Slate Digital's new auto-ducking plugin makes sidechain compression easy

Slate Digital has unveiled a new automatic ducking plugin. Submerge lets you create the classic ducking and pumping effects popular in electronic music, while offering a few modern twists that take it beyond the capabilities of a conventional ducking plugin.

Sidechain compression is an effect that uses the level of one sound to trigger a compressor on another, making room in the mix for the first sound by reducing, or ducking, the volume of the second. This is most often used to create space for the kick drum by compressing a bassline, but there are many more ways that sidechain compression can be used creatively.

Submerge can be hooked up to another track in your DAW (audio or MIDI) to trigger its ducking, or it can be applied automatically by syncing up with your project's tempo. Threshold sets the level at which sidechain-triggered ducking will be applied, while Delay does what you'd expect it to, delaying the effect following the trigger. The plugin offers a choice of three curve shapes that can be further tweaked using Morph and Depth controls.

Where things get interesting is Submerge's choice of eight effects, which can be applied in place of conventional sidechain compression. The plugin gives you the option to to apply high and low shelf EQs, high and low pass filters (with adjustable resonance) and sample rate reduction, using the Tweak control to further sculpt each effect.

Hitting Gain M/S and dialling up the Tweak knob will apply gain reduction to the mid and side portions of a signal separately, making it possible to create some interesting stereo imaging effects.

Submerge is available now for macOS and Windows in VST/AU/AAX formats. Priced at $49, it's also available as part of Slate Digital's Complete Access and All Access Pass subscriptions.

Find out more on Slate Digital's website.