Quick Audio Tip #8

Are you looking for that “pumping” sound that you sometimes hear in electronic music, when the kick hits and other instruments drop out? That’s called side-chain compression. Here’s how you do it: Apply a bus send with no output to the kick, and turn it all the way up. Put a compressor on the bass (or whatever instrument you want to “duck” when the kick hits), with the side-chain going to the bus (this is a standard setting on some compressors). Squash the compressor heavily, playing with the release until it pumps in time, and use a soft knee. This definitely takes some tweaking, so be patient.