> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gridshift.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Ducking

> Built-in ducking — lower any track from another track's timeline events, with a hand-drawn gain shape, a reusable curve library, and zero added latency.

Built-in **Ducking** lowers a track's output whenever another track plays — the classic "kick pumps the bass" move, without a plugin. The dip is applied **after the clipper and limiter** and is **always downward**, so it never adds gain or colours the source.

Because the trigger comes from the source track's clip starts and MIDI note-ons — not from analysing its audio — a duck is a **pure timeline function**. Live playback and a [bounce](/features/bounce) produce the identical gain curve, with **no detection delay and no added latency**.

## The model: one curve, many targets

A ducking is **named and project-wide**. It carries the trigger track, the drawn shape, and its settings — authored once — and then appears as an **amount row on every other track**. Each target dials in its own amount, so a single kick can pump the bass, the pads, and a reverb return by a different amount each.

* The ducking is named after its trigger track and **lives on that track**.
* A track can't duck itself, so its own row never appears.
* One trigger can carry several distinct curves — `Kick`, `Kick 2`, … — each a separate ducking, disambiguated by name.

This mirrors [Returns & Sends](/features/sends): an idle row per ducking on every track, drag the amount above 0 to apply it here.

## Creating a ducking

Press `⌥D` (**Add Ducking…**) and choose a **trigger track** from the list. Any track with clips — sample or instrument — is a valid trigger; a track with nothing to trigger from is not offered.

You can also add one from the [Inspector](/features/inspector)'s empty-area right-click menu (**Add Ducking ▸ trigger track**) or the [Command Palette](/features/command-palette). If a duckable track is selected when you create the ducking, it is applied to that track at a default amount right away, so you hear it immediately.

<Note>
  The **Ducking** section only appears on a track once at least one ducking can apply to it. The very first ducking in a project therefore comes from `⌥D`, the empty-area menu, or the palette — not from the section header, which doesn't exist yet.
</Note>

## The amount row

Open the **Ducking** section in the Inspector. One row appears per ducking whose trigger is a *different* track; rows are idle until they carry an amount.

Drag the row's slider above 0 to apply the ducking here. Drag it back to 0 to remove it from **this track** — the ducking itself, and its use on every other track, is untouched.

| Row element        | Behavior                                          |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- |
| Name (label)       | Click to jump to the trigger track                |
| ⓘ button           | Opens the shape editor for the shared ducking     |
| Slider             | 0 – 100 % — scales the drawn duck shape (0 = off) |
| Percentage readout | Live value, including automation playback         |

Right-click a row for:

* **Trigger: Notes / Clip Starts** or **Clip Starts Only** — the retrigger mode (see below).
* **Edit Shape…** — same as the ⓘ button.
* **Rename…** — renames the ducking everywhere it's used.
* **Go to Trigger Track** — selects the source in the sidebar.
* **Remove from This Track** — same as dragging the amount to 0.
* **Delete Ducking (All Tracks)** — removes the ducking from *every* track. The label spells out the scope so it isn't confused with the per-track removal above.

## The shape editor

The ⓘ button opens the shape editor for the **shared** ducking — the curve, trigger, length, lookahead, and name. Reachable identically from any track's row, and any edit is felt on every track the ducking is applied to.

<Frame />

* **Draw the shape by hand** over the material it acts on. The trigger track's and the target track's waveforms sit behind the curve, **folded** so every hit lands in the same place — what you draw is exactly what you hear against.
* **A live oscilloscope** shows the actual post-effects audio playing under the curve, so you can shape the duck against the real signal, not a static picture.
* **Space** starts and stops playback without leaving the editor.

The vertical axis is the gain multiplier: the top is unity (no duck), the bottom is fully ducked. A target's amount scales the whole shape between those extremes.

### Trigger modes

| Mode                              | What retriggers the shape                                                             |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Notes / Clip Starts** (default) | Resolves per clip — MIDI clips retrigger on every note-on, audio clips on clip start. |
| **Clip Starts Only**              | Clip starts only, even for MIDI clips — one duck per clip, not per note.              |

### Length

The **Shape** control sets the length of one duck cycle, from `1/16 beat` up to several bars. It is beat-based, so the duck stays musical across tempo changes; the engine bakes the shape to samples at the current tempo. Changing the length keeps existing points anchored to the trigger event rather than rescaling the whole curve.

### Lookahead

**Lookahead** is a zero-latency pre-duck: how far *before* the trigger event the shape starts. With it off, the shape begins at the event; with a positive value, the curve to the left of the trigger line ramps down *into* the hit — so the transient is never caught mid-slope.

Classic hosts can only do this by adding plugin latency. Because Gridshift's triggers are known from the timeline, it simply fires the schedule early — no latency is added.

## The preset library

Every editor offers a library of reusable **curves**:

| Preset        | Feel                                                                                                                                     |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Kick**      | The everyday kick duck — hard dip at the trigger, short floor, quick recovery within the beat. Also the curve a new ducking starts from. |
| **Snare**     | A tight half-beat duck for snare hits — narrow floor, fast recovery.                                                                     |
| **Pump**      | Classic pump — full dip at the trigger, ease-out recovery over the beat.                                                                 |
| **Transient** | Transient carve — only the hit is ducked, then straight back up over half a beat.                                                        |

The **◀ ▶** buttons step through the library against the playing material, each step a single undo, so you can audition curves without stopping. **Save Current Shape as Preset…** adds your own curve to the library — saved presets sync via [iCloud](/features/icloud) and join the same list.

<Note>
  A preset carries only the **curve, length, and lookahead**. Applying one overwrites exactly those — the trigger source, the targets, their amounts, and the trigger mode are left untouched. So one saved curve can be dropped onto any duck.
</Note>

## What can trigger, what can be ducked

| Role                 | Eligible tracks                                                                                                  |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Trigger** (source) | Any track that carries clips — **sample** or **instrument**.                                                     |
| **Target** (ducked)  | Any track with a mix stage — **sample, instrument, group, return, or master** — except the trigger track itself. |

Because groups, returns, and the master are all valid targets, one trigger can duck a whole submix or a shared effect return, not just individual tracks.

## Ducking vs. plugin sidechain

Both make one track respond to another, but they sit in different places:

|                | Built-in Ducking                      | [Sidechain](/features/sidechain)              |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Needs a plugin | No — native                           | Yes — a plugin with a sidechain input or MIDI |
| Effect         | Downward gain only, after the clipper | Whatever the plugin does with the sidechain   |
| Shape          | Hand-drawn gain curve                 | The plugin's own response                     |
| Trigger        | Clip starts / note-ons                | Audio, MIDI, or Trigger Impulse               |

Reach for built-in Ducking when you want a clean, drawn volume duck with no plugin in the path; reach for plugin sidechain when you want a compressor, gate, or filter to react to the source.

## Bounce & Flatten

Ducking is part of the mix, so it renders identically in a [bounce](/features/bounce) — live and offline share the same baked shape. **Flatten Track** (`⌥F`) prints a track's instrument and effects to audio but leaves the mixer live, so any ducking on the flattened track keeps working exactly as before.