ikipump manual

What it does

ikipump turns the volume down (or closes a filter, or moves the pan) with a shape that repeats in time or starts from a kick: the sidechain pump, without routing anything in the mixer. It can also duck only the lows, three bands or only the frequencies of the kick. ikipump is free.

ikipump lowers the volume (or closes a filter, or moves the pan) with a shape that repeats in time or starts from a kick. Before 19 October 2026 it was called PULSE; sessions and presets made with the old name open as before.

Five ready shapes, a shape drawn with points, or one captured from the kick.
Triggers from host tempo, a kick in the track, ZOKKU Link or MIDI notes.
Volume, filter, pan, three bands or spectral. A 3 ms low-latency mode.

Quick start

Put ikipump on the bass, the pads or the bus you want to pump.
Choose the trigger: tempo (follows the song) or kick in the track (listens for the kick).
Pick a shape (soft, classic, hard, pump, gate) and set Depth. Or start from a preset such as Bass, Trap 808 tuck.

The display

The lime line is the reduction ikipump really applies, over input and output in grey; the label marks its deepest point (peak −24.0 dB). Ticks at the bottom are the triggers. The shape is solid on the first step: drag a point, double-click to add one, right-click to remove it. With kick in the track or Send a faint kick lane shows the threshold and the detected hits. reduction now next to Depth reads the current reduction against Depth. The chip from kick listens for 3 seconds and builds the duck shape from the kick itself.

The ikipump display: the lime reduction over four beats with its peak at -24.0 dB, the input and output in grey, the trigger ticks and the dB scale on the right. — **The duck, measured.** The lime line is the reduction ikipump really applies, over the input and output in grey, and the label marks its deepest point; the ticks at the bottom are the triggers. The shape is solid on the first step: drag a point, double-click to add one, right-click to remove it.

The shape chips soft, classic, hard, pump, gate and from kick, then volume, filter and pan, and normal and pump only. — **Shapes, target and pump only.** soft, classic, hard, pump and gate are ready shapes; from kick listens for three seconds to the kick and turns it into the shape. On the right, volume, filter or pan choose what the duck moves, and pump only lets you hear just what it takes away.

Depth at -24 dB, reduction now -14.9 dB with peak -23.6 dB, then Smooth, Offset, Swing, Tension, Kick, a dimmed Lookahead and Split. — **Depth and the shape controls.** Depth sets how far the track goes down; beside it, reduction now shows the cut of this moment, the peak of the last step and a bar against Depth. Smooth and Tension refine the shape, Offset moves the duck earlier or later and Swing delays every other hit. Controls that do not apply are dimmed but stay editable.

Trigger set to tempo, with kick in mix and other, and Rate set to 1/4. — **Trigger and rate.** tempo restarts the shape on every division, from 1/2 to 1/16 and more under other. kick in mix detects the kick in the track or the DAW sidechain; other holds Link and MIDI.

Presets and licence. 64 presets in 9 categories, and the new ones set the trigger too. The sheet shows each preset's division and trigger, and the search finds words like amapiano, sidechain or MIDI. The chip before A/B shows the licence (trial days left, licensed or trial ended); click it for the licence sheet.

Every picture on this page is a capture of the real interface, from the current build.

Controls

The names are the ones your DAW shows for automation, read from the plugin itself; ranges and defaults are the plugin's own. Every knob: drag (Shift for fine), wheel for small steps, double-click for the default, Enter or a click on the value to type it with units (6k3, 250ms, -3 dB).

Rows marked [lane] exist once for each of the eleven lanes: Kick, Snare, Low tom, Mid tom, High tom, Rim, Clap, Closed hat, Open hat, Crash, Ride.

Main controls

Control	Range	Default	What it does
Depth	0 dB to 60 dB	36 dB	How far the sound drops, in dB.
Trigger source	Tempo · Detect input · Link · MIDI	Tempo	Tempo, Detect input (kick in the track), Link or MIDI.
Tempo rate	1/2 · 1/4 · 1/8 · 1/16 · 1/32 · 1 bar · 2 bars · 4 bars · 1/4T · 1/8T · 1/16T · 1/4D · 1/8D · 1/16D	1/4	The step in Tempo mode: 1/2 to 1/32, 1 to 4 bars, triplets and dotted.
Envelope	Curve · Shape	Shape	Shape (drawn on the display) or Curve (Attack, Hold, Release, Curve).
Attack	0.1 ms to 30 ms	0.25 ms	Curve engine: time to reach the full duck.
Hold	0 ms to 200 ms	35 ms	Curve engine: time held at the bottom.
Release	5 ms to 1000 ms	160 ms	Curve engine: time to come back.
Curve	0.25 to 4	1.5	Curve engine: the bend of the release.
Tension	−100 % to 100 %	0 %	Bends the shape.
Impact	0 % to 100 %	70 %	How hard the start of the duck hits.
Smooth release	0 % to 100 %	0 %	Rounds the return.
Trigger offset	−30 ms to 30 ms	0 ms	Moves the duck earlier or later (in Tempo also ahead of the beat).
Swing	0 % to 75 %	0 %	Delays every second hit (Tempo mode).
Target	Volume · Filter · Pan	Volume	Volume, Filter (a low-pass that closes on each hit) or Pan.
Duck below	0 Hz to 400 Hz	0 Hz	Ducks only the lows under this frequency (0 = off): the sub-only duck for 808 and bass.
Spectral	0 % to 100 %	0 %	At 100 % only the frequencies of the kick drop, the rest passes.
Three bands	Off · On	Off	Lows, mids and highs each drop by their own share.
Threshold	−60 dB to 0 dB	−24 dB	Kick detection threshold.
[lane] focus	40 Hz to 350 Hz	150 Hz	Centre frequency the detector listens to.
Retrigger	30 ms to 500 ms	120 ms	Shortest time between two detected kicks.
Detect from	Auto · Main input · Sidechain	Auto	Auto (sidechain when it carries signal, otherwise the input), Main input or Sidechain.
Lookahead	0 ms to 10 ms	0 ms	Detection lookahead.
Low latency	Off · On	On	On (default): about 3 ms. Off: 100 ms of lookahead, so the duck starts exactly on the detected kick.
Instance role	Receive / Duck · Send / Kick	Receive / Duck	Receive / Duck or Send / Kick (ZOKKU Link).
Link channel	1 to 16	1	ZOKKU Link channel, 1 to 16.
Link fallback	Off · On	On	With no sender on the channel, listen to the DAW's sidechain instead.
Velocity	0 % to 100 %	100 %	MIDI mode: how much note velocity changes the depth (0 % = always full).
Mix	0 % to 100 %	100 %	Dry and processed balance.

Every parameter (38)

Numbered parameters are grouped in one row (for example Band 1–8), with the number of copies.

Parameter	Range	Default
Trigger source	Tempo · Detect input · Link · MIDI	Tempo
Depth	0 dB to 60 dB	36 dB
Attack	0.1 ms to 30 ms	0.25 ms
Hold	0 ms to 200 ms	35 ms
Release	5 ms to 1000 ms	160 ms
Curve	0.25 to 4	1.5
Mix	0 % to 100 %	100 %
Threshold	−60 dB to 0 dB	−24 dB
[lane] focus	40 Hz to 350 Hz	150 Hz
Retrigger	30 ms to 500 ms	120 ms
Fallback tempo	40 BPM to 240 BPM	128 BPM
Tempo rate	1/2 · 1/4 · 1/8 · 1/16 · 1/32 · 1 bar · 2 bars · 4 bars · 1/4T · 1/8T · 1/16T · 1/4D · 1/8D · 1/16D	1/4
Link channel	1 to 16	1
Instance role	Receive / Duck · Send / Kick	Receive / Duck
Impact	0 % to 100 %	70 %
Smooth release	0 % to 100 %	0 %
Trigger offset	−30 ms to 30 ms	0 ms
Lookahead	0 ms to 10 ms	0 ms
Timing	Milliseconds · Tempo	Milliseconds
Envelope	Curve · Shape	Shape
Output	−12 dB to 6 dB	0 dB
Bypass ×2	Off · On	Off
Swing	0 % to 75 %	0 %
Duck below	0 Hz to 400 Hz	0 Hz
Tension	−100 % to 100 %	0 %
Target	Volume · Filter · Pan	Volume
Low latency	Off · On	On
Detect from	Auto · Main input · Sidechain	Auto
Velocity	0 % to 100 %	100 %
Three bands	Off · On	Off
Low band depth	0 % to 100 %	100 %
Mid band depth	0 % to 100 %	100 %
High band depth	0 % to 100 %	100 %
Low / mid crossover	40 Hz to 1 kHz	200 Hz
Mid / high crossover	1 kHz to 12 kHz	3 kHz
Spectral	0 % to 100 %	0 %
Link fallback	Off · On	On

Presets

64 presets in 9 categories. The new ones set the trigger too.

Bass 10Trap 808 tuck, Drill sub dodge
Pump 14Big room pump, French filter pump
Pads 9Breathing pad, Reverb tuck
Afro 5Amapiano swing, Log drum bounce
Vocals 4Vocal tuck, Voice-over duck
Gate 8Trance gate 1/16, Tresillo gate
Multiband 5Air keeper, Spectral kick
Live 5Live kick duck, Live MIDI pump
Link 4Link kick sender, Link pump

Click the preset capsule in the top bar to open the preset sheet: search (every word must appear in the name, category or description), categories with their counts, ★ Favourites, tags on every row, and in B, which loads a preset into the slot that is not playing so you can compare. A click loads a preset and leaves the sheet open; ↑ ↓ move, Enter loads and closes, Esc closes. The arrows ‹ › beside the capsule step through the list; a dot says the sound was changed.

All 64 programs, as the DAW lists them

Transparent
Pump
Hard kick
Riddim clamp
Long hold
Bass space
Kick / Soft pump
Kick / Light pump
Kick / Full duck
Kick / Long breath
Kick / Deep swell
Kick / Hold and drop
Kick / Tight pump
Kick / Short snap
Bass / Trap 808 tuck
Bass / Drill sub dodge
Bass / House low end
Bass / DnB reese duck
Bass / Techno rumble
Pump / Gentle groove
Pump / House glue
Pump / Classic pump
Pump / Big room pump
Pump / Half-time pump
Pump / Eighth pulse
Pump / French filter pump
Pads / Breathing pad
Pads / Slow swell
Pads / Lo-fi tape breath
Pads / Lo-fi muffle
Pads / Stereo breath
Pads / Reverb tuck
Pads / Ambient tide
Afro / Afro house pump
Afro / Afro shuffle
Afro / Log drum pocket
Afro / Amapiano swing
Afro / Log drum bounce
Vocals / Vocal tuck
Vocals / Vocal chop pump
Vocals / Voice-over duck
Vocals / Beat under voice
Gate / Trance gate 1/16
Gate / Trance gate 1/8
Gate / Tresillo gate
Gate / Stutter 1/32
Gate / Triplet chop
Gate / Dotted gate
Gate / Pattern gate
Gate / Ping-pong gate
Multiband / Air keeper
Multiband / Spectral blend
Multiband / Click space
Live / Live kick duck
Live / Live sub duck
Live / Live MIDI pump
Live / Live MIDI stutter
Live / Live tempo pump
Link / Link kick sender
Link / Link bass duck
Link / Link pump
Link / Link pad breath
Multiband / Spectral kick
Multiband / Bus low pump

A/B and undo

A and B hold two complete settings. equal vol. plays B at the loudness of A, so louder never fools you. in B in the preset sheet loads a preset straight into the other slot. Undo and redo (the curved arrows, Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z) are kept separately for A and B; switching slot is not a step.

Listen modes

normal / pump only sits in the display. pump only plays what the duck takes away (with Filter, the highs that are removed), and a pill on the display says so. It is never saved in the session.

Simple, advanced and sizes

simple keeps the shapes, the display, Depth with its knobs and the Trigger/Rate/Mix bar. advanced opens a drawer with three tabs: envelope (curve or shape, ms or tempo, curve times, save and open), trigger (auto/main/sidechain, low latency, the detector, ZOKKU Link and the tempo without a host) and bands (duck below, spectral, three bands with their shares and crossovers, output). Controls that do not apply in the chosen mode are dimmed but still editable.

Pick a size with S, M and L in the top bar, or drag the window corner. A click on the status line zooms the contents from 75 to 200 %. The help strip in the footer describes the control under the pointer.

ikipump in the Essential (S) view, 640 by 400 — Essential (S), 640 × 400

ikipump in the Studio (M) view, 1000 by 640 — Studio (M), 1000 × 640

ikipump in the Full (L) view, 1280 by 800 — Full (L), 1280 × 800

More features

ZOKKU Link

On the kick track set an ikipump to Send / Kick and a channel (1 to 16). Every ikipump in Link mode on that channel, and every vela with duck from IKIPUMP, reacts to that kick from any track. kitto and tatakit can send too. The display says the state in words: sending on channel 2 · heard by VELA, no sender on channel 2, the sender is not in this process: the host isolates plugins (FL Studio Make bridged, Bitwig sandbox, Reaper dedicated process: remove the isolation or use the sidechain).

MIDI

In MIDI mode every note starts the shape; Velocity sets how much the note's force matters. MIDI learn: right-click the status line.

Tips by genre

House and techno: House glue or Classic pump in Tempo at 1/4.
Trap and drill: Trap 808 tuck or Drill sub dodge: Duck below keeps the 808 out of the kick's way and leaves the rest alone.
Afro house and amapiano: Afro shuffle, Amapiano swing, Log drum pocket: swing and triplets.
Voice-over: Voice-over duck or Beat under voice with the voice in the sidechain.
Live: The Live presets use Low latency (3 ms) with the sidechain, MIDI or tempo.

CPU and latency

Latency: Low latency (default): about 3 ms. Off: 100 ms of lookahead, so the duck starts exactly on the detected kick. Link always uses 100 ms.
Quality: Splits use Linkwitz-Riley crossovers that sum back without loss.
CPU: About 0.35 % of one core.
MIDI: MIDI notes can trigger the shape, with velocity. MIDI learn from the status line.
ZOKKU Link: Sends the detected kick (Send / Kick) and receives in Link mode, on 16 channels.

CPU: one stereo instance at 48 kHz, 512-sample blocks, on a test signal, as a percent of one core of a recent desktop CPU. Indicative only: your system will differ.

Version and changes

This manual describes ikipump 0.12.4. Updates never change how a saved session sounds: when the sound changes, it arrives as a new option or only in new instances.

Latest builds

0.12.4 2026-10-24 ["Its own product now: its licence, the Beat Kit's (KIZAMI, KITTO, TATAKIT, FUZZO, ASCENT) or ZOKKU All's unlocks it; old beta trials keep working. Sound and saved sessions unchanged."]
0.12.3 2026-10-24 ['Activate online and Activate offline in the licence sheet activate ZOKKU All; a saved session stays byte for byte the same after it is reopened.']
0.12.2 2026-10-24 ['A ZOKKU All licence unlocks it too; the free trial is the ZOKKU All one: 7 days, one trial for all eleven.']

Before

0.12 Revisited interface: the real reduction on the display, pump only, simple/advanced drawer.
0.11 New name, ikipump (before: PULSE).

Common to every plugin: windows, presets, keyboard and typed values.