Sidechain Compression part1 - Ducking - Voice - Pro Tools

For more information about the Digital Audio Recording Arts program at the University of St. Francis, visit our website at www.darausf.com

Side Chain Compression Part1:
Remember fundamentally a compressor makes a sound quieter by reducing any sound that goes over the threshold by a given ratio.

Today we will make sound 1 quieter using compression so sound 2 can be heard clearly. This technique is known as ducking.

To achieve this we will use Side Chain Compression.
Our first example will be ducking an audience when a sports announcer speaks. Lots of times this is used in a live broadcast

Track 1 is the Sports announcer
Track 2 is the Stadium crowd

We want to reduce the crowd noise only when the sports announcer speaks. This keeps the excitement of the live crowd but, allows you to hear the announcer when he comments.

Place the compressor on the crowd. Because this is the sound we want to make quiet. Now route the voice of the announcer into this compressor by using a key input.

Here is how to route that.
Track 1 is routed out bus 1
Track 2 has a compressor on it. Route bus1 into the compressor. This is called the key input.
Press the little key button to turn it on. Now the compressor’s input is coming in from bus1, but the compressor itself is effecting track 2.

Now adjust the compressor settings so the crowd noise reduces when the announcer speaks. Try to make it sound natural and not distracting. So, adjust attack time, release time, ratio and find a good threshold that reduces the crowd sound enough to hear the announcer clearly but still sounds natural.

You will use this technique in a variety of ways. Ducking thick guitars when a vocalist sings, ducking bass when the kick drum plays, ducking vocal effects while the vocalist is singing while emphasizing the effects at the end of phrases.

The next video will demonstrate an extreme ducking or pumping used in lots of EDM.

For more information about the Digital Audio Recording Arts program at the University of St. Francis, visit our website at www.darausf.com