{"id":21598,"date":"2026-03-18T09:40:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T09:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/?p=21598"},"modified":"2026-03-18T09:40:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T09:40:03","slug":"devious-machines-releases-duck-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/devious-machines-releases-duck-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Devious Machines releases Duck 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Wrestling the kick and bass in your mix so they sit right together can be really frustrating. You can reach for a traditional compressor or try manual automation, but they lack the features and capabilities that new tools offer. <br><br>Enter Duck 2 by Devious Machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The original Duck was already a success, and favoured for its simplicity, but this second iteration has taken a step up. This isn&#8217;t <em>just<\/em> a sidechain plugin; it&#8217;s a precision volume shaper that can solve some pretty complex mixing headaches in just a few clicks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What&#039;s new in Duck 2? Feature walkthrough\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Er4uZ3KMnbg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In music production, the act of &#8220;ducking&#8221; is to momentarily lower the volume of one sound to make way for another (think of a voiceover over a backing track). Traditional compressors do this by dialling in the compressor&#8217;s settings to get the desired effect; Duck 2 does this using graphical envelope shapes. This gives you the power to draw the shape of the volume dip you need, giving you 100% control over the volume without the clicking or artefacts introduced using a standard compressor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key features<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Multiband mode: <\/strong>Split your audio into low, mid and high bands and apply different volume curves to each. Want to duck the lows in one of your synths so it doesn&#8217;t interfere with your kick? You can now do this whilst keeping your high-end intact.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Linear Phase mode:<\/strong> Duck 2 now comes with proper pro-grade linear phase filters on the multiband split. This mode ensures you aren&#8217;t introducing any phase-shifting issues at the expense of a little more CPU usage. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Groups:<\/strong> Synchronise your shapes across different Duck instances. If you change the curve of one, every other track in the &#8220;Group&#8221; will update instantly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Advanced envelope tools:<\/strong> The new editor includes a paintbrush tool, randomisation (great for glitchy effects), and the ability to import a waveform to use as your trigger shape.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rhythmic Gating: <\/strong>Use the MIDI trigger mode to turn a static pad into a rhythmic masterpiece.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The &#8220;Spray&#8221; Effect: <\/strong>Use Duck 2 to create rapid-fire tremolo or &#8220;shutter&#8221; effects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Clean Up Tails:<\/strong> Use it as a precision gate to cut the messy tails off live-recorded drums or noisy synth patches.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Duck 2 Overview and Tutorial\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b67LzofMBVs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Requirements, pricing &amp; availability <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Requirements:<br><\/strong>OSX 10.13 or later; Windows 10 or later<br>VST 2, VST 3, AudioUnit and Protools 64-bit AAX<br>Native Apple Silicon support<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pricing &amp; availability:<br><\/strong>$39.99 USD directly from the <a href=\"https:\/\/deviousmachines.com\/product\/duck2\">Devious Machines website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Remember \u2013&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/\">RouteNote Create<\/a>&nbsp;subscriptions start from as little as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/pricing\">$2.99<\/a>. <\/strong><br><strong>You can also purchase full sample packs, beats and plugins without<\/strong> <strong>a subscription<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-background wp-element-button\" style=\"border-radius:0px;background-color:#1354ac\">Sign up<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wrestling the kick and bass in your mix so they sit right together can be really frustrating. You can reach for a traditional compressor or try manual automation, but they lack the features and capabilities that new tools offer. Enter Duck 2 by Devious Machines. The original Duck was already a success, and favoured for its simplicity, but this second iteration has taken a step up. This isn&#8217;t just a sidechain plugin; it&#8217;s a precision volume shaper that can solve some pretty complex mixing headaches in just a few clicks. In music production, the act of &#8220;ducking&#8221; is to momentarily&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4044],"tags":[1599,117,4883,2621,215],"class_list":["post-21598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-audio-plugins","tag-audio-plugins","tag-devious-machines","tag-duck-2","tag-mixing-tips","tag-music-production"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Devious Machines releases Duck 2 - RouteNote Create Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Devious Machines has released Duck 2. Now with new multiband sidechaining features and linear phase filtering capabilities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/devious-machines-releases-duck-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Devious Machines releases Duck 2 - RouteNote Create Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Devious Machines has released Duck 2. Now with new multiband sidechaining features and linear phase filtering capabilities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/devious-machines-releases-duck-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RouteNote Create Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/routenote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-18T09:40:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Duck2devious.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sam Wearne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@routenote\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@routenote\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sam Wearne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/devious-machines-releases-duck-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/devious-machines-releases-duck-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sam Wearne\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/43d23662c18824ac9ee6558d135e835a\"},\"headline\":\"Devious Machines releases Duck 2\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-18T09:40:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-18T09:40:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/devious-machines-releases-duck-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":436,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"audio plugins\",\"Devious Machines\",\"Duck 2\",\"mixing tips\",\"music production\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Audio Plugins\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/devious-machines-releases-duck-2\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/devious-machines-releases-duck-2\/\",\"name\":\"Devious Machines releases Duck 2 - RouteNote Create Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-18T09:40:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-18T09:40:03+00:00\",\"description\":\"Devious Machines has released Duck 2. 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