Sidechaining and distortion are mixing tools, but in electronic music they are also part of the sound. Used subtly, they make room and add weight. Used obviously, they define whole genres.
Sidechain compression
A sidechain lets one sound control the compression of another. Most commonly, the kick triggers a compressor on the bass, pads or the whole mix, briefly ducking them every time the kick hits.
- Subtle sidechain - a few decibels of ducking on the bass so the kick cuts through. Felt, not heard.
- Obvious pumping - deep ducking on pads, chords or the whole mix, the breathing sound of French house and much EDM.
Settings
- Threshold and ratio - how much ducking.
- Attack - fast, so ducking starts with the kick.
- Release - sets the shape of the pump. Time it to the tempo so the sound swells back just before the next kick.
Alternatives
- Volume shaper or LFO tools - draw the ducking curve directly, without a compressor. Precise and consistent.
- Ghost triggers - a silent kick track used only to trigger the sidechain, so the pump stays steady even when the real kick drops out.
- Multiband sidechain - duck only the low frequencies of the bass, leaving its top end untouched.
Distortion and saturation
Distortion adds harmonics. In electronic music it is used for:
- Weight and translation - harmonics make bass audible on small speakers.
- Aggression - distorted basses and leads in techno, bass music and EDM.
- Glue - gentle saturation across a bus or the master binds elements together.
- Character - tape, valve, bit-crushing and wavefolding each add a different colour.
Types
- Saturation - soft, warm, subtle.
- Overdrive and distortion - stronger clipping.
- Bit crushing - digital grit and aliasing.
- Wavefolding - folds the waveform back on itself for complex, metallic harmonics.
- Multiband distortion - distort only some frequency bands, keeping the low end clean.
Good practice
- Distort before filtering for rich tones to shape, or after for emphasised resonance.
- Use parallel distortion to keep clarity.
- Watch the low end - distortion can make sub-bass muddy. Keep the sub clean and distort a mid-range layer instead.
- Level-match when comparing - distortion makes things louder, which sounds better.
Do this now
- Sidechain a pad to the kick with a compressor and time the release to the tempo. Then recreate the same pump with a volume-shaping tool.
- Set up a ghost trigger and keep the pump going through a breakdown with no kick.
- Add multiband distortion to a bass so only the mids are distorted, and check it on a phone.