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Dialling in a Noise Gate

A repeatable order of operations.

In Ableton Live: Gate. Enable "Lookahead" (1–3 ms) and use the Sidechain section for source-triggered gating. Use the FFT EQ on the sidechain input for frequency-selective gating.

  1. Pull the reduction all the way down so you can clearly hear when the gate is open versus closed.
  2. Lower the threshold until only the intended sound triggers the gate, with the noise staying below it.
  3. Set the attack. Use the fastest available speed for drums and other percussive sources; slow it down for pads, vocals, or strings so you don't clip the front of the note.
  4. Set the hold and release so the gate stays open long enough for the natural tail of the sound, but closes quickly enough to mute the next bit of bleed before you hear it.
  5. (Optional) Add a few dB of hysteresis if the gate is flickering open and shut on borderline signals.
  6. (Optional) Tune the detector filters. Switch the Monitor button on, narrow the filters until only the target sound is loud in the detector, then switch Monitor back off.
  7. (Optional) Add a few milliseconds of lookahead if fast transients are getting clipped at the start.
  8. (Optional) Pull the reduction back up slightly so the gate doesn't fully silence the source. A small amount of bleed almost always sounds more natural than complete silence.