Ableton Live: Everything About Sidechains

[@ELPHNT]

You might have noticed I skipped Glue Compressor and Multiband Compressor - that's because you can do essentially the same things as you would with the regular Compressor. Also, just to clarify, this is everything I could think of that you can do with sidechains in Live, so I'm sure it's not absolutely everything. I'd love to hear if you have any cool uses of sidechains that I've missed! Drop 'em below 👇

[@Renaxelo]

what you'd love to hear is "Your the God of the Ableton" . Thanks for the tips, master

[@danielweirdone]

idk if it counts as "sidechain" but some of Live's resonance effects such as Corpus or Spectral Resonator have MIDI sidechain, you can do pretty amazing things with that

[@ELPHNT]

@@danielweirdone Yes, totally! I guess I was just focusing purely on audio sidechains here, but there's plenty of fun to be had with MIDI too!

[@CoreyClaxton]

I never thought about isolating certain sounds from an audio clip to act as a side-chain signal. That was definitely a technique I will try incorporating into my productions.

[@Mekanopl]

This is one of the best music production channel (the technical part), and I belive, the best ableton course on YT. No small talk, no stupid comments, jokes, annoying face expressions and graphics!

[@frankaalbers1099]

This is the very best side chaining tutorial I found on the net so far ! Thanks a bunch

[@ELPHNT]

You're welcome! 🙌

[@joseantoniobetances]

The videos of this man are first liked, and then watched, calmly.

[@KO-iq2kv]

Beat was so dope youtube thought it was a song already. Glad to finally watch the tutorial and can’t wait to side chain some ideas!!

[@ELPHNT]

This comment made my day ❤💜

[@scorpio1200]

That filter sidechain is amazing. Thank you!

[@georgemoore2813]

On point ELPHNT! I like to use Lives Multi-Band compressor to compress/duck a particular frequency range of a signal from time to-time. Works great if you want to duck the low end of a big synth patch via a kick drum but retain its fullness for instance.. Or allow the mid range of a vocal to take centre stage without battling conflicting mid range information. Trackspacer and FF pro Q 3 are great alternatives , but as a built in device (and lots less CPU) I find myself returning to MB side chain functionality all the time. So many frequency bending, dynamic & evolving possibilities! 🙏🏽

[@ELPHNT]

Yeah, that's definitely an awesome use!

[@StormBurnX]

I'm a fan of MB Compressor's simplicity but I appreciate Elphnt's tool, Splittr, as a way to not have phasing issues or coloration as a result of using a non-linear EQ tool such as MB Compressor. Plus you can do so much more than compression/expansion since it's just an audio rack :) So much good stuff in these comments too

[@rafaelmatosdasilva]

@George Moore can you please share more details on how you achieve a similar approach to trackspacer with only stock plugins? trackspacer is a mix of mb compressor + dynamic eq, so how do you mimic that? I've tried with multiple envelope followers (each one targeting a specific range of frequencies) but its a real mess because trackspacer uses 32 bands! please let me know how you do it! thank you!

[@shane5003]

@@rafaelmatosdasilva Track spacer is going to eliminate the same frequencies from the carrier track as the modulator track. this may not always be what you want. A common thing I'll do is also to duck the base of a base instrument where I want the highs of that instrument to a kick. I don't actually want to duck the highs of my base and that kick of mine might contain some on the transient impact or the Punch section. Track spacer is going to remove all the frequencies. In my opinion track spacer is a very useful but very precise tool and should not be overused. I think it's useful where you have a vocal and you're trying to cut away those exact frequencies out of another instrument transparently mostly to make the vocal more intelligible. As to the specific question you're basically talking about the inverse of vocoding.

[@Gome.o]

Mate this completely removes the need to have a seperate dummy track named "Sidechain" now that I fully understand how to sidechain properly!

[@jorgeuribera]

Have in mind that the sidechain track is also special for maintaining the sidechain effect on (let's say of a kick) even when the kick is not playing, just to keep getting the pumping effect through all the track in the instruments affected

[@mimisaiko]

Everyone talks about Sidechains, but not this in-depth! Nice video!

[@JasonBarty]

I’ve always wondered how to side chain to a muted track! Your simple tip on pre/post mixer fixed this for me. Many thanks. Awesome video all round.

[@ELPHNT]

🎉🎉🎉

[@thezestychunk5575]

That envelope follower is blowing my mind... this channel is amazing!!

[@hendrixqotsa]

So by placing certain sounds throughout the track you can use that as a trigger for almost any device parameter 🤯 - Great Tutorial as always thanks!

[@macmoll]

11:18 I use the last suggestion (Sidechain Listen) all the time for my reference tracks. I just put the compressor at the end of my master chain but before my meters (Span/Loudness Meter etc.) Turn on sidechain listen, route it to the reference track, mute reference track and then turn off the compressor. When I want to A/B my mix vs my reference and use the same meters it’s as easy as turning on an off the compressor or setting a hot key to the on/off of the compressor.

[@ELPHNT]

Totally love this idea! I'm definitely gonna be stealing this 💪

[@RobertKgma]

Using side-chain listen is a great way to create feedback effects and your own delays with unique effects in the feedback path!

[@BartWronsk]

This last trick is just mind blowing, so creative! I suspect it might mess with some delay compensation of Live, but super cool. For use case I imagine automating it on / off on some fx track could be useful for parts of the track or maybe even interactive “chopping” and blending of a few sources with few of those chained.

[@spartahill]

I initially hesitated to watch this video about sidechains because I’m new to the topic and thought it might be too advanced. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the discussion was easy to follow and didn’t discourage me from further exploring the subject. I plan to watch the episode several more times before moving on to other covered topics, but I’m already hooked on the possibilities of sidechains. I can see how they will make my work process more efficient and creative. Thanks

[@ELPHNT]

Awesome! So glad to hear it was useful to you and that everything was clear 😊

[@gavinwhitford5145]

Ur the only one that covered it this extensively thank you

[@audiooooooo]

I have Never used the auto filter side chaining before. Nice one. Thanks for sharing 💜

[@CLdwyer]

Honestly, that side chain filter for the bass could actually be a powerful way to craft 808’s. Particularly it’s distortion. 808’s usually overload the distortion on the attack. So to be able to blend with a kick for attack and really sculpt the timbre & distortion/modulation of the tail with major predictability is a very very powerful tool. This could lead to much more exploration.

[@Eckaz]

now i can save my template for return and sends like a pro with sends everything on a compressor. Thanks man !

[@VladyYakovenko]

Some great ideas here. Finally learning something new after many years in Live

[@TDKCT]

Hi Tom! Hope the video catches wind again. Thanks for making these helpful and cool vids! Cheers!

[@bartleyrob]

Great tutorial tom really like the idea of misuse at the end

[@kingmercyrayne503]

This was really extensive. Cheers man!

[@bitbotrecords]

bladdy awesome, such creative ways to use side chain, never would have found that on my own, thanks.

[@wolfgang4468]

Fantastic in-depth video providing ample food for many experiments, thank you very much!

[@allehooop]

Here you have my love 💝 hope this video stays on-line. Very Interesting and helping video.

[@orgalorgisgunta]

Love it, love how clear and concise this is, keep it up.

[@AliEsfahaniMusic]

Thanks a lot, dear ELPHNT......

[@MusicWorkflowAcademy]

Cool!

[@SpiralFlip]

Love this guy

[@TDC10000]

Very helpful, thank you!

[@ingschnee8544]

As a music producer beginner it's very helpful and interesting. Many thanks for your video.

[@btpoirier]

Tom this is a essential and brilliant share, so grateful and many thanks.

[@ghfjfghjasdfasdf]

Excellent tutorial 🤟

[@ThatsMistaTwistToYou]

Every video of yours shows me new things. I'm so grateful to you for these powerful, yet simple-to-understand tips!

[@rossthemusicandguitarteacher]

Diggin in :) This is a REALLY good video. Your format is top notch.

[@DarrenHale]

Some great ideas on different ways of side chaining, very helpful! Cheers 🤘

[@dehazesings]

I would use the listen to in a chain on my vocals so my synths etc could sometimes live in the same reverbs/delays as the vocal for some parts of the song! Saves a lot of cpu!

[@dehazesings]

Almost using the reverbs on the vocal chain as a sends

[@leroycarr9]

Another great tutorial. Thank you, again. Creating an isolation track and setting the threshold to get a specific rhythmic texture is genius. And I had never tried the envelope follower before. I have already used both. I love what they can add.

[@cody_c-b6f]

this is so sickkk!! thank you again!

[@joseantoniolozanovera9882]

Awesome content! Thx for this, the last tip it's incredible, I never would have thought to do it

[@cleciorimas]

Very good this channel. I found several useful videos here

[@Tuariq1]

Awesome! Will certainly try those!

[@RobertNaik]

Very good job as always! When I see a dislike on something like this I always wonder did they just hit the button by mistake or are they just nuts.

[@crowkangi]

amazing tutorial. so clear

[@theelephunt]

you are amazing...thanks for all the tips

[@kvnricco]

You got a new follower ✌️

[@hoagieman37]

Yes. This is the video.

[@skylogofficial9753]

exxelent... thanks... more videos like this..please

[@anthony_shay]

This is great! So helpful. I love your Ableton videos.

[@QubeX2]

Sidechain Listen, last trick. You can use it to make a: shimmer reverb rack. Instead of the return track option. Not so useful now though with the new reverb in Ableton Live.

[@kristiansharpe8874]

Let's give this video a well deserved bump! Whoop!

[@invisiblecurious856]

I still don't fully understand about compressor, but I think they are key for making your sound sit well in the mix. Implementing compressor is supposed to help you to get the sound you hear in your favorite songs or from your favorite artists. Ultimately, you want your music to sound as good as theirs when you're ready to release it. Without a compressor, I feel like something is missing, makes you think "i think this is not the way it is" Or I wonder why my overall song doesn't sound as good as the ones I listen to from other artists. I think that's the most unknown aspect for beginners when it comes to produce music. If this kinda makes sense.

[@geertmaertens7372]

Many thanks!!

[@GiorgiAkhalaia]

Thanks for the tut

[@ProfessorSaibertin]

Thx for the tips!

[@claytonchipper3874]

Nice techniques!

[@deanfuel]

Great video - thanks!!

[@serpidea]

Dope! Thank you

[@Vaeinoe]

I bet one day there will be an excellent use for the last trick

[@ELPHNT]

I used it once in a really obscure VJing scenario where I had to send signals from Live to Resolume. Can't remember exactly what it was though 🤷‍♂️

[@shivabreathes]

Really useful thanks!

[@soundfly76]

Thanks!

[@kobitoledano5126]

THANK YOUֱ

[@itsumusic]

Thanks for cool lesson! Btw, have you any ideas how to randomize a signal from the Envelope Follower or use that signal as a midi source? For example I want to use the outcome signal from the envelop follower to create a random pan values in Ableton Utility plugin, or I to want use that signal to create midi notes.

[@ELPHNT]

You could probably achieve something like this using other Max modulators like the LFO or Shaper or any of the other user-made devices out there. Take a look at maxforlive.com - there are plenty of cool devices for creating random modulation signals! 😊

[@CLdwyer]

SIDECHAIN Listen (Use Case‼️) I utilize this when I want to blend two or more spatial effects both serial & parallel but I don’t want to waste my 12 aux tracks. For example. I want go into a plate and a hall. But I want the plate and the dry signal to trigger the hall. I can use SC listen to set it up to be both serial and parallel in the end result. Signal Flow [Audio Effect Rack #1 - Two Chains - 1) Plate Reverb 2) Dry] -> (Serial)-> [Audio Effect Rack #2 - Two Chains - 1) Hall Reverb 2) SC Listen - Plate Reverb] Doing this let’s me blend the end result of the EMT 140 with the Hall Reverb but the Hall reverb is able to be triggered by a blend of both the dry and the EMT/plate. In the end, you won’t hear the dry through the chain. I use this all the time. A regular use of Sidechain listen.

[@ELPHNT]

Epic

[@eyeo1498]

cool

[@yungpoogaloo5185]

very Lone style jam

[@thetylersherman]

With the "anywhere signal routing" that you get from using the "sidechain listen" mode... could you use that to create feedback loops using the mix knob by... mixing itself... back into its own channel?

[@ELPHNT]

Umm... yes 🤷‍♂️ I think there might be better ways to do feedback using Return Tracks though.

[@adamjc86]

Alright mate, your video is the third one to show up when searching for "Ableton Sidechain Compression" -- so it might be pertinent to not assume people viewing your video understand how to use sidechain compression. Perhaps link to a video where you have explained it previously?

[@RabbitintheMoon]

loves

[@OneStepToday]

How to frequency specific sidechain to quickly remove masking, without eq manually mapping?

[@ELPHNT]

You should be able to do this with the built in EQ on the sidechain.

[@atb0007]

can you show how to program drums like skee mask's dolan tours track?

[@carlosp.1846]

⚠I'm looking for a max for live device that allows to select multiple tracks as side chain input without having to group them. Someone knows if this exists? if not please create it. It's needed. Thanks! 👍

[@benoftroy]

algo juice :)

[@ELPHNT]

😍❤😍

[@cesruhf2605]

Why doesn't my sidechain work???? it just changes the sound when i change the frequency and stuff just like an EQ. How do i make it have the jumping effect like and edm song?????

[@ELPHNT]

Make have a watch of the first few videos from kzbin.info?search_query=ableton+live+sidechain+compression and recap the basics - there might be something you're missing.

[@cesruhf2605]

@@ELPHNT probably yeah im missing something. thanks for replying!

[@lennartstein3024]

I've been using cable guys volumeshaper for frequency based sc. Works way more transparent than normal sc. But I read a lot about phasing issues. Is there any advice u can give on how to set up frequency based sidechaining without messing up my phase? There are so many options on sidechaining/ducking sounds but I'm sometimes struggling to find out which approach I should use depending on the context

[@ELPHNT]

There is always going to be some degree of phase alteration when working on different frequency bands (and with a lot of other musical tools), but honestly its not going to make that much of a difference to the end result anyway, compared to the actual processing you're doing anyway, so my rule of thumb is that if it sounds good it probably is good. If you're audibly noticing issues that might be a different story, but phase changes are just a normal part of sound processing. Always be sure to check track-wide stereo issues with a phase correlation meter on your Master Track and if you're noticing problems there then its worth looking into, but beyond that I wouldn't worry about it.

[@maskedbeachbum]

great fuckin vid. All killer no filler

[@ELPHNT]

🫡

[@omnione7894]

❤😊😊

[@chrisw1462]

It's obvious they didn't take this down for copyright issues. I wonder if it was a malicious report?

[@ELPHNT]

Dunno. All a bit dodgy to me 🤷‍♂ Just glad its back up.

[@nait_music]

Love the last one : ) Maybe a helpful tip for setting up the initial release ms number - (use with snaping and correct grid or without in Arrangement view) - just click and drag over the sample and the duration will appear in the lower-left corner. Then tailor to taste. (Slynk also did a great video kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2emlIZtmc9jsNU )

[@zianniorange3646]

Why go to 26 Hz?

[@agressiveburito9855]

THERE IS A SIDE CHAIN ON AUTOFILTER😮?????

[@28iFmusic]

Great video, thank you. Only person I’ve even seen use the headphone/audition button creatively was mr. Bill in this video. Interesting way to get around the fact that ableton didn’t have comping. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnSwoound6xrh68

[@eamonnw]

my head hurts

[@ELPHNT]

Sorry about that 😗

[@dkdkdnffjxjdj6019]

Gaslighting myself into thinking I know what any of this means

[@cheopys]

The music is WAY too faint to hear what the sidechaining is doing