Overview of the Maschine Sidechain Feature and Some Helpful Tips

With the recent addition of the Maschine sidechain feature in the 2.0 update, so many more options have been opened up! This is a nice overview of how it works and what you can do with it.

One thing to mention before really getting into this is the fact that sidechaining and ducking are not the same thing. All too often in today’s young digital production world, we hear people referring to volume ducking as sidechaining. It’s quite common to use a sidechain on a compressor unit, with the kick drum set as a trigger, to automate the volume ducking on a bass synth track, for instance. But it is really important to know what sidechaining is so you can do more that just simple volume automation tricks. The Maschine sidechain feature can be used to incorporate some ducking, gating and a wide range of other unique effect into your music.

So let’s say you want to set up some quick ducking on a bass synth in a project. Simply load up a compressor on the bass synth track and you will see the Maschine sidechain option appear. If you click on that, you will be presented with an opportunity to set a trigger as the incoming signal. Route your kick drum through it and you will instantly start to hear the effect. Now all you need to do is adjust the compressor parameters to your liking.

Let’s say you want to something a bit more funky. You can actually use the Compressor, Maximizer, Limiter, Gate and/or Filter units and the Maschine sidechain input option will automatically appear for you as soon as it is loaded. Now the only thing to hold you back, creatively speaking, is your own imagination. Try using your entire beat as a sidechain trigger in a gate unit on a supporting synth element. Or perhaps you would enjoy using a lead synth as sidechain trigger on a filter for a bass synth track? The options are seemingly endless.

Have some fun with this one! Sidechaining is something that can instantly transform a single element or your entire project.

Cheers,
OhmLab