Move it over time
In-Depth
The parts you'll grow into: the modulation system that animates a patch, the mod matrix that wires it up in real units, how presets and banks are organised, what runs before you activate, and how updates reach you.
The Modulation System
Separate from the patch cables, KICKGRID has a full modulation system docked at the bottom of the window: six Macro knobs, an X-Y pad, two Envelopes, two LFOs, and a 16-slot Mod Matrix that routes any of them to almost any parameter on any module. Hide Panel in the top bar tucks it away when you need canvas room.
Macros
Macro 1 to Macro 6 are plain manual knobs with no behaviour of their own - you turn them and the Mod Matrix decides what they move. Use one knob to sweep several parameters at once, or to expose a single control to your host's automation.
Click a macro's name label (just above the knob) to rename it - "Macro 1" becomes "Crunch", "Air", "Length", whatever the knob actually does in this patch. The name follows it into the Mod Matrix source list.
X-Y Pad
A square 2D control that gives you two hand-moved sources at once - Pad X (horizontal) and Pad Y (vertical). Drag the puck anywhere in the square. It is bipolar: the centre is 0% (no modulation), edges are -100% / +100%, so moving the puck back to the middle returns every routed parameter to its base value. The puck stays where you leave it.
Each axis has a row below the pad. Click the name to rename it (Pad X -> "Grit", Pad Y -> "Air"); the name follows into the Mod Matrix. Drag the value readout to scrub that one axis on its own (Shift for fine), or double-click it to type an exact percentage - handy when you want just X or just Y without touching the other. Both axes are automatable parameters, so a host can sweep the pad too.
Envelopes
ENV1 and ENV2 are full envelope generators - Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain, Release - with a per-envelope trigger source:
The envelope fires when the plugin's input level crosses a Threshold you set. No MIDI needed.
Fires on MIDI note-on, releases on note-off. See Sending a MIDI Note.
LFOs
LFO1 and LFO2 run free at a Rate in Hz, or tempo-synced to the host via a Sync toggle and a note-division dropdown. Each has a Draw mode for a fully custom cycle shape instead of a fixed waveform, and a trigger mode:
Runs continuously, ignores MIDI.
Resets to the start of its cycle on every new MIDI note.
Plays a single cycle from the note, then holds.
The Mod Matrix
Sixteen routing slots. Rows reveal one at a time as you fill them in, so the matrix never shows more than you're using - all sixteen still exist underneath for your host to automate.
Columns, left to right: Source, Module, Destination, Polarity, Amount, Start / End, Mix.
The modulator: Macro 1-Macro 6, Pad X, Pad Y, ENV1, ENV2, LFO1, LFO2, or None - listed in that reading order. A renamed macro or pad axis shows its new name here.
Which card on the canvas to modulate. Until you pick one, the parameter list stays empty.
Filtered to the parameters that module actually has - a Filter offers Cutoff / Reso / Drive / ..., an EQ offers each band's Freq / Gain / Q, and so on.
B (bipolar): a bipolar source - an LFO or the X-Y pad - swings the parameter up and down around its base value. U (unipolar): fold that swing to "only up" (pair with a negative Amount for "only down"). No effect on Macros / Envelopes, which are one-directional anyway. An LFO is just an LFO now - the routing decides how its swing is read.
A horizontal bipolar bar - depth of the modulation, -100% to +100%, filled from a centre 0% tick (negative inverts). It is headroom-relative: at +100% with the source at full, the parameter reaches exactly its rail from wherever the knob currently sits - not sooner. 50% reaches halfway there. So a 4 kHz cutoff at Amount 50% lands mid-way to 20 kHz, not pinned at the top. Drag the bar to set it.
A readout of where the parameter actually sits at the two modulation extremes, in real units - e.g. 43 Hz -> 87 Hz. Click it to type exact start / end values instead of setting Amount by feel; KICKGRID works the Amount back out for you.
A 0-100% dry/wet for this whole row's modulation. Dial in the depth and polarity with the Amount bar, then use Mix to fade the modulation in or out - a single knob to macro- or host-automate. 100% = full.
Presets & Banks
The top bar's preset controls: the preset menu to browse and load, < / > to step through the current list, and Save As to store the current patch under a name (and a bank).
A dropdown that filters the preset list to one bank - the factory content, plus any add-on preset banks you install. Pick a bank to narrow the list; the menu then only steps through that bank.
A virtual bank showing just the presets you've starred, across every bank.
Stars / unstars the preset that's loaded right now.
License & Demo Mode
Without an activated license, KICKGRID runs in a reduced mode rather than a timed trial. Three module kinds stay usable - Filter (Lowpass / Highpass / Bandpass only), Distortion (its core curves), and Gain. Every other module is hidden from the palette, and any instance already placed in a loaded project falls silent (the same pass-through a manual Bypass uses) until you activate.
Activating shows Licensed to <name> in the top bar. You can open the activation screen at any time by clicking that button, whether or not you activated on first launch. A license activates one machine at a time and covers every DAW and every plug-in instance on that machine.
Updates & Help
On start-up KICKGRID checks for a newer release. If one exists:
Appears in the top bar and stays until you're on the current version.
Shown once, with three choices - Visit website (opens the downloads page), Skip for now (keeps the button, asks again next launch), Skip this version (don't mention this one again).
The ? button in the top bar opens a small panel with the KICKGRID logo, the exact version number, a link to this manual, and who the copy is licensed to - handy when reporting an issue.
FAQ
01I don't hear any sound. What's wrong?
Almost always a cable still at its default 0% level, or a missing cable so the signal never reaches Output. Every cable starts silent by design. Check each cable's level dot (on the destination card's left edge) is dragged up and that the chain ends at Output. Output itself shows no input or Increase input when that's the problem. Full walkthrough in Quick Start.
02How do I get the kick out as an audio file?
Send KICKGRID a MIDI note - the note's length is the recording's length - then drag the clip from the Scope strip into your DAW or another KICKGRID. See Sending a MIDI Note.
03How do I reset a knob, or type an exact value?
Double-click a knob to reset it to its default. Triple-click to open a type-in dialog for an exact value. The dialog is pre-filled with the current value; nothing changes unless you edit it.
04How many machines can one license activate?
One machine at a time. A duo act, or a separate studio and live rig, needs a license per machine. Activation is per machine, not per DAW.
05What can I do without activating?
Filter (Lowpass / Highpass / Bandpass), Distortion and Gain stay usable so you can explore the workflow. See License & Demo Mode.
06Help! My sound doesn't stay the same every time when modulating.
Something feeding your modulation isn't reset per hit, so it's carrying state over from the previous note instead of starting fresh each time. The usual suspects, all fixed the same way - point them at the note instead of letting them run free:
In Free mode an LFO just keeps cycling in the background, so it's at a different phase for every hit that lands. Switch its trigger to Retrig (or 1-Shot) so it restarts at the same point on every MIDI note.
In Audio Peak mode ENV1/ENV2 fire off the input level, which can vary hit to hit (bleed, velocity, timing). Switch to Note Trigger so it fires on the MIDI note itself, every time, identically.
In Free mode it keeps coasting on whatever level its envelope followers were left at by the previous hit - audible as a weaker or mistimed punch on fast-repeating hits. Switch its bottom-strip pill to Note so it resets on every MIDI note-on. See Dynamics.
If none of those apply and the sound still drifts, check whether a Macro or the X-Y pad is left somewhere other than its resting position between hits - those don't reset on their own; you have to move them back (or automate them) yourself.