Can one of you guys just give me a quick step by step paragraph on the whole pumping/sidechain/compression effect or ducking on the SX. Just something quick if nobody minds. That would be really helpful. I see a lot of these posts and people get off topic so if someone could just keep this short and simple that would help. I can't figure it out so someone just tell me what to do lol please.

Can't find any thing on the forums as a step by step on how to get the sidechain sound using the SX. Someone help please

I think i can help. Sidechaining is something done with software. If you were to try and emulate it with a 404sx, the only thing i could think you could do is record a (key) sound on one pad. For example, pumping drums or a drumloop with just a kick drum which will be your kick drum.
Hold on, let me start over.....

Lets say you have a drum loop, kick snare and hats, 4 bars on one pad. Then you have that same drumloop with just the kicks going on another pad, same 4 bars. So if you play em in sync you will have the same loop, but the doubled kicks will just sound extra. Then you have a synth sound on another pad. Maybe add the compression FX to the pad with just the kick and the synth and play with the volumes of those so you get that pumping effect on the synth everytime your kick drum hits. I tend to get this effect when i layer synths and a drumloops together and my synth or sampled sound is too low. Its like the compressor tries to overcompensate the low sound and bring it up, still making room for the other sounds that are being compressed as well.

So if you can get a kick track and a synth to get pumping, bring in that other pad with the full drumloop on it (without compression) and play em all in sync and resample.
O you could just have a drumloop and a synth and compress the fuck out of em and keep playing with the volumes till the compressor starts pumping. It wont be as apparent as doing sidechain in ableton where you can adjust the amount of compression hence the amount of pumping going on but it'll still be there.

You can always do it manually by adjusting the volume and while the sound plays to manually add pumping. I know a few people who do that so they dont have to resort to software. And with a few resampled takes, you could totally emulate sidechaining and no one would know the difference.

And try looking at a few ableton vids on sidechaining so you can get a rough idea of what it actually is and whats going on, then you could find ways to do it in the box. The only way i could think to get the volume to go waaaaaaay up and down in the box would be to adjust the volume manually. Like resample a drum track and a synth together and put the subsonic FX on your synth and adjust the setting in the way where one knob is controlling the volume. While your resampling, turn this know to lower the volume of the the synth track in sync with the kick drum hitting.
BOOM ! Manual sidechain.
If thats too much for you, get ableton.

Here's an example and this was all done internally in the sp404sx

http://soundcloud.com/unsignd/fight

Nice. How did you get the effect. I was just going off the top with my ideas, just imagining how you would get the effect. Did anything work? I tend to ramble but there might have been some good info in there.

u could just pm unsignd and ask him!

I did and didn't get a reply. But I figured it out on my own just messing with the machine. Any other input helps thanks guys.

pretty much its like this...

1. wutever sample you want ducking out, turn the vol really low. like around 10-30.

2. turn on MFX12. knob 1 all the way to the right, knob 2 all the way to the left, knob 3 all the way to the right, with effect limit on.

3. to make the sample duck out you apply the compressor to it and some bass notes or a kick drum sample and then when you trigger the bass notes, or the kick drum at the same time as the sample it ducks out.

an easy way to do it is to just have a loop, apply compressor to kick drum, then trigger kick drum over the loop.

Compress all pads using remain button, turn the volume of the samples you want to duck.super low. Turn volume of the samples you want to cause the duck up. Example: chords-volume low, kick-volume high, every time the kick hits the chords duck out. I usually compress all pads except my bass notes. I always make the kick trigger the duck. Hope this helps

Right on. I think io was close but you guys hit it in way less words.

You mean ducking via side-chaining?

Great, there's another technique that is going to be scrutinized so much as to be put into tutorials for cookie cutters to mimic. Then it will be overused by the masses until the point it's played out.

When a question is asked, and then "never mind"ed due to uncovering a realization the same day because you took time to play around means:

Experiment!
Take time to mess around with stuff until you start to piece together something you like. Then sit back and relish in it. Pick apart what you don't like and come up with ways to make it better. Refine it. Until the point you make it unique to you and it becomes your style.
Who knows. You may gain a following of those that dig your stuff. Maybe to the point that they start copy-catting you, seeking out the methodology of your technique. Until it comes full circle of them biting you.

Thanks

just want to correct something..

sidechaining is not 'something done with software' it is a function of most hardware compressors.

MattCoops ducking/pumping has already been overused to death, havent you heard it over the last 5 years!!?

100% quote
i have the alesis 3630 compressor (made in the 80s i think) wich has this function; shortly: the sidechain was mainly used on radio when the talker/dj etc talked when music played so this caused the music to low down quickly without the using a mixer;i think it's still used for that aim...
daft punk and the so called "french touch" house music made use of sidechain very much in the end of the 90s...
but, now with softwares (also free vst) this is maybe more precise.