README from GitHub, MIT
Ducker
MIDI-triggered sidechain ducker for Schwung on Ableton Move. A MIDI note, usually the kick, triggers an envelope that ducks the volume, opens an inverted volume, or sweeps a filter. No audio sidechain needed.
Main page, default settings at 120 BPM, mid-duck. Rendered at 4x from Schwung's page preview.
Setup
Load as an audio FX on the slot to duck. Set Channel and Trigger to the kick's MIDI channel and note (set the drum track's MIDI Out with Shift + Track). Only that note on that channel triggers.
Main page
| Knob | Control | Range | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Channel | Omni, 1-16 | 1 | |
| 2 | Trigger | C-2 to G8 | C1 (36) | |
| 3 | Mode | Trigger, Gate | Trigger | Gate: the duck stays down while the note is held and releases on note-off. The envelope's Hold time (knob 6) is not used |
| 4 | Depth | 0-100% | 100% | |
| 5 | Attack | 0-50 ms | 5 ms | |
| 6 | Hold | 0-500 ms | 100 ms | |
| 7 | Release | 0-1000 ms | 300 ms | |
| 8 | Target | Volume, Volume Inv, Filter | Volume | Picks what the envelope moves, and which second page appears |
Targets
- Volume: ducks the gain by Depth.
- Pump: chords, pads or a whole mix breathing with the kick. Pump curve, Release near the kick interval.
- Mix clearance: bass or sustained parts make room for the kick. Low Depth, short Release, Linear or Expo.
- Tails: placed after a reverb or delay in the slot's chain, the wet tail ducks with the dry signal and blooms between hits.
- Volume Inv: rests at 1 - Depth and opens to full on each trigger. Rests only while the transport runs; stopped, the signal passes at full level.
- Kick-keyed gate: a pad, noise bed or drone only speaks on each hit, shaped by Release.
- Layering: a sustained sub or noise layer becomes a tail glued to the kick.
- Trance gate: program the trigger note as a 16th pattern, with short Hold and Release.
- Filter: sweeps the cutoff from Cut1 towards Cut2 by Depth, in octaves.
- Low-end ducking: HP, Cut1 at 20 Hz, Cut2 around 100-150 Hz. Only the bass's low end gets out of the kick's way; the upper harmonics stay, so it is less audible than a volume duck.
- Filter pump: LP from bright to dark on each kick. Movement without the level drop.
- Accents: resonance up, short Attack and Release, triggered on offbeats.
The trigger note does not have to sound. A note on an otherwise silent track or pad works as a ghost trigger, so the rhythm of the duck is free of the drums.
Second page: Volume and Volume Inv
| Knob | Control | Range | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curve | Linear, Expo, S-Curve, Pump | Linear | Shapes attack and release. Pump: linear attack, ease-out release |
| 2 | Vel Sens | 0-100% | 0% | See below |
| 3 | Retrig | Hard, Soft | Soft | See below |
Second page: Filter
| Knob | Control | Range | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curve | Linear, Expo, S-Curve, Pump | Linear | As on the Volume page |
| 2 | Vel Sens | 0-100% | 0% | As on the Volume page |
| 3 | Retrig | Hard, Soft | Soft | As on the Volume page |
| 5 | Cut1 | 20 Hz-20 kHz | 9.9 kHz | Cutoff at rest |
| 6 | Cut2 | 20 Hz-20 kHz | 41 Hz | Cutoff at full Depth |
| 7 | Res | 0-90% | 20% | |
| 8 | Type | LP12, LP24, HP12, HP24 | LP24 |
Cutoffs have 128 log steps; hold a cutoff knob to see Hz.
Vel Sens
How much the trigger's velocity scales Depth:
- 0%: every hit ducks by the full Depth.
- 50%: velocity 127 gets the full Depth, velocity 0 half of it.
- 100%: depth follows velocity: 127 gets the full Depth, 64 about half, 0 none.
Retrig
- Hard: a new hit restarts the duck from fully open.
- Soft: a new hit continues from the current level along the attack curve, so full duck still lands one attack time after the hit. A hit asking for less depth keeps the deeper level.
In Gate mode a note shorter than the attack still completes the attack.
Display
The envelope spans one beat at the current tempo; notches mark 16ths. The meter shows the current gain (Volume Inv: low at rest, full on trigger).
Build and install
./scripts/build.sh # Docker build, writes dist/ducker-module.tar.gz
./scripts/install.sh # copies dist/ducker to move.local over ssh
Also available in the Schwung Module Store.
AI Assistance Disclaimer
This module is part of Move Everything and was developed with AI assistance, including Claude, Codex, and other AI assistants.
All architecture, implementation, and release decisions are reviewed by human maintainers.
AI-assisted content may still contain errors, so please validate functionality, security, and license compatibility before production use.