Mixing Drums with Sidechain Compression in Ableton 9.No VST Plugin needed. Music Production Puppet Tutorial by Reid Stefan. These tips are how to make edm and hip hop beats sound punchy. Use the ableton compressor on sidechain mode to compress your sounds to your kick and snare. Sidechain makes your drum mixing sound tight! You can also use it to add grooves to your synths. This can also be done with VST plugins but the stock ableton plugin is easier!