battering-ram

Shakmat Modular Battering Ram

Analog bass drum synth with waveshaping and preset storage

8 HP Eurorack module

Battering Ram is an 8HP analog bass drum synthesizer by Shakmat (designed by Marc Nostromo) that delivers sounds ranging from long sub-bass 808-style kicks to aggressive techno drums. It features precise control over decay, tuning, depth, click, and drive with dual waveshaping modes, a switchable 3-pole high-pass filter, velocity input for dynamic phrasing, and 16-preset storage via Select Bus compatibility.

Features

  • Analog bass drum synthesis engine
  • Dual waveshaping modes: fold (smooth saturation) and clip (hard distortion)
  • 3-pole 30Hz high-pass filter (switchable)
  • Adjustable click transient for attack shaping
  • Pitch envelope depth control
  • Pitch lock mode for octave-stepped tuning
  • Gate mode for sustained bass tones
  • Velocity input for dynamic accents
  • Amplitude envelope output with polarity inversion
  • CV inputs for Drive, Decay, Click, and Pitch
  • Preset store/recall with 16-preset Select Bus compatibility
  • 8HP, 21mm depth — skiff friendly

Controls & Jacks (21)

  • Drive Type— Switches between waveshaping modes: subtle fold for gentle saturation, and high-gain hard-clipping for aggressive distortion.
  • Store/Recall— Stores and recalls panel potentiometer settings as presets. Compatible with 16-preset Select Bus.
  • Pitch— Controls the base tuning/pitch of the bass drum sound.
  • Decay— Controls the envelope release time of the bass drum, from short punchy hits to long sub-bass tails.
  • Drive— Controls the amount of waveshaping drive applied to the output signal, from subtle fold to aggressive distortion.
  • Click— Adjusts the initial transient click amount, controlling the attack characteristics of the kick.
  • Gate— Toggles between gate and trigger mode for the input. In gate mode, the sound sustains while gate is held high.
  • Trig— Manual trigger button that fires the bass drum sound.
  • Level— Toggles between different output level settings.
  • Decay CV In— CV input for modulating the envelope decay time.
  • Lock— Locks the pitch control, converting the Pitch knob into an octave switch for precise tuning steps.
  • Pitch CV In— CV input for pitch modulation, accepts V/oct for melodic bass drum use.
  • Trig In— Trigger/gate input to fire the bass drum. Accepts trigger or gate signals depending on Gate mode setting.
  • Velocity In— Velocity CV input for dynamic phrasing and accent control.
  • HPF— Enables or disables the 3-pole 30Hz high-pass filter to remove sub-bass content from the output.
  • Inv— Inverts the amplitude envelope output signal polarity.
  • Envlp Out— Amplitude envelope output. Polarity can be inverted using the Inv button.
  • Click CV In— CV input for modulating the click/transient amount.
  • Drive CV In— CV input for modulating the drive amount.
  • Out— Main audio output of the bass drum sound.
  • Depth— Controls the pitch envelope depth, affecting how much the pitch sweeps down from the initial hit.

How-To Guides

  • Basic Kick Drum
  • Distorted Techno Kick
  • Melodic Bass Drum Line

Explore the interactive Battering Ram panel on BleepDex — tap any control to learn what it does.

8c571ce