Alesis NanoCompressor, Reference Manual

Page: 24 / 30

Applications
NanoCompressor Manual 23
Sidechain Applications
The NanoCompressor’s sidechain jack allows you to perform two very useful
functions: de-essing and ducking.
De-Essing
Occasionally when recording vocals, the letter “s” seems to jump out louder than the
rest of the part. This is because sibilant letters, especially the letter s, have more high
frequency energy than other letters. This can cause tape recorders or other
components to distort, even though the level may not seem very loud. This
“sibilance” can sometimes be eliminated by moving the microphone, but often a de-
esser is required.
The NanoCompressor allows you to perform de-essing on a track by using a
sidechain. By placing an equalizer in the sidechain, you can set the NanoCompressor
so that only certain frequency ranges trigger the unit to start compressing.
The trick is to set the EQ to cut all frequencies except for the sibilant range, between
3-6kHz. Then set the NanoCompressor like this:
• Threshold set around 0dB
• Ratio set for 6:1
• Knee set for Hard
• Peak/RMS set for Peak
• Attack set at minimum (0.1ms)
• Release set around 8 o’clock
The Threshold should be set so that an “s” triggers about -3 to -6 dB of compression.
If other sounds are triggering the compressor, you might need to adjust the EQ cutoff
frequencies.