Hi, im achieving the ducking effect via signal follower modulating the threshold parameter in the compressor (native or vst). This is the same that doing it with a compressor with native side chaining? I like all the possibilities that the meta devices give, side chaining everything for example, but is some technical difference in the audio?
Not really. (though I’m sure some pedant will join this thread and claim otherwise)
Theoretically, a compressor is really all-and-only volume modulation. Whatever you do to achieve that volume modulation is up to you. Personally, recently, I’ve been using my automatron tool (http://www.renoise.com/tools/automatron) on a hydra input and modulating all kinds of stuff with that; not least of which the main knob on the gain device.
Moving the volume of a part up and down rhythmically is a good way to create movement, but there are many others. May we all have fun experimenting with them.
Take care,
-Harold
p.s. some compressors do color the sound in addition to moving the volume up and down, this is the main reason some people hunt down rare old hardware compressors with specific components.
The functionality in theory is the same as in real sidechain compresson. But in practice the result is different, because all meta-device’s frequency of sending data to the compressor depends on the ticks frequency and the track tempo you’re using. While a true sidechain compressor would react sample accurate, depending on the real audio stream, the signal-follower solution works with the way smaller resolution, depending on the TPL/BPM used in your track, sending data with each tick only.
Sending signal follower output to GAINER device is similar to sidechain compression, but slightly different like Bit_Arts pointed out.
Sending output to compressor threshold is not the same thing, as in this case you monitor both the side chain and the main chain. Sidechain compressor does not care about the content of the main chain. It only monitors the side chain signal and modulates the volume of the main chain based on that.
mmm, witch parameter in the compressor could i modulate to achieve similar results? I want to use a vst compressor. this vst has the sidechain option but i cant make it work in renoise (it works well in ableton)
i think that i can answer my first question, the output, right?
the second question is, why the native sidechain in the vst doesn’t works? In Live i send the output of the track that i want to use as side chain to the vst in another track, but in renoise i cant do this routing.
If the plugin is bridged, it won’t be able to see the other bridged instance, because each plugin is running on their own Robinson Island.
It should work if you start it in the native bit version of Renoise. If the plugin is 32-bit, then use Renoise 32-bit.(Ofcourse unbridged, so turn off the "run all plugins in bridged mode"option)
One solution I have personally found to be really flexible:
Don’t use a gainer or compressor as the target device. Instead, use a filter, set to HighShelf (HS) mode with the cutoff turned all the way up.
Then, point the signal follower to the gain. Add a slight bit of inertia, and perhaps some cutoff /resonance (to add colorization).
Indeed this is another way to handle sidechaining. While this might produce disturbing frequencies you actually want to avoid or even EQed out before. The most convincing way (when using the signal follower) to me atm is, to bind an EQ to the signal follower, because this way you can do a really precise selection of frequencies you want to sidechain/surpress. Even multiple precise frequencies at a time, when utilizing a Hydra. Sounds smooth and avoids resonant frequencies and filter noises.
You can’t make it work, because Renoise doesn’t support multiple audio-ins for any devices. To use a true sidechain compressor, you’d need at least 2 different audio-ins. There are VST solutions, that trigger themselves via internal routing on multiple instances. That’s what vV described. But to make these work, you’d have to keep in mind, that they’re not gonna work in separate sandboxes, if these are activated in the Renoise preferences.
I personally use Twisted Lemon Sidekick for sidechaining and just deactivate the Sandboxing in Renoise for it.