Bombo

A kick designer issued as classified ordnance. A synth sub voice and a sample slot, a drive stage, a tempo-synced delay, a multi-algorithm reverb, a resonant filter, and a sidechain ducker, racked vertically against a stubby ordnance chassis. The rack is yours: drag the stages into any order and the signal path rebuilds in real time. Tap a header to mute a stage. Loop on, beat lined up, hit DICE when the day is short and a new round rolls out of the warhead bay.

Free. VST3, AU, CLAP, standalone. Windows, macOS, Linux. Single-shot or looped. Quiet enough for headphones, loud enough for the wall.

First launch: why does my OS warn about this?

The Windows binary isn’t codesigned. Microsoft’s EV certificate is deferred until paid plugins ship, so SmartScreen will warn the first time you open it. The macOS build is signed and notarized, and Linux is unaffected.

Windows: SmartScreen → “More info” → “Run anyway”.

What’s here

• Two-voice kick engine: a synth sub voice plus a sample slot (load a one-shot, or run a second synth layer), crossfaded into one body. The core of every round.
• Reorderable FX rack: drive, a tempo-synced delay, a multi-algorithm reverb, a resonant filter, and a sidechain ducker. Drag any stage by its grip; the rack reorders and the signal path rebuilds in real time. Drive after reverb, filter before delay, whatever the round wants.
• Per-section mute: tap a section header to drop that stage out of the path.
• Ten factory rounds: Hardtech, Reverze, Juicy, Chunky, Crusher, Hammer, Hardkick, Horror, Pew, and Superwet, running from a clean sub to splintered hardtechno.
• The finish: a weathered, photoreal ordnance chassis with a green phosphor scope by default. Not the only skin in the unit, either; flat and blueprint finishes are in there too, switchable at runtime with no reload.
• Loop and DICE: run a round single-shot or looped, beat-aligned. DICE rolls a fresh round when inspiration is short on the day.
• Key tracking: switch it on and the kick body follows MIDI note pitch. Play it up the keyboard and it turns into a very strange synth.
• One-shot bounce: render the current round to a WAV or AIFF from the BNC control, through the full chain, without leaving the chassis.

What’s on purpose missing

• A fixed signal chain. The stages move. If you wanted a hard-wired rack, this is the wrong unit.
• Polyphony. It is a kick designer. It is monophonic on purpose.
• A manual that explains the forward housing. See §5.4.

Listen first

A field test bounced straight out of the unit. No download, just hit play: soundcloud.com/rexistaudio/field-test-bombo

Specs

Field	Value
Type	Kick designer with a reorderable FX rack
License	Free, GPLv3, source on GitHub
Formats	VST3, AU, CLAP, Standalone
Platforms	Linux (x86_64), macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel), Windows (x86_64)
Logic Pro	Supported, ships an AU
Polyphony	Monophonic, one round at a time, on purpose
Voice engine	Synth sub voice plus a sample slot, crossfaded
Key tracking	Optional, kick body follows the MIDI note (relative to C2)
FX rack	Drive, tempo-synced delay, multi-algorithm reverb, resonant filter, sidechain ducker, reorderable in real time
Factory rounds	10: Hardtech, Reverze, Juicy, Chunky, Crusher, Hammer, Hardkick, Horror, Pew, Superwet
Finishes	Photoreal weathered default, plus more runtime-switchable skins (flat/blueprint included)
Bounce	WAV or AIFF from the BNC control, full chain
Transport	Single-shot or looped, host-synced in a DAW

Found a bug? Got an idea?

Email [email protected] directly, or use the /support form. It opens your mail client with the fields filled in. Same inbox either way.

Per §5.4, operators are advised not to tamper with the forward housing. Compliance is optional.

FAQ

Is Bombo free? Is it open source?

Free, and open source under the GPLv3. The download is the full unit. No tier, no trial, no account. The source is on GitHub if you want to read it, build it, or fork it. Audio you bounce out of it is yours, the same as output from any plugin.

Which DAWs does Bombo load in? Does it support Logic Pro?

VST3, AU, CLAP, and standalone for Linux, macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel), and Windows. AU is included, so Logic Pro loads it, alongside Reaper, Bitwig, Live, Cubase, Studio One, FL, Renoise, and Ardour via VST3 or CLAP.

Does Bombo run on Linux? On Apple Silicon?

Yes to both. Linux x86_64 is a first-class build target, shipped alongside a universal macOS build (Apple Silicon + Intel) and Windows x86_64. Each is built and tested on real hardware, not cross-compiled and shipped blind.

How do I reorder the FX stages?

Drag a section by its grip. The rack reorders and the signal path rebuilds in real time. Drive after reverb, filter before delay, whatever the round wants. Tap a section header to mute that stage.

What does the BNC control do?

Bounces the current round to a WAV or AIFF on disk, rendered through the full chain without leaving the chassis. Single-shot or the looped pattern, your choice.

What is behind the forward housing?

Per §5.4 of the operator's manual, tampering with the forward housing is not advised. Compliance is optional. We will not elaborate here.