In this Ableton Live Tutorial, Keith Mills from Quantize Courses takes a look at how to create interesting sidechain compression rhythms in Ableton.

The video focuses on sending elements of our drum loop into a return buss and then using this to feed a Compressor that rhythmically ducks a pad.

What does Sidechain Compression Do?

Sidechaining takes one sound and uses it to manipulate another sound. Most often you will see it on compressors, gates, limiters, and expanders. However, it can also be found on vocoders, synthesizers, and other effects. It is a really useful feature on compressors and gates because it allows you to place multiple instruments in the same frequency range without clashing.

About Keith Mills

Keith Mills is a qualified Sound Engineer and Ableton Certified Trainer who has been involved in the electronic music scene for the past 15 years. In this time he has played as a DJ at many of London’s largest clubs and internationally, whilst releasing tracks across a variety of genres including Techno, Tech House and Progressive House.

In 2004 Keith earned a distinction and ‘best in year’ from The London Music School on their highly regarded sound engineering and music production course before moving on to work as a producer for both acoustic and electronic acts.

Keith has extensive experience as a tutor and is currently the head tutor and course designer at Quantize Courses, specialising purely in teaching Ableton Live for performance and production. His key focus is on providing students with practical experience, helping them to produce, arrange and mixdown their music or design and build their own sets ready for Live performance.

Enjoy!