MALIK ARSHAQ
CREATIVE
SIDECHAINING
TECHNIQUES
Sidechaining is a production technique that is
used in a wide variety of music genres to achieve
different results . It is the process of using an
alternative audio source to trigger various
kinds of processors. The processor is activated
when the threshold set on it is exceeded by the
alternative source track. In this edition, we'll be
getting into how sidechaining can be used to get
various results that can used as mixing as well as
production techniques.
One of the most common examples of using this
technique is called Sidechain Compression.
In this technique, the compressor on a certain
track is triggered every time the track that it is
linked to exceeds the set threshold level. While
this might seem a bit overwhelming, it is a fairly
simple but powerful tool once you familiarize
yourself with it. Sidechain compression is used
heavily in electronic music where the kick has to
cut through the bass. This is done by sidechain
compressing the bass to the kick drum. This
results in the bass ducking every time the kick
drum punches in, giving it that rhythmic ducking
character. In heavier genres of music such as
metal, when there are intricate kick patterns
involved that need to pop out of the mix, it is not
uncommon to find yourself in a situation where
the bass and the kick are fighting each other.
Sometimes, this issue can resolved by sidechain
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compressing the bass to the kick drum. In this
case though, there shouldn't be a very obvious
ducking effect, therefore, it's important to make
sure that the gain reduction is just enough to help
the kick cut through a little more while the bass
is still present enough to make the mix sound full
and steady.
In certain mixes, you might have noticed that
in the chorus or the fuller sections of the song
where the vocals are the highlight, the guitars
take a step back, just enough for the vocals to fit
in perfectly. This can be done by sidechaining
the guitars to the vocals so that the guitars are
compressed enough to make to make space for the
vocals. A lot of engineers use these techniques while
mixing to achieve some great-sounding tracks.
Sidechaining is also heavily used while
producing tracks to get some unique effects. For
example, using a sidechained gate will open up
a track only when the track that is linked to the
gate exceeds a minimum threshold. Sidechain
gating a synth, for instance, to a snare pattern
that has been deactivated will make your synth
audible only when the snares hit, resulting in a
very interesting slicing effect while following the
same pattern. Sidechaining is a brilliant tool that
can be used for various applications that is only
limited by your imagination and creativity.