Ableton's sidechain: beyond the compressor pump
You've sidechained a kick to a compressor. But have you ever sidechained the Gate so a vocal only appears when the drums are silent? Or used Envelope Follower to drive Roar? Today's lead walks through every sidechain device in Ableton Live — from the classic pump to sound design tricks you probably haven't tried.
Every sidechain device in Live, from classic pump to envelope-driven Roar
This covers Compressor, Glue, Multiband Dynamics, Gate, Roar, Envelope Follower and Auto Filter — including Expand mode, OTT-style per-band dynamics and gating. If you thought sidechain was just for ducking, there’s a lot here.
◢ learn
▶ Transient shaping and sub stacking in an orchestral progressive house build
The producer puts a transient shaper on every kick and uses three near-identical sub layers to keep the low end moving. You'll also see Trackspacer duck a mid bass around the sub — a routing trick you can steal for any genre.
▶ Building a mid-2000s tech house roller from a stem bass and 909 kick
The bass is a separated stem pitched down and cleaned with four stacked EQs; the groove comes from extracting swing off a percussion loop. Also: using a conga loop in reverse as a riser so its entrance doesn't feel random.
◢ free & gear
A zero-latency clipper with true-peak safety and an adaptive mode(free)
HardStop gives you zero-latency clipping and a TP Safety Limiter that catches inter-sample peaks. The Pro version adds adaptive clipping that treats drum transients differently than sustained body — the free Basic version has no time limit.
GForce gives away ARP Axxess and Mellotron tape instrument plugins(free)
Axxess adds polyphony and a sub-oscillator to the 1975 ARP Axxe architecture, plus X-Mod LFOs per parameter. M-Tron Select 2 layers Mellotron flutes, choirs and brass with onboard effects.
◢ the word
TriMixxx turns a Raspberry Pi into a Pro DJ Link player with jog wheels
It reads CDJ jog at 12,960 counts/turn and syncs via Pro DJ Link — you can mount USB sticks read-only to prevent corruption. Build it with a Pi 4 and a Mixxx fork, or just run the emulator to see how it works.
ADAM launches H715 headphones with Sonnox calibration and crossfeed
They’re 150Ω, so you’ll need a capable amp, and the system-wide correction requires the macOS-only ListenHub app. Worth A/B-ing against your monitors for low-end decisions.
Booka Shade's 'Movements' turns 20 with a Dolby Atmos mix and new remixes
The super deluxe edition adds 19 remastered 12-inch-era tracks and remixes from Mha Iri, Shermanology, Jody Wisternoff, and more. If 'In White Rooms' was formative for you, this is worth a look.
Patrick Topping — Be Sharp Say Nowt
the vocal chop that ducks hard against the kick · pairs with the sidechain tutorial above
| ▲ #08 | Hannah Wants, Trace — Badman Sound (Extended Mix) |
| ▼ #17 | Stanny Abram — Empty Rooms (Original Mix) |
| ▼ #89 | BACHEBO, Crack D, Jaegerossa — Under The Mirror Ball (Jaegerossa Remix) ▼ 64 · 1d · ▶ hear |
| ▲ #09 | Stefano Ranieri — Tunnel (Original Mix) ▲ 85 · 7d · profile → |
| ▼ #81 | Turntables Night Fever — More More Baby (Original Mix) |
- synth: Korg MS-20 — The bassline is a single Korg MS-20 patch — sawtooth wave into the MS-20's resonant low-pass filter, cutoff opened by a snappy envelope. No layering, just a tight decay and a sequencer line that skips when you expect it to walk.
- technique: Envelope-modulated LP filter pluck — Set a low-pass filter's cutoff low, then use an envelope with zero attack, short decay, zero sustain to push it up at the start of each note. Resonance around noon gives that vocal squelch. The trick is the envelope amount — crank it until the fundamental punches through, then back off just a hair so the tail doesn't honk.
- label: Get Physical Music — Co-founded by Booka Shade and M.A.N.D.Y., Get Physical defined the mid-2000s intersection of house groove and minimal restraint. Tracks didn't shout; they coiled.
- 1. Load a sample into your sampler (e.g., Ableton Simpler) and set it to loop mode (forward or forward‑reverse).
- 2. Adjust loop start and end to isolate the section you want to repeat.
- 3. Raise crossfade until the loop repeats cleanly – stop right after the click disappears.
🔮 Producer Horoscope (for fun) — Your DAW will crash exactly once today — back up before you start tweaking that synth.
Now close this and open your DAW.
one of these lands every morning.
for working house producers with a track already half-finished.
free · every morning · unsubscribe any time
covered in this issue: ableton live · trimixxx · gforce axxess · adam audio h715 reference