Ableton Forum

OK - so I've been trying to get a bass line to duck for a kick. Both my kick and my bass were made in Simpler.

I set up a compression for the bass which I sidechained to the kick and then adjusted the compressor until I had a nice duck going on.

The problem is that when I have the bass line on 'solo' the compression has no effect and there's no duck. I've seen it done on tutorials where the guy can mute the kick and you still get that nice 'pump' in the bass line.

What am I missing?

Make sure the side chain on the compressor is set to Pre-fader. That should solve it for you.

...a muted ghost track with a kick as ducking signal will do it too,
and even on parts when the actual kick isn't effective.

Might like pumping all the time, and this will be the solution...

Quantize wrote:Make sure the side chain on the compressor is set to Pre-fader. That should solve it for you.

I don't see that option. I see Pre FX, Post FX, and Post Mixer. I'm using 8.2.1 - maybe that's from an earlier version?

simpli.cissimus wrote:...a muted ghost track with a kick as ducking signal will do it too,
and even on parts when the actual kick isn't effective.

I've done that, and it works well, especially if you want a consistent ducking even when the kick is inconsistent (or "on parts when the actual kick isn't effective"). Personally, I find it cumbersome to have to worry about constantly copying and pasting some muted ghost track just to keep my mix consistent.


Another option - and what I prefer to do - is to create a separate "OFF" clip for the kick. To make a clip "OFF", edit its clip envelope for the Track Volume, and just drag the whole thing down to 0. That clip is now muted in its channel but is still feeding into the sidechains. You have to make sure the sidechain on your compressor is not set to "Post-Mixer", or else that muting (which happens in the mixer stage) will affect the sidechaining.

Now you can have that throbbing, pulsing sound even when the kick isn't playing - because the kick actually is playing, but you can't hear it.

A useful trick to do with your "OFF" kick is to automate its pre-mixer gain to change how much is going into the sidechain, and therefore how much ducking is going on. The best way to do this is to toss a Utility effect on your kick (at the end of the effects chain) and automate the Gain parameter. This technique can be especially useful when building to a beat drop - you can make the throbbing sound slowly swell and fill out until the kick comes back and slaps it back down again.

After writing all that, I sure hope I understood your question correctly.

mescalinebanana wrote:

Quantize wrote:Make sure the side chain on the compressor is set to Pre-fader. That should solve it for you.

I don't see that option. I see Pre FX, Post FX, and Post Mixer. I'm using 8.2.1 - maybe that's from an earlier version

Post FX = Pre Fader, as after the FX there comes the fader

Thanks for the replies everyone, problem solved!

great info so far, but what about using the in/out in ableton to set up a audio channel as your sidechain channel and then sending the other channels (you want to duck) into that sidechain channel which has a compressor. i saw a tutorial on it and am still slightly unclear how it is properly done.. would you set the audio in (on the sidechain channel) to the Kick channel and then you have one master compressor that you can route any other channels that you want to duck on your kick??

i apologize if this makes no sense, still learning the 'proper' and best way to sidechain in ableton..

Your description pretty much nailed it. Although if you are using the compressor that comes with Live it is more flexible to add a new side chain compressor to each track you wish to duck. If using a 3rd party side chain compressor it can be set up by doing the following:

Set up one audio track as the side chain group and add a side chain compressor. Send the kicks audio out to the compressor (an option will appear on the kick track) and then route any audio from the other tracks that you want ducked to that group.

The above method is a practical way of doing things in a DAW that does not have a compressor utilising the direct side chain input that Lives compressor has.

Quantize wrote:Your description pretty much nailed it. Although if you are using the compressor that comes with Live it is more flexible to add a new side chain compressor to each track you wish to duck. If using a 3rd party side chain compressor it can be set up by doing the following:

Set up one audio track as the side chain group and add a side chain compressor. Send the kicks audio out to the compressor (an option will appear on the kick track) and then route any audio from the other tracks that you want ducked to that group.

The above method is a practical way of doing things in a DAW that does not have a compressor utilising the direct side chain input that Lives compressor has.

awesome man, thanks so much ! you da man ~

I'm just glad it made sense!!

if you mute the channels you don't want to hear instead of soloing the tracks you want to hear, all the side chains remain active

gabochon wrote:if you mute the channels you don't want to hear instead of soloing the tracks you want to hear, all the side chains remain active

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