Driving percussion above 0 dB into StageLimiter compresses the whole mix on each hit for a sidechain-style pump

StageLimiter is just a Limiter.ar on the output bus, so any sound over 0 dB reduces the volume of everything else in the mix without distorting. If percussion is normalised to 0 dB, playing it with an \amp greater than 1 compresses the rest of the mix in proportion to how far it exceeds 0 dB — reproducing the pumping sidechain effect of dance music (the author calls it the ‘Guetta Effect’) without any dedicated sidechain routing. Larger \amp values deepen the ducking; extreme values can momentarily silence other elements. It is a deliberate creative misuse of a safety limiter turned into a rhythmic tool.

Examples

~kick = Pbind(\instrument, \bplay, \amp, 4); — the kick ducks the mix on each hit; very large \amp values push toward full ducking.

Assessment

Explain mechanically why StageLimiter ‘abuse’ pumps the mix, describe how \amp controls the depth of the effect, and name the musical risk of very high amplitude values.