Bass FoundrySource

CLAP plugins for FL Studio

Bass Foundry

Eight open-source plugins for writing, designing and mixing riddim, dubstep and bass music. Most of them follow the played note, so a setting means the same thing on every note.

Browse the pluginsAll releases
  • Free & open source
  • CLAP
  • Windows x64
  • FL Studio 2024.1+
  • No accounts, no telemetry
Knurl / cycle texture · Fry patternF1 · 43.7 Hz · 8 cycles

The idea

One setting, every note

Riddim and dubstep basses change patch on every switch-up and move across an octave or two. Fixed-frequency tools then act differently on every note: the sub jumps, an EQ cut lands on another harmonic, the distortion fizzes on one note and goes dull on the next. Anvil, Lathe, Temper and Knurl track the pitch, from the audio or from MIDI, and put their work on the note itself.

A normal EQ: −12 dB at 130 Hz
501002005001kF1h3C2h2C3h1
Lathe: −12 dB on harmonic 3
501002005001kF1h3C2h3C3h3

Dots are the harmonics of each note on a log frequency axis (Hz). The fixed cut takes the 3rd harmonic of F1, the 2nd of C2 and the fundamental of C3. The tracked cut stays on the 3rd.

The plugins

Cast, shaped and finished

Each plugin is a separate product with its own version, guide and release. Every download is a ZIP with one.clap file and a checksum. The editor previews below are rendered from the plugins’ own code.

Install

Into the rack in a minute

The plugins are built for FL Studio 2024.1 or newer on Windows x64. Nothing to register, no installer, no account.

  1. 01

    Download

    Pick a plugin above, or open its release on Gitea. Each ZIP has a.sha256 file next to it to check the download.

  2. 02

    Copy the .clap file

    Extract the ZIP and copy the .clap file into

    C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP\
  3. 03

    Rescan in FL Studio

    Open Options → Manage plugins, enable Verify plugins and click Find installed plugins. The plugins appear under the vendor Bass Foundry.

  4. 04

    Load it

    Rivet goes in the Channel Rack. All the others go in mixer effect slots; each plugin’s page says where it sits best.

Principles

Built like tools

The same rules hold for every plugin in the suite. CI checks the testable ones on every push.

  • Follows the note

    Pitch comes from the audio with a short lookahead, or from MIDI. Settings are counted in harmonics and cycles, not in Hz.

  • Realtime-safe

    Every audio effect has a test that fails if the audio thread allocates memory. The audio thread never waits on a lock.

  • Honest latency

    Plugins that look ahead report it to the host, so FL Studio compensates the delay and the mix stays in time.

  • Tested without a DAW

    CI loads each plugin through the CLAP ABI and checks ports, latency, state and audio at 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz.

  • Shows its work

    The editors draw what the plugin hears and what it changes: cuts, harmonics, recovered level, cycle shapes.

  • Open and private

    ISC-licensed Rust. No accounts, no licence keys, no network access and no telemetry.

The foundry

Named after metalwork

The suite is the foundry: the workshop where the bass gets cast, shaped and finished. Each plugin is named after the craft that does the same job to metal.

Rivet
A rivet joins separate pieces into one.
Patina
A patina changes the surface of a metal and keeps its character.
Anvil
An anvil is the solid base that everything is struck on.
Crucible
A crucible melts material down so it can be cast again.
Lathe
A lathe turns a piece so every cut lands the same all the way round.
Temper
Tempering sets how hard and how tough a metal ends up.
Weld
A weld fuses two pieces into one.
Knurl
Knurling presses a ridged grip pattern into a surface.

On the bench

What could come next

Ideas from the ideas list, each written against a problem seen in bass-music production. Most of the new ones are about texture. These are ideas, not promises.

  • Ballast

    Switch-up loudness leveller

    Measures perceived loudness per switch-up and sets gain only, so every patch lands at the same loudness without compression.

  • Gauge

    Low-end mono check

    Correlation and mono-sum loss per band and per note in the bass range, with the notes where widening breaks the sum marked.

  • Bellows

    Pitch-tracked resonator

    A comb resonator tuned to the played note: noise, distortion or drums turn into metallic tone that is in key on every note.

  • Anneal

    Texture

    Tone and grit split

    Splits a sound into harmonic tone, the grit between the harmonics, and transients. More grit, same body and sub.

  • Swarf

    Texture

    In-key granular shavings

    Sprays grains of the bass back as a layer, each a whole number of cycles and retuned to the current note.

  • Etch

    Texture

    Texture imprint

    Imprints the fine surface of a scrape, a vocal or a field recording on the bass, locked to its harmonics.

  • Chase

    Texture

    Talking formants

    A vowel pad with drawn paths. Snap moves each formant peak onto a harmonic, so no vowel vanishes between two harmonics.

  • Damascus

    Texture

    Texture step sequencer

    Four gain-matched texture slots and a step grid that switches between them: a switch-up inside one held note.

  • Loupe

    Texture

    Texture meter

    Roughness, grit, metal and brightness per note, with every switch-up of a drop placed on a texture map.