Sidechain compression is more and more popular these days and while there are many ways to do it, I have found an easy and free plug-in that you can use in any VST sequencer. The name is “Twisted Lemon - Sidekick” and it works perfectly. Since it’s freely available I’ve made a tutorial to show how to quickly compress a bassline using a simple bassdrum as a source.

What you need:

• A VST-compatible sequencer
• Twisted Lemon Sidekick VST plug-in
• About 1 minute free time

Important things to remember:

• Set Sidekick on BOTH the source and destination channels (for ease of use, set the source first and the destination second)
• If you set the source first, leave the plug-in as it is - by default it will transmit on channel ALPHA
• Activate the destination channel plug-in, set it in “DUCKING” mode and select channel “ALPHA” so that it will receive the signal from itand compress (duck) the destination sound.
• Enjoy!

Watch it here or on Youtube