sidechain pump exercise

[kensuguro]

<a name="planetz-file"></a><a href="http://www.planetz.com/Pulsar/files/mus ... .mp3"><img src="/forums/images/listen_icon.gif" border="0" alt=" Song"> Song</a><BR> <a name="planetz-tag"></a>Genre: house<BR> <a name="planetz-tag"></a>Uses: Pulsar Effects,Pulsar Mixers<BR> kensuguro<BR> _____________________________________<BR><BR> I'm working on a just for my own fun piece with the pump effect.. I've only used it once before, and I used a sidechain directly on the master, with the kick on SC of course.

In this track, I wanted to see if I could keep the kick intact, so I used a bus chanel to group the pump tracks together. Then, put a comp on the "pump" bus channel, and routed it back to the mixer. Not sure if this is the best way to do it, but in the end, I got the SC set up so that the kick drove the comp on the "pump" bus track, but not get effected by the comp. (because the kick is not in the "pump" bus track)

It's sort of a tough call. The "kick drives the SC and also gets compressed itself" setup of course gives a more compressed, flattened kick.. while the "pump bus" method keeps the kick's original sound.

Again, the sound you hear is the "pump bus" method. What do you think?

[Quifster]

to be honest, i don't like it this way. By using sidechain this way the song is way too compressed to get a pleasant listening experience.

However, if you add 2db to the kick then the kick will stand out to the rest of the arrangement. Also use a short attack on the compressor so that the compressor does it's work immediatly. Sidechaining this way is just for creating room for your kick by lowering the volumes (shortly!) of the other instruments where the compressor is added.

The best sidechaining is when you don't really hear it Unless you are want to use it as an effect, but then don't use it on the complete mix but just on one sound (pads for instance).

the most used way for this type of music is putting a sidechain just on the bass sound only so that the kick sits free in the mix.

What you could also do is don't use sidechaining but use EQ instead. One common technique is putting a highpass filter at 80hz on the bass sound. The deep dancekick gots his room in your mix this way. Off course this depends on the sounds you are using.

hope this helps.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Quifster on 2005-10-21 00:34 ]</font>

[Lima]

Hi Ken, I've just listened and in my opinion the effect is a bit too strong.

If you have the single tracks you can try to pre-mix bass,strings and drums and apply your method on this mixdown and then you can add all the other parts.

[AudioIrony]

I know the effect you are after and it sounds pretty much almost there to me.
If you listen to Cabin Crew - Star2Fall or Sunset Strippers - Falling Stars ( it's essentially the same song )- you will hear that the pumping effect is strapped right across the whole mix as you seem to have done.
However, there are also automated sweeping filters over the whole mix as well - to complete the effect. Sort of sounds like trying to listen to music on Special K

I think you could go more aggressive with the pumping effect to be honest.
Cheers

BTW - there's an interesting story about both those tunes.
I think it goes like this : Cabin Crew - from my home town here in Canberra Australia originally did this track and submitted to Sony Music and were turned down - then later on Sony released it under Sunset Strippers and renamed it Falling Stars. Bastards.
In any case - the Cabin Crew mix is better and has a way better 4x4 kick sound. They may have layered the kicks (???)






<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: blgrace on 2005-10-24 19:20 ]</font>

[hubird]

as Quifster suggest already, in a real dance song the kick is that loud that SC compressing is totally unnecessory
The way your mix sounds now is that I don't like it, tho there is said to be a way to use pumpin' as an effect.
nice trying anyway

[JoeKa]

That pumping effect makes me sick, and I mean it. I know it from many techno and house releases, and I always regret good music being squeezed to death with that effect. The trick is, like was said, to use it in a way that doesn't stand out too much, e.g. just on the bass line. Especially pads and strings being SC comp'ed a lot sounds awful to me, even more so if they are meant to be the sonic carrier in the track.
in my old Flying electrons track (still to be found here)
http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic ... 3&forum=17
I used a hefty SC compression, too, but only on the bassline and left the rest of the mix unaffected by it. When you listen to the break at 4:16, you will clearly find the bass is really straight 8th note line, but when the kick gets back in the mix, the SC frees up the space in the line for it, and the result tastes much more like a quarter note offbeat bassline, or a 8th note line with velocity swing.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: JoeKa on 2005-10-25 06:50 ]</font>

[kensuguro]

thanks for the comments. Seems to be split opinions concerning pumping.. I guess there's a point I have to cross over to make the pump an effect, which was what I was going for here. Sonically, it's totally abuse, but I thought the intoxicating experience was kind of fun too. Almost like you're getting seasick.

sweeping filters along with pumping eh, that's sickening! cool idea.

[AudioIrony]

Yup - Abuse it or lose it I say!!!!!!