Volume Ducking Methods - Creating Tracks
Today we take a look at a couple of volume ducking methods commonly used in modern music production.
We feel it is important to make clear that side chaining is not volume ducking. The term side chain is commonly used to refer to automated volume ducking, via a compressor, amongst young producers. But a side chaining is simply routing an audio signal from somewhere in your project into a receiving plug-in. The plug-in then listens for the incoming signal and reacts according to the settings you have programmed once the incoming audio signal crosses a certain threshold.
Volume ducking, however, is simply the act of reducing/attenuating the perceived loudness of a channel, or frequencies on a channel, to allow more space for more prominent elements to be heard. One of the most common uses of volume ducking in music production today is the act of momentarily lowering the volume of a bass synth to allow the kick drum to cut through the mix. Most of the time, this is done through a technique called side chain compression. You can easily hear side chain compression in action when you watch on-the-scene news reports and you hear the background sound getting quieter when the reporter is speaking and louder when they are not.
In many cases, you do not want the volume ducking to actually be audible, when used in music. Though, it is a popular trend right now to use volume ducking that is extreme enough to easily be heard. And when it is applied to synth to allow more space for the kick drum to be heard, as the video shows, it can result in a nice rhythmic pulsing that keeps the music pumping and the people on the dance floor moving.
Cheers,
OhmLab