Do you use make up gain when using sidechain compression/duc

[musicguy7]

I'm talking about using a kick to duck a pad, etc. basically any instrument you want to sound a little louder then another from time to time, would the compressor settings basically decrease the volume of the ducked instrument, and you wouldn't use any makeup gain, since that would defeat the purpose of ducking/making the instrument quieter then your sidechain input? Or perhaps for this effect, do you just use less makeup gain depending on the situation?

[David Nahmani]

It really doesn't matter, as long as you get the result you want.

 

I sometimes use make up gain so I can toggle the compressor's bypass without too much difference in volume. That way I can compare the compressed sound with the dry sound. Sometimes I don't.

 

But in any case, if you've carefully adjusted the way your sidechain triggers a compressor, then changing the level of the sidechain signal will affect the way the compressor behaves. It doesn't matter what changes the sidechain signal, if it's a gain plug-in, the volume on a synth, the make up gain on a compressor, an EQ band that you raise or lower, a direction mixer, etc etc... basically ANY change in the sidechain signal can potentially affect the way the plug-in that uses that sidechain behaves.