How to Sidechain in FL Studio: Fruity Limiter, Peak Controller and a No-Routing Option

To sidechain in FL Studio, select the kick's mixer insert, right-click the routing arrow on your bass or pad insert and choose Sidechain to this track. Then load Fruity Limiter on the bass insert, switch it to COMP mode, set its Sidechain selector to the kick's insert number and lower the threshold until the bass ducks on every kick.

That's the classic method, and it covers most beats. Below you'll find it step by step, a second method using Fruity Peak Controller, a no-routing option, and fixes for when the sidechain refuses to work.

Before you start: give the kick its own mixer insert

Sidechain compression in FL Studio happens in the Mixer, so the kick and the sound you want to duck each need their own insert. If both are still going straight to the master, nothing below will work.

1. In the Channel Rack, click the kick channel to select it.
2. Open the Mixer (F9) and click an empty insert.
3. Press Ctrl+L to link the selected channel to that insert. Name the insert Kick.
4. Repeat for the bass or pad, putting it on a different insert.

For the rest of this guide, assume the kick is on Insert 1 and the bass is on Insert 2. Swap in your own numbers.

Method 1: Fruity Limiter sidechain, step by step

Fruity Limiter is a limiter, compressor and noise gate in one, and its compressor mode accepts a sidechain input. It's the go-to sidechain tool in FL for a good reason: it's included, it's light on CPU and it reacts to the real kick.

1. Click Insert 1 (the kick) so it's selected.
2. Right-click the small routing arrow at the bottom of Insert 2 (the bass) and choose Sidechain to this track. The kick still plays through the master as normal; the new route only feeds the sidechain.
3. Click Insert 2 and load Fruity Limiter into one of its effect slots.
4. Click COMP at the top of Fruity Limiter to switch from limiter mode to compressor mode.
5. Turn the Sidechain selector in the compressor section to 1, the kick's insert number.
6. Pull the threshold down until the display shows the bass dipping on each kick.
7. Raise the ratio for harder ducking, set a short attack so the duck starts right on the transient, and adjust release until the bass swells back just before the next kick.

Good starting values are a ratio of 4:1 or more, an attack of a few milliseconds and a release somewhere between 80 and 200 ms. Release is the groove control: shorter sounds tighter and punchier, longer sounds more like a pump. If the controls are new to you, our compressor vs limiter guide breaks down what each one does.

Add a ghost kick

A ghost kick is a kick that triggers the sidechain but is never heard. It keeps the pump going in breakdowns where the real kick is muted, and it lets you duck on a steady four-on-the-floor even when the audible kick pattern is busier.

1. Add a new kick channel with a simple pattern on every beat, and link it to its own insert.
2. Select that insert, then left-click the routing arrow under the Master insert to turn its send to the master off. The kick is now silent.
3. Right-click the routing arrow on your bass insert and choose Sidechain to this track.
4. In Fruity Limiter, set the Sidechain selector to the ghost kick's insert number.

Method 2: Fruity Peak Controller

Fruity Peak Controller doesn't compress anything. It reads the level of the audio on its insert and turns that into a control signal you can link to any knob in FL Studio. Link it to a volume control, invert it, and you have sidechain ducking. Link it to a filter cutoff instead and the kick can sweep a filter, which a compressor can't do.

1. Load Fruity Peak Controller on the kick's insert.
2. On the bass insert, load Fruity Balance. Linking its Volume knob instead of the mixer fader keeps your fader free for mixing.
3. Right-click Fruity Balance's Volume knob and choose Link to controller.
4. In the window that opens, pick the Peak Controller's Peak output from the Internal controller list.
5. Set Mapping formula to Inverted, so a louder kick turns the bass down rather than up. Click Accept.
6. Press play. Use the Peak Controller's Vol knob to set how deep the ducking goes and Decay to set how quickly the volume recovers. Tension shapes the curve of that recovery.

Peak Controller takes a little more fiddling than Fruity Limiter, and the result depends on the kick sample's envelope. Its strength is flexibility: one kick can duck the bass, open a filter on the chords and pull down the reverb return at the same time.

Method 3: skip the routing with a tempo-synced shaper

If all you want is the steady EDM pump on pads and chords, you don't need the kick at all. A volume shaper dips the level on a fixed rhythm locked to your project tempo. Our free plugin Pump does exactly that and loads in FL Studio as a VST3: drop it on the insert, pick a Rate, and set Depth and Curve.

The Classic Pump preset ducks on every quarter note at 90% depth with a fast release curve. Play it and listen for the pad dropping out on each beat and swelling back between them.

Which sidechain method should you use?

Most FL producers end up using Fruity Limiter on the bass, where following the actual kick matters, and a tempo-synced shaper on pads and reverb, where consistency matters more. The same ideas carry over to other DAWs too; our general guide on how to sidechain has the steps for Ableton Live, Pro Tools and Logic.

Sidechain not working in FL Studio? Check these

• The kick shares an insert with other sounds. The compressor will duck to the snare and hats too. Give the kick its own insert.
• No sidechain route exists. Select the kick insert and look at the target insert's arrow. If it isn't lit, right-click it and choose Sidechain to this track again.
• Wrong insert number. The Sidechain selector in Fruity Limiter must match the number of the insert that is routed in.
• Still in LIMIT mode. The sidechain selector only applies in COMP mode.
• Threshold too high. If the kick never crosses the threshold, nothing happens. Pull it down until you see gain reduction.
• Peak Controller makes things louder. You didn't set the mapping formula to Inverted.

For more FL Studio setup notes, including where plugins install and how to scan them, see our FL Studio page.