Side chain gated kick and bass trick, any clues?

[RMC206]

I've read references to using a gate and a side chain/buss arrangements to have the bass lock with the kick. I have never seen a diagram but I would love to try this if anyone cares to outline the set-up...

[resolectric]

Google "kick bass side chain" or "kick bass sidechain", but i'm sure someone will come up with one more to add to the list of possible setups.
I'm sorry i can't make a picture but my mouse is a touchpad.

[glamacchia]

I know the exact trick you are talking about. A bit of FYI doing this in DP 5? Or was it 4.0 the entire effect of a side chained dynamics was moot IF when bounced to disk you did not leave the DP Dynamics window open and visible when you selected bounce to disk– I have not confirmed that in DP 6.01 . I mix the serious stuff real time it was not an issue but once doing a quickie narration VO I had the music bed being side chained when the narrator spoke, set it, played it, closed the open FX windows bounced and . . . What the heck?!!!! The music is knocking out the narrator – OK fine I’ll run it 2:1 / 2.5:1 / 10:1, !!!!! 100:1 at -60db thresh – What the heck?!!!! For some reason I left the Dynamincs window open did it again and the music turned down when she spoke!


SOLUTION
Any how I think what you are talking about is making the kick drum trigger / open / expand a gate / expander on the bass gtr (Think of the start of VH Running with the Devil, KICK and BASS )

Typical track board layout below,


1} BASS [MOTU DYNAMICS INSERTED/ Source = Buss 11]

2} KICK ----→ AUX SEND to BUSS 11

3} SNARE

4} TOM



on Track 1 BASS insert a MOTU dynamics processor and set its control signal to be BUSS 11 ( the send from the Kick Drum Channel).


When the Kick fires that is the side chain control for the bass. Downward compression is easy as the Bass only turns down when the kick fires but if you want to expand you’ll need to send the Bass to an aux track and insert the dynamics there to gate or expand…. Why? If the drums are silent and the bass is playing and you are using an expander on the bass side chained source to the silent kick track, the bass will not play (expand) till the drummer hits the kick… that is why you put another return for the bass and put the dynamics on that bass return; TRK 1 Orig bass, -- - > send to buss 12 -- - > AUX RTRN 12 [MOTO DYNAMICS /source = buss 11 inserted]


You can do the same with 3rd party plugs that don’t allow you to select a signal side chain (like as far as know waves VS 6 STILL doesn’t!!! ) <sorry gripe> source – you need to run them in a stereo aux return and use the left to control the right; send the kick to the left, the bass to the right and tell waves to use the left as the control.

Use only the right channel of the aux return in your mix ( Insert a trim or pan what have you)

Ciao