Sidechain / ducking plugin for Windows — VST3, VST2 and CLAP, 64-bit. Five modes: Sync, MIDI, Audio, Spectral (24-band inverse EQ) and Ring (sidechain ring modulation), with a drawable envelope, low/high split, Mid/Side, Delta monitoring, Quick Shift and audio → envelope capture.
Real audio, Spectral mode with the low/high split. The preview is silent:
watch the full demo with sound (75 s, MP4).
Five modes
- Sync: locks to the host tempo, no sidechain input needed.
- MIDI: triggered by notes into the plugin, with note filtering and velocity sensitivity.
- Audio: triggered by transients in the sidechain, with threshold, hold-off and a trigger filter.
- Spectral: a 24-band inverse EQ that only cuts the frequencies competing with the sidechain, at zero latency.
- Ring: sidechain ring modulation, multiplies the main signal by the sidechain waveform for a fast, audio-rate carve.
Envelope editor
- Draw and edit nodes with per-segment curvature, straight-line and freehand tools, grid snap and swing.
- Quick Shift moves the dip and recovery together in one drag.
- Capture records the incoming sidechain and turns it into an editable duck shape you can save and reuse.
- Waveform overlay behind the curve (input and sidechain), full undo and redo.
Multiband
- Split into low and high bands at an adjustable crossover, 12 or 24 dB per octave.
- Each band gets its own envelope and mix amount. Link makes them move together, or solo either one.
Monitoring and routing
- Delta monitoring: hear only what got removed.
- Mid/Side blend, from mid-only to side-only.
- Sidechain trigger filter with a listen switch, handy for isolating a kick from a full drum bus.
Presets
- 30 factory presets across six categories: Sidechain, Rhythmic, Spectral, Ring Mod, Multiband and Creative.
- Full presets save every parameter and envelope; the shape library saves envelopes alone so they work across modes.
- Favourites, search, and your own presets saved under User.
 Spectral: reversed EQ ducks only the bands competing with the kick |
 Multiband: split low/high, each band with its own envelope |
 Ring: sidechain ring modulation for a fast, audio-rate carve |
 Presets: 30 factory presets across six categories |
Run dist\Kickarse-Setup.exe and tick the formats you want. It asks for admin rights because plugin folders live in Program Files.
| Format | Installed to |
|---|---|
| VST3 | C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\Kickarse.vst3 |
| VST2 | C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST2\Kickarse.dll (you can pick another folder) |
| CLAP | C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP\Kickarse.clap |
Your own presets and shapes go to Documents\Kickarse\ and are never touched by the uninstaller.
Uninstall from Settings → Apps ("Kickarse"). No admin? installer\Install Kickarse.bat does the same copy with PowerShell.
After installing, rescan plugins in your DAW. Use one format per project (VST3 is the best choice in all three DAWs; CLAP also works in Bitwig and FL Studio).
Put Kickarse on the track you want to duck (bass, pads, bus) and feed the kick into its sidechain input. Menu names can differ slightly between DAW versions.
Bitwig Studio — add Kickarse to the bass track. In the plugin device's header open the sidechain selector and choose the kick track (pre/post fader as you like). For MIDI mode, route notes to the plugin (e.g. a Note Receiver on the bass track pointing at the kick's MIDI clip track).
FL Studio — put Kickarse on the bass mixer insert. Select the kick's insert, then right-click the routing arrow of the bass insert → Sidechain to this track. Open the plugin wrapper's ⚙ Processing tab and set the plugin's sidechain input to the kick insert. For MIDI mode, give the wrapper a MIDI input port and send notes from a MIDI Out channel on the same port.
Ableton Live (11/12) — put Kickarse on the bass track, click the small sidechain toggle in the device title bar and choose the kick track as the audio source. For MIDI mode, set a MIDI track's MIDI To to the bass track → Kickarse. For VST2 in Ableton, enable Use VST Plug-in Custom Folder and point it at your VST2 folder.
Sync mode needs no sidechain: it locks to the host tempo. Audio, Spectral and Ring modes listen to the sidechain; use Trigger filter (e.g. 20–150 Hz) to pick the kick out of a full drum bus, and Listen to hear it.
- Double-click or Ctrl-click resets a control; Alt-click types a value; Shift-drag is fine adjustment.
- Editor: drag nodes, drag a segment to bend it, double-click to add/delete, drag empty space to marquee. Ctrl-click nodes to add them to the Quick Shift group, then slide the bar under the editor.
- Capture records one cycle of the sidechain and turns it into an editable duck shape (saved under User).
- Delta lets you hear only what Kickarse removes.
Needs Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools (C++), CMake ≥ 3.22 and git.
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File build.ps1 # plugins -> dist\
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File installer\build-installer.ps1 -PayloadDir dist
Built with DPF (ISC). VST2 support uses DPF's clean-room VST2 header (no Steinberg VST2 SDK). Fonts: Archivo (SIL Open Font License).
Bug reports, feature ideas and pull requests are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md for how to get set up and what to expect.
Kickarse is Copyright © 2026 Alexis Alberto Zúñiga Alonso, licensed under GPL-3.0. You're free to use, study, modify and redistribute it — modified versions must stay open under the same license and keep the original copyright notice.
Contact: alexisalbertoza@gmail.com