forums : Producing

Sidechaining...

Does anyone in here use this technique? If so, have u recieved good results from it? Explain?

Re: Sidechaining...

it can help your mix out a lot. basically you use a source (i.e. a kick drum) to trigger an effect like compression on a sub, so you don't get a big spike in your waveform when they both hit at the same time. this is kinda cool because you normally don't want to compress a sub, but not lowering the level when other elements in the same frequency range coincide will give you that nasty spike, potentiallly making your mix sloppy and harder to manage.

you can also sidechain gates to a source signal and use it as a trigger. using those in combination with reverb and other time-based effects yields some interesting results sometimes.

if you're using it in combination with other effects (i.e. filtering), you can get cool results... i dunno, the basic idea is you're triggering an event with another event. it's both a creative and utilitarian technique and is definitely worth knowing and experimenting with.

[ 4th_level - 13 Dec 2006 16:02 ]

Re: Sidechaining...

i wish i could sidechain in cubase sx

u can do it in reason

Re: Sidechaining...

anyone recommend some good articles on how to sidechain?

Re: Sidechaining...

POWWWWW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHfN9yeuoew

Now this is for Cubase SX 3, but I'm sure you can figure it out for other versions of SX

Others, tutorials are out there for Logic and others, so Google is your master now.

[ devoe - 13 Dec 2006 17:59 ]

Re: Sidechaining...

well i can explain how to do it in logic using sidechain compression is probably the most utilitarian function of sidechaining, so i'll explain that.

if your plugin is sidechain-able, there will be an option at the top of the plugin window (situated near the bypass button) where you can select a sidechain source. your source options are limited to audio tracks, busses, and inputs, if i'm not mistaken. i have to warn you, if you're using a compressor plugin, TURN OFF AUTO GAIN. otherwise you'll be in for a very loud and nasty surprise, and who REALLY needs extra hearing damage these days?

let's use the example i mentioned above: triggering gain reduction in your sub when the kick comes in. first, make sure your kick is isolated from the rest of your kit. you can do this one of 2 ways:

1) run individual drum hits off audio tracks. if you choose an audio track as your source, all you need to do is put some audio data on your kick track and your compressor plugin can receive sidechain signal from it.

2) use a multichannel exs24 to create a drum kit that outputs individual drum types to aux channels. in this instance, you would send signal from your kick i/o to a bus. turn off the output of that bus.

put the compression plugin on your sub channel and set the sidechain input. your attack and release settings will determine the length of time you wish to reduce the gain of your signal. you can probably set it pretty short, with the attack all the way down and release shortly thereafter, although it may pump a little more if you drag the release out a bit. the lower you set your threshold, the greater the severity of reduction (the more you will notice it).

the other stock plugins you can use sidechain with in logic are (i believe) EVOC Filterbank, EVOC trackoscillator (which is a vocoder), autofilter, gate and a couple other dynamic plugins, as well as exs24 and several other instruments. if you understand the routing concept behind sidechaining in logic, it shouldn't be too hard to transfer your knowledge to any of these other plugins.

**********
According to devoe ...

POWWWWW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHfN9yeuoew

Now this is for Cubase SX 3, but I'm sure you can figure it out for other versions of SX

Others, tutorials are out there for Logic and others, so Google is your master now.

**********

Re: Sidechaining...

how to do this in reason?

Re: Sidechaining...

Another one for SX 2 and higher!

http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.php?threadid=260089

Re: Sidechaining...

keep in mind that this is guesswork, because it's been a while since i've looked at reason, but i should be fairly accurate...

the compressor plugin has a sidechain input on the back of the unit (perhaps other effects have one too). you can connect that sidechain input to any CV output source from any other module and use it as a trigger. because of the way reason is set up, i would imagine you could probably get some weird effects, since you have CV output from a LOT of stuff on the back of your instruments (envelopes, LFOs, mod wheel, etc.).

**********
According to magnafide ...

how to do this in reason?
**********

Re: Sidechaining...

what are you using?

**********
According to soulidify ...

anyone recommend some good articles on how to sidechain?
**********

Re: Sidechaining...

that being said - what do i do to capture this sidechaining? where do i plug my cables to get the desired effect into the mixer?

do i put the audio cables on the unit or use audio cables with the compressor? i'm confused.

**********
According to 4th_level ...

keep in mind that this is guesswork, because it's been a while since i've looked at reason, but i should be fairly accurate...

the compressor plugin has a sidechain input on the back of the unit (perhaps other effects have one too). you can connect that sidechain input to any CV output source from any other module and use it as a trigger. because of the way reason is set up, i would imagine you could probably get some weird effects, since you have CV output from a LOT of stuff on the back of your instruments (envelopes, LFOs, mod wheel, etc.).

**********
According to magnafide ...

how to do this in reason?
**********
**********


[ magnafide - 13 Dec 2006 23:14 ]
[ magnafide - 13 Dec 2006 23:14 ]

Re: Sidechaining...

you would apply the compressor to the element you want to reduce in volume, normal insert signal chain (element output -> compressor -> mixer), as the compressor will affect the level of the signal going into the mixer.

to be clear, using an element (i.e. kick drum) as a trigger for sidechaining does not affect the element at all, that will sound normal. you'll hear a change in dynamics when the trigger hits, depending on the compressor settings.

[ 4th_level - 13 Dec 2006 23:39 ]

Re: Sidechaining...

get it pumpin

Re: Sidechaining...

theres also this


http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthread.php?threadid=260089&highlight=cubase+sidechain

Re: Sidechaining...

I was messin around with sidechaining the kick and the snare and it was pretty interesting how it came out, give it a shot, u might be suprised on what u get from it!!!

Re: Sidechaining...

DOA article printed

Technique will be emplemented

thanks Shook!

Re: Sidechaining...

the technique on doa for sx 2 is tricky.
anyone get it to work?
i dont have the c1 though.
only rennesaince bundle.
the renn channel offers sidechain but you can only select int, ext or pre eq...not this l/r feature.

Re: Sidechaining...

to sidechain in FL:

put your kick on a separate channel.
add a peak controller to the channel and uncheck "mute" in the bottom right hand corner.

put your bass on a separate channel, and add a parametric EQ.
right click the volume knob on the EQ and select link to channel -> peak controller-> peak.

Adjust base, volume and decay to taste.

Re: Sidechaining...

no need to go on doa with this much knowledge in the place... luv it! thanks guys!

in response to andy... using reason while learning logic.

Re: Sidechaining...

so i have the tc native bundle which they discontinued but the ver i have still runs fine under sx 2. i noticed that it actually includes an insert plug called sidechainer which u insert inot lest say the kick and insert the compressor / limiter into the bass and set the channel on the compressor to take incoming signal from the same channel as the sidchainer (which is on the kick) which in turn ducks yur bass when the kick hits.

that would be all good if it worked!

lol...

the option to set the key in channel on the compressor is greyed out

and i dont have the waves c1...
the waves renn comp desnt have the l/r key in feat. it has ext in for the sidechain but i cant seem to make that work either...