Sidechain Compression for Insanely Punchy Metal Mixes

Modern metal is a beast. The mixes are dense, the tunings are low, and the standard for production polish is higher than ever. You’ve got 8-string guitars fighting for space with a five-string bass, all while a kick drum loaded with GetGood Drums samples is trying to punch through the sonic wall.

How do you make it all work? How do you create that separation and impact when every frequency is saturated?

One of the most powerful tools in your arsenal is sidechain compression.

If you think sidechaining is just for EDM producers making their synth pads pump, you're missing out on a core technique used by top metal producers to create clarity, groove, and unbelievable punch. It’s the secret sauce that makes individual elements pop without just cranking faders.

Let’s break down what it is and how you can use it to make your metal mixes hit harder.

What the Hell is Sidechain Compression?

In simple terms, a normal compressor squashes a signal based on its own volume. When the guitar gets too loud, the compressor turns it down. Simple.

Sidechain compression flips that on its head. It tells the compressor to react to a different signal.

Think of it like this: You have a compressor on your bass guitar track. Instead of listening to the bass to decide when to compress, you can feed it the signal from your kick drum. Now, every single time the kick drum hits, the compressor momentarily turns down the bass guitar.

This creates a small pocket of space for the kick drum’s transient to cut through, clean and clear. The result? A tighter, punchier low end where the kick and bass work together instead of fighting.

Most stock DAW compressors can do this, from Logic’s Compressor to Reaper’s ReaComp. Pro-level tools like the FabFilter Pro-C 2 or Waves SSL G-Comp give you even more control. It’s a fundamental mixing move, and if you want to dig deeper into the basics of compression itself, this guide is a great place to start.

The Classic Move: Kick vs. Bass

This is the number one use for sidechaining in metal and for good reason. With bands tuning down to Drop G or lower, the fundamental frequencies of the rhythm guitars and bass guitar can easily mask the attack of the kick.

How to Set It Up

Let’s get practical. Here’s the step-by-step for the kick/bass sidechain in any DAW:

1. Insert a compressor on your bass guitar track or bus.
2. Create a send from your kick drum track to the sidechain/key input of that compressor. Crucially, make this a pre-fader send. This ensures that even if you change the kick fader's volume later, the level being sent to the sidechain compressor remains constant.
3. On the compressor plugin, activate the external sidechain input. This button might be labeled "Sidechain," "Key," or "External."

Now the compressor on the bass is being triggered by the kick drum.

Dialing in the Settings

The magic is in the settings. This isn't a "set and forget" situation.

• Threshold: Pull the threshold down until you see the gain reduction meter jump every time the kick hits. A good starting point is seeing about 3-6dB of reduction.
• Ratio: Start around 4:1. Higher ratios will create a more aggressive and noticeable “ducking” effect.
• Attack: You want this FAST. As in, almost instant. The goal is to get the bass out of the way the exact moment the kick transient hits. Start with the fastest setting your compressor allows (like 0.1ms) and work from there.
• Release: This is the most important setting. The release time controls how quickly the bass returns to its normal volume. You need to time it to the tempo of the song. Too fast, and the effect will sound choppy and unnatural. Too slow, and the bass will sound like it’s being sucked out of the mix. Start around 50ms and adjust by ear until the bass "pumps" in time with the groove.

Advanced Sidechain Tricks for Modern Metal

Okay, kick and bass is day one stuff. Let’s get into the techniques that separate the pros from the bedroom producers, especially when dealing with the genre-bending nature of modern metal.

Carving Space for Vocals in a Wall of Guitars

Ever struggled to get a vocal to sit right on top of four tracks of high-gain, heavily distorted guitars? You can EQ a pocket for it, but sidechaining gives you a dynamic solution that works only when it’s needed.

Put a compressor on your main rhythm guitar bus and sidechain it to your lead vocal track. Use extremely subtle settings: a low ratio (2:1), and aim for just 1-2dB of reduction. Set a fast attack and time the release so the guitars swell back in smoothly between vocal phrases.

Pro-Tip: Use a Multiband Compressor
Take it a step further with a multiband compressor like the FabFilter Pro-MB or Waves C6. Instead of ducking the entire guitar signal, you can set the sidechain to only compress the mid-range (say, 500Hz – 3kHz). This carves out a perfect space for the vocal to live without sacrificing the guitars’ low-end chug or high-end bite. This is a surgical move that creates incredible clarity.

Gated Reverbs for Massive, Clean Snares

You want that huge, explosive snare sound you hear on records by bands like Architects or Periphery, but when you send your snare to a big hall reverb (like a Valhalla VintageVerb), it just washes out the mix.

1. Put your reverb on an aux/bus track and send your snare to it.
2. After the reverb plugin, insert a noise gate plugin (like the FabFilter Pro-G).
3. Set up a pre-fader send from your dry snare track to the gate’s sidechain input.

Now, the gate on the reverb track will only open when the dry snare hits. You get the massive initial "BOOM" of the reverb, but the gate then slams it shut before the long tail can muddy up the next drum hit. You get all the size with none of the mess.

Making Synths and 808s Punch Through

Modern metal isn’t just guitars and drums anymore. Bands like Spiritbox and Falling In Reverse are blending metal with hip-hop, pop, and electronic music. What happens when you need a massive 808 bass drop or a synth lead to cut through a dense metal arrangement?

Sidechain it.

If an 808 needs to be the focus, sidechain your rhythm guitars and even your bass guitar to it. Unlike the subtle vocal trick, you can be aggressive here. A fast attack and 10dB+ of gain reduction for a split second will make the guitars "jump" out of the way, letting that electronic element hit with maximum force. Tools like Cableguys VolumeShaper or Xfer’s LFO-Tool are amazing for this, as they let you literally draw the volume curve you want.

See How The Pros Do It

Reading about these techniques is one thing. But watching a producer like Joey Sturgis or Will Putney actually dial in these settings on a real session from a band like The Devil Wears Prada or Knocked Loose is a completely different game.

How fast should the release really be on a 200bpm blast beat section? How much should you really duck the guitars for a vocal? The answer is always "it depends," and at Nail The Mix, we show you exactly what it depends on.

Every month, you get the real multitracks from a massive metal song and watch the original producer mix it from scratch, explaining every single decision—including every sidechain move—along the way.

If you’re ready to see how these concepts are applied to create professional, release-ready metal mixes, check out our free training on mixing modern metal beyond presets. Stop guessing and start learning from the best in the business.