Sidechain Compression in FL?

[TeraCMusic]

Hey, everyone! I've finally made the complete switch to FL and I'm trying to make a theme song for my boyfriend for his birthday. I get the whole sidechaining thing, but I have the pad and ghost kick the only things playing in the beginning and I can still technically hear the kick. 

 

Listen to the first 30 seconds, and you should be able to hear a kick-like clicking sound still occurring 

https://soundcloud.com/teracmusic/theme-song/s-Qamdj

 

I know it sounds fine once an actual kick comes in and all, but is there a way to get the cool "pumping" effect without the harsh clicking evident in the link? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I've had FL for a while, but I am happy that I am finally starting to get used to it. Baby steps... 

 

 

-Tera

[Nabeel Ansari]

Seems as though there's a sharpness in the side chain compression, giving the duck its own sort of reverse transient.

 

Have you tried playing with attack and release knobs a bit?

[timaeus222]

Yeah, the kick's there. So you wanted a silent kick on this? What you can do is link the kick drum to the bass track, do the sidechaining you did here (choose the kick as the sidechaining source on a limiter in the bass mixer track, lower the threshold to maybe 9:00, and raise the threshold to maybe 2:30), and mute its sending to the Master. If it still sounds like this after doing that, then I don't think it's a product of your kick somehow still being audible. Can you screenshot your limiter on your bass track?

[TeraCMusic]

Seems as though there's a sharpness in the side chain compression, giving the duck its own sort of reverse transient.

 

Have you tried playing with attack and release knobs a bit?

Just tried to fiddle around with the attack/release of the envelope and threshold/ratio of the loudness in the Limiter, and it sounds MUCH better. I still feel like there are some clicks here and there, but that might just be my paranoia lol https://soundcloud.com/teracmusic/theme-song-better-side-chain/s-K9lbn

 

Yeah, the kick's there. So you wanted a silent kick on this? What you can do is link the kick drum to the bass track, do the sidechaining you did here (choose the kick as the sidechaining source on a limiter in the bass mixer track, lower the threshold to maybe 9:00, and raise the threshold to maybe 2:30), and mute its sending to the Master. If it still sounds like this after doing that, then I don't think it's a product of your kick somehow still being audible. Can you screenshot your limiter on your bass track?

Hi Timaeus Just a ghost kick during the first 30 seconds, then the actual kick comes in (ghost kick is still active of course). I want to send you a screenshot of the Limiter but I'm not sure how to do so... this forum update is awesome yet confusing  

[timaeus222]

Heyyyyy!

 

Naw, the clicks are gone! Are those the default FL kick/snare later on? =P I think you should layer the drums with some punchier layers to rise above the deep bass, and try finding a new limiter. RIght now the whole track is getting pushed down a bit much by the limiter, at least until 1:22 (but that's because there are less elements there). I'd suggest TLs-Pocket Limiter; it's simple, but I've yet to use a different one!

[lazygecko]

If you just want to do the pumping rhythm thing I actually find sidechaining to be a kind of roundabout way of doing it. Instead I just create a volume automation clip that is 1 step long and just duplicate it. The curve between the two points can be visually altered to change the character which I find a lot more intuitive than relying on a mixture of kick sound and compressor settings.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Use FL Peak Controller to create tighter gates, if you want.

If you want to learn how to get a sidechained pad with ghost kick properly, look at the intro of FL 9 demo song "Just Hold On". The flp file should be in "Cool Stuff". He uses a sidechain limiter as well. Take note of how loud the kick is relative to the pad, how "long" the kick sample is, and the attack, release, and threshold/ratio.

 

Right now, I'm not really getting the ghost kick pad vibe from your intro; it simply sounds like a pad with a tremolo effect on it. When it ducks down, it should be near to completely silent, and then rise back up timed to the offbeat (so if you count "1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and", the pad should only be heard during the "and").

[TeraCMusic]

If you just want to do the pumping rhythm thing I actually find sidechaining to be a kind of roundabout way of doing it. Instead I just create a volume automation clip that is 1 step long and just duplicate it. The curve between the two points can be visually altered to change the character which I find a lot more intuitive than relying on a mixture of kick sound and compressor settings.

Okay, I'll try that later! Thanks so much

[TeraCMusic]

Use FL Peak Controller to create tighter gates, if you want.

If you want to learn how to get a sidechained pad with ghost kick properly, look at the intro of FL 9 demo song "Just Hold On". The flp file should be in "Cool Stuff". He uses a sidechain limiter as well. Take note of how loud the kick is relative to the pad, how "long" the kick sample is, and the attack, release, and threshold/ratio.

Right now, I'm not really getting the ghost kick pad vibe from your intro; it simply sounds like a pad with a tremolo effect on it. When it ducks down, it should be near to completely silent, and then rise back up timed to the offbeat (so if you count "1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and", the pad should only be heard during the "and").

I'll check out the demo song for sure! And yeah, it isn't sounding as nice as I want, mainly because I was trying so hard to silence the ghost kick that is supposed to be silent lol. I'll see what I can do!