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standard network rates apply Advanced Technique Sidechaining in Logic Pro 8

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Sidechaining in Logic Pro 8 S

Logic Pro features native sidechaining out of the box and Apple’s implementation of this feature is now seamless. Mo Volans shows you how to use it to its full potential.

idechaining is currently a very popular topic of conversation among producers and musicians from all genres. A quick glance at any production-orientated internet forum is likely to produce at least a

couple of posts about sidechaining technique and the best processors and applications for the job. This could lead one to believe that sidechaining is a new phenomenon introduced by software developers reasonably recently. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sidechaining has been around for literally decades and has been in the sound engineer’s book of tricks for just as long. Many vintage dynamics processors – and plenty of modern ones too – have a ‘key input’. This is an input specifi cally for the purpose of sidechaining and ducking. It is true that this feature has only recently become available in some DAWs, though Logic has had this area covered for some time.

There is a widespread misconception that sidechaining is ducking and vice-versa. This misconception is mainly due to the massive popularity of ducking bass lines in

sidechaining has been in the sound engineer’s book of tricks for literally decades .

Power Tip

When you’re using sidechain compressors to achieve classic ducking and pumping effects you may get some wayward, rogue transients in the mix. This is sometimes due to large amounts of gain reduction either side of a large transient in your treated sound. You can even things out by applying some limiting directly after your sidechain compressor. Don’t apply too much, though, or you will iron out the ducking effect.

some forms of modern music. Many producers see ducking as the only use for sidechaining and tend to overlook its other possible applications – yet ducking itself can be applied to FX busses, vocals and even percussion, and can be much more versatile than you might imagine. What is a sidechain? First of all, it’s worth looking at what sidechaining actually is. This will help to clarify what it can be used for and how you can implement it within Logic Pro.

A sidechain is essentially a duplicate of an audio stream, routed to a required destination. In most cases, this routed signal is only used to trigger a parameter within the chosen processor; it is usually never actually heard again in the mix. A sidechain, therefore, could best be described as something half way between a send and an insert.

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MusicTech Focus Logic Pro 51