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Hi,
Does anyone uses side chain equalization? Does it work like side chain compression? Is it useful... better than side chain comp?
I mean you can really dynamically remove a freq band instead of "compressing" all the frequencies of a sound... I dont' know. Does anyone tried this before?
Peace
wouldnt that just act more as gate automating the EQ? or hell, just skip that and automate the EQ. it would just sound like a quick filter sweep im guessing. i mean, side chain compression works because of the kick drum hit taking an exaggerated prominence in the compressed audio spectrum, then fading allowing the other sounds to fill the spectrum. i dont think there is a way that EQ could mimic that. might sound cool to have big low end hits and have the highs fade in, but the problem i see is that that "beat" of the kick drum is usually over 1khz so removing that from the hit would lose a lot of the "kick".
Last edited by BR1GHT PR1MATE (Jan 25, 2012 6:58 pm)
I don't want to mimic side-chain compression and I would like to avoid a filter sweep effect... Automating the eq sounds complicated too The goal of side-chaining an eq would be that when the kick comes in, the low end of the bassline is temporarily removed while you keep the same level of high freq for the bass. When the low end of the kick fade and reach the threshold, the low end of the bass kicks in again (ideally without any ducking feeling, fast and sharp)
Last edited by ??? (Jan 25, 2012 7:34 pm)
I mean, you can kind of do that wijth just standard side chaining (or just regular compression even) if you EQ the kick and bass right: lowpass the kick and remove some of the lows of the bass at overlapping frequencies. the low end of the kick will push the low end of the bass out, but the overlap will keep the kick beat and the rest of the bass and other sounds
Won't you lose the bass power by removing it's low end? It seems like I would do the opposite 
Something like remove the low end of the kick to keep just the attack and punch and let the rest up to the bass in the lower range. Then I would lost the kick I guess... I don't know, It's confusing.... I'll try it at home!!! (Well I'll try everything, to see what sounds better). Thanks for your replies!!!
Last edited by ??? (Jan 25, 2012 8:02 pm)
The kick drum doesn't really need much sub if you're throwing down a really deep bassline, and almost all of it's perceived "power" will come from the low mids and high mid attack. My protocol is to usually roll off everything below 80Hz on kicks and then adjust to taste.
"Side-chaining" EQ is a very useful mixing technique which is used quite commonly afaik. It won't sound like a filter sweep at all unless you have a really steep Q. BUT you should still be starting with a well-EQ'd kick and bass anyway! What DAW are you using? I can run you through exactly how to do it in FL, if you'd like.
You won't lose the bass. Don't set the release super high and it'll just let the kick ride above everything and give the song a cool pulsating feel.
I usually cut everything below 80-70hz. And it works well when the kick and the bass are always tight. I'm working on a track and feel that I lost the punch of the kick when it is trigerred in the middle of a long sustained bass note. I tried side chain compression yesterday and it worked pretty well. I have a super fast attack and release on the compressor and I can now hear the kick cutting through the bass without any ducking/pumping feel. I didn't find any way to side chain an EQ, but I don't use FL anyway... Thanks for the offer!!!