Kick Tune Pro user manualPRO · USER MANUAL

Get started

Insert on the kick track, then send the bass to the external sidechain.

1. Activate.

   Open the header key and enter your email and serial.

2. Route the bass in your DAW.

   Select it as the plugin’s external sidechain. If the DAW has a sidechain Mix control, normally set it to 100% external. The bass is analysed, never mixed into the output.

3. Play both tracks.

   Check the sidechain status and KICK, TUNED and BASS frequency readouts.

4. Set the tuning.

   Start with Follow, 0 st and 100% Pitch Amount. Drag the white seam to choose where tuning begins. Add an interval or Freeze the target if needed.

5. Shape and compare.

   Use Sub Retain for lost low-end weight. Pro also offers EQ, saturation and envelope shaping. Compare with ACTIVE/BYPASSED and GAIN MATCH; leave GUARD on.

Read the interface

The lower waveforms show the source hit, with controls overlaid. Click manual images to enlarge them. Resize the plugin from its lower-right corner; click the company logo for About.

TAME TUNE: the reference blend

The header KICK↔BASS control chooses the tuning reference. 100% BASS follows the sidechain; 0% KICK uses the kick itself. Intermediate settings can suggest different targets. This changes the reference, not correction strength or audible bass level. Double-click restores 100% BASS.

Pitch

Choose when tuning starts, how far it moves and which pitch it follows.

Coverage and Amount

Drag the white seam right to protect more of the onset, or left to tune more of the hit. Right-click the waveform to enter a coverage percentage. 0% protects the whole hit from pitch processing; 100% gives maximum coverage while retaining the built-in onset protection.

Pitch AMOUNT controls correction strength: 0% keeps original pitch; 100% requests the target plus your offset in Follow. Drag or type a value; double-click restores 100%. Other enabled shaping can remain audible at zero Amount or coverage.

Follow, Freeze and offset

The triangle means Follow: each kick follows a usable bass reference. Click it to capture the currently corrected pitch. The pause icon means Freeze: subsequent kicks keep that target even as the bass changes. Click again to resume Follow.

Freeze needs a valid target, some tuned coverage and active processing. It remembers the applied pitch and current Amount; keeping Amount unchanged holds that destination. Changing Amount adjusts correction strength relative to the capture.

The wheel offsets the target by −12 to +12 semitones. Drag vertically or use −/+; +7 st is a fifth up. Both modes remain adjustable. In Freeze, moving from the captured +3 st to +5 st raises the captured target by two semitones.

Double-click the centre or inner ring to reset only the offset. Pitch edits apply to subsequent hits; they do not retune a tail already sounding.

Read the wheel

Pointer and number: your chosen semitone offset.

Inner blue marks: recently heard bass pitches. The pointer turns blue near a match. Hints are temporary and do not snap the pitch.

Moving outer dot: the applied target; purple in Follow, amber in Freeze. It shows target pitch, independently of your offset pointer.

Adaptive EQ

Shape the tone with filters that follow the kick’s tuned pitch.

Hover empty graph space to reveal a +, then click to add a filter. Up to eight filters are available. Choose Bell, Low Shelf, High Shelf, High-pass or Low-pass from the selected node’s card or right-click menu.

• Drag horizontally for frequency and vertically for gain, or resonance on pass filters.
• Scroll over a selected node to adjust Q. Use its floating card for precise values; double-click a value to type.
• Double-click a node to remove it; Undo restores it.
• Click EQ for module bypass and GAIN MATCH for a level-matched comparison.

Bell and shelf gain spans −48 to +48 dB. Pass filters offer 12 or 24 dB/octave slopes. Frequency spans 18 Hz–16 kHz, subject to sample rate; Q spans 0.38–2.5.

The filters follow the tuned pitch and keep their last position when no new target is available. You can still edit them during playback or over a HELD analyzer. Hover a node to bring back its detail card.

Saturation

Add harmonics to the whole kick or only its tuned portion.

Drag Drive or Mix vertically. Their readouts show whole percentages; fine adjustments are retained. Double-click Drive to reset to 0%, or Mix to reset to 100%.

Envelope

Shape attack, body and tail, adapting to each kick’s timing.

Drag points horizontally for timing and vertically for level, from mute to +12 dB. A flat 0 dB curve leaves the level unchanged.

• Hold Shift while dragging for fine adjustment.
• Option-click resets a point’s level without moving it.
• Double-click restores the point’s default position and level.
• Use ON/OFF to bypass only the envelope.

The envelope shapes the whole kick, including when pitch correction is inactive. Your gain shape adapts to each hit’s timing; edits take effect on subsequent hits, leaving the current tail unchanged.

The waveform shows the source hit; the amber line shows your gain shape. Use the main analyzer and your ears to judge the result.

Sub Retain

Compensate for low-end loss during upward pitch shifts.

Raise AMOUNT to recover more of the lost weight. At 100%, Sub Retain requests the full available recovery within its boost limit. It applies only when upward tuning causes a measurable loss; it does not force a constant bass boost.

Advanced controls

Right-click the graph. Drag a value up/right to increase it or down/left to decrease it. Double-click resets that value; click outside or press Escape to close.

The frequency badge follows the applied target. ZOOM changes the display magnification, not the boost. All Sub Retain controls belong to both planned tiers.

Gain Match, Guard and Undo

Compare levels and keep control of added peaks.

ACTIVE/BYPASSED switches the complete effect. The header GAIN MATCH makes the overall comparison; EQ and saturation have their own local matching controls.

Gain Match

A filled dot means enabled, a hollow/dim dot means disabled, and a pulsing dot means learning. Allow a few usable kicks to settle before comparing. New instances start all three matchers On.

With global matching On, the bypassed original may be attenuated to match the processed result. With it Off, internal bypass returns the original at its unprocessed level. Later processing and Guard can affect the final level after a local match.

Guard

GUARD reduces peaks added by processing. 0.0 dB means no reduction; the readout shows attenuation when needed. Click to toggle it. Right-click and choose Reset learned reduction to clear the held value.

Guard is not intended to repair an already-clipping source or replace a mastering limiter.

Undo / Redo

Use the header arrows or ⌘ + Z / ⌘ + Shift + Z. Undo covers control edits, survives closing the editor, and clears when a project state is loaded. It is not saved as project history.

Activation and saved settings

Manage your license from the header key.

About and help

The blue By Musical Creation credit opens the company website. Click the separate Musical Creation company logo to open About. It shows the Pro edition, version and license status. Open user manual opens this bundled guide offline; Visit website opens Musical Creation. Manage license opens the same panel as the header key. PRO VERSION sits below the logo; Undo and Redo sit to the right, vertically centered with the logo.

Activate or move a license

Enter your email and serial to activate. The panel shows license status and computer capacity. Use Deactivate this computer before moving an activation. Offline use is available only while your cached authorization remains valid; use Refresh when the panel offers it if verification needs retrying.

Project recall

Your project saves control settings, including the frozen pitch target. Saved values take precedence over new-instance defaults. Temporary pitch hints and Undo history are not saved; Gain Match may need to settle again after reopening.

Only Transient Preserve and Tame Tune have host automation. Preserve uses the inverse coverage value: Tune Coverage = 100 − Transient Preserve. For example, 70% Preserve means 30% coverage. Other settings save with the project but have no automation lanes.

Edition and formats

This manual covers Pro development version 0.1.0. Current Mac development builds include AU, VST3 and AAX for Apple Silicon and Intel; host qualification is ongoing. Windows x64 VST3 is planned.

The Lite/Pro comparison describes the agreed future tiers. Lite licensing and in-place unlocking are not implemented yet.

Quick reference

Defaults apply to new instances; saved projects keep their settings.

Useful shortcuts on macOS

Context menus and on-screen controls provide alternatives where a DAW intercepts keyboard shortcuts.

Troubleshooting

Check the controls below before changing your sound.