🎛️ What is Sidechaining?

Sidechaining lowers the volume of one sound when another plays — commonly used to make a kick drum punch through a bass or pad.

🔧 Method 1: Sidechain Using Fruity Limiter (Most Common)

Step 1: Route Your Bass (or Pad) to the Mixer

1. Click on your bass/pad sound.

2. Press F9 to open the Mixer.

3. Assign the sound to a free mixer track by selecting a number (top left of the Channel settings).

Step 2: Route the Kick to the Same Mixer

1. Do the same for your kick.

2. Now both are in separate Mixer channels.

Step 3: Sidechain the Kick to the Bass

1. Select the kick mixer track.

2. Right-click the send knob (small circle) on the bass/pad channel.

3. Click "Sidechain to this track".

Step 4: Add Fruity Limiter on the Bass

1. Select the bass/pad mixer channel.

2. Open an empty effect slot.

3. Load Fruity Limiter.

4. Switch to the COMP (compressor) tab.

Step 5: Configure Fruity Limiter

1. In Sidechain (bottom right), set it to 1 (this matches the kick input).

2. Adjust the following:

   • Threshold: Lower it (around -30 dB to -10 dB).

   • Ratio: Set between 4:1 to 10:1 for stronger effect.

   • Attack: ~1 ms or less.

   • Release: ~100-300 ms depending on groove.

🎧 Play back your track — the bass should now "duck" every time the kick hits.

🔁 Method 2: Sidechain Using Volume Automation (Ghost Kick)

Useful when you don’t want the kick to be heard but still want the sidechain effect.

Step 1: Add a Ghost Kick

• Add a second kick sample.

• Mute its output by setting its Mixer send level to 0%.

• Program it to hit where you want the sidechain.

Step 2: Load Fruity Peak Controller

1. Go to your kick’s mixer channel.

2. Add Fruity Peak Controller in an FX slot.

Step 3: Link Volume of Bass to Controller

1. Go to bass mixer channel.

2. Right-click the volume fader.

3. Click “Link to controller…”

4. In Internal Controller, choose Peak.

5. Adjust Mapping formula to “Inverted” for ducking.

Now the volume of the bass dips every time the ghost kick plays!

🎚 Tips for a Clean Sidechain

• Use visualizers like Wave Candy to watch levels.

• Don’t overdo the compression—aim for musicality.

• Adjust release time to match the tempo of your track.

• For even more control, consider using 3rd-party plugins like Kickstart, VolumeShaper, or LFO Tool.