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The Him DSP

Kick Ninja Help

FAQ, manual, and tutorial videos

Videos Manual FAQ

Videos

Kick Ninja Explained: read the written guide

Kick Ninja Deep Dive

New Filters & Pitch Tracking

Recreate Kicks from Full Tracks

Manual

Overview

Kick Ninja Overview

Envelope sliders can either be set by dragging the slider, or by editing the envelope that controls it.

Controls

CMD/CTRL + dragFine adjustment
ALT + clickReset to default
Double-clickText entry (pitch slider accepts note values like "A2" or "F#1")

Normal sliders support the same controls: CMD/CTRL + drag for fine adjustment, ALT + click to reset, and double-click for text entry.

Length Slider

Adjusts sound duration. Defaults to milliseconds. Alternative formats:

0.5s (seconds) 1/4 1/6d (dotted) 1/8t (triplet)

Shift + drag temporarily enables absolute lock.

Length Absolute Lock: Controls whether envelope points lock absolutely (cropping mode) or remain relative during length changes.

Active Note: Displays waveforms with pitch tracking enabled and determines the pitch of exported pitch-tracked sounds.

Waveform View Selector: Toggles individual layers (OSC/S1/S2/S3) or the MAIN combined output. Right-click to hide other layers.

Global Pitch Offset Slider: Applies a universal pitch offset to all tracked layers.

Drag & Drop Sample Export: Renders samples to disk in the Export folder (accessible via Main Menu > Open Library). Save samples alongside your projects.

Save Preset: Stores current settings to a new preset file.

Preset Browser: Opens the preset browser. Loads /Ninja/init.KickNinja on startup (customizable). The "Init Preset" menu option resets values and generates ninja names.

Playback Settings

Bend Pitch bend range in semitones. Pitch tracking needs to be active.
Velocity Amount affecting preview volume.
Voices Total polyphony count.
Release No: sample is always fully played when triggered. Yes: playback stops when note is released.
Time (Release) Time to fade out after note release. Release needs to be active.
Mode Poly: play multiple voices simultaneously (no slide/legato). Legato: pitch tracked sounds slide when notes are held. Always: pitch tracked sounds always slide.
Portamento Length of pitch slide from note to note.

Envelope Editor

Kick Ninja Envelope Editor

Navigation

Double-clickCreate a new point
Right-clickOpen context menu
Click + dragSelect multiple points
Shift + click + dragAdd to selection
CMD/CTRL + Alt + dragPan the view
CMD/CTRL + scrollZoom
Pinch / 2-fingerZoom and scroll (trackpad)

Point Controls

Double-click pointRemove the point
DragMove the point
CMD/CTRL + dragFine movement
Shift + dragVertical movement only
Alt + dragHorizontal movement only
Alt + Shift + dragSnap to semitones (OSC pitch only)

Tension Points: Control the exponential blending curve between points. Drag to adjust, double-click to reset, CMD/CTRL + drag for fine adjustment.

Pitch Tracked Points (OSC pitch only): Replace the point's value with the played MIDI key, offset by the global pitch offset and OSC pitch offset. Affected by legato and portamento. The Active Note slider determines the displayed and exported values.

Phase Locked Points (OSC pitch only): Lock the waveform phase after this point, allowing you to edit pitch while maintaining a consistent tail.

Envelope Menu (right-click)

  • Pitch Tracked / Phase Lock: Toggle pitch tracking and phase locking on selected points
  • Split: Add points between selected points (or all if none selected)
  • Reset: Clear all envelope points
  • Remove Points: Delete selected points
  • Simplify Envelope: Opens simplification popup
  • Copy / Paste Points: Copy selected (or all) points to clipboard and paste them
Simplify Envelope

Simplify Envelope: Removes points above the given threshold (default 0.5%). Higher values remove more points. Useful after AI import to reduce the number of control points.

Oscillator Layer

Kick Ninja Oscillator

Envelope Sliders

Pitch Controls the pitch of the generated waveform.
Amp Controls the amplitude (volume level).
Blend Blends between pure Sine at 0 (middle), the selected waveform at -1 (down), and the harmonic oscillator at 1 (up).
Dist Applies distortion/drive directly to the oscillator. Useful for clicky attacks.
H1 / H2 / H3 / H4 Controls individual harmonics between 0 and 1. H1 is the fundamental; H2, H3, H4 are multiples.

Standard Sliders

Pitch Pitch offset applied to pitch tracked points only.
Wave Selected waveform (heard when Blend is between -1 and 0).
Gain OSC layer gain.
Phase Phase offset. Behavior changes with Phase Locking.

Buttons

OSC Power Click to toggle on/off. Right-click to show waveform. CMD/CTRL + right-click to display waveform.
Play Preview Play the OSC layer without the FX section.
Pitch Tracking Enable/disable pitch tracking. Requires at least one Pitch Tracked point in the envelope.
Phase Flip Flips the OSC layer phase.
Solo Temporarily mutes all other layers.
Lock Prevents the preset from overwriting this layer.
Menu Init Oscillator or Browse for a sample to import.

Sampler Layers (1/2/3)

Kick Ninja Sampler

Click the folder icon to open the sample browser, or use the arrow buttons to cycle through samples. You can drag and drop samples between layers.

Envelope Sliders

Pitch Controls the sample pitch. Automatable.
Amp Controls the amplitude.
HP / LP High Pass / Low Pass filter cutoff frequency.

Standard Sliders

Gain Sample layer gain.
Width 0 = mono, 100 = full stereo, 200 = sides only.
Pan Sample panning.
Pitch Layer pitch offset.
Start / End Sample start and end position controls.

Buttons

Sampler Power Toggle on/off. Right-click for display options.
Play Preview Play the sample without the FX section.
Pitch Tracking Enable/disable pitch tracking.
Phase Flip Flips the sampler phase.
Solo Temporarily mutes all other layers.
Lock Prevents the preset from overwriting this layer.
Menu Init Sampler, Unload sample, Export (direct or with options), Browse.

FX Layer

Kick Ninja FX

Per-voice FX with 2x oversampling to limit aliasing. Processing order: Distortion 1 → Filter → Distortion 2 → Compressor.

Distortion 1 / 2

AMT Distortion amount. 0 = minimal, 1 = maximum.
WET Dry/wet mix.
Type 9 distortion types available.
Gain Post-distortion gain.

Filter

HP High Pass filter cutoff frequency.
LP Low Pass filter cutoff frequency.
RES Filter resonance.

Compressor

Standard compressor controls for dynamics processing.

Ninja AI Import

Kick Ninja AI Import

Drag and drop any kick sample from your DAW or computer into the OSC layer to import it. Kick Ninja's AI will analyze the sample and recreate the pitch and amplitude curves.

Settings

Low Pass Freq. Low pass filter applied before import. Defaults to 600 Hz. Removes high-frequency noise that would generate unnecessary points.
Export Layer Perfect Full: renders a new sample by subtracting the generated OSC wave from the imported sample. Filtered: exports original to a Sampler layer with a crossfade on the low-pass filter. Attack: similar to Filtered but crossfades in volume and mutes the OSC initially. No: no sampler export.
To Sampler Selects which sampler layer (1/2/3) receives the exported sample.
Attack Length Duration in milliseconds for the Filtered/Attack crossfading.

Main Menu

Init Preset Resets all values to defaults and generates a new ninja name.
Load Preset from File Opens a system file dialog to load a preset.
GUI Scale Resize the plugin interface.
Env Show Values Constantly display envelope point values.
Env Show Grid Show a horizontal frequency grid for the OSC Pitch envelope.
Synth Mode Prevents the oscillator from resetting on each note start. Useful for preventing unwanted clicks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Download and run the installer from the Downloads page. Unlock the plugin upon first use with the license code you've received in your email.
After purchase, you'll receive two emails: one invoice from Paddle, and one from dsp@thehim.com containing your unlock code. If you don't see it after 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Still missing? Contact us at dsp@thehim.com.
We have a 14 day full money back guarantee on all our products. No questions asked. Just send an email to dsp@thehim.com.
Yes! The trial version is fully functional so you can test every feature before purchasing.
Kick Ninja has been tested on FL Studio, Cubase, Nuendo, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Bitwig, Reaper, Studio One, and Waveform Pro.
Your license is valid for 1 user. However, you can install and use Kick Ninja on 2 machines simultaneously. You can remove an activation from the plugin's Main Menu to free up a slot.

macOS: Mojave 10.14 or later, Intel Core i5 or Apple Silicon M1 or later. Formats: VST3, AU, AAX.

Windows: Windows 7 or later, 64-bit. Formats: VST3, AAX.

An internet connection is required for activation.

Uninstallation

To uninstall Kick Ninja, simply remove the plugin files from the following locations:

macOS

AU /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/Kick Ninja.component
VST3 /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/The Him DSP/Kick Ninja.vst3
AAX /Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/Kick Ninja.aaxplugin
Resources /Users/Shared/The Him DSP/Kick Ninja

Windows

VST3 C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\The Him DSP\Kick Ninja.vst3
AAX C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins\Kick Ninja.aaxplugin
Resources C:\Users\Public\Documents\The Him DSP\Kick Ninja

Troubleshooting

1. Make sure you have the latest version installed from the Downloads page.
2. Verify the plugin files are in the correct locations listed in the Uninstallation section above.
3. Restart your DAW and rescan plugins.
4. If the issue persists, contact us at dsp@thehim.com.
Send us an email at dsp@thehim.com and we'll usually respond within 48 hours.

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