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Sidechain compression -- need good practical guidelines about this confusing topic!
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| Dance123 |
Hi,
I kinda understand the general idea behind sidechain compression, ie. that one signal (like a kick) can make another signal "duck". I did a forum search and only came up with confusing bits and bytes of info that are more "hit and miss" then anything else, so therefore I was hoping that everybody here with the knowledge and experience could give some good practical, hands-on guidelines for beginners on how to use sidechain compression in different situation when doing trance or house production.
Things I really would like to know:
1/ which sidechain compressor plugin(s) do you recommend to begin with (make sure it works with Cubase, etc.. so no FL-only stuff)
2/ for which type of tasks can it be used, like kick on bassline, perc loop on pad, the entire mix, the Eric Prydz sound, etc..
3/ which settings do you recommend as a starting point for each of those tasks.
3/b/ How do you setup your compressor that different volume inputs give different results or can sidechain compressors only work "on/off". I have always wondered about how this work and how to set this up in practice!
I hope people can help with the above numbered questions and other things I even forgot to mention! Perhaps somebody can write a tutorial about it with audio examples like this has been done here before regarding other topics. Thank alot to all of you who want to contribute to this! :) |
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| Storyteller |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dance123
Hi,
I kinda understand the general idea behind sidechain compression, ie. that one signal (like a kick) can make another signal "duck". I did a forum search and only came up with confusing bits and bytes of info that are more "hit and miss" then anything else, so therefore I was hoping that everybody here with the knowledge and experience could give some good practical, hands-on guidelines for beginners on how to use sidechain compression in different situation when doing trance or house production.
Things I really would like to know:
1/ which sidechain compressor plugin(s) do you recommend to begin with (make sure it works with Cubase, etc.. so no FL-only stuff)
2/ for which type of tasks can it be used, like kick on bassline, perc loop on pad, the entire mix, the Eric Prydz sound, etc..
3/ which settings do you recommend as a starting point for each of those tasks.
3/b/ How do you setup your compressor that different volume inputs give different results or can sidechain compressors only work "on/off". I have always wondered about how this work and how to set this up in practice!
I hope people can help with the above numbered questions and other things I even forgot to mention! Perhaps somebody can write a tutorial about it with audio examples like this has been done here before regarding other topics. Thank alot to all of you who want to contribute to this! :) |
1. I don't use any of those plugins. I think my sequencer won't even support them. I draw sidechain-like automation by hand if I want it.
2. you've just mentioned them. Just use them where you feel it is necessary.
3. There is no better starting point than a clean patch which is in fact a bypass at first.
3b. How about using different threshold's and ratio's?
The height of the volume peak will not determine the ammount of compression normally. However if you can find a sidechain compressor with a soft knee it will respond to the height of the volume peak up to a certain extent.
It seems to me you know what sidechain compression is about... I also get the feeling this is another way of asking: Hey what is the best preset I can use to get my music to sound cool?
Just experiment and observe the changes when twiddling the knobs. |
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| dj_kane |
| quote: | Originally posted by storyteller
1. I don't use any of those plugins. I think my sequencer won't even support them. I draw sidechain-like automation by hand if I want it. |
interesting! never heard of this before. would you be able to give a demonstration if possible how you do this? thanks. |
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| Storyteller |
just draw a volume automation on the desired channel up and downwards and you're good :P
Draw downwards on the moment you need the duck. and upwards again as soon as the ducking is unnecessary. |
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| Dance123 |
Something I wanted to add:
Is it true that it's really difficult to set up sidechain compressors in Cubase SX 1 and 2 and what about SX3?! |
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| -mk- |
| quote: | Originally posted by Storyteller
just draw a volume automation on the desired channel up and downwards and you're good :P
Draw downwards on the moment you need the duck. and upwards again as soon as the ducking is unnecessary. |
Volume control for dummies :rolleyes: |
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| Storyteller |
yeah... Oh well it works :)
Not being able to use side-chain is the only minus I can think of in my 50Euro sequencer (Renoise). I actually never even tried if the plugins do work. I'm lazy and have some nice ducking curves preprogrammed for these cases. |
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| dj_kane |
| cheers ill have a look storyteller. |
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| -mk- |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dance123
Something I wanted to add:
Is it true that it's really difficult to set up sidechain compressors in Cubase SX 1 and 2 and what about SX3?! |
Umm.. No. You just need a plugin that supports this feature. For example: "Voxengo Crunchessor"<-(btw a good buy at $39.95) "TC Native Bundle Compressor".. + many others. Which have been around for ages..
It's an urban legend :)
Sidechain compression isn't actually what you hear on most tracks out there. It's just volume control.. oh well, thats what compression is. |
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| richg101 |
hey there....
cubase is quite complex to sidechain on until shown the easy way.
firstly download the 'sidechain compressor' google it.. its a red one and is free.
now make your bass and kick channels... (in stereo)
play your bassline and set your kicks in the right places..:)
now the kick might be fighting with the bass when they both play together right?
lets sort it out then..
first make an exact copy of your kick channel(so you have two running at once)
make a stero group channel.
go to mixer... and...
pan your new copied kick channel full left
and...
pan your bass channel full right
now set the outputs of the bass and the kick to 'group 1' (change it from 'stereo out' to 'group 1' in the little black window above the pan thingy)
now...
insert the 'sidechain compressor' you downloaded for free into your group channel you made.
there it is. the compressor should be sidechaining your bass from the trigger of your new copied kick channel. just play with the comp settings till it works how you want... just keep the far right hand knob turned fully down. this is the volume control for your new copied kick..
hope this helpd some people out:) |
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| Dance123 |
Thanks for the info, however 3 additional questions:
1/ with the above guidelines, does that mean that your bassline will sound panned right then?? :conf:
2/ am I understanding it right that with that free 'sidechain compressor' the concept is that the left channel (kick) works on the right channel (bass). Is that how sidechain compression normally works. I thought that you always needed 2 seperate audio tracks for sidechain compressing to work and use send on the kick channel etc.. I mean, that's what I read everyhwere. Is this plugin an exception compared to most other compressors with sidechain or how is that?
3/ you mention that the kick and bass tracks need to be STEREO. Why is that. I mean why won't a mono kick on a mono track not work in sidechain compressing?!!
4/ could you PLEASE give the url to that free sidechain compressor cause I searched with google but can't find it!!!
I hope you can help with these questions! Thanks! :) |
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| chillsonic |
| quote: | [i][b]
4/ could you PLEASE give the url to that free sidechain compressor cause I searched with google but can't find it!!!
Thanks! :) |
i searched for quite some time as well (all links dead). if you could put it on ysi or mu, or anything, that'd be very much appreciated. i'd like to mess around with some sounds as well. thanks. |
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