Side-chaining... useful?

C

CMB Studios

New member
Hey everyone,

I've recently been side-chain compressing kick and bass and so far I'm enjoying the results and can tell it really frees up the kick quite a bit.

Downsides that i should know about? my impression is if its done right and tastefully it can really clean up a mix.

Tyler
 
It can be useful but I find it more and more UN-necessary, if your 1 kick dosent have punch...why route/double/duplicate track for an additional kick. Just comp the 1 kick you have a little more. Question is not useful cause it can be the argument is, is it necessary? If your gain staging correctly you wont need parallel comp. I think people just do it cuz the technique has New York In it :confused:
 
no interest in NY lol...

and i think its useful because a muddy mix comes from shared information on an EQ spectrum ... an OVER-sharing even if you will...

So far i've learned it really helps clean up some of the mud without altering that apparent sound you're hearing.

I don't think mixing is as simple as "if you're kick doesn't have punch than just up the volume or 6k range" i think this will yield a muddier mix instead of exploring other options, such as ducking.
 
I think he thinks that you are doing the parallel processing thing with the kick, rather than what you describe with side chaining the kick to a compressor for the bass so that the bass is turned down a bit each time the kick drum sounds.
 
I like to use the side-chain to get the pumping effect, in terms of improving a mix usually i will throw the kick and bass on the same bus and apply compression to "glue" them together, if your getting mud from the kick and bass (ie. cant hear the bass notes clearly) i would recommend some eq over side-chain. Let the kick have the really low for the punch and give the bass the lower-mids
 
As with all processing, sidechaining a compressor on the bass to be triggered by the kick will have side effects. Whether or not you will feel they are useful, drawbacks or downsides will depend on your taste and the type of music you are doing

A few examples might be:
This effect will make the bass pump (come in and out).That can be great for electronic dance type music but would sound a little weird for classic rock for example
Depending on the type and amount of compression as well as the settings you use you may end up with artifacts such as distortion on the bass track
It will weaken the bass track on kick hits, which could be an impact if it is a rhythmic or even a melodic driver in the piece

It's one of those "if it works, it works. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work" scenarios and your ears are the best guide as to when or where it might work for you

The other techniques mentioned in this thead, Parallel (or NY Compression, Dupicating a track (often drums but could be anything), compressing it hard and blending it back in with the original) and Bus Compression (sending the kick and bass in this case to a bus and compressing them both) are very different techniques and will have very different outcomes from sidechaining bass compression to the kick
 
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I have found side chain compression useful for ducking lead guitar when vocals come back in, but this can easily be done with volume automation as well.
 
Adam Tocholke said:
I like to use the side-chain to get the pumping effect, in terms of improving a mix usually i will throw the kick and bass on the same bus and apply compression to "glue" them together, if your getting mud from the kick and bass (ie. cant hear the bass notes clearly) i would recommend some eq over side-chain. Let the kick have the really low for the punch and give the bass the lower-mids
Click to expand...

nope, i have zero problem with EQ and can certainly hear the bass notes clearly :P ... however ducking can free up space that EQ just can't... EQ and volume are a completely different ball game.
 
jonny deep said:
I have found side chain compression useful for ducking lead guitar when vocals come back in, but this can easily be done with volume automation as well.
Click to expand...

I'm loving this too. Recently got into it from reading Mike Seniors book.
 
I'll use it more for the creative side of it....makes thing pumping and experimenting with some triggering (using a gate i.e). But as for making space for the kick or the bass, sure it can help, but it's gonna be the last thing I may use, after eq, comp, and multiband comp.

The danger I see with this technique, is to come up with something to surgically "clean". I don't always want that max. separation between kick and bass that sidechain can produce. But I understand that for Dance music or a super busy rock mix it's a useful technique.
As an alternative, sometimes I'll work with a multiband comp. on kick and bass and I adjust in a different ways the attack and release of each (for the lows and low mids) to make these 2 tracks sharing the space better.
 
mindsound said:
I'll use it more for the creative side of it....makes thing pumping and experimenting with some triggering (using a gate i.e). But as for making space for the kick or the bass, sure it can help, but it's gonna be the last thing I may use, after eq, comp, and multiband comp.

The danger I see with this technique, is to come up with something to surgically "clean". I don't always want that max. separation between kick and bass that sidechain can produce. But I understand that for Dance music or a super busy rock mix it's a useful technique.
As an alternative, sometimes I'll work with a multiband comp. on kick and bass and I adjust in a different ways the attack and release of each (for the lows and low mids) to make these 2 tracks sharing the space better.
Click to expand...

why would you multi a single track!? 0.o
 
CMB Studios said:
why would you multi a single track!? 0.o
Click to expand...

Because, you can see multiband comp. as a time-dependent eq. For example, I may want to low shelf all the sub 75 on a bass track for the attack duration (in the case it is well locked to the kick) and then having those freq. coming back (according to the release setting) between the kick attacks. I can do the same kind of thing, but different settings on the kick track. It'a all about what I want more of these 2 tracks at the attack and envelope "times" (of course, in m.sec.) if I can say that. That's how sometime, depending on the arrangements and the recording, I carve space for bass and kick in a mix.
Hope I'm clear.
 
i agree with midsound - I use it for creative effects. Sometimes i would side chain plain white noise with a straight kick and run a chorus effect over it.
 
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