover the full module reference, sending MIDI notes for capture, and the modulation system in depth.
Getting started
Your First Sound
Every patch has the same shape: Audio In > one or more modules > Output. Here's the fastest route to hearing something.
On Mac, make sure to pick the right version
The Mac download holds two Audio Units.
KICKGRID takes MIDI, so Logic lists it under AU MIDI-controlled Effects in the instrument slot. Route your audio in with a sidechain.
KICKGRID FX has no MIDI input, so Logic puts it in a normal Audio FX slot. Anything a note drives goes quiet there: capture and drag-to-DAW, Sample's MIDI Trigger, Note Trigger, AutoFilter's Note mode and the Sub Generator.
Install both if you like: one activation, one preset library.
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Drop a module on the canvas
Pick a module from the palette on the left (grouped by category: Filters, EQ, Distortion, Dynamics, Spatial, Modulation FX, Utilities) and click it to place a card on the canvas. A patch can hold up to 64 module cards.
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Cable Audio In into your module
Every card has a small diamond port on its right edge (output). Click-drag from the Audio in node's output port to a module and let go of the mouse button. A cable will be drawn and a circle will appear on the left edge of the module.
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Cable your module into Output
Repeat for each module in your chain. You can also run modules in parallel, but always end by cabling into the Output node. Output takes multiple inputs and sums them, just like a module does.
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Turn the connection up
Every cable you draw starts at 0% - silent by design, so a new connection never blasts in at full volume. This is the single most common reason a fresh patch seems to have "no sound": the cables just haven't been opened yet. Drag the small dot on the destination card's left edge upward to mix that cable in. When several cables feed one input, each dot is that cable's own level, so the dot doubles as a mini-mixer.
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Shape the sound
Click-drag any knob on a card to adjust it. Right-click a Type/Curve knob for a picker menu. Double-click a numeric knob to reset it to its default; triple-click it to type an exact value.
No sound? Check every cable in the chain is connected and turned up (not still at 0%). A cable's level dot sits on the left edge of the destination card - drag each one upward and your kick reappears.
Concepts
The Canvas
The canvas holds every module in your patch, plus two fixed nodes you can't delete: Audio in and Output. Everything else is a module card you placed from the palette.
Cables & connections
Drag from an output port (right edge, filled diamond) to an input port (left edge) to connect two cards. A card can take more than one incoming cable: KICKGRID sums every signal arriving at an input, so you can blend several sources into one, or fan one output out to several destinations - a Punch chain and a Tail chain, for instance.
Each cable has its own input amount, 0-100%, set by dragging its dot (on the destination card) vertically. It starts at 0% every time to prevent sudden spikes while you wire things up.
Moving & organising cards
Drag a card by its title bar to move it. Clicking anywhere on a card brings it to the front if it overlaps another. Right-click a card for Rename / Remove; Sample-based modules get extra items for loading and renaming the loaded file.
Pan the canvas by dragging an empty area; scroll to move around a large patch.
For a bigger patch, fold a whole chain into a Group card - see Groups for the full picture. Short version: it reads as one normal card from the outside, opens into its own working canvas, and a small tab strip at the top of the window (Main plus one tab per group) jumps you straight to any of them.
Zooming into a module
Modules with a lot of parameters - Clip Distortion, PhatFilter, AutoFilter, Dual Filter, the Advanced EQ, the Sample editor - open a full-size editor when you double-click the card (or click the Edit button in its bottom strip), with room for every parameter and a live curve, spectrum or waveform display. The compact card's own knobs stay live underneath while that editor is open.
Every card, the same rules
Module Card Controls
Whichever module it is, every card shares the same set of controls. Four of them are icons in the card's title bar, in this order from left to right:
Two arrows passing each other. Click it, then click another card, and the two modules trade places in the chain - your cables stay exactly where they are. The icon lights up while that card is waiting for a partner, so it's clear which click armed it; click it again to cancel. Group cards sit this one out, since their In/Out pair has its own routing rules.
A power symbol. Passes audio through untouched while keeping the module wired into the patch - different from deleting it, and automatable from your host.
A padlock. Greys the card out and blocks knob drags, EQ-band edits and type/curve changes, protecting a dialled-in setting from an accidental tweak. You can still move or delete a locked card.
A chevron, pointing down while the card is open and right once it's folded. Shrinks the card to just its title bar, hiding knobs and any visualisation - handy for tidying a big patch.
The rest aren't icons - a knob, a stepper, a button and the right mouse button:
The last knob on every card: blends the module's processed output against its dry input, 0-100%. Modules that carry their own dedicated mix (Delay, Reverb, Chorus and so on) use that one instead. It is a Mod Matrix destination like any other knob - listed as Mix (dry/wet), and available on every module kind.
A - / + stepper in the card's bottom strip that runs the module's own settings again in series, several times over, instead of hand-cabling identical modules. Available on every Filter, Distortion and EQ card, plus Dual Filter, Gain, Clip Distortion, Waveshaper, Bitcrusher and Fundamental Booster. Ctrl/Cmd+scroll over the card is a shortcut for it.
A labelled Edit button in the bottom strip, on the modules that have a full-size editor. Double-clicking the card does the same thing - see Zooming into a module.
On the card body (not on a knob), opens the card's own menu: Rename..., Duplicate and Remove. A Sample card adds Load Sample... and Rename Sample.... Remove stays available while the card is locked - Lock only guards settings.
Knob gestures
Adjusts the value continuously, relative to where you grabbed.
On a Type / Curve / Filter-type knob, opens the full alphabetised picker menu.
Resets the knob to its default value.
On a numeric knob, opens a dialog to type an exact value. The field is pre-filled with the current value, rounded for readability; nothing changes unless you actually edit it.
On some cards, adjusts a secondary control: a Filter's slope / bandpass width (or its Range on the Comb, Flanger and Phaser types) and an EQ band's Q. Hold Ctrl/Cmd for the other layer: the Stack count where a module has one, an EQ band's slope, a Reverb's mode, or tempo Sync on Delay, Volume Shaper, Phaser and Flanger.
Where it all lands
The Output Node
The Output node is the end of every patch. Cable one or more modules into its input port and it sums them into the plugin's output. It is also the master stage - the whole thing lives on this card now:
Master dry/wet between your whole processed patch and the untouched plugin input, 0-100%.
Master output level in dB. This is the knob the Mod Matrix "Master" destination drives - it shows a live modulation readout when something is patched to it.
Output ceiling in dB for the Effect stage below.
Safety stage: None, Limiter, or Soft Clip - applied last, at the Ceiling.
Stereo / Mono. Sums the output to mono to check mono compatibility - not meant to be left on for a final render.
Post-everything peak meter, one bar per channel (tagged L / R).
Every knob here follows the usual gestures - double-click to reset, triple-click to type a value. The chevron in the card header folds the whole master stage down to just the header. Output also shows a short status line when something's off:
Nothing is cabled to Output yet - the patch can't make sound. Draw a cable from your last module into Output.
Cables reach Output but every one of them is still at 0%. Drag their level dots up.
Above the canvas
The Top Bar
The strip across the top of the window handles presets and window state.
Browse and load presets. < / > step through the current list; Save As stores the current patch.
Filters the preset list to one bank (factory content and any preset banks you've added). ★ Favorites shows just the presets you've starred.
Stars / unstars the current preset.
Step back and forward through edits. The full list lives in History on the right-hand panel.
Collapses the modulation panel - which docks full-width along the bottom - to give the canvas more room.
Fills the screen's work area (leaving the OS taskbar / menu bar visible); press again to restore the previous size.
Opens a panel with the KICKGRID logo, the version number, a link to this manual, and who the copy is licensed to.
Appears only when a newer release is available - see Updates.
Shows activation status; click it to open the activation screen at any time.
Down the right edge
The Right-Hand Panel
A vertical strip on the right, top to bottom. Each section collapses to just its header - click the header (or its chevron) to fold it away. (The master stage that used to sit here now lives on the Output node.)
A reference chart. Hover a note to see its frequency in every octave; click to pin it so the readout stays after the mouse leaves. Collapsible.
A free-text scratchpad saved with the patch / preset. Collapsible.
The lower HISTORY list holds the last 20 named edits (newest on top) - each row is labelled with the module and parameter you changed; click one to jump straight back to that point. The PINNED section above it holds named state snapshots: the + button pins the current patch, left-click a pin to restore it, right-click to rename or remove. A restore is itself an undo step - it lands in the list as "Restore pin: name", so Undo (or an earlier row) takes you back to where you were. Pins are saved with the project / preset. Collapsible.