It’s important to remember that humans like to focus on one thing at a time. If the bass is conflicting with the kick hits when they play at the same time it can make an otherwise powerful kick drum sound weak.
They usually inhabit approximately the same frequency range so they have a tendency to conflict with each other when they play at the same time.Ĭommonly, the bass is playing somewhat continuously while the kick plays intermittently. However, the two components usually conflict with each other in the low end as well. Typically, for this reason the kick drum and bass are left alone to this region. As discussing n the article Low-End Mixing Techniques, low frequency instruments take up an enormous amount of space in a mix. The most common use of sidechain compression is on the kick drum and bass. Let me give you an example for more clarity. Hopefully, Ive explained this well enough. So you see, TRACK 1 will be compressed only when TRACK 2 reached a certain level. Once the compressor is triggered on it will perform compression on Sidechain Group (which is the output of TRACK 1). However, if TRACK 2 exceeds the threshold then the compressor will be triggered on. In this case, it doesn’t matter how high or low TRACK 1 is because the compressor is not monitoring TRACK 1. The sidechain input is what the compressor will read to trigger the threshold. However, we will select the sidechain option of the compressor (To be detailed soon) and set up a different track (TRACK 2) as the sidechain input. Therefore, we will be compressing the output of TRACK 1. The reason we have done this is so that we can place a compressor on the Sidechain Group. The Sidechain Group will receive its input from TRACK 1 and it will output to the master bus. For this situation we are going to send the output to a new group track that we will call the ‘Sidechain Group’. In the previous case, let’s say the output of TRACK 1 was to the master bus. Now, all of what I just said is also true of sidechain compression, except for a couple of minor differences. If TRACK 1 never exceeds the threshold then the compressor is never triggered and compression never actually happens on TRACK 1. It is only activated once the threshold is exceeded. You can set all of the compressor knobs you want but it’ll never mean anything until TRACK 1 exceeds the threshold level. In the case of normal compression, you apply compression to a track (TRACK 1). In fact, everything will remain the same except what’s triggering the threshold. Sidechain compression is just a minor tweak to what you already know about compression.
Now that I’m comfortable you have a solid grasp of compression basics I’m going to tell you how to expand your knowledge to obtain even more awesome results using the same techniques you already know how to use.
This is the last note of caution you’ll receive. This article will assume that you already have a solid grounding in the concepts of compression, so if you don’t please catch up now. Once you’ve practiced a lot and have a good feel for compression, only then will you be servicing yourself by reading this article. Familiarity of plugins is key when doing dynamics processing on your tracks.
Make sure to get a lot of practice using just one compressor to gain a lot of familiarity. If you don’t like your DAW’s compressor, here’s an example of a great third party compressor that comes at a good price, Waves Renaissance Compressor ( – $49.99). Once you’ve internalized the compression guide you’ll need to apply the techniques you learned to your songs using a compressor of your choice. For a thorough grounding in compression, check out the article, Mixing With Compression: A Beginner’s Guide. It’s imperative that you understand what a compressor is normally used fo before you expand your knowledge to other realms. If you don’t understand the basics of compression, or how to use a compressor, I assure you this article will be a waste of your time.