this is my first post so be gentle. ive been using project 5 version 2 for a bout 6 years now and have just gotten into sidechaining. ive pretty much figured it out except the bass track always muddies up the entire mix. i have a pad, bass, kick, snare/other percussion all on separate tracks (4) with a multiband compressor on the master and kick, and a sidechain compressor on an aux sending only to the kick. it all ducks perfectly until the bass comes in and screws it all up. I'm sure its an issue with the threshold on the master compressor but i just cant figure out how to get the kick to come through.
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yeah im trying to get it to pump with the kick like you said, an
yeah im trying to get it to pump with the kick like you said, and also get the bass not to duck (e.g. flying lotus' massage situation). kinda tricky. but the problem with losing the master compressor is it negates the ducking effect. maybe my programs weird but it seems like as long as i have that multi on the master the other tracks will duck and create the dynamics im looking for. btw im mixing the kick into this [[url=http://[/URL]="link removed slim slow slider Side Chain Compressor - Virtual Effect[/]="link removed slim slow slider Side Chain Compressor - Virtual Effect[/] not a multiband (those plugins are amazing by the way. 100 times better than the crappy defaults on my program). anyway i did what you said with the carving and, its an improvement, i just cant seem get the intense flying lotus style ducking. thanks for the help.
Lose the multi-band on the master: this is probably 'fighting' c
Lose the multi-band on the master: this is probably 'fighting' changes you make to the mix, and may well be robbing your kick drum of punch. I would suggest mixing with no compression at all on the mix bus, or if you really want to mix into a compressor use a good full-band design not a multi-band.
Regarding sidechaining: you didn't mention what you are trying to acheive. Are you trying to get the whole mix to pump in time with the kick? Or do you just want your bass to sit better in the mix?
Either way, it sounds like a basic mixing problem: you either need to change the bass sound (at source, or using EQ etc.) so it doesn't conflict with the rest of the mix, or you need to carve enough room in the rest of the mix to allow for the current bass sound... probably the best solution will be a combination of both. You should aim to have your mix about 90% right using conventional mixing techniques before pulling out the sidechaining tricks.
Welcome to the forum btw :smile: