I am seriously having problems with sidechain compressing

[itroitnyah]

Alright, so I cannot, for the life of me, sidechain compress in FL Studio 10. >_>


So I followed what this video above told me to do, and I didn't get anywhere near the same results. So I opened up a new project in FL, simple pad, single snare sample, followed what it told me to do word by word. Here is an example of what I ended up getting:


And what I did:



So yes, I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, and would like to know so that I can sidechain my drums in my wip so that they stick out more. Also, on my WIP, when I tried sidechaining, the snare sample would change when I tried to sidechain it. Not as in it changed because there were less frequencies muddy-ing it up when I played the track, but the sample alone would sound different (had a more airy feel). I also have samples of the snare before and after attempting sidechain with my current wip.

Also, sorry for the picture being a bit big, didn't really feel like resizing

[phantomignition]

Two things: 1. When sidechaining you don't turn up the volume up to 100%, you leave it at 0%. That's probably why the sample changed. 2. I'd say try turning down the threshold to even as low as it can go, and turn up the ratio a bit (4:1ish). Just mess around with those settings until you get what you want.

[Foxtrot89]

For what it's worth (different method) I'll explain what I do.

Firstly, insert a "Peak Controller" on mixer track 1. Route a kick drum into the same mixer track. (in this case, track 1.) Every time the kick sample happens, you should see the meters and stuff move around on the Peak Controller.

Secondly, route the synth (or whatever) that you want to duck onto it's own track. For this example, I'll say mixer track 2. Insert a Fruity Compressor somewhere in Mixer Track 2's signal chain.

On the compressor, bring the "Ratio" up to about half way. Right click on the "Threshold knob" and click "link to controller." In the "Internal controller" section, click the drop down menu and find the "Peak" from your Fruity Peak Controller (it tells you on which mixer insert it's on in case you have multiple) and select it. Click the little drop down arrow next to "mapping formula" and select "inverted." If you don't invert it, it'll do opposite of what you want it to do. ie: the synth will be silent except for when that kick hits as opposed to being audible until the kick hits. Go ahead and give it a shot both ways to get a feel for what it actually does.

You might have to go into the peak controller and raise the Vol and tns, as by default the kick I just used to walk myself through this process didn't effect it enough until I brought the tns and vol up. Basically, you want the middle meter in the peak controller to almost reach the top every time the kick hits.

This should give you that pulsing, ducking effect like this: http://soundcloud.com/foxtrot89/woop

(pardon the awful samples used.)

[GumsOfGabby]

Just reduce the threshold and increase the ratio. Setting the "knee" parameter isn't really necessary.

If I use the Limiter to sidechain, I always have the threshol set to -48 dB, then I just play with the ratio (start at 10, it is very heavy) and envelopes. Also, turn down the send amount to 0%. That way the kick won't be playing through two channels at once. Rewatch the video too. Pay close attention to what Guru is saying about sidechaining and send amounts.

[itroitnyah]

Alright, thanks all for tips, but here's the results:

What I said

Thanks, that actually fixed the problem for me

My method

Yeah, I'm well aware of that method, but I've heard that this method is better, so that's what I'm trying out.

GumsOfGabby repeated what I said, but with more detail