$14.99+
Ableton Sidechain Gate ver.7.0
Write the ducking as part of the groove
If all you need is to lower the volume whenever the kick hits, a conventional sidechain compressor can already do that.
But sometimes the real goal is not compressor behavior. It is the movement itself: when the bass steps aside, how much space it leaves, how long it stays down, and how it returns.
Sidechain Gate uses MIDI notes to start the ducking cycle. It does not depend on detecting the level of the kick, so the ducking shape can remain independent even if the kick becomes quieter, louder, shorter, or is replaced with a completely different sound.
It turns sidechain processing from a reactive mixing technique into a way of writing movement into the groove.
Shape the entire movement back to full level
Sidechain Gate is not built around a single ducking amount.
Add a little Delay and the transient can remain before the signal moves out of the way. Make the Curve sharper and space can open immediately after the trigger. Drop and Hold determine where the movement reaches its deepest point and where the return begins. Return changes how the sound rises back into place.
With a short Length, the movement can be almost invisible, clearing only the moment where kick and bass collide.
With a longer Length, pads, drones, and sustained sounds can begin to breathe with the rhythm.
Time mode gives direct control in milliseconds. Sync mode locks the movement to musical note values from Ableton Live.
Rather than adjusting a collection of unrelated controls, you are shaping one continuous gain trajectory.
See what disappears and what remains
More ducking is not automatically better.
You may only want to clear the lowest frequencies around a kick. You may want to preserve the transient. You may want a complete mute region. Or you may want the original sound to remain present while a smaller amount of movement is added underneath it.
Sidechain Gate makes these differences visible.
The upper display shows the ducking trajectory created by the current settings.
The lower display continuously shows the original signal, the signal remaining after ducking, the gain movement, and the MIDI trigger positions on the same timeline.
Change the curve and you can see which part of the sound remains and which part moves out of the way.
The display is there to support decisions made by ear, not to replace them.
Use MIDI to perform the empty space
With four on the floor bass, a short duck can briefly clear the low end every time the kick arrives.
With pads, a longer Return can make the entire chord breathe.
With drones, a completely separate MIDI pattern can turn a sustained sound into rhythm without changing the source itself.
With percussion, Delay can preserve the first transient while moving the body of the sound underneath another element.
Lowering Wet/Dry keeps more of the original signal present, allowing the movement to be blended rather than forcing the source to disappear completely.
Because the processed audio and the triggering rhythm can be treated independently, sidechain becomes more than a way to avoid the kick. It becomes part of the sequence itself, determining where sound exists and where space appears.
Keep the movement continuous with dense MIDI patterns
With fast MIDI patterns, a new trigger may arrive before the previous duck has finished.
Sidechain Gate does not force the gain back to full level before starting again.
The next duck begins from the gain position that is currently being heard.
This allows closely spaced triggers to form a continuous movement rather than a series of identical restarts.
The same approach works for regular four on the floor patterns, syncopated sequences, rhythmic gating, and more complex MIDI programming.
Separate sidechain from the compressor
Sidechain Gate does not create compression by reacting to input level.
MIDI defines the starting point. You define the descent, the deepest region, and the way the sound returns.
The same system can create subtle kick and bass separation, exaggerated pumping, rhythmic gating, or movement inside sustained sounds.
Sidechain Gate turns sidechain processing from a corrective mixing technique into a way of designing musical time.
Availability and Licensing
Sidechain Gate 7.0.4 is a Max for Live Audio Effect for Ableton Live 12.x and Max 9.x.
It supports macOS and Windows.
Existing license owners can log in with the Sellfy account used for the original purchase to access the latest version at no additional cost. Future version updates are provided through the same account.
ver.7.0 ... Ducking engine redesigned, real-time waveform and envelope visualization added, continuous retrigger behavior improved, UI updated. (2026/08/08)
ver.6.1 ... Attack smoothing improved for more natural ducking, click noise on rapid trigger events reduced. (2025/9/14)
ver.2.0 ... MIDI Note On Number Filter Added
ver.3.0 ... Shift from Instrument Device to Audio Device(only for Ableton Live 11)
ver.4.0 ... Envelope updated.
ver.4.2 ... Envelope updated, UI updated.
ver.4.3 ... UI updated.
ver.5.0 ... Hold added, Graph bug fixed.
ver.5.4 ... MIDI in selector added.
ver.6.0 ... Trigger Delay added. (2024/07/16)
Utility
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