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Sidechain compression not working (TDR Nova)


iwannalearnfacts
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With TDR Nova, I'm trying to compress a kick with sidechain set to an 808 (or rather a bussed copy of it, since the 808 itself doesn't appear in the sidechain menu). Nova isn't detecting the 808 signal and I'm unsure why.

 

What's weird is that I'm using TDR Nova on my 808 as well (this one sidechained to my kick), and that one works perfectly. I've double checked the Nova I have on the kick with the Nova I have on the 808 to be sure there aren't any incorrect settings (Ext/Int SC, threshold activation, threshold level), and everything looks the same... yet my kick Nova is dead.

 

Anyone know what I might do to fix this?

1154300949_tdrnovaissue.thumb.png.2a8d86b9301c5deeacce8a79d3e02f12.png

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With TDR Nova, I'm trying to compress a kick with sidechain set to an 808 (or rather a bussed copy of it, since the 808 itself doesn't appear in the sidechain menu).

Is this an older Logic Pro X version?

 

Nova isn't detecting the 808 signal and I'm unsure why.

Open the Mixer, make sure there's an Aux with its input set to Bus 20 just to see if there is any signal on that bus. Set the output of the Aux to No Output.

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I'm up to date with Logic (version 10.5.0).

 

In the mixer the Aux is routed like you said (input: bus 20, output: no output). In this screenshot you can see there's a decent signal on the Aux; Nova doesn't seem to be detecting it (i played a short loop during this screenshot just to let Nova kick in, if for some reason it needed time to wake up, but still no avail... the threshold level in Nova is also set very low just in case the displayed level of the Aux is inaccurate).

 

am I missing something?

1068949844_novanotdetectingsignal.png.5c01c5374aebba17908e79ceeea5ca2a.png

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Logic's compressor doesn't work either. Yeah, very odd. Maybe there's something wrong with my computer

Can you try a super simple new project with only two track, one with a drum loop side chained to a compressor on a sustained synth note? If you can't make it work, attach the project here so one of us can have a look. How to attach files to your post

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It works (see attachment).

So then the problem resides in my project itself (maybe in the project settings? or in Ultrabeat where my 808 sample is?).

 

At this point, however, I've exhausted the energy I'm willing to put into identifying the cause of the problem and I need to move on with my mix, so as a makeshift solution I'm using Channel EQ automation instead of Dynamic EQ.

1828652283_sidechaincompressorworks.thumb.png.8bff59c2d2fca750c3363e53a28f1533.png

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Solution

UPDATE: While I haven't 'solved' the problem in the strictest sense, I have found a very practical solution: bouncing the sidechained MIDI track to Audio, and then sidechaining that Audio track.

 

With all the issues I've had with sidechain compression, and sidechain dynamic compression (these problems having existed in forms beyond that presented in this topic)... they went completely away, and the compressors worked perfectly, when I changed the sidechain from the MIDI track to an Audio track equivalent. In theory, I shouldn't have to do this (maybe my computer's crap), but I've heard people say MIDI can be unpredictable compared to audio. I never took that notion to heart, but based on this experience I might begin to.

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UPDATE: While I haven't 'solved' the problem in the strictest sense, I have found a very practical solution: bouncing the sidechained MIDI track to Audio, and then sidechaining that Audio track.

That sounds convoluted and more work than you need. Why didn't you simply choose the software instrument track as the source for the side chain?

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Because doing that causes issues with the compressor or dynamic compressor (for some reason, I still don't know for sure), one of those issues being my first post in this topic. Again, it could just be my computer, but this method of sidechaining Audio instead of the original Software Instrument seems to fix the problem when it does arise (for me it arises about 40% of the time when I'm using bass drum or bass guitar, for all other instruments the simple method of sidechaining the Software Instrument track like you said works perfectly).
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  • 1 year later...
  • 3 months later...
A little late, but...

 

I was having a similar issue in a session, my side chain was not working for some reason. For me, it turned out it was because I had low latency mode turned on and it was turning off my side chain compression. As soon as I turned it off it worked like normal

 

Thank you so much for this. I was going mad wondering what my issue could be until I read this. I really appreciate you taking the time to post.

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  • 5 weeks later...
A little late, but...

 

I was having a similar issue in a session, my side chain was not working for some reason. For me, it turned out it was because I had low latency mode turned on and it was turning off my side chain compression. As soon as I turned it off it worked like normal

Solved for me too, thanks.

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