Discover 3 Different Side-Chain Settings in Lumit

Side-Chain in Lumit

First and foremost, Our compressor/expander and noise gate have three different settings for side-chain input. If you're unfamiliar with side-chain or "ducking," it often sounds like this...  

Pre-FX

The compressor will grab the side-chain signal after its pre-gain stage but before its FX. The compressor is "keyed" by the raw source on this setting. The advantage of this setting is the ability to process the external source without changing the amount of compression. In addition, there is the ability to drop the final gain stage of the source and still have "ducking." This produces that "breathing" effect you hear in most trance and dance buildups without having to create a muted "ghost trigger" track as the source (an external key that is not audible).

Post-FX

The compressor will grab the side-chain signal after its FX but before its final mix and balance stage. Therefore, in this setting, the compressor will be "keyed" by the affected output of the external side-chain source. So, if you have an effect that makes it louder, the compression will be stronger, and if you have an impact that makes it quieter, the compression will be softer. The advantage of this setting is the ability to use a processed external source as the key and drop the source's final gain stage and still have "ducking." Accordingly, this produces that "breathing" effect you hear in most trance and dance buildups without having to create a muted "ghost trigger" track as the source (an external key that is not audible). In this example, the amount of side-chaining adapts to the automation of the kick's filter cutoff.

   

Post-Mixer

After its final gain and balance stage, the compressor will grab the side-chain signal. In this setting, the compressor will be "keyed" by the final output of the external side-chain source. The advantage of this setting is the ability to use a processed external source as the key and control the side-chain effect with the final gain fader of that external source. Notice in this example how the side-chained instruments return to their non-compressed, non-ducking levels as I bring down the final output of the kick. This can be an excellent effect, too.