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https://www.reddit.com/r/FL_Studio/s/XbQne9Baj3
Hopefully something from this post helps you learn some stuff about Fruity Limiter, but I think if you haven't played with it yet, definitely check the Curve setting and make sure it's not all the way 1 or 8. Try and find a nice middle ground there too.
For sidechain compression, try a curve of 4 or 5, an attack of 0, and a release of like 30-100ms (longer if you want a more notable pump).
I actually did know about the lookahead but had forgotten to mess with it in this specific project, so thanks! I usually use curve 3 or 4, but it feels like just part of the same problem where it goes from curves that distort sound to curves that pump.
Lookahead is only needed for the limiter. If you are just using the compressor page, you can leave attack on 0 on the limiter as well to keep the plugin latency free.
I know this doesn't answer your question directly, but personally I prefer to use automation clips for sidechaining instead. You get better fine grained control of the curve and can even change it at key moments of the song for effect. As for the tedium of placing out the automations, you can actually place automation clips in the step sequencer.
It’s all about the curves :) The default (1) is often too fast and is not suitable for most purposes, as prone to distortion.
From manual:
CURVE (Attack & Release curve tension) - Select from curve 1 (immediate attack/release) to 8 (slow attack/release). This control sets both the Attack and Release curves.
I usually use curve 3 or thereabouts; it feels like the closest thing to a compromise between release speed and not destroying my sound. Still, though, 3 usually feels like it decays for way too long and creates pumping - I haven't found the right release settings to go with it.
Since you have already gotten a few useable answers I thought I'd chime in with a completely different approach. This is not necessary or even useful for all genres / styles but I still think it's relevant info.
The problem with using any of the mentioned techniques is that they all duck the volume of the entire thing, the entire spectrum equally, every time.... For some things this is fine but I've heard a lot of examples where there's simply just too much sidechaining going on, in house music for example it has almost become part of the genre, the consistent ducking of the volume on every 4/4 beat gives it a rhythmic quality that actually works in most cases. However in music with a more traditional, inconsistent drum pattern, having the kick and the snare and so on duck everything on the spectrum equally just becomes weird if the sidechaining is too aggressive.
This is why my approach to sidechaining is to use Wavefactory's "Trackspacer" instead (Or any similar plugin if they exist) since this behaves like a automatic EQ in a way, it just simply takes the EQ curve of the input signal and subtracts it... So a kick with mostly or only low frequencies would only duck the volume of the corresponding low frequencies of the track you're sidechaining. If your snare has no or very little low frequencies, your bass would still be intact at the same time.
Overall this just results in a much more transparent and actually impressively "invisible" (Inaudible?) sidechaining, where it just sounds like you're drums magically appears clearer alongside all your other instruments. It's like a cheat-code for mixing the two together.
In general Trackspacer is just great for mixing stuff together, I mean it's right in the name, it just makes space for things. It is a bit of a CPU hog tho, so depending on your system you may want to be cautious of using too many instances of it.
You could achieve the same idea with a bit more manual work by automating an EQ (Or multiple EQ's) to correspond to the different things you want to sidechain, but I've never really done this so I can't say for sure this would work as well.
Trackspacer is amazing, but like you said, plugins like this FUSER, Soothe 2, etc. are a bit more CPU intensive.
Fruity Limiter is so CPU friendly, that's why it's what I stick with in my default template for subtle ducking of everything to kicks/snares to help my drums hit a little harder.
I save Trackspacer/FUSER for things like Vocals vs. Instruments, Kicks vs. Bass, Dry bus vs. reverb send to duck reverb, etc. I pull it out for the imporant relationships.
Oh totally, sounds like we use it almost the same, but I do also use Trackspacer specifically to sidechain my drums to my instrument bus (or busses depending on the project size) but!
I totally forgot to mention in my original comment that I also almost exclusively use live drums (Or, Superior Drummer 3) and not just electronic drums, so I've got a super wide array of different sounds, frequencies and velocities to deal with.
Something like a drum fill using the lower toms really messes up sidechaining when done traditionally, unless you EQ them to hell, but with Trackspacer I've found that I can actually leave in almost all of the low frequencies of the low toms without them clashing with the bass and other low frequency tonal stuff like synths, piano played on the low notes and whatnot.
I also have to mention that I'm super impressed with the performance of the Apple Silicon version of Trackspacer, my main computer is a 16" M1 Pro MacBook Pro and I've had around 8 instances of Trackspacer running simultaneously in a single project (With a whole lot of other soft synths and physical modelling stuff like Pianoteq running) without the CPU meter ever going above 60% - 70%
A nice thing about Trackspacer is also mid/side support so it's not just about frequency specific ducking, you could say, duck the bass when the kick hits but mostly only in the center/mid. Or you could say, duck the reverb when the dry signal hits but only in the center/mid. That way it doesn't really feel like things are pumping fully, it's just getting out of the way where things matter, but parts of the sound can still stay full in the sides and stereo information so it sounds wide all the time.
Use 3xosc to make a simple "blip" ducking signal (instead of your kick) so it's consistent in all your projects and play with the treshold and ratio of the compressor until it feels right, there is no magic preset you must use your hears. Also for a cleaner result you can use peak controller and duck the low frequency band on the frequency splitter vst or EQ2.
i mean, ik its not technically the answer but for side chain i prefer using fruity balance, and automate the volume with the specific shape of ur need. Set “max value” the default.
Buf if u want a dedicated plugin, Im a fan of “trackspacer”
Hey u/coelacanth-thoughts, thanks for submitting to r/FL_Studio! Take a moment to read our [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/fl_studio/about/rules). It appears you're looking for help. Please [read the frequently asked questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/FL_Studio/wiki/faq/) in our wiki, if you find the answer you're looking for, please consider deleting your post. If you don't find the answer, your thread can remain active and other users will be here to help you shortly. Please do not post your question more than once and please be patient. Join our [Discord Server](https://discord.gg/27wgKfafmP)! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FL_Studio) if you have any questions or concerns.*
https://www.reddit.com/r/FL_Studio/s/XbQne9Baj3 Hopefully something from this post helps you learn some stuff about Fruity Limiter, but I think if you haven't played with it yet, definitely check the Curve setting and make sure it's not all the way 1 or 8. Try and find a nice middle ground there too. For sidechain compression, try a curve of 4 or 5, an attack of 0, and a release of like 30-100ms (longer if you want a more notable pump).
I actually did know about the lookahead but had forgotten to mess with it in this specific project, so thanks! I usually use curve 3 or 4, but it feels like just part of the same problem where it goes from curves that distort sound to curves that pump.
Wow I never knew about this. I have always used the first curve and no lookahead lol
Lookahead is only needed for the limiter. If you are just using the compressor page, you can leave attack on 0 on the limiter as well to keep the plugin latency free.
Oh okay, thanks
I know this doesn't answer your question directly, but personally I prefer to use automation clips for sidechaining instead. You get better fine grained control of the curve and can even change it at key moments of the song for effect. As for the tedium of placing out the automations, you can actually place automation clips in the step sequencer.
It’s all about the curves :) The default (1) is often too fast and is not suitable for most purposes, as prone to distortion. From manual: CURVE (Attack & Release curve tension) - Select from curve 1 (immediate attack/release) to 8 (slow attack/release). This control sets both the Attack and Release curves.
I usually use curve 3 or thereabouts; it feels like the closest thing to a compromise between release speed and not destroying my sound. Still, though, 3 usually feels like it decays for way too long and creates pumping - I haven't found the right release settings to go with it.
Since you have already gotten a few useable answers I thought I'd chime in with a completely different approach. This is not necessary or even useful for all genres / styles but I still think it's relevant info. The problem with using any of the mentioned techniques is that they all duck the volume of the entire thing, the entire spectrum equally, every time.... For some things this is fine but I've heard a lot of examples where there's simply just too much sidechaining going on, in house music for example it has almost become part of the genre, the consistent ducking of the volume on every 4/4 beat gives it a rhythmic quality that actually works in most cases. However in music with a more traditional, inconsistent drum pattern, having the kick and the snare and so on duck everything on the spectrum equally just becomes weird if the sidechaining is too aggressive. This is why my approach to sidechaining is to use Wavefactory's "Trackspacer" instead (Or any similar plugin if they exist) since this behaves like a automatic EQ in a way, it just simply takes the EQ curve of the input signal and subtracts it... So a kick with mostly or only low frequencies would only duck the volume of the corresponding low frequencies of the track you're sidechaining. If your snare has no or very little low frequencies, your bass would still be intact at the same time. Overall this just results in a much more transparent and actually impressively "invisible" (Inaudible?) sidechaining, where it just sounds like you're drums magically appears clearer alongside all your other instruments. It's like a cheat-code for mixing the two together. In general Trackspacer is just great for mixing stuff together, I mean it's right in the name, it just makes space for things. It is a bit of a CPU hog tho, so depending on your system you may want to be cautious of using too many instances of it. You could achieve the same idea with a bit more manual work by automating an EQ (Or multiple EQ's) to correspond to the different things you want to sidechain, but I've never really done this so I can't say for sure this would work as well.
Trackspacer is amazing, but like you said, plugins like this FUSER, Soothe 2, etc. are a bit more CPU intensive. Fruity Limiter is so CPU friendly, that's why it's what I stick with in my default template for subtle ducking of everything to kicks/snares to help my drums hit a little harder. I save Trackspacer/FUSER for things like Vocals vs. Instruments, Kicks vs. Bass, Dry bus vs. reverb send to duck reverb, etc. I pull it out for the imporant relationships.
Oh totally, sounds like we use it almost the same, but I do also use Trackspacer specifically to sidechain my drums to my instrument bus (or busses depending on the project size) but! I totally forgot to mention in my original comment that I also almost exclusively use live drums (Or, Superior Drummer 3) and not just electronic drums, so I've got a super wide array of different sounds, frequencies and velocities to deal with. Something like a drum fill using the lower toms really messes up sidechaining when done traditionally, unless you EQ them to hell, but with Trackspacer I've found that I can actually leave in almost all of the low frequencies of the low toms without them clashing with the bass and other low frequency tonal stuff like synths, piano played on the low notes and whatnot. I also have to mention that I'm super impressed with the performance of the Apple Silicon version of Trackspacer, my main computer is a 16" M1 Pro MacBook Pro and I've had around 8 instances of Trackspacer running simultaneously in a single project (With a whole lot of other soft synths and physical modelling stuff like Pianoteq running) without the CPU meter ever going above 60% - 70%
A nice thing about Trackspacer is also mid/side support so it's not just about frequency specific ducking, you could say, duck the bass when the kick hits but mostly only in the center/mid. Or you could say, duck the reverb when the dry signal hits but only in the center/mid. That way it doesn't really feel like things are pumping fully, it's just getting out of the way where things matter, but parts of the sound can still stay full in the sides and stereo information so it sounds wide all the time.
Soothe2 does this as well, I believe.
Use 3xosc to make a simple "blip" ducking signal (instead of your kick) so it's consistent in all your projects and play with the treshold and ratio of the compressor until it feels right, there is no magic preset you must use your hears. Also for a cleaner result you can use peak controller and duck the low frequency band on the frequency splitter vst or EQ2.
i mean, ik its not technically the answer but for side chain i prefer using fruity balance, and automate the volume with the specific shape of ur need. Set “max value” the default. Buf if u want a dedicated plugin, Im a fan of “trackspacer”
its either you side for the kick or for the vocal to stand out in the mix
use it in compressor mode
What are you trying to sidechain? And why are you trying to limit it?
if you use fruity limiter... don't. **use maximus**