# Sidechaining in tidalcycles

**URL:** <https://uzu.lurk.org/t/sidechaining-in-tidalcycles/4318>\
**Category:** TidalCycles\
**Tags:** questions\
**Created:** [23 September 2022 12:51 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/sidechaining-in-tidalcycles/4318 "2022-09-23T12:51:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2

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**Author:** ![geikha](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/geikha/32/2701_2.png) [@geikha](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/geikha)\
**Post date:** [23 September 2022 19:51 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/sidechaining-in-tidalcycles/4318/2 "2022-09-23T19:51:13Z")

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this is something i've tried many times for more than a year already. i'm still trying to find the best solution. here are some links from all different attempts:

> [@Sidechain Compression in Tidal?](https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/sidechain-compression-in-tidal/509):
>
> This may be redundant but I couldn't figure out if this is built into a compression effect, its own effect, or not implemented yet. Anyone know how to sidechain compress in Tidal?

> [@\[Innard Help\] Problems with GlobalDirtEffect's while coding a compressor](https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/innard-help-problems-with-globaldirteffects-while-coding-a-compressor/3397):
>
> I'm trying to make a compressor for SuperDirt, specifically because I want to achieve " [Sidechain Compression in Tidal?](https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/sidechain-compression-in-tidal/509) ". I've been running into many problems and my main concern right now is default values. Setup I added the global effect to the orbits globalEffects array: ~dirt.orbits.do { |x| var l = x.globalEffects.size; x.globalEffects = x.globalEffects.insert(l-2, GlobalDirtEffect(\dirt\_compressor,['comp','thresh','atktime','reltime','upcomp','makeup','sidechain'])); x.initNodeTre…

> <https://github.com/musikinformatik/SuperDirt/issues/251>
>
> This is a repost from: https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/innard-help-problems-with-…globaldirteffects-while-coding-a-compressor/3397
> 
> System:
> Win8.1, SC 3.12.0, SD 1.7.2, Tidal 1.7.8
> 
> \---
> 
> I'm trying to make a compressor for SuperDirt, specifically because I want to achieve " https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/sidechain-compression-in-tidal/509?u=ritchse ". I've been running into many problems and my main concern right now is default values.
> 
> \*\*Setup\*\*
> 
> I added the global effect to the orbits globalEffects array:
> 
> \`\`\`supercollider
> ~dirt.orbits.do { |x|
> var l = x.globalEffects.size;
> x.globalEffects = x.globalEffects.insert(l-2,
> GlobalDirtEffect(\\dirt\_compressor,\['comp','thresh','atktime','reltime','upcomp','makeup','sidechain'\]));
> x.initNodeTree;
> };
> \`\`\`
> 
> I defined some default values to the arguments of the SynthDef as one usually does:
> 
> \`\`\`supercollider
> ~dryBuses = \[\];
> ~dirt.orbits.do { |x|
> ~dryBuses = ~dryBuses ++ x.dryBus
> }
> (
> SynthDef.new("dirt\_compressor" ++ ~dirt.numChannels,
> {|dryBus, effectBus, comp=1, thresh=0.5, atktime=0.01, reltime=0.1, upcomp=1, makeup=1, sidechain=(-1)|
> var sound, in, control, chs;
> chs = ~dirt.numChannels;
> in = In.ar(dryBus, chs);
> control = In.ar(Select.kr(sidechain+1,\[in\]++~dryBuses),2);
> sound = Compander.ar(in, control, thresh: thresh, slopeAbove: (1/comp),
> clampTime: atktime, relaxTime: reltime, mul: makeup, slopeBelow: (1/upcomp));
> Out.ar(effectBus, sound)
> }, \[\\ir, \\ir\]).add;
> s.freeAll;
> )
> \`\`\`
> 
> And set my params in tidal as such:
> 
> \`\`\`haskell
> let comp = pF "comp" -- compression ratio
> thresh = pF "thresh" -- threshold
> atktime = pF "atktime" -- attack time
> reltime = pF "reltime" -- release time
> upcomp = pF "upcomp" --upwards compression ratio
> makeup = pF "makeup" --amplitude of the output
> sidechain = pI "sidechain" --orbit from which to sidechain
> \`\`\`
> 
> \*\*Results\*\*
> 
> \`\`\`haskell
> d1 $ s "bd\*2" # makeup 1 # comp 1 # thresh 1
> \`\`\`
> ^ This is a neutral state of compression, nothing is happening, and sound is coming out as expected: the same as with no effects.
> \`\`\`haskell
> d1 $ s "bd\*2" # makeup 0 # comp 1 # thresh 1
> \`\`\`
> ^ This should produce no sound, yet it does, at a lower volume than before. I'd say about half the volume; so, is it running on parallel?
> \`\`\`haskell
> d1 $ s "bd\*2"
> \`\`\`
> ^ This should sound the same as in the beginning, but it sounds the same as the previous example.
> I figured it must have to do with default values or something so I checked the node tree:
> \`\`\`supercollider
> 8768 dirt\_compressor2
> dryBus: 48 effectBus: 50 comp: 0 thresh: 0 atktime: 0.0099999997764826 reltime: 0.10000000149012 upcomp: 1 makeup: 0 sidechain: -1
> 8767 dirt\_rms2
> \`\`\`
> Here I run into my first problem: \*\*When erasing a paramater, it doesn't go back into its default value\*\*.
> I'm guessing SC just ignores the last change of values into \`0\` since it would generate a division by zero error, hence the same output as before.
> \`\`\`haskell
> d1 $ s "bbtdr\*2" # makeup 1 # comp 1 # thresh 1
> \`\`\`
> ^ This one is mind-boggling to me. After that mess of division by zero, when I try to go back into the neutral state of compression, now I hear nothing! There's no output.
> 
> Here's the whole node tree of the first orbit:
> \`\`\`supercollider
> 2 group
> 9347 group
> -101992 dirt\_sample\_2\_2
> out: 46 bufnum: 44 sustain: 0.41246938705444 begin: 0 end: 1 speed: 1 endSpeed: 1 freq: 261.62557983398 pan: 0 span: 1
> -102000 dirt\_gate2
> out: 48 in: 46 sustain: 0.41246938705444 fadeInTime: 0 fadeTime: 0.0010000000474975 gain: 1 overgain: 0 amp: 0.40000000596046 sample: 1436622976 gateSample: 0 cutAll: 0
> 8771 dirt\_delay2
> dryBus: 48 effectBus: 50 gate: 1 delaytime: 0 delayfeedback: 0 delaySend: 1 delayAmp: 0 lock: 0 cps: 0.5625 resumed: 0
> 8770 dirt\_reverb2
> dryBus: 48 effectBus: 50 gate: 1 room: 0 size: 0.10000000149012 dry: 0 resumed: 0
> 8769 dirt\_leslie2
> dryBus: 48 effectBus: 50 gate: 1 leslie: 0.5 lrate: 6.6999998092651 lsize: 0.30000001192093 resumed: 0
> 8768 dirt\_compressor2
> dryBus: 48 effectBus: 50 comp: 1 thresh: 1 atktime: 0.0099999997764826 reltime: 0.10000000149012 upcomp: 1 makeup: 1 sidechain: -1
> 8767 dirt\_rms2
> dryBus: 48 effectBus: 50 gate: 1 rmsReplyRate: 0 rmsPeakLag: 0 orbitIndex: 0 resumed: 0
> 8766 dirt\_monitor2
> dryBus: 48 effectBus: 50 outBus: 0 gate: 1 limitertype: 1 resumed: 0
> \`\`\`
> I realized that every global effect except the one I'm trying to add has the argument \`resmued\` at the end. I tried looking for it in the SuperDirt repo but couldn't really figure out what it is exactly.
> 
> \*\*Final questions\*\*
> 
> \* What is the 'resumed' argument in all GlobalDirtEffect's?
> \* How do I make it so parameters go back into their default value state when erasing them from Tidal code?
> \* Why does setting the 'makeup' to 0 still produce a fair amount of sound?
> 
> \*Thank you for reading all this mess ! Love\*

> <https://github.com/musikinformatik/SuperDirt/issues/269>
>
> I realize some synthdefs (like the reverb one) automatically go back to their de…fault values when they stop being referenced in tidal code. For example setting the \`size\` of the reverb to 0.5, then removing that from the code and have it go back to 0.1.
> 
> Where is this set? With regular SC synthdefs setting arguments to \`nil\` just sets them to \`0\`.

I could try to finish my last attempt which seemed to be getting somewhere

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