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Hi... I have a simple and somewhat newbie question...

What is "sidechain" in regards to compressors and what is it's purpose?

I know this seems elementary, but I'm looking for more techniques to improve my recordings.

I have Vinco and have only listened to it as an insert on a channel...

Thanks!

sidechain inputs allow you to use another signal to activate the detector portion of the comp(the part which responds to the material).

what this is used for is,for example,when you want to lock in a bass and kik and you use the kik to trigger compression on the bass.or when the high freq component of a vocal is too hot and causing distortion here and there(hook up a y feed from the original signal thru a high pass or eq to the sidechain input.this is how many d-essers work.)or hook up a y feed from a vocal to the sidechain input on a stereo comp that music on a radio show is passing thru.when the vocalist speaks you can make the music drop in volume(a ducker).

use your imagination.the sidechain can be used any time you want something other than the signal going thru the compressor to trigger compression.......

hope this helps.....

I strongly recommend you to get into the “Pulsar Study” section and keep reading, there is a whole lot of information in there… you may answer questions you have never done, even…