+
<p>
- Dynamic Processors – such as compressors – in general use the the original
- input signal for analysis and operate on the same signal.
- Side-chaining uses the signal level of <em>another input</em> to control
- the compression level of the original signal.
+ Dynamic Processors—such as compressors—in general use the the original input signal for analysis and operate on
+ the same signal. Side-chaining uses the signal level of <em>another input</em> to control the compression level of the
+ original signal.
</p>
+
<p>
- Effect Processors which have a side-chain input (sometimes also called <em>key input</em>)
- have an additional input pin to receive a signal from an external input.
- In Ardour that extra input can be connected in the plugin's <kbd class="menu">Pin Configuration</kbd>
- dialog: the signal from one track can be tapped off and used as an input to a
- plugin on a different track. This dialog is
- accessed via the plugin's context-menu > <kbd class="menu">Pin Connections…</kbd>.
+ Effect Processors which have a side-chain input (sometimes also called <em>key input</em>) have an additional input pin to
+ receive a signal from an external input. In Ardour that extra input can be connected in the plugin's <kbd class="menu">Pin
+ Configuration</kbd> dialog: the signal from one track can be tapped off and used as an input to a plugin on a different
+ track. This dialog is accessed via the plugin's context-menu > <kbd class="menu">Pin Connections…</kbd>.
</p>
+
<p>
- In case a plugin has a dedicated sidechain input, Ardour automatically
- creates a port for the input. This is a normal I/O port which can be fed by any
- external signal.
- The <kbd class="menu">Pin Configuration</kbd> dialog is not limited to
- processors with a dedicated sidechain input, it also allows to manually create
- (or remove) a sidechain input port and provides for flexible connection of the
- signal to plugin pins.
+ In case a plugin has a dedicated sidechain input, Ardour automatically creates a port for the input. This is a normal I/O
+ port which can be fed by any external signal. The <kbd class="menu">Pin Configuration</kbd> dialog is not limited to
+ processors with a dedicated sidechain input, it also allows to manually create (or remove) a sidechain input port and
+ provides for flexible connection of the signal to plugin pins.
</p>
+
<p>
- The operational flow in the Ardour GUI starts at the processor which is to receive
- the signal: a sidechain source is selected, and Ardour creates a dedicated send-processor in the
- source processor box, the level of which can be adjusted either in the Pin Configuration window
- or directly on the source's send.
+ The operational flow in the Ardour GUI starts at the processor which is to receive the signal: a sidechain source is
+ selected, and Ardour creates a dedicated send-processor in the source processor box, the level of which can be adjusted
+ either in the Pin Configuration window or directly on the source's send.
</p>
<h2>A simple example: Sidechain compression</h2>
<p>
- One example is the use of a bassdrum track to trigger
- the compression on a bass track. The sidechain compressor (a-Compressor) will be placed on
- the bass track, and will need to receive the signal from the bassdrum track as
- a way to trigger the compression.
+ One example is the use of a bass drum track to trigger the compression on a bass track. The sidechain compressor
+ (a-Compressor) will be placed on the bass track, and will need to receive the signal from the bass drum track as a way to
+ trigger the compression.
</p>
<figure>
</figure>
<p>
- Here, on the bass track, an <em>a-Compressor</em> has been added, and the
- Drum track has been set as the sidechain source. The mixer reflects this
- by showing an <em>SC</em>-send processor in the drum track, very similar to a <a href="/signal-routing/aux-sends/">send</a>
- The bass track also shows an arrow as one of the a-compressor input.
+ Here, on the bass track, an <em>a-Compressor</em> has been added, and the Drum track has been set as the sidechain source.
+ The mixer reflects this by showing an <em>SC</em>-send processor in the drum track, very similar to a
+ <a href="@@aux-sends">send</a>. The bass track also shows an arrow as one of the a-compressor input.
</p>
+
<p>
- As a result, in the editor, each peak in the kick drum track triggers the compression on the bass track
- and the resulting track shows the compression kicking in on each kick drum peak, hence
- reducing the gain. The compression is applied to the bass, but only based on the level of the drum track.
+ As a result, in the editor, each peak in the kick drum track triggers the compression on the bass track and the resulting
+ track shows the compression kicking in on each kick drum peak, hence reducing the gain. The compression is applied to the
+ bass, but only based on the level of the drum track.
</p>
+
<p>
- This is commonly used for <em>ducking</em> effect, when e.g. a radio speaker's voice triggers the
- compression on the audio playing.
+ This is commonly used for <em>ducking</em> effect, when e.g. a radio speaker's voice triggers the compression on the audio
+ playing.
</p>
<h2>MIDI Sidechaining</h2>
<p>
- Ardour allows the sidechain sources to be either audio or MIDI tracks/busses. This is
- particularly useful when a MIDI signal is used to control an audio effect, like a
- vocoder or an auto-tuner, like <a href="https://github.com/x42/fat1.lv2">fat1</a>,
- the LV2 port of Fons Adriaensen's <a href="http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/zita-at1-doc/quickguide.html">Zita AT1</a>
- by Robin Gareus:
+ Ardour allows the sidechain sources to be either audio or MIDI tracks/busses. This is particularly useful when a MIDI signal
+ is used to control an audio effect, like a vocoder or an auto-tuner, like <a href="https://github.com/x42/fat1.lv2">fat1</a>,
+ the LV2 port of Fons Adriaensen's <a href="http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org/linuxaudio/zita-at1-doc/quickguide.html">Zita
+ AT1</a> by Robin Gareus:
</p>
<figure>
<img src="/images/pin-connection-autotune.png" alt="MIDI Sidechain">
<figcaption>
- MIDI sidechainig example: fat1.lv2.
+ MIDI sidechaining example: fat1.lv2.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
- Here, the MIDI track is inputed to the plugin's MIDI IN pin through a sidechain,
- indicating to the plugin what note should the source audio be corrected to.
+ Here, the MIDI track is inputted to the plugin's MIDI IN pin through a sidechain, indicating to the plugin what note the source audio should be corrected to.
</p>
<p class="note">
- Notice that in the example above, the output of the "Vocals" track is connected
- to the input of the "Corrected" track. We could have chosen to insert the "Vocals" track
- content as an audio sidechain too, totally disconnecting the input from the plugin, and
- connecting the plugin's input pin to the audio sidechain port.
+ Notice that in the example above, the output of the "Vocals" track is connected to the input of the "Corrected" track. We
+ could have chosen to insert the "Vocals" track content as an audio sidechain too, totally disconnecting the input from the
+ plugin, and connecting the plugin's input pin to the audio sidechain port.
</p>
<h2>Pre-processing the sidechained signal</h2>
<p>
- Sometimes, the effects of a sidechain signal on a plugin can be enhanced by
- pre-processing the signal.
+ Sometimes, the effects of a sidechain signal on a plugin can be enhanced by pre-processing the signal.
</p>
+
<p>
- In the first example above, if the entire drum part is on one track,
- then compressing with this signal as a sidechain will result in every peak triggering the compression,
- be them bass drum kicks or snare, cymbals, etc.
+ In the first example above, if the entire drum part is on one track, then compressing with this signal as a sidechain will
+ result in every peak triggering the compression, be they bass drum kicks or snare, cymbals, etc.
</p>
+
<p>
- In this case, adding an EQ to the drum track with a low pass filter would filter out the peaks
- created by the high pitched instruments of the drum kit, and allow for a better triggering, though to
- avoid damaging the original drum track, a send to an intermediary track would be better suited
- to place the EQ on. This track won't be connected to the Master, as its content is of no musical
- interest except for it's use as a trigger, allowing for some extreme EQ.
+ In this case, adding an EQ to the drum track with a low pass filter would filter out the peaks created by the high pitched
+ instruments of the drum kit, and allow for a better triggering, though to avoid damaging the original drum track, a send to
+ an intermediary track would be better suited to place the EQ on. This track won't be connected to the Master, as its content
+ is of no musical interest except for its use as a trigger, allowing for some extreme EQ.
</p>
projects / ardour-manual / blobdiff