> ## 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

> Lowers a track whenever another track plays, with a gain shape you draw and no plugin or added latency. Press ⌥D, pick the trigger track, and drag the amount on each track it should duck.

## Create a ducking

<video controls playsInline preload="metadata" poster="/videos/ducking-walkthrough.jpg" src="https://mintcdn.com/kern/HfNLDujlxkgeCTb0/videos/ducking-walkthrough.mp4?fit=max&auto=format&n=HfNLDujlxkgeCTb0&q=85&s=309d65db60308d1edb751ba5382534df" />

Press `⌥D` (**Add Ducking…**) and choose the trigger track, such as the kick. If a track you can duck is selected, the ducking applies to it right away at a default amount.

## Duck another track

Select the track, open the **Ducking** section in the [Inspector](/get-started/the-window.md), and drag the ducking's slider above 0.

## Draw the shape

Click the ducking's name in its row to open the shape editor. Draw the curve over the folded waveforms and press `Space` to hear it against the music.

## Duck only the lows or the highs

In the shape editor, set **Range** to **Lows** or **Highs**. Drag on the spectrum strip next to the menu to move the cutoff.

## Try a different curve

In the shape editor, press **◀ ▶** beside the preset menu to step through the curve presets while it plays. **Save Curve…** in that menu adds your own.

## Make a second style from the same trigger

Right-click a row and choose **Duplicate**, or use the shape editor header's duplicate button. Change the copy and apply it to the tracks that want it.

## Good to know

* **The trigger is the timeline, not the audio.** A duck fires from the trigger track's clip starts and MIDI note-ons, so live playback and a [bounce](/mix/bounce-and-export.md) produce the identical gain curve, with no detection delay and no added latency.
* **Ducking only ever lowers the level.** The dip is applied after the clipper and limiter, so it never adds gain or colors the source.
* **One ducking, many targets.** A ducking is named, project-wide and lives on its trigger track. It shows up as an amount row on every other track, so one kick can pump the bass, the pads and a reverb return by a different amount each.
* **The shape editor edits the shared ducking.** It opens the same way from any track's row, and every edit is felt on every track the ducking applies to.
* **Ducking is not a plugin sidechain.** Use Ducking for a clean drawn volume duck with no plugin in the path. Use a [sidechain](/mix/sidechain.md) when a compressor, gate or filter should react to the source.

> **Details**
>
> * The first ducking cannot come from the Ducking section: it only appears once a ducking can apply to the track. Use `⌥D`, the Inspector's empty-area right-click menu (**Add Ducking ▸** trigger track) or the [Command Palette](/work-fast/command-palette.md). The section header's `⋯` menu adds further ones.
> * Any track with clips can trigger, sample or instrument; a track with nothing to trigger from is not offered. A track cannot duck itself, so its own row never appears.
> * Groups, returns and the Master can be ducked, so one trigger can duck a whole submix or a shared effect return.
> * A ducking at 0 still exists on that track, with its automation lane and MIDI binding. **Remove from This Track** takes it off this track only; **Delete Ducking (All Tracks)** removes it everywhere, and its label says so.
> * The waveforms behind the curve are 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 under the curve.
> * The vertical axis is the gain multiplier: the top is unity, the bottom fully ducked. A target's amount scales the whole shape between those.
> * Length is in beats, so the duck stays musical across tempo changes. Changing the length keeps existing points anchored to the trigger instead of rescaling the curve.
> * Lookahead pre-ducks with zero latency: the curve left of the trigger line ramps down into the hit, so the transient is never caught mid-slope. Gridshift fires the schedule early because the triggers are known from the timeline.
> * One trigger can carry several styles, `Kick`, `Kick 2`, …, each with its own curve and range. Range belongs to the ducking, so for another range on another track, duplicate the ducking.
> * While you drag the cutoff, every track the ducking applies to plays only its ducked part. Releasing commits one undo step.
> * A ranged ducking leaves the signal untouched between ducks, not even the phase changes. It adds no latency, and a bounce renders it identically.
> * Each preset step is one undo, so you can audition curves without stopping. Saved curves sync via [iCloud](/sync/icloud.md) and join the same list; folders in the library show as submenus. The menu also deletes the curve you are on and has **Show in Finder** for renaming and sorting.
> * A preset carries only the curve, length and lookahead. The trigger, targets, amounts, trigger mode and range stay, so one saved curve fits any duck.
> * [Flatten Track](/mix/bounce-and-export.md) (`⌥F`) keeps the ducking live on that track: it prints the instrument and effects but leaves the mixer.

> **Amount row and menu**
>
> | Element | Behavior |
> | - | - |
> | Name (label) | Opens the shape editor. On hover the icon turns into a settings symbol and a ranged ducking shows its range ("ducks the lows below 120 Hz") |
> | Slider | 0–100 %, scales the drawn shape (0 = off) |
> | Percentage readout | Live value, including automation playback |
>
> | Menu item | What it does |
> | - | - |
> | **Trigger: Notes / Clip Starts** / **Clip Starts Only** / **Transients** | Sets the trigger mode |
> | **Automate Duck Amount** | Adds an [automation lane](/mix/automation.md) for this track's amount |
> | **Edit Shape…** | Same as clicking the name |
> | **Rename…** | Renames the ducking everywhere it is used |
> | **Duplicate** | A copy (curve, trigger, length, lookahead, range) on the same trigger, applied to no track yet |
> | **Go to Trigger Track** | Selects the trigger in the Sidebar |
> | **Remove from This Track** | Takes the ducking off this track only |
> | **Delete Ducking (All Tracks)** | Removes the ducking from every track |

> **Shape editor settings**
>
> | Setting | Values |
> | - | - |
> | **Shape** (length of one duck cycle) | From `1/4 beat` up to several bars |
> | **Lookahead** | Off, or how far before the trigger the shape starts |
> | **Range** | **Full** (default, the classic pump), **Lows** (only below the cutoff: a bass keeps its harmonics while its low end makes room), **Highs** (only above the cutoff: the body stays) |
> | Cutoff | 30 Hz to 16 kHz; a new range starts at 120 Hz for Lows and 2.5 kHz for Highs. The strip shows the trigger sound's spectrum with the ducked side shaded |
>
> | Trigger mode | What retriggers the shape |
> | - | - |
> | **Notes / Clip Starts** (default) | 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 |
> | **Transients** | Each transient marker of an audio clip's sample; a clip without detected transients fires once at its start |
>
> | Curve preset | Feel |
> | - | - |
> | **Kick** | The everyday kick duck: hard dip, short floor, quick recovery within the beat. A new ducking starts from it |
> | **Snare** | A tight half-beat duck: narrow floor, fast recovery |
> | **Pump** | Full dip at the trigger, ease-out recovery over the beat |
> | **Transient** | Only the hit is ducked, then straight back up over half a beat |

> **Ducking vs. plugin sidechain**
>
> | | Built-in Ducking | [Sidechain](/mix/sidechain.md) |
> | - | - | - |
> | Needs a plugin | No | Yes, one with a sidechain input or MIDI |
> | Effect | Downward gain only (full, lows or highs), 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 |
> | Can target | Any track with a mix stage except the trigger: sample, instrument, group, return, Master | The track the plugin is on |

> **Keys**
>
> | Action | Shortcut |
> | - | - |
> | Add Ducking… | `⌥D` |
> | Play / stop inside the shape editor | `Space` |


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