How to Sidechain: Sidechain Compression in Ableton, FL Studio, Pro Tools and Logic

To sidechain, put a compressor on the track you want to duck (say, a bass or pad), then set that compressor's sidechain input to the trigger track, usually the kick. Every time the kick hits, the compressor turns the bass down for a moment, which clears room in the mix and creates the familiar pumping sound.

Every major DAW can do this with its stock compressor. The menus differ, so below you'll find the exact steps for Ableton Live, FL Studio, Pro Tools and Logic Pro, a table of starting settings, and a way to get the same result without any routing at all.

What is sidechain compression?

A normal compressor listens to the signal passing through it and turns that same signal down when it gets loud. Sidechain compression splits those two jobs. The compressor still processes the bass, but its detector listens to the kick. The bass gets turned down whenever the kick is loud, regardless of what the bass itself is doing.

There are two reasons to do it. The practical one: kick and bass fight over the same low frequencies, and ducking the bass for a fraction of a second on each hit lets the kick punch through. The creative one: heavy ducking on pads, chords and reverb makes the whole track breathe in time with the beat, which is the signature sound of house, EDM and a lot of pop.

Sidechain compression settings to start with

These starting points work in any DAW. Set them, play the track, and adjust release by ear until the ducking moves with the groove.

Release matters most. Too short and the sound snaps back with a click; too long and it never recovers before the next kick, so the track just gets quieter. If you're new to the controls themselves, our compressor vs limiter guide explains what each one does.

How to sidechain in Ableton Live

Ableton sidechain compression uses the stock Compressor, which has a built-in sidechain section. These steps work in Live 10, 11 and 12.

1. Drag Compressor from the Audio Effects section of the browser onto the bass or pad track.
2. Click the small triangle in the Compressor's title bar to unfold the sidechain section.
3. Switch on Sidechain.
4. In the Audio From menu, choose your kick track.
5. Set Ratio to 4:1 or higher and Attack near its minimum, then pull the Threshold down until the gain reduction meter shows the amount of ducking you want.
6. Adjust Release until the level recovers just before the next kick.

Want to duck several tracks at once? Group them, or route them to one return or bus, and put a single sidechained Compressor there. More Ableton tips live on our Ableton Live page.

How to sidechain in FL Studio

FL Studio does sidechain routing in the Mixer, and the compressor most people use is Fruity Limiter in its compressor mode.

1. Send the kick and the bass to their own Mixer inserts, for example kick on Insert 1 and bass on Insert 2.
2. Select the kick's insert. Right-click the routing arrow at the bottom of the bass insert and choose Sidechain to this track.
3. Load Fruity Limiter on the bass insert and click COMP to switch it to compressor mode.
4. Set the Sidechain selector in the compressor section to 1, the kick's insert number.
5. Lower the threshold, raise the ratio and shorten the attack until the bass ducks on each kick. Then dial in release.

There's a second FL method using Fruity Peak Controller, plus fixes for the most common problems, in our full guide to how to sidechain in FL Studio. See also our FL Studio page.

How to sidechain in Pro Tools

In Pro Tools, the kick reaches the compressor through a bus, and the compressor picks that bus as its key input. These steps use the stock Dyn3 Compressor/Limiter.

1. On the kick track, click an empty send slot, choose Bus and pick a free bus. Rename it something obvious, like Kick Key.
2. Raise the send level so the compressor gets a healthy signal. The kick still plays through its own output as normal.
3. On the bass or pad track, insert Dyn3 Compressor/Limiter from the Dynamics category.
4. In the plug-in window header, click the Key Input selector (it reads no key input by default) and choose your Kick Key bus.
5. Turn on External Key in the compressor's sidechain section. Without it, the compressor ignores the key input.
6. Set ratio, attack, release and threshold using the table above.

Many third-party compressors support the same key input selector in Pro Tools. More setup notes are on our Pro Tools page.

How to sidechain in Logic Pro

Setting up a sidechain in Logic is the simplest of the four, because the plug-in header lets you pick any track as the sidechain source directly.

1. Insert Logic's Compressor on the bass or pad channel (Dynamics > Compressor).
2. In the plug-in window header, open the Side Chain pop-up menu and choose the kick track.
3. Set the ratio, attack and release, then lower the threshold until the gain reduction meter shows the ducking you want.

That's it. No sends or buses are needed, because Logic taps the kick channel for you.

The no-routing approach: a tempo-synced volume shaper

Sidechain compression reacts to the kick, which means it reacts to every ghost note, velocity change and missing kick in a breakdown. For the classic four-on-the-floor pump, a lot of producers skip the compressor entirely and use a volume shaper: a plugin that dips the volume on a fixed rhythm locked to the project tempo.

Our free plugin Pump works this way. Drop it on a track and it follows the host tempo with no routing. Rate sets how often it ducks (1/1 to 1/16), Depth sets how far, Curve shapes how fast the level returns, Smooth softens the edges and Offset nudges the duck later if your kick has a slow attack.

The Classic Pump preset ducks on every quarter note with 90% depth, which is the textbook EDM pad sound. Hit play and listen to the pad drop out on the beat and swell back up between kicks.

Which should you use? A volume shaper is more consistent and faster to set up, and it keeps pumping when the kick drops out. A real sidechain compressor follows the actual kick, so it works better for kicks with uneven rhythms and for subtle kick-and-bass clean-up. Plenty of producers use both in one song.

Common sidechain problems

• Nothing happens: the sidechain source isn't reaching the compressor. Check the source menu, the send level and, in Pro Tools, that External Key is on.
• Clicks on each kick: release or attack is too fast for low bass notes. Lengthen release slightly or add a touch of smoothing.
• The whole track got quieter: release is too long, so the level never recovers. Shorten it until the sound comes back up between hits.
• Pumping stops in the breakdown: the kick is muted. Use a ghost kick or a tempo-synced shaper.