sidechain compression (SC)

blingstef · Post by **blingstef** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 1:19 am

hey wassup??? i have a problem controlling my SC.
i assume that the use of a SC is to make for example a bassline 'dip' when the kick 'kicks in'

.
but my problem is that when i use the Sidechain Compression on my bassline i can hear the drop of volume on it evrytime my drum kicks in.
What's wrong with the way i use it?

I have heard a lot of a sidechained bassline and none of them was droping when the kicks were kicking. (lololololol).
Can anybody out there help me?

laird · Post by **laird** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:51 pm

what are you actually TRYING to do?

sounds normal to me. Compressors generally lower peak volumes, right?

snakedogman · Post by **snakedogman** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:57 am

the whole point of sidechaining is to have it drop in volume when the sidechain is triggered so I'm not sure what you mean either.
If you want the effect to be less noticeable, raise the treshold, lower the ratio or shorten the release until you get the desired result.

blingstef · Post by **blingstef** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 4:23 am

sorry for the delay but humm... what i am actually trying to do is compress my bassline the ''good way''. i.e by using a sidechain compression. but when i use it, the effect is too noticeable, so i am going to try playing the comp settings like snakedogman suggested for that case.
are there some other tricks?

ollyb303 · Post by **ollyb303** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 7:59 am

you sound a bit confused...

i assume that the use of a SC is to make for example a bassline 'dip' when the kick 'kicks in'

and then

my problem is that when i use the Sidechain Compression on my bassline i can hear the drop of volume on it evrytime my drum kicks in

I don't see why that's a problem since you've correctly assumed that that's what was going to happen...

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:27 pm

blingstef wrote: so i am going to try playing the comp settings like snakedogman suggested for that case.
are there some other tricks?

Nope. That's the trick. Those dials are there to be twisted. The plug can hardly know your kick and bass sound and do the settings for you.

.m

blingstef · Post by **blingstef** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:43 pm

ollyb303 wrote: I don't see why that's a problem since you've correctly assumed that that's what was going to happen...

the problem is that I don't want to hear this drop of volume. I want the SC to act, but I don't want it to make my bass sound like i was messing around with the volume fader if you understand what i am trying to say.

blingstef · Post by **blingstef** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:46 pm

Lo-Fi Massahkah wrote: Nope. That's the trick. Those dials are there to be twisted. The plug can hardly know your kick and bass sound and do the settings for you.

.m

what i meant by that is: can i use some other effects or tools to achieve the same result which is ''crystal clear sound''?

djgroovy · Post by **djgroovy** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 10:15 pm

Mess around with the attack, release, threshold and ratio parameters until you get it sounding right. Try near zero attack, 20-35ms release, 2.5-3 ratio and -20 db as a starting point. Also you might want to try setting the dry/wet in the sidechain to 90% or so.

Superchibisan · Post by **Superchibisan** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 10:51 pm

what groovy said. less ratio = less volume change.

attack and release are very important too

obeyendevor · Post by **obeyendevor** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 2:29 am

this is a tip I use

when I am sidechaining a drumloop, I add a low pass filter to the audio that is going to the sidechain.

Undercover Soul · Post by **Undercover Soul** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 11:17 am

If you don't want side chain compression then just use a compressor. Thats pretty simple I think. What I think you mean is that you want the kick to have more presence, which means you need to get a handle on the eq and eq your bass and your kick so they are not hitting in the same frequencies.

stonee · Post by **stonee** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:45 pm

blingstef wrote:
ollyb303 wrote: I don't see why that's a problem since you've correctly assumed that that's what was going to happen...
the problem is that I don't want to hear this drop of volume. I want the SC to act, but I don't want it to make my bass sound like i was messing around with the volume fader if you understand what i am trying to say.

this isn't really what side chain compression is meant to do. if you put such a hard cut on your bass, you might get clicks, or it migh sound akward. if you want your kick to have more presence, right click your instrument, group it, then add a sub kick to it( something like an 808) then add a click to it( maybe a short burst of white noise cut off at 2-5k)

then, Highpass your bass off at 200 hz. this will stop the frequencies from competing in your system, and you should get a nice clear bass, with a good clear thud.

blingstef · Post by **blingstef** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:00 am

woooo so much tips here i will try them all for sure.
Thx for the answers, i have a good point where to start

stjohn · Post by **stjohn** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:04 am

another tip i like to use, is make another beat with a simple sample like a bassdrum or snare.. set the sidechain on the bass track, make a rhythm that suits your bassline and mute the beat..