Chow Kick

Name: Chow Kick
Author: Chowdhury DSP

by Chowdhury DSP · Drum Instrument · Kick drum synthesizer

Not rated yet

Chow Kick is a kick drum synthesizer based on creative physical modelling of old drum machine circuits.

It pairs a shapeable pulse with a resonant filter that can follow MIDI notes, plus a noise component, and it is free.

Best for: Drums, Sound Design. Genres: Hip-Hop & Trap, Electronic & EDM, Lo-Fi.

Keywords: drum machine, free, sound design, physical modelling, creative, open source, clean, inspired by, lo-fi, simple, steep learning curve, textures, thin.

What it does

Chow Kick is a free kick drum synthesizer from Chowdhury DSP. Instead of samples, it uses "creative physical modelling of old drum machine circuits", taking ideas from research into the TR-808 kick and opening them up for sound design.

Pulse shaper: the left side of the panel sets the size and shape of the trigger pulse that excites the circuit, which shapes the attack and body of the kick.
Resonant filter: the right side holds the resonant filter that rings out into the kick's tone, tuned to a fixed frequency or to the incoming MIDI note so the kick follows the key of the song.
Nonlinear modes: the filter has three modes, Linear, Basic and Bouncy, which change how the circuit behaves as it rings and give anything from a clean sine-like boom to a more unstable, springy tail.
Noise: a noise component adds click and texture on top of the tone.
Tuning: MIDI note tracking plus support for alternative tuning systems.
Voices and help: polyphonic playback with an adjustable voice count, and tooltips that explain each parameter.

The current version is 1.2.0. It is free and open source (BSD 3-clause, with the code on GitHub). A PDF user manual is available from the developer.

Source: Chowdhury DSP product page

When to use it

Chow Kick is the pick when you want a free, synthesized kick that you tune from MIDI and shape by ear, with a circuit-model character rather than a stack of samples. Compared with paid kick designers like Sonic Academy Kick 3 or Sasquatch Kick Machine 2, it has no sample layering and no drawn pitch or amp envelopes, so it is less precise but quicker to get a living, analog-style sound. Unlike XO or Battery 4, it is not a drum sampler or kit: it makes one kick voice and does it from scratch. Its controls interact, so it rewards experimenting more than dialling in an exact target.

Best for: tuned synthetic kicks, booming 808-style lows that follow the song's key, and odd, bouncy kick tones for sound design.
Genres: hip-hop, trap, techno, electronic and lo-fi.
Look elsewhere if: you want sample layering and drawn envelopes (Kick 3), a large preset library, or a full drum kit (XO, Battery 4).
Tip: a KVR reviewer suggests rendering the kick to audio and finishing it with effects on the track.

What producers say

Reviewers like its sound and simple layout; the main complaints are the learning curve and a thin preset library.

KVR users rate it 4.67 out of 5 from 3 reviews. One praised the "less is more" GUI and the kick quality; another said that if you just play with the controls you get "a very usable range of synthetic kicks".
Bedroom Producers Blog called it "a fantastic kick drum synth plugin", praising the well-organised layout and the depth of sound design.
Criticisms: few presets, an initial learning curve, tuning set by frequency rather than a 12-note scale, and parameters that depend on each other, which makes precise transient design harder.

Where to buy

Chowdhury DSP: Free

Tutorials and reviews

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