Sidechain and Ducking Tips

General

• Compressor = In General More for Dynamic Material, i.e. whenever the Source Material has Different Volumes Over Time in Order to React Dynamically to those Different Velocities (which the LFO Tool Does Not), Compressor also for Breakdowns Where you Don’t Want an Element (Such as Lead Sounds) to Lose Energy Because the LFO Tool Continues Pumping

• LFO Tool / Duck = In General More Precise, Usage for Static Non Dynamic Material, i.e. when you Simply Want to Get the Bass Out of the Kick on the Down Beat, also if you Want to Keep Something Pumping During a Breakdown Such as the Bass, LFO Tool also for Anything that Only Plays when the Kick is Doing so

• Experiment with Other Elements than the Kick as the Sidechain Trigger Because a Kick has by Nature a Rather Long Tail which Creates a Longer Trigger Sidechain Phase

– e.g. Try More Short Sounds as a Trigger Source that Even Do Not Belong to the Composition (Just as Sidechain Trigger)

• also the Trigger Point Does Not have to Sit On the “1 1 1 1”, you can Make it Trigger Early which also has the Benefit of a Even More Breathy Kick, this Way you Quasi Manually Set/Correct Latency and you are Free to a More Creative  Sidechain and a Faster Short Sounds = Faster Attack 

• an Extreme Use of SC Would be Sending All Tracks Including Effects into a SC Bus and Duck Them All with the Kick

– Use the Send in Pre Fader Mode at 0dB (Full), i.e. the Signal that Goes into SC Compressor Should be Always at the Same Full Gain and Pre Fader Does Just that (Whereas Post Fader Send Would also Consider the Track Fader Position which is Not Ideal)

SC Basic Workflow

• Use SC at the End of the Effect Chain, i.e. Duck at the End of the Other Processes

• i.e. Sidechain After Any Effects that Add Sound Content Such as Reverb / Delay, also Helps Control Reverb / Delay Plus the Reverb Adds Life (Sidechain Open = Reverb Open)

• Good Sidechaining also Allows for Huge Reverbs Afterwards that Still Do Not Take up Too Much Space

1) Set Attack to About 10-20ms for the Bass (0ms for Melody / Vocal etc.)

• i.e. you Want the Initial Bass Attack Add to the Kick Attack but then Back Off to Let the Kicks Body Through

• Notice that Very Short SC Attack on Bass Causes Clicks and Pops, Use Lookahead if Available but Not More than 10ms

2) Release Depends on How Long the Kick is, Typically Start at 40ms and Turn Up Until the Whole Kick is Coming Though

3) Ratio = Start with 4dB to 6dB and Tweak, i.e. About 5:1, Ratio Works in Conjunction with Release for the Optimal Settings

Sub Bass Singleband SC Kick + Bass (Pumping Effect)

1) Use Your Favorite Dynamic Tool with a Very Fast Attack Setting and Fast Release

2) Set Rather Strong Ratio (Almost Inf.)

3) GR of About -20dB

4) Set SC EQ to Filter Out the Mid Range, i.e. SC EQ with a Low Cut to Around 170Hz and a High Cut to Around 5000Hz

5) Duck the Signal so the Main Output Meter Comes Back to -10dB

Sub Bass Multiband SC Kick + Bass (Clean Up)

• Use a Multiband Compressor to Control Relation between Kick and Bass More Precisely, i.e. Create a Band that Specifically Addresses the Low Content (More of a Clean Up than Pumping Effect)

• Notice that when a High Frequency Part Triggers the SC, the Resulting “Bounce” is Much More Precise

• i.e. Either you can Tell Inside the Plugin to What Part of the SC Frequency the Bass Should Listen in Order to Duck (or Use in General a Generic Ghost SC Signal that Suits as the SC Signal)

– Good Relation of Kick and Bass Helps the Speakers Work More Efficient

1) Use a Multiband Compressor with SC Option and the Option to Display Both Frequency Spectrums to Set the Best Crossover Spot, i.e. Addresses the Frequency Part Where Kick and Bass Fight Against Each Other the Most

2) Start with 10:1 Ratio, Very Fast Attack and Fast Release, GR of About -2dB to 5dB

3) To Make the Resulting “Bounce” More Precise, Change to What Part of the Kick SC Frequency the Bass Should Listen in Order to Duck and Set SC Frequency to a Higher Area of the Kick (e.g. SC Frequency from 200Hz to 1kHz)