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Synth Bass Drum

DrumssynthbassdrumModerate CPU

Cleaner, modern kick — sine body with a pitch sweep, click and noise attack.

What it does

A modern, cleaner kick — the flavour alternative to the 808-style Analog Bass Drum.

Wraps daisysp::SyntheticBassDrum. Where Analog Bass Drum models an 808's bridged-T resonator, this builds the kick from a sine whose pitch sweeps down on the hit, plus separate click and attack-noise stages — the reason it reads as cleaner and more modern. A file-scope prev_trig snapshot detects rising edges, so wiring a pad to Trig fires the drum once per press rather than every sample it is held. Freq, Decay and the FM sweep amount are set per sample so they can be modulated; Tone, Accent, Dirtiness, sweep time and Sustain are baked at init.

Parameters

  • Freq (Hz)

    freq
    Default 50Range 20 … 400

    Root pitch of the drum in Hz — where the body settles once the initial sweep is over. 50 Hz is a deep modern kick; 80–100 Hz survives small speakers better.

  • Decay

    decay
    Default 0.5Range 0 … 1

    How long the body takes to fade, 0–1. Short values give a tight click-kick; past about 0.8 the tail runs into the next beat at most tempos.

  • Tone

    tone
    Default 0.5Range 0 … 1

    Overall brightness, 0–1. Low is a dull thud with little beyond the fundamental; high brings up the click and the upper harmonics.

  • Accent

    accent
    Default 0.5Range 0 … 1

    How hard the hit is, 0–1. Affects level and the intensity of the attack stages together, the way velocity does on a drum machine.

  • Dirtiness

    dirtiness
    Default 0Range 0 … 1

    Adds grit and distortion to the body, 0–1. This is the control Analog Bass Drum has no equivalent for — at 0 the voice is clean, and raising it is what makes it sound driven rather than merely loud.

  • FM Sweep

    fmAmount
    Default 0.5Range 0 … 1

    How far the pitch drops during the attack, 0–1. This sweep is most of what makes a kick read as a kick — at 0 you get a plain low sine with a click, and raising it adds the characteristic downward "thump".

  • FM Sweep Time

    fmDecay
    Default 0.5Range 0 … 1

    How long the pitch sweep takes to settle, 0–1. Short is a percussive snap; long turns the kick into a falling tom.

  • Infinite Sustain

    sustain
    Default false

    Makes the drum ring forever instead of decaying, turning it into a continuous tone source. Trig then only re-articulates it. Baked at build time.

Wire a pad or gate to Trig — each rising edge fires once, so a held pad does not retrigger every sample. Freq, Decay and FM Sweep accept Mod sources; everything else is baked at boot.

Ports

In

  • Trig trigger
  • Freq frequency
  • Decay decay
  • FM Sweep fm_amount

Out

  • Audio Out output

Audio Control

Inputs

Trig
Rising edge above 0.5 fires the drum. A held gate fires once.
Freq
Root pitch in Hz. Unwired, the Inspector value is used.
Decay
Body length, 0–1.
FM Sweep
Depth of the attack pitch drop, 0–1 — the control that most defines this voice.

Outputs

Audio Out
The drum voice. Silent until triggered unless Infinite Sustain is on.

Rules and gotchas

  • Trig is edge-detected, not level-sensed. Wiring a constant high does nothing after the first sample — use Infinite Sustain if you want a continuous tone.
  • ⚠ Pick this OR Analog Bass Drum by ear, not by name. They are different voices, not a quality ladder: Analog is the 808 thump, this one is cleaner and takes the pitch sweep further. Both cost about the same.
  • Dirtiness and the sweep time are baked at build time — chain the FM Sweep port if you need movement, or place two differently-tuned drums and crossfade.
  • With Freq wired from a control, this stops being a drum and becomes a plucky bass voice; the FM sweep is what makes each note articulate.