The Fattest Floor Synth, Now on Desktop

The Sound of Thunder

The Lowdown Bass Synthesizer recreates the super-fat, room-rattling sounds of the most legendary dual-oscillator bass pedal synth ever made. Heard on countless prog-rock and new wave tracks in the 70s and 80s, this floor pedal monster comes to the desktop for the very first time. From the dual “constant-beat” oscillators to the girthy ladder filter, DSP wizard Mark Barton (MRB) has modeled every aspect of the original with exceptional accuracy. Get down to the ground with Lowdown!

Get the Lowdown

Outside of a handful of organ-oriented instruments, the original instrument was the first dedicated foot-controlled bass synthesizer, and with its colossal tone, unquestionably the best sounding. It was used by some of the top acts of 70s and 80s, including Rush, Yes, Genesis, U2, and The Police (check out the intro of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" or Phil Collins' "I Don't Care Anymore.")

The original design used a Hz/oct oscillator scaling (as opposed to the more conventional volts/oct oscillator scaling), allowing oscillator detuning amount to remain constant across the keyboard by minimizing the phase cancellation that can happen when two oscillators play simultaneously. Along with a couple of other engineering tricks, this contributes to its beefy sound.

In order to create Cherry Audio's Lowdown, DSP and synthesis legend Mark Barton carefully analyzed the original's synthesis circuits and precisely recreated them for a massive virtual bass experience like no other. We're simply thrilled with the outcome of this fun and easy-to-use earth-moving bass experience and we hope you love it as much as we do!

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Lowdown Features

• Faithful virtual analog emulation of the renowned monophonic bass pedal synth
• Every aspect precisely modeled in exacting detail with an ultra-realistic interface
• Beyond bass: propel Lowdown from the fat deep end and up to soaring leads
• Massive dual oscillators (Saw, Square)
• Throaty 24dB/octave lowpass filter with controls for Cutoff, Emphasis, and Contour
• Single-button access to Bull, Tuba, and Bass three factory presets
• Variable live-panel mode, available with a single click
• Additional one-button controls to activate Glide, Decay, and Octave
• Loudness and Filter master "foot" sliders
• Recessed panel provides access to programmable functions: Tune, Beat, Glide, Octave, Mix, and OSC B Frequency
• Rendered and animated foot pedal keyboard
• Select from 14 under-the-pedals floor surfaces
• Over 40 presets in an extensive preset browsing menu, and unlimited user preset storage
• Full MIDI control
• Full DAW automation for all controls
• Lowdown Bass Synthesizer is available in AU, VST, VST3, AAX, and standalone formats.
• A free 30-day demo of Lowdown is available. This demo will play white noise periodically, but is otherwise unlimited.

macOS Requirements: macOS 10.9 or above (including macOS 12), 64-bit required. Native Apple M1 processor support. Quad-core computer with 8GB of RAM recommended. Windows Requirements: Windows 7 or above (including Windows 11), 64-bit required. Quad-core computer with 8GB of RAM recommended.