So, sidechaining.....

[MartinVasa]

What instruments do you sidechain religiously within your EDM and dubstep type tracks?

Also, is the Kickstart plugin by Nicky Romer/CableGuys worth a purchase for sidechaining easily?

[robbyluca]

Basslines sidechaining kicks.

What are you using to sidechain that's complicated? It's only $15, affordable, but not necessary, but can be useful. Try the demo trial.

[Kwal]

I always sidechain my basslines and leads. And I use Kickstart and it is fantastic.

[Tarekith]

I never side chain

[Pause]

I oftenly use sidechaining on pads or atmosphere synths.

[MartinVasa]

Kickstart does seem appealing as a simple way to sidechain. I have a template in Logic set up with a 4/4 Ultrabeat trigger routed to a muted bus to use as a trigger for the compressions for sidechain. However, dragging Kickstart onto a track and tweaking one knob to get some ideas going with the option of wave tweaking etc is quite appealing.

[ravenhouse]

Yes the Kickstart plugin is dope. It really trivializes side chaining if you are having any trouble with it normally. Plus you can dial in how much/how little sidechain you want.

[Rickvallone]

Think outside the box. Everyone side chains the bass, And that 's fine. Its effective.

I've been playing around with side chaining one drum kit to another lately. For example, a big, boomy acoustic kit with long tails...I'll run it very hot through a compressor, but then I'll side chain its channel to a standard 808 or 909 track. It makes it sound very gritty but very punchy as well.

I've also been side chaining or gating my reverb and delay sends. Just play around. You might find something excitn

[MASC]

I sidechain my basses ofcourse. But also my leads and sometime my percussion a little bit just to let the kick punch through a little more.

$15 is not that much for a plugin. You should try the demo.

[olisharp]

Don't know what DAW you're using, side-chain compression in Ableton is a piece of cake.

Try the X-fer LFO tool too, there's a demo you can try, it's pretty badass and gives way more control of the release than side chain compression, and doesn't cause distortion / artefacts on low frequency stuff.

You could try side chain compression on any elements which are competing for the same frequency range, like guitars and vocals, kick drum and bass line etc.

If you're making Dubstep you could try the following - route all your percussion (hi hats, rides, breaks, shakers etc) to a buss and side - chain it from the kick and snare. Set your release quite quick the effect isn't too obvious, and you only need to duck it by 2 or 3 dB. this will help your Kick and Snare dominate the mix a bit more whilst still maintaining the "loudness" of your tune.