Creative Sidechain Compression Techniques You Should Know

 If you delve deep into the world of sound engineering, you may come across the term “Sidechain compression.” Sidechain compression does an excellent job of making your bass and kicks sound incredible. Only having the right software tool for sidechain compression is not enough, but knowing the right tips on how to sidechain bass or kick is also essential. Every kick in electronic music matters and should sound punchy. Here are some useful tips on making your kick and bass ground-shaking with the help of sidechain techniques.

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Adjust the Intensity of Bass

In the electronic genre, it is important to keep in mind that your music should be as clear as possible. Bass and kick are of almost the same type, so they can’t be heard clearly if both are played together. Whenever you are mixing bass and kick, always keep the intensity of bass low whenever the kick hits. If both bass and kick are high, the kick won’t sound punchy. The same case applies to every instrument that is loud at the time when the kick hits. The bass should go down when the kick hits. The rule is generally followed by all the professionals. You must try out the tip. It will make your mix sound professional.

Sidechain Synth, Hi-hats, and Snares

Some instruments that make shrill sounds may make your mix sound dull. Synth or loud melody lines may sometimes ruin all your composition. Sidechain these instruments. Hi-hats and loud snares may sometimes sound dull. Make sure to keep the sound of such instruments at a low level according to your taste.

Make Kick Ground-Shaking

To make your kick sound clean and punchy, use the Compressor and Equalizer on the bass part of the kick. While you apply EQ to kick, always make sure that kick does not create distortion. There are a few reasons why your kick does not sound clean and punchy. If you are using samples to create music, use them only if they are in high-definition quality. If your samples don’t sound good even after mastering, this may be the reason for your poor-quality samples.

Keep Vocals at the Right Level

After you have gone through the process of mastering all the instruments, now is the time to mix vocals properly. Some find it difficult to align vocals with music. Bass suppresses the voice whenever it comes. When vocals are more important to listen to, you can duck bass and boost the vocal sound. This technique is usually ignored by most sound engineers. You can try out this technique for better mixing. A song is not a song without vocals, so keep vocals at the right level so that your vocals align with music and bass.

Sidechain the loud Instruments

Keeping the loud instrument at the right level makes your music sound worth listening to. Sometimes, loud instruments can sound dull on home speakers or phone speakers. A phone speaker is mono, so mix a track in a professional way so that your song doesn’t sound rough when it is played on home speakers or phone speakers.

Sidechain compression plays a key role and adds energy to the music. You can apply the tips mentioned above and unleash your creativity.