Sound & signal
Ducking
Ducking pulls one signal down whenever another plays — almost always everything else dropping on each kick. It is the pumping motion at the heart of most house and trance.
In practice
Two heavily ducked records pump against each other unless their kicks are locked — the motion is only pleasant when it agrees.
That is a real constraint on long blends in house and trance. If both tracks are pumping on their own kicks and those kicks are even slightly out of phase, the two recovery envelopes cross and the combined sound wobbles in a way neither record does alone. The fix is the usual one — swap the low end decisively so only one kick is driving the room, and the ducking that goes with it stops competing.
4×
Ducks per bar, typically
The kick
What usually triggers it
71
Catalog median groove
Where these come from: The groove median is live, measured on 11 August 2026; the rest is how sidechaining is conventionally set up. For what we can measure, see the compression this is built from.
Why it matters
Ducking is the reason a kick can stay audible under a wall of synths without being especially loud. Rather than fighting for space, everything else gets out of the way four times a bar and comes back, which frees the low end for the drum.
It also has a rhythmic effect that outlasts the technical one. The recovery after each duck is itself a groove, which is why a heavily sidechained record feels like it is moving even when very little is actually changing.
Frequently asked
What is the pumping sound in house music?+
Sidechain ducking. Everything except the kick is turned down on each beat and allowed to recover between them, which produces a rhythmic swelling that has become part of the genre’s identity.
Why do two sidechained tracks sound odd together?+
Their ducking envelopes are driven by different kicks. If those kicks are not locked, the two recoveries cross and the combined level wobbles unpredictably.
Is ducking the same as compression?+
It is compression triggered by a different signal. A normal compressor responds to the track it is on; a sidechained one responds to the kick and pulls everything else out of the way.
Related terms
Compressor
A compressor reduces the level of anything above a threshold, narrowing the gap between the loud and quiet parts. The result can then be turned up as a whole, which is how records get their density.
Kick
The kick is the low drum that states the beat — in most dance music, on every one of the four beats in a bar. It carries the pulse and most of the energy a floor actually feels.
Groove
Groove is a 0–100 reading of swing and rhythmic pull — how much a track moves rather than simply pounds. It is what makes a quiet record danceable and a loud one stiff.
Swing
Swing delays every second sixteenth note so the rhythm lopes instead of marching. It is the difference between a house record that rolls and one that sits rigidly on the grid.
Explore: Tech house BPM · Compressor · Groove · All DJ terms