KickLab XXL Manual
Virtual kickdrum designer
Method of Operation
Kicklab XXL has two sound generators, the Virtual Kick section and the Sampler Kick
section. With Kicklab XXL you combine the best sonic elements of both sound
generating techniques to complement each other. The Sampler Kick section helps to
provide the unique transient and attack information that is often unable to be
reproduced by a synthesized Kick sound. The Virtual Kick section provides a far wider
range of unique control over its sound with all of its knobs to help customise the
sound much more than is otherwise possible with just a Kick sample.
There are several ways of building up a Kickdrum in KickLab XXL and here are some
suggestions that will give you a headstart in making the best use of Kickab XXL.
1:/ The Virtual Kick supplying the "Meat" and "Sub" of the kick sound and the Sample
section supplying the "attack" of the kick, with the bottom end filtered out using the
high pass filter, this is a concept suggested and recommended by Darren Glen, you
will find this technique in the presets kindly provided by Darren Glen.
2:/ Having the Virtual Kick supply the full kick and the sample supplying a "hat"
sample or some other attack transient, with a short decay.
3:/ The Sample section plays a reversed kick sample to give the Virtual Kick supplying
the full kick a different tail, even a ducking kind of effect when used with decay and
trigger delay. With the trigger delay you can adjust the tail ducking effect perfectly to
the groove of your project.
4:/ Another approach is that you could have the Sample kick supplying all the main of
the kick and the virtual kick supplying more midrange "thump".
5:/ The sampler section can be set to “follow keys” and therefore you could decide to
trim the attack off a Kick sound leaving only its sub tail and “play” the kick tail like a
musical instrument, possibly with the kick tail becoming a bass sound in your track...
6:/ A variation on suggestion 5 to "follow keys" is to have a very short trim setting on
the Sampler, with Sampler Looping on, providing synth wave type sounds that can be
used to generate an overtone to compliment the virtual section. The Trim Start and
End can be used to tune the waveform. The closer the trims are set, the higher the
pitch. With this technique Kicklab XXL can also be used as a bass instrument, the vir-
tual section could provide the “Finger stroke” of the bass string.
...and any combination of the above or in-between. The possibilities are endless.
