Tech Tip: Side Chain Compressio

n / Ducking

Recently we discussed the use of side chains inserts and gates. Today I would like to discuss the use of side chain inserts and compression.
Many times I have had trouble getting the kick and snare to stand out in some mixes. Usually because some of the other instruments are taking up the same sonic real estate. What if you could tell certain instruments to get out of the way when those drums hit? If we could some how do this we could get those kicks and snares to pop out in all of those mixes that need it.

Here’s how we do it:
We need to somehow send the kick or snare signal to the side chain/key insert of a compressor. This is usually done using the direct output of the kick or snare channel, but can be done using auxiliary sends or busses on your console as well.
Insert the compressor into the channels of the instruments you want to get out of the way. I have also done this before by inserting the compressor/s into an available buss then routing the instruments, usually bass and keyboards, to that buss.
Dial up the compressor to a fairly musical setting. I usually set a fairly fast attack and a release that gets us back to 0 before the next hit. This causes the submissive instrument to pump, creating a pocket for the drums to sit in.

By sending the signal to the compressor using an auxiliary output, and compressing your submissive instruments on a buss, you can send multiple drums to one compressor, or you can take advantage of stereo compression.

So what we’re doing here is having the drums tell the compressors when to compress the submissive instruments.
I usually only compress instruments that are taking up the same sonic space as the drums. A lot of engineers who use this technique will usually just compress the bass guitar to create a pocket for the kick. Sometimes I will add this to keyboards, but almost never to guitars.
A lot of engineers will just compress instruments to make them appear to be louder, taking away their dynamics, so that they can stand out in their mixes. But this technique adds dynamics and creates a space for the drums allowing them to stand out without turning them up.

Now go take advantage of this cool trick and impress the ladies with your nerdiness.....

For some more cool ideas in SideChain compression check out the review of the Waves C6 MultiBand Compressor.

http://www.capsicumpro.com/waves-c6-multiband-compressor-review.html