Reference Guide

923
Sidechaining
Mixing
Sidechaining
SONAR supports multi-input plug-ins, which are typically sidechain plug-ins that have two inputs: a
primary input and a sidechain input.
When SONAR detects such a plug-in in an effects bin, a virtual output port is created for each extra
input exposed by the plug-in. Audio track, Bus and Send outputs can be routed to sidechain inputs.
Sidechaining is typically used with compressors to limit one signal depending on the signal level of
another. Common applications are to reduce the level of a bass guitar when there is a kick drum, or
to reduce the level of music whenever a speaker talks (often used for background music in radio-
and television programs). There are of course many more applications that are not mentioned here.
SONAR includes the following plug-ins that support sidechaining:
• Sonitus Compressor
• Sonitus Gate
In addition, ProChannel (Producer only) supports sidechaining when using the PC4K S-Type Bus
Compressor mode. For details, see “ProChannel (Producer and Studio only)” on page 999.
Limiting the number of plug-in sidechain inputs
By default, a multi-channel VST plug-in always exposes the maximum number of input channels it
supports.
You can limit the number of sidechain inputs that SONAR displays for any given VST plug-in. This is
useful if you don’t need to use all the input channels and you want to limit the number of audio input
channels that are displayed in SONAR.
To limit the number of sidechain inputs
1. On the Utilities menu, click Cakewalk Plug-in Manager to open the Cakewalk Plug-in Manager.
2. In the Plug-in Categories list, select VST Audio Effects (VST).
3. In the Registered Plug-ins list, select the desired plug-in.
4. Under VST Configuration, click Plug-in Properties to open the VST Plug-in Properties dialog
box.
5. In the Max used inputs box, specify the max number of inputs you want to use for the plug-in.
Note: The default value is the maximum number of mono input channels as exposed by the
plug-in. The valid range is from 2 to the maximum number of channels exposed by the plug-in.
With a value of 2, SONAR will not display any sidechain inputs for the plug-in. With a value of 4,
SONAR will display 1 stereo sidechain input, etc.