This technique was discovered by Hip-Hop producers like J Dilla back in the ’90s. Tip #2 – Sidechain Hi-Hats and Overheads to the Snare. This creates a much more pronounced pumping effect. This technique has been applied aggressively here, with much higher threshold, ratio and a super fast attack. It’s fairly transparent, but the kick drum is still dominant. This clip has bass and bass drum lightly side-chained together. Which goes to show how there are no real rules other than ‘if it sounds good, it is good!’ By this method, a definitive pumping motion was applied, which had previously been considered ‘wrong’. For example, the ‘sucking/pumping’ bass effect made popular by French House artists like Daft Punk came from very aggressive, fast sidechain compression on the bass. Playing with the threshold, compression ratio and release can elicit very different results. Often these can be mitigated against by adjusting the Release (try a slower release). You’ll need to solo bass and bass drum to check for pops or unwanted artefacts which can creep in. If your intention is to sharply duck the bass whenever the bass drum plays at the same time, use a fast Attack setting. Adjust Threshold, Ratio, Attack & Release to taste. In Sidechain settings, set the sidechain source as Bass Drum. Add a sidechain-capable compressor to the bass instrument channel (or bass buss). By carving out space for the bass drum, the bass instrument can avoid fighting for supremacy. Probably the most obvious use for sidechain compression is sidechaining a bass drum to a bass instrument. Tip #1 – Sidechain your bass drum to bass instruments. Headphones or studio mnitors are highly recommended for listening to the audio examples in this article. Stock compressors in Logic, Ableton, Pro Tools and FL Studio 20 are all capable of this, as are many other DAWs I’m less familiar with. To achieve sidechain compression, you’ll need a compressor with sidechain ability. This leaves more space for the incoming audio to be heard, even if the two signals occupy similar frequency ranges. In effect, this acts as a ducking mechanism, by which an incoming signal tells the compressor to duck the volume of the channel signal by a fixed amount. Sidechain compression is when a compressor is triggered by a secondary sound source, instead of its own incoming channel audio. Which is a good thing, because you get louder mixes.įurthermore, the compressor itself folds the compressed signal on top of itself in order to execute the compression, which makes the sound fatter and more impactful.įor this reason, it’s been a fundamental tool of producers and engineers for decades. Reduce the volume of the loudest parts of a channel, and you can raise the overall volume. The overall effect is some degree of squashing the signal. Compressors have various parameters that inform the way the compression is applied, which shape the character, speed of reduction and how quickly the compression ‘releases’ the signal compression. Once the incoming signal passes this threshold, the signal reduces in volume so it never goes above the threshold level. This is when an audio signal is told the maximum volume threshold it’s allowed to reach before the compressor engages. These 7 sidechan compression tips will help you get the most out of sidechain compression! What is sidechain compression? It can be a subtle space-creator, or it can be a dramatic effect more akin to a modulation plugin. Sidechain compression is a powerful tool for developing clarity in mixes. Sidechain Compression – 7 Tips for Better Mixes.
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