ReaComp has highpass/lowpass filters, so you can choose which frequencies to duck as well.
ETA: You could also use ReaXcomp which compresses in multiple frequency bands.
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Something like that might work, just a bit more coarse, yeah. Are those filters pre-comp or part of the compression, though?
Reaper’s bundled plugins are underrated (probably because no one ever notices them). There’s dozens.
You still have the issue that the source you are sidechaining from is a full mastered mess and not just the kick though.
Yep if it lets you sidechain to each band this would work.
Proportional EQ is still more surgical (in that the tools that support it are pretty precise) but either way would work.
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Hmm. Maybe one thing to try would be duplicating the drum track, low-passing it so it’s only the kick, and sidechain only to that. You could probably also route it so it’s never rendered to audio, and only used for sidechaining.
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In the instance I used it, it was more or less the opposite use case. The big produced mess didn’t leave room for my bass to stand out, which is kinda the point of a bass cover. So put a slight compression on the drum track that used a sidechain input from my bass as a trigger. It was subtle, but just enough for it to stand out.
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Yeah for a bass cover that’s a fine plan 
I am glad you said this about why you used this technique, as it is backwards from what I would do (i.e. to always duck the bass under the kick)
Kick is king (for low end) in a normal mixing so I would never have even thought to try pulling it down with a bass gat sidechain…after your explanation I get why you might try it for a bass cover, but I would be afraid you would compromise the punch of the kick to make the bass more prominent making the track sound worse overall, but if it sounds good then 
Also +1 to @howard recommendation to use proportional eq (it is really suited to surgical sidechaining)
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Got it. It’s awesome 
Some great '80s industrial uses in this thing. Apparently was also huge for rock.
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@howard: UAD Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor is now about 40€. Get it or sell my soul so I can purchase the FabFilter Pro-C 2 compressor?
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neither, just learn to use the excellent and free Kilohearts compressor and buy nothing until you understand how to use it properly
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Yes, I am in the process of learning with the free Kilohearts compressor.
But: I could get the EL8 now for a discount … and use it later. Or wait and get the FabFilter … for later…
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Or you could instead get Kilohearts Multipass and then make whatever multiband effects you want, which is what everyone actually should do once they master compression at all, IMO. It’s basically the best plugin, combined with the Kilohearts snapins.
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I actually mean this. Kilohearts Multipass is the best effects plugin, IMO. It’s a multiband effect construction kit. Including multiband compression.
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It just clicked.
After your recent post about Bitwig, I was all excited about node-based flows and couldn’t stop thinking that it would be awesome to have a plugin with a bunch of discrete audio-processing primitives that you could chain and combine in ways bounded only by your creativity.
So in other words, Multipass basically.
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YES! It’s awesome.
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To be fair this applies to a lot of things in the GAS thread.
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That speaks to my modding mind. I can create and mod effects?
BUT: you know that I would tumble down the Kilohearts Multipass rabbit hole, possibly create a thread (“Should I shoot KH Multipass?”), and it will be the troubles all over again
Maybe Multipass can do too many things? Remember: my focus is on bass only, and I will NEVER produce any music (except for covers).
For now I’d rather focus on the compression topic.
What I like about FabFilter Pro-C 2 - but also about the much cheaper ToneBooster Compressor 4 and Sonible smart:comp 2 - is the fact that it is very visual. It speaks to the playful child in me, but also I like to have graphs and stuff to see what’s going on…
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I’m not even sure what this means
The graph only matters if you are doing multiband.
If you are doing just single band bass compression, Compressor is plenty visual:
The meter on the right shows you all you need. the blue line is the threshold, which moves up and down with the knob. The level meter shows the signal and when the compression kicks in, making this very easy to visualize and adjust.
This is literally all you need in a basic compressor. And it is free.
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Just discoveres https://knobcloud.com/ - you can buy used licenses for plug-ins etc.
Some offers are very cheap…
Seems legit!
Many sellers there are legit
There’s also the KVR buy and sell forum.
KVR is basically the talkbass of music production. I mean that exactly like it sounds.
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Or when learning how compression works (or, more precisely, what happens when you turn this and that knob). For me, having both visual and aural clues together is helpful.
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