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Plugin strip sidechain panel showing source and mode selection
Gridshift supports traditional audio sidechain routing as well as trigger-based modes. MIDI and Trigger Impulse modes use clip start positions and MIDI note-on events as triggers — since these positions are known ahead of time, there is no detection delay.

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Setup

1

Open a plugin in the Plugin Strip

Open a plugin in the Plugin Strip (click the plugin card to expand it).
2

Switch to the Sidechain tab

3

Select a source track

4

Choose a mode

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Modes

ModeDescription
AudioRoutes the source track’s audio to the plugin’s sidechain input bus
MIDISends MIDI note-on events at note and clip positions to the plugin
Trigger ImpulseGenerates synthetic audio impulses at note and clip positions to the plugin’s sidechain bus
Available modes depend on the plugin’s capabilities (sidechain bus, MIDI input) and the source track type.

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Lookahead

MIDI and Trigger Impulse modes show a Lookahead slider (0–15 ms) that fires events early to compensate for plugin attack time. This works by looking ahead in the timeline — it does not add latency.

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Via MCP

The same routing is available to AI assistants through the plugin_configure tool. Set up classic kick→bass ducking in one call: 
{
  "track_name": "Bass",
  "plugin_slot_index": 0,
  "sidechain": {
    "mode": "trigger_impulse",
    "source_track_name": "Kick",
    "lookahead_ms": 5
  }
}
Modes accept audio, midi, trigger_impulse, or none (to disconnect). audio and trigger_impulse require the plugin to expose a sidechain input bus; the call returns a clear error otherwise.
Last modified on June 7, 2026