Hey, guys.
 
recently been using the sonitus fx compressor to sidechain my main sounds with the Kick Drum...
 
However I'm finding the compressor doesn't seem to duck the track for long enough, I've played with the release time, as I thought extending this will increase the length or sustain of the 'pump', however it seems to have not such a great effect.
 
I've done this in logic recently too, using logic's compressor, and even with less gain reduction I could still achieve a really clear/pronounced pump/ducking by extending the release time. It was very clear the effect minor changes were making.
 
 
Anyone got any clue what's going on here???
 
 
Thanks

Not knowing how you have things setup I'll just give a general approach so no offense if I sound like I'm talking in simple terms, it's not to suggest you don't know what you're doing. First off, when you open the compressor the default won't  work. It's quite possible Logic opens with a preset that actually compresses, I have no idea. Try picking a preset like the Neve which has a -20dB threshold and a compression ratio of 8:1. Set the Attack time to 0 and then adjust the Release time. The thing pumps like crazy and release times have a very obvious effect. Make -sure- the TCR button is disabled. From there in it's just tweaking but with a strong starting point (the right preset for example) the pumping is very easy to hear and control, or at least it seems that way to me. It will easily duck for a few seconds which means there is no pumping because it continues to duck from kick to kick and never returns near to it's full volume. With a kick occuring every beat at 60 bpm the Release would have to be under 1 second to pump. With the release set to 500ms-1 second the affected audio will drop and rise between each kick.
 
How do you have it set up? Using a Send from the Kick track to sidechain the compressor which is in the FX Bin of one of the busses?

ha no worries, my friend, I could have been more clear.

I have a bus labeled "SIDECHAIN", with a sonitus fx compressor on it and routing all my instrument/melodic sounds and busses to it. With the Kick channel sent (as a send) to the sonitus side chain input on pre-fader, typical settings are...

Attack: 0ms  Ratio: 8:1 - 15:1 Release 90-130 threshold: enough to get some serious gain reduction -30db/-60db

the only way I manage to achieve a really noticeable pump, is if I make the compressor slam the reduction straight to the floor, basically acting more like a mute, but this isn't desirable... adjusting the release time doesn't seem to have the same effect as it does when I'm doing it in logic.


Also for the record, I produce/mix/use Sonar 8, I'm just using Logic for some college project and noticed how simple it was to get the desired effect with the compressor.

I don't see why the sonitus compressor isn't holding the release or giving the same pumping effect.

thanks for the response

Iron Keys


ha no worries, my friend, I could have been more clear.

I have a bus labeled "SIDECHAIN", with a sonitus fx compressor on it and routing all my instrument/melodic sounds and busses to it. With the Kick channel sent (as a send) to the sonitus side chain input on pre-fader, typical settings are...

Attack: 0ms  Ratio: 8:1 - 15:1 Release 90-130 threshold: enough to get some serious gain reduction -30db/-60db

the only way I manage to achieve a really noticeable pump, is if I make the compressor slam the reduction straight to the floor, basically acting more like a mute, but this isn't desirable... adjusting the release time doesn't seem to have the same effect as it does when I'm doing it in logic.


Also for the record, I produce/mix/use Sonar 8, I'm just using Logic for some college project and noticed how simple it was to get the desired effect with the compressor.

I don't see why the sonitus compressor isn't holding the release or giving the same pumping effect.

thanks for the response

A few relatively important things to note. The Knee should be fairly low, start with it on "Hard" and go up to reduce or smooth out  the pumping.
 
Also, it sure still sounds like you may have the TCR button enabled. It is important that it is turned off, one of it's functions is to automatically reduce pumping. The second I enable it the pumping is diminished, I have to slam the Threshold, and the Release time has little effect (some, but as a very baseline)
 
Strange you have such difficulty, I can get it to pump with the Threshold at -12 with not much effort.

TCR button you say...

Sounds like this could be an issue, as to be completely honest, if I've seen that button before, I can't even recall it from memory.  I'll have to have a look for that once I've got Sonar open in front of me, hope this will sort the issue.


Just googled screenshots of the sonitus compressor. I believe that button is set to 'off' on my settings, sometimes I keep the limiter on, but I don't find that has made much difference.

Quite a nuisance, I don't want to resort to the long winded way of using the waves compressors, but still.

TCR button is (and has always been) set to off.

if I silence the kick, you can hear the pump, but it's not so pronounced, definitely not as much as it should be.

Iron Keys


TCR button is (and has always been) set to off.

if I silence the kick, you can hear the pump, but it's not so pronounced, definitely not as much as it should be.

Here's a quick example I did. Of course as Soundcloud compresses a bit it's not as obvious as the original but still pretty obvious pumping. Threshold is only -18dB, Ratio is 12:1. I can easily make this pump to the point of ridiculousness if I want. If you don't find this example obvious enough let me know and I'll post another.
 
http://soundcloud.com/stoons-1      "Sidechain"

Thanks a lot for that, man. Really appreciated.

Yeah I can quite an obvious pump in that, and I'd expect such an effect with those settings.


Here's one track of mine I had the compressor on... http://soundcloud.com/drunkenfunkmonkey/reign-drops-teaser

Settings are... Threshold: -24.1   Ratio:8:0:1 Attack:0 Release:113

If I pull the threshold down on this track, it really cuts out the track, you can really hear it cut out, but I don't get such a smooth pump, more a sudden jerky one. However, with this track, the compressor seems to work slightly better than it does on others/more recent, where I even have to have the gain reduction smashing full reduction and still not such an audible 'pump'.


How important is the trigger sound in regards to the sidechain? I'm always triggering it with a kick, but does the sustain of the kick drum have to be lenghty???  I thought it depends on the compressor settings of the release and threshold(and ratio) more so than the length of trigger sound???


thanks for all the help.