Kick and Bass Side Chain Compression

You hear how side chain compression is used for mostly drum and bass and house music to add a pumping effect between the bass and kick. I am going to show to the benefits of using this technique in your band recording also. Side chain compression is technique used mostly in house music with a bass line and kick drum. The compression of an element will be triggered by another one using an insert in the compression element you choose.

I found this really great explanation on exactly how side chain compression works and a diagram to help put it into context (Mclain, 2014)

Last year I had the pleasure of working with a band called The Jang, They were a total delight to work with despite some issues while recording. One of these issues was on the first session they rocked up with out a bass amp so we had to improvise. We decided to use a DI to record the bass. I wasn't too confident with this as I had never used a DI for bass before so I wasn't aware of the pros and cons of this. I did a quick google and from what I could see it was all g to gain stage as I would a miced up amp. The first thing I did notice though was the tone. There was no resonance or much warm tone it was very gritty and sharp sounding. I left it as is for the takes and decided I would be able to deal with it later.

I was looking up ways in which I could improve the dynamic and pulse as the DI really killed the vibe of it. I firstly EQ'd the bass and the added a compression. I set the attack to fast as the bass player played with a pick so the phrasing was quite punchy. So after EQ'ing the track I then looked up how to mix the bass with the kick drum thinking that there would be something to at least be able to blend them together to create some groove and vibe. I had used side chain compression in some dancier tracks and EMP but never for a studio recording. It worked really well and I will now walk you through the steps to achieve this pumping bass effect in a band setting. This technique is used mostly in this mix to clean up the bottom end of my band mix. There was a lot of bass that came through and I wanted something to blend and add some push to the bassier tones (Raw Technique Studios, 2017).

So, you have recorded a band with a heap of microphones likely you have a) more than one kick drum track and b) they have bleed from other drums. First thing first is to EQ the kick drum.

This is the EQ I used fro the 'kick in'. I have boosted the low end frequencies at 5ohz and around 300hz. I cut the high frequencies at 2 k to get rid of the tinniness of the hats thats was spilling in.

This is the EQ I used for the 'kick out'. This track had more spill form the hats and snare but had a better tone over all. So I didn't want to get rid of any of the mid range frequencies so I just cut the high's from 5k. To blend the two together I boosted at 60 and 300HZ like the other 'kick in'.

Now you have slightly tidier kick drums to work with you can start to set up your side chain compression.

1. Create an Aux track and call it 'KICKS' (or something similar). Send the output of this AUX to you 'DRUM BUS' (assuming your session is set up this way. If not juts add to the drum group).

2. make the send on your two seperate kick channels to the 'KICKS' AUX you juts set up.

3. Insert a compressor of your choice on to the BASS DI channel. I have used the D3 in protools for this example as it is the most visual to see how the side chain works.

4. set the key input on the compressor to the 'KICKS' bus that you made

5. Engage the 'SIDE-CHAIN' but activating the 'Key' as the input.

Now that your side chain is set up you can play with the settings to see how much of the 'pumping' effect you wish to engage. As I was using this technique to just clean up the bottom end of the mix and add some depth to the bass. This technique will make the bass dip in volume slightly as the kick is engaged. So I set my attack as fast and my ratio to around 12 o'clock along with the knee (recording revolution, 2013).

Here is the final comparison between the side chained track and the effected track. You can hear the dip in volume in the second track as the kick hits. This will just tidy up the over all mix and even in this little loop you can hear the separation it gives the bass and kick drum.

I hope this was helpful! I am going to use this technique all the time when I need to DI bass I think it makes a huge difference.

You can also push the threshold on the compressor if you want to really REALLY hear the compression working with the kick drum! Give that a go as well if you are unusual if the compressor is having the effect you thought it would so you can really hear it.

REFERENCES:

Benediktsson, B. (2019). Quick and Effective Guide to Drum EQ For Better Home Studio Drums. Retrieved from https://www.audio-issues.com/music-mixing/drum-eq-guide/

Side Chain Compression - Make the Bass and Kick Fit Together. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNleZdHKoPo

Kick And Bass Sidechain: 5 Minutes To A Better Mix - TheRecordingRevolution.com. (2013). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR1tDwl0r5k

Mclain, B. (2014) What is side chain compression. Retrieved from https://sound.stackexchange.com/questions/26864/what-is-side-chain-compression