Sidechaining is a production technique where an effect is activated by an audio track. The most common example is sidechaining a kick and 808 to dip the 808’s volume when the kick hits.
- Add an FL Limiter to the mixer channel that’s going to be controlled.
- Select the mixer channel you want to control the limiter.
- Right-click the send switch on the mixer channel with the FL Limiter.
- Select “Sidechain to this track.”
- Open the FL limiter and in the COMP tab change your sidechain parameter to “1”.
- Change the Threshold to half, max the KNEE and RATIO, and reduce the RELEASE.
- Your mixer channel is now sidechain – adjust the above parameter as desired.
Add The Limiter To The Channel To Be Sidechained
Select The Channel That Will Control The Sidechain
Right-Click The Send Switch On The Channel With The Limiter
Adjust The Limiter To Be Controlled By The Sidechain
Don’t be afraid to adjust these baseline settings to change the amount of sidechaining occurring.
I use these settings as a starting point. I typically will adjust the threshold first, then the attack/release knobs until I get the desired feel.
Example Of How The Sidechain Will Look
You’ll know the sidechain is working when your limiter looks similar to this. The dips that you are seeing in the picture below are the kick hitting and the 808 volume dipping.
Adjusting the threshold will determine how much volume is ducked.
Adjusting the attach and release will determine how fast the limiter will turn on and off.
Finally, the knee and ratio will determine how hard the limiter comes in, I generally keep these maxed and use the threshold for tuning the effect.
Don’t Forget To Set Your Channels
If these channels are not set you will not be able to get this technique working. Make sure you route them to the proper mixing channels.
In my example provided above my kick is on channel 1 and my sidechained 808 is on channel 2.
Summary
Many producers will sidechain their kick to their 808 so that the 808 will dip in volume when the kick hits. This allows the kick to punch through the mix and avoids conflicting frequencies.
There are debates about if you should or shouldn’t sidechain your kick and 808, but what it comes down to is what sounds good to YOU. There is no right or wrong answer.
Sidechaining can be used anywhere that you want one channel to affect the volume of another – it is not limited to just the kick and 808.
There are many times that producers will sidechain their rhythm section to the kick or a perc loop! The possibilities are endless, the main this is to experiment!