Ableton live contains hundreds of human grooves as well as the swing patterns from various hardware drum machines. Sidechain compression is most often triggered by the kick, as we can hear very clearly in make you feel. The sense of separation between kick and bass can often be further improved by rigging a ducker on the bass channel that is, a compressor whose side. Sep 03, 2015 sidechaining with a nonnative compressor. A quick look at how to use sidechain compression technique to make your bass pump with the kick in ableton. Then i eq it so i get rid of the clicks due to the gate opening and closing quickly. I also gate my sub to a midi signal that acts as the kicks ghost. Percussion and drum loops often provide cool rhythms that drive the filter in unique ways. How i finally learned to mix kick and bass landr blog. Ill be showing you how to sidechain your kick to your bass using abletons glue compressor. Its most often employed on basslines, automatically ducking the volume of the bass to let the kick drum through without muddying up the low end. Ableton gate full tutorial sidechaining, gated reverb, drum mic cleaning, vocal tail cleaning, and more. Well, on my kicks, i make the sub part of the kick as long as the actual kick itself.
Using a compressor, you can cause your base to drop in volume when the drums are hitting so that one is not overpowering the other. To rename a track choose the two keys command ctrl and r. Tags ableton ableton 9 ableton live ableton live software ableton live 9 ableton live 9 tutorial ableton live tutorial bass bass effects bass effects pedal bass pedals beat maker compression compressor edm electronic how to how to sidechain how to sidechain in ableton howto kick live musician sidechain sidechain compression sidechaining sound. Sidechaining is a great techniquethat allows you to create more space in your mix.
Todays article is a set of tips from experts on solving this exact issue. How to use sidechain compression in ableton black ghost. How to mix kick and sub bass in hip hop or edm tutorial in ableton live 9. When sidechaining sometimes i find the whole bass line a bit muddy.
How to sidechain bass with kick in ableton live youtube. Its something you can use in any genre and if youre a live user youll be happy to know its accessible to you too. Sound design instructor chris carter gives a tutorial in sidechain. Oct 22, 2019 sidechaining doesnt have to only be about bass. Part 1 concepts and history from pop to hiphop to sound design to heavy techno, sidechaining is an essential tool for modern production. Sidechaining is a way to duck down the volume of an audio track during the initial transient hit of the kick so that the kick sounds more impactful and your song will blend together better. Abletons compressor, gate, and auto filter all have side chaining capabilities.
Vintage compressor sidechaining in ableton live ni. Lets say you have a kick on track 1 in ableton live, and you have a bass instrument on track 2. Watch a tutorial on sidechain compression in ableton live 10. Which is the best vst plugin for side chain process. Create one track for your kick drum and one for the bass. In the mix you wont notice the bass ducking but you will notice the kick having. For a highly regarded and very expensive piece of gear, the manual is disappointingly vague on this lessthanobvious feature. Sidechain compression is a cornerstone technique for producers in a wide range of genres, particularly dance. Two minute ableton tip in this second part of a three part series, i will show how the sidechaining function on the auto filter works. Create two new midi tracks making one for side chain bass and one for side chain kick.
Part 3 in this tutorial we continue with part 3 of our series of production tips for deep house and techno production. Ableton lives auto filter effect provides classic analog filter emulation. In ableton live sidechain compression is very easy. By using three keys in ableton live, command ctrl, shift and t, you can create a short cut. You can route audio from lives compressor, glue compressor. Taking us through the setting up of your project, programming and grouping processing the drums, modulating the stab and arps to create real movement through to. The filter frequency can also be modulated by an envelope follower andor an lfo to create moving filter effects. Sidechain compression will save your bass beat production.
Oct 10, 2018 the following guide uses fabfilters promb multiband compressor inserted on a sub bass track. As you can see from the walkthrough, the possibilities of sidechaining are vast, especially when you consider the variety of plugins featuring sidechaining and the almost infinite number of sound combinations that can be used with them. The reason im using ableton s glue compressor instead of ableton. Ableton live 7 onwards introduced the new side chain enabled native compressor. Many people have a lovehate relationship with it due to the fact that its often overused, especially by newer producers. How to use sidechain autofilter effects in ableton. A kick drum can be used to reduce the volume of a bass instrument right as the kick hits. Sidechaining means modulation of the destination track with a source track e.
Heres a sideways look from frenchstyle edm compression, through to deessing and choppedup synth pads, theres a range of creative signal. If your bass just doesnt have enough intensity, try a doubled sub bass. Up to ableton live version 6, the software didnt include a compressor device with side chain input. Im no expert, but as i understand sidechaining, you use one signal say a bass drum to trigger an effect here, compression on another signal like your bass. The reason im using ableton s glue compressor instead of ableton s compressor is that i like the sound of the glue compressor more. The kick send outlined in yellow is prefader, so its level is independent of the kicks channel fader, and the send goes to the sidechainenabled gate. I normally have the sub bass below the kick drum and perhaps a second bass in the lower mids to make it phat.
Traditionally, sidechaining is using the signal from one source as the input for an effect on another. These genres, with their propulsive 44 time signatures, rely on a steadily pumping bass sound to keep people dancing. For an ultratight rhythm section, lock the bass to the kick so that you hear bass only when the kick hits fig. Sep 26, 2009 properly sidechainingsub basskick relationship. The earliest form of sidechaining was done by djs who wanted their voice to cut through a complete instrumental mix. I cut at 240hz340hz and boost at 800hz but sometimes i just cant find the point at all. No matter what you try, sidechaining allows you to finish your project with your kick and bass in the perfect place. Essentially sidechaining or ducking is where a compressor takes a feed from any audio source and uses this to create gain reduction. Sound design instructor chris carter teaches us how to set up sidechain compression in ableton live 10, and demonstrates some of the things you can then do with it. I dont understand why they want a sidechained stem. Drums by far the most common use of sidechain compression, sidechaining is often used to make drums, the kick in particular, shine especially when coupled with heavy synths, bass, and subbass. In addition, the envelope follower feature can track either the filtered input signal or an external sidechain source.
Its hard to tell what youre hearing because your neighbors have asked you to wear headphones, or your studio monitors arent properly acoustically treated. Side chain compression in ableton live 8 part 2 up to ableton live version 6, the software didnt include a compressor device with side chain input. Sidechain compression in ableton live is easy, so well try that first. A great example if this to keep the kick drum and bass form competing for the same space. Thats the easiest way to see the sidechaining in action. The human ear is better at discerning higher frequencies than lower frequencies, so it makes sense that. Whenever the kick hits, the bass dips in level to make more space for it. This week we look at sidechain compression and creating a great sounding synth. Side chain compression is an easy way to balance the base and the drums. And the bass guitar really melded into the track with the bass drum as the machine did all the work to sync the notes and highlight what you wanted to.
All ableton live apple logic pro avid pro tools imageline fl studio. The fact is that any instrument and any frequency can be boosted by sidechain compression, but the effect has become almost synonymous with bass frequencies in club music. Max graham studio quick tip 006 sidechaining bass in ableton. Sidechain compression aka ducking is used to create the pumping effects in dance music, or more subtly to allow one instrument to be heard over another. But i think its good to have the following thing in mind.
Sidechaining effects and adding atmosphere to a synth in ableton live one of the most important techniques to learn in music production is sidechain compression. That is really fascinating how the pad turned into a pattern that was synced with the bass drum after you set up the side compression. Nate raubenheimer aka protoculture is back with us once again this week taking a detailed look at one the most important aspects of electronic dance music kick and bass over these 20 videos nate shares his professional knowhow and indepth analysis of these vital elements of the frequency spectrum, which if you dont treat with respect, can ruin and muddy up your mix. How to sidechain with 3rd party plugins in ableton live.
A common scenario involves compressing a bass track sidechained to the drums. Some use sidechaining and ducking as identical terms, but i would differentiate them for clarity. The sidechaining process has become a popular and essential tool for many professional mix engineers, but how can we apply the technique in logic pro x. Getting a good balance between the kick and the sub bass is universally understood as being tedious.
By sidechaining the bass to the kick, we program the compressor to reduce the volume of the bass everytime that the kick comes in beats 14. How to sidechain bass with kick in ableton live distortion. With the bass solod, you can listen specifically to the kick coming into the sidechain by pressing the sidechain monitor button in the dyn3 plugin. Dec 16, 2015 the track you choose will govern the effect applied, depending on the plugin doing the sidechaining. Without question, the most popular application of sidechaining involves having other instruments fall in line behind the awesome power of the kick. You could also use this technique constructively to cleanup competing low frequencies between the kick and bass. Vince servers up another slice of dark melodic techno, with moody moog baselines, dirty detroit stabs and strings, techie trade mark 909 drums. Usually something sustaining like a synth pad or string line or maybe a heavy bass. Ill be using ableton live 10 to show you how to set everything up, but the same principles translate to your software of choice, as every daw has a compressor thats capable of sidechaining. This allows the sub to cut off exactly when then kick hits.
Try experimenting with different audio material as the external sidechain source. Ill be showing you how to sidechain your kick to your bass using ableton s glue compressor. This will provide your kick with more space in your mix, and result in a kick that is clean and punchy. Sound design instructor chris carter teaches us how to set up sidechain compression in ableton live 10, and demonstrates some of the things. This video walks you through step by step instructions for configuring your compressor to. Sidechain compression its also an interesting feature used in edm. These patterns can be thrown straight over the top of your programmed kick triggers, helping to give your sidechained parts a dose of human or mechanically swung feel. This guide looks at two methods used to setup sidechaining with thirdparty plugins in ableton live. Next, you can load up the presets, located on the side bar list, one a bass, and, then a basic kick drum by. Its a lot easier to fit a personalized 808 into your song instead of a sample. Head over to the audio effects and drop an instance of the compressor into your bass track. Even the kick itself seems to be swallowed, which suggests that perhaps flylo put a sidechain on the master an unorthodox but highly effective move. A common use is to sidechain bass, pads or samples to the kick for a pumping effect. How to use sidechain compression in ableton live mmmmaven.
The bass would have to be reduced to about 10db to have no impact. There are many reasons you would use sidechain compression as we. Bass channel kick channel classics with modulation happening only. With fl studio, sidechaining is builtinto several of the plugins, making itmuch easier to accomplish.
The most classic example is the use of a kick drum to duck other sounds like a pad or a bassline. Sidechaining wasnt just an effect, it was a creative choice to subvert expectations and make a track respire. Suppose you have an audio track in ableton live called bass that has the vc 76 inserted. A compressor set up for a track to duck a 909 kick drum in live 10. In house, techno, or hip hop, sidechain can be the difference between a kick struggling to breathe in the mix and a strong, heavy thump. James kicks things off by demonstrating how to set up ableton lives compressor for sidechain compression and offers tips to get better results. Sidechaining is one of those techniques that just keeps popping up. Something like sub bass 100hzhz kickdrum hz second bass i dont cut it completely, this is just the peaks. Heres how to use sidechain compression in ableton live. Synth sidechaining and adding atmosphere in ableton.
Learn how to create that pumping bass sound using sidechain with a kick drum. Just about any two sources can be used for this technique but i have gone for the traditional kick drum and synth combo. First, find a track that you think could use some sidechain compression. Learn the difference between a regular compressor and a sidechain compressor, and how to use sidechain compression in ableton live. The ultimate guide to sidechain compression in ableton live 9. Remember, the effect is about letting a certain instrument cut through the mix. How to use sidechain compression in ableton live youtube.
The track you choose will govern the effect applied, depending on the plugin doing the sidechaining. Sonic academy proudly presents how to make techno 2015 with vince watson in ableton. Learn the history and uses of sidechain compression in part 1 of abletons guide to this important but often misunderstood production technique. When this happens, the basslines volume is lowered temporarily. Heres a little compression trick you can use to free up a bit of space for both to live peacefully. Time to sidechain by strategically using a key input and sidechain you can have your kick. In this lesson a puppet discusses how to make your kick drum sit better with your 808 or sub bass in your. Does anyone have any tips on getting a good sidechain between the two. However, theres more to sidechaining than this, as these eight creative tips should prove to you. That can mean bass guitar, kick drum, or bass synthesizer. Even if you dont think you know it, youve heard it.
Worst thing that could happen is that you lose 5 minutes. This way, you wont hear the kick, but still get it to trigger the sidechain input, by selecting that bus as the sidechain input. Unfold the sidechain section with a triangle icon upperleft corner, activate sidechain button and select your kick track from the audio from drop down menu with your kick playing simple 4 x 4 pattern. How to mix kick and bass with protoculture tutorial 15. When this compression is applied to another audio signal rhythmic gain reduction can be heard. When this happens, the basslines volume is lowered. Rory seydel is a musician, writer and father who takes pleasure in touring the world and making records.
Lastly, a sidechain audio track to route the kick signal to promb. This post is part of a series called side chain compression in ableton live 8. Six sidechain compression alternative plugins dubspot. How to sidechain to kick in ableton with compression.
Try to put it in higher frequencies than your bass, then try it the other way round. Mar 11, 20 part 11 of 31 struggling to get your kick drum and bass guitar to both be heard in the mix. If you are completely inexperienced in compression, here is an excellent article on the topic. This video shows how to do audio side chain compression to improve your production audio mix. By strategically using a key input and sidechain you can have your kick drum triggering a compressor on the bass guitar, turning it down just a hair every time the kick drum hits. Discover how to sidechain a bass synth sound to a kick using ableton s drum racks and a drum loop utilizing the sidechain eq setting. I made a tutorial showing how to make 808 style bass sounds using operator. It allows you to mix your kick drumsand basslines in together without muddying the mixor creating too much bass. How to use sidechain compression in ableton black ghost audio. Sidechaining in ableton live sidechain compression is a very common tool in radio programs or radio advertisement when the presenter talks over a song, it gets automatically lowered so theres no need to manually fade down the volume.
I used ableton for this example, but the principles are the same in any daw. Sidechain compression explained what is sidechain compression. How much gain reduction do you need in the bass so the kick opens the bass line with no muddiness any equalization advise. Lets listen how the kick drum affects our bass sound now. Set audio to to the basslead track the one with guitar rig. Dont just kick it the kicking sidechain effect is perhaps a little overused now, so dont just stick to it.
Trying to perfect a kickbass mixdown and its going nowhere. Now lets turn on sidechaining for the chords, lead, and bass. How to make techno 2015 with vince watson in ableton live. The reason im using abletons glue compressor instead of abletons compressor is that i like the sound of the glue compressor more. The sidechain input in the compressor on the bass stem has been set to that same aux bus 1. Track setup for locking bass to drums in steinberg cubase. How to do basic sidechaining in ableton wonderhowto. If you are new to the technique or just have no idea what it is then read on and all shall be revealed in this short, easy to digest tutorial.
Try adding an instance of bf76 to the kick channel, and with the bass channel in solo, listen to how the bf76 on the kick changes the sound of the bass. Part 11 of 31 struggling to get your kick drum and bass guitar to both be heard in the mix. Ableton certified trainer craig mccullough shows you how to use the elusive technique of sidechaining in live to make things fit better and have that fitted type of sound. In addition to making room for the drums, sidechaining here also provides the track with a kind of bond it feels like the whole is more than just the sum of its. Ableton live features an external sidechain source chooser for several of its native devices. Preset junkie as well as creating bus routings from the send or output boxes of the channel strips in the mix or edit windows, you can edit all your busses from the bus page of the io setup window. In this mixing tutorial ben lindell explains everything you need to know about sidechain compression he demonstrates how to set up your tracks for sidechaining in pro tools but the concepts apply to any daw. Adding dynamics processors to the sidechain signal can be a cool and.