Learn the secret to achieving the sidechain compression ducking effect without using a compressor in this video! Discover the legendary Drawmer DS 20101 dual channel gate and how it can transform your dawless setup.

In this video I show you exactly how to get the famous 'sidechain compression' kick ducking effect out of the box without a DAW using only hardware. I show you why you should not in fact use a compressor with a sidechain, and why you should instead use the Drawmer DS201 Dual Channel Gate. I explain how to set up the key trigger, how to tune in the envelope settings, and demonstrate it using a wide variety of analog synth sources. Finally I give an entire live performance of a synthwave track with more than ten synths playing simultaneously and six being ducked against the kick using a matrix of multiple Drawmer DS201 units.

#sidechaincompression
#drawmerds201

00:00 Intro
01:16 What am I using for ducking?
02:15 First look at the Drawmer DS201
02:49 Setting up the key trigger (trick)
05:08 Ducking bass under kick
06:56 Sequencing the key trigger separately
08:03 Patching considerations
08:50 Ducking a full synthwave production
10:22 COMPETITION: guess the synth bass! *
10:58 Getting the same effect in any DAW
13:32 The two best (IMO) envelope shapers
17:52 Final listen
18:28 Full live performance with live ducking on six separate parts

* The prize is that I’m impressed