Logic Pro 808 Chain: The Stock Plugins, in Order, With Settings (Tune, Saturate, Sidechain, Clip)

The short answer: a Logic Pro 808 chain is five stock plugins on the 808's channel strip, in this order: Gain on Mono so everything after it works on a mono 808, Channel EQ to clear the rumble below the note and any boxiness above it, ChromaGlow (Logic Pro 11 or later on Apple silicon) or Phat FX for the harmonics that make an 808 audible on phones, the Compressor sidechained from the kick so the kick punches through, and a second Compressor with its Distortion set to Soft or Clip to round off the peaks. Before any of it, tune the 808 to the song's key with Logic's Tuner and Quick Sampler's Root Key. Every one of these ships with Logic Pro; ChromaGlow is the only one that depends on your version and your Mac. The chain controls the 808; it can't fix an 808 in the wrong key or programmed on top of every kick.

I've mixed low end for my own releases (Sony, Universal, Ultra, Dim Mak, 50M+ streams). How to mix 808 and kick covers the decisions in any DAW; this is the stock Logic chain that carries them out. FL Studio users get the same stages in the FL Studio 808 chain, and Ableton users in the Ableton 808 chain. I sell a Logic mastering chain, disclosed at the end; it's the stage after this one.

Before the chain: find the note

An out-of-tune 808 sounds wrong no matter what you put after it, so tuning comes first.

1. Load Tuner in the 808's first Audio FX slot (Utility > Tuner). Play one long 808 note and read the Keynote display and the Tune Deviation in cents. If the sample glides, read the sustained part of the tail, not the attack. Logic's Tuner shows the note, not the frequency; the table below has the Hz.
2. Set Quick Sampler's Root Key to match. In Classic mode, the Root Key pop-up menu sets the key that plays the sample at its original pitch, and the Tune field next to it adjusts that key in cents. Set Root Key to the note the Tuner read, then drag Tune until the Tuner reads 0 cents. Recent versions also offer Retune in the Action pop-up menu, which analyzes the sample and sets the root key and tuning for you; confirm it with the Tuner either way. If the 808 then sounds an octave away from the note you're writing, move Root Key by an octave.
3. Write the 808 in the song's key, then remove or bypass the Tuner. It's a meter, not part of the sound.

Quick Sampler arrived in Logic Pro 10.5. If your 808 lives in another instrument, its own root key or coarse and fine tuning controls do the same job. If you prefer an analyzer, the free Voxengo SPAN shows the nearest note and cents when you hover over the fundamental.

These are the fundamentals in the octave most 808s live in (A at 440 Hz tuning). Octave numbering differs between apps, and Logic calls middle C "C3" by default, so go by the frequency.

The chain, in order (settings chart)

Why this order: Gain goes first so nothing downstream ever sees a stereo low end. The EQ cleans up before the saturation, so the saturation doesn't amplify rumble. Saturation goes before the side chain, because saturation after the duck would flatten it back out. The clip stage goes last so it sees the final peaks. If your 808 notes jump in level from one note to the next, a Compressor at around 4:1 with 2 to 3 dB of reduction before the saturation evens them out; on most 808s, the saturation and the clip stage do that job already.

No ChromaGlow (Logic before 11, or an Intel Mac): use Phat FX (Multi Effects > Phat FX) with only the Distortion module switched on. Set one distortion unit to Soft Saturation or Tube and its Amount by ear, then bring the Master section's Mix down to 20 to 50% and use Output to match the bypassed level. Leave Phat FX's Bass Enhancer off: it boosts around one frequency, and one frequency can't follow an 808 that changes notes. Overdrive (warmer, FET style) and Distortion (grittier, bipolar transistor style) work too, with Drive, Tone and Output, but they have no Mix control, so keep Drive low or put them on a parallel aux.

Softer peak control: the Limiter in Legacy mode with Soft Knee on (on versions with the Mode menu) catches the same peaks more gently. Raise Gain until the loudest hits show 1 to 2 dB on the Reduction meter, with Output Level just under 0 dB.

ChromaGlow needs Logic Pro 11 or later on a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later). Not every Compressor circuit shows every control, and if yours has no Input Gain, Make Up does the pushing. Control names and layouts differ between Logic versions, so treat the plugin window and Apple's Logic Pro User Guide as the authority.

How to set it up

1. Give the 808 and the kick their own channel strips. Put the 808 in Quick Sampler on its own software instrument track, and the kick on its own track. Drum Machine Designer gives each pad its own channel strip, so a kick inside a kit should still show up as a side chain source.
2. Tune it with the steps above, then load Gain (Utility > Gain) with Mono on, and Channel EQ below it. Turn on the Channel EQ Analyzer to see where the low end piles up; if one note booms louder than the rest, a narrow cut at that note's fundamental from the table tames it.
3. Add the saturation and check it on a phone. Bounce eight bars or play through your phone or laptop speakers. If the 808 disappears, add Drive or Mix; if it fizzes, back off or pick a smoother model.
4. Route the kick as a side chain. Insert the Compressor below the saturation, click the Side Chain button in its window, then choose the kick's channel strip from the Side Chain pop-up menu in the plug-in header. Set Detection to Max and Peak. The kick isn't heard through the 808's channel strip; Apple describes the side chain signal as a trigger only. If your trigger is a whole drum bus rather than an isolated kick, turn on the side chain filter in LP mode around 100 Hz so only the kick drives it.
5. Set the duck. Lower Threshold until each kick takes 3 to 6 dB off the 808, then set Release so the 808 is back before the next hit. Short releases tied to the tempo work well; the tempo calculator gives you note lengths in ms, and sidechain compression explained covers the theory.
6. Add the clip stage last. Insert a second Compressor, set Ratio to its lowest and Threshold all the way up, open the Output section and set Distortion to Soft. Read the 808's peak level on the channel meter first: if it peaks at -3 dBFS, 4 to 5 dB of Input Gain sends the loudest hits 1 to 2 dB past 0 dB, and Distortion rounds that off. Then lower Output Gain to match the bypassed level, so you judge the shape and not the volume. Trust the meters and your ears: the loudest hits should flatten slightly, and nothing else should change.
7. Save the chain. Use the Setting button at the top of the channel strip (Save Channel Strip Setting As), so every beat starts from the same 808 chain.
8. Balance it against the kick and a reference. Mute test, phone test, then a commercial track in your genre at matched loudness; how to use reference tracks covers the matching.

What not to put on the 808

• Stereo wideners and chorus. Direction Mixer spread, Stereo Spread or Chorus on the 808 loses power in mono and fights everything else in the low end. What stereo imaging is explains why the sub stays in the center.
• Big sub boosts. Boosting 40 Hz with a low shelf or Phat FX's Bass Enhancer to make the 808 "bigger" eats headroom you'll need at mastering, and phones still can't play it. Harmonics are how an 808 gets bigger on small speakers.
• Saturation at 100% Mix with no blend. The grit replaces the sub instead of riding on it, and the 808 gets louder on phones and weaker on a system.
• Reverb. Long tails on an 808 turn the low end to mud. If you want space, put it on the top layer, not the sub.
• A limiter or Mastering Assistant on the Stereo Out to make the 808 hit. It hides the balance problem instead of fixing it. The Logic Pro mix bus chain explains why both stay out of the path while you mix.

How the Compressor's clip options compare with dedicated clippers is in the best clipper plugins, and the free alternatives to ChromaGlow are in the best free saturation plugins.

Then the master

The 808 chain stays on the 808's channel strip when you bounce; it's part of the sound. What comes off is anything on the Stereo Out: if you're sending the song to a mastering engineer, bounce with the Stereo Out's plugins bypassed and Mastering Assistant out of the path (my own stereo mastering intake asks for no master bus processing). If you're mastering it yourself, the Logic Pro mastering chain covers every stage with stock plugins.

The Ultimate Master Chain for Logic is my own version of that stage, built from Logic stock plugins and delivered as a channel strip setting with 8 macros. Two of them are the ones 808-heavy records lean on: LOWS (harder hits or a cleaner sit for the bass) and MONO-MKR (which frequencies stay mono). It runs on Logic Pro X or newer, macOS. I'm biased; get the 808 tuned, saturated and ducked first, and any mastering chain has an easier job.

Quick answers

What is a good 808 chain in Logic Pro? On the 808's channel strip: Gain on Mono, Channel EQ with a 20 to 30 Hz high pass, ChromaGlow or Phat FX blended in for harmonics, the Compressor sidechained from the kick for 3 to 6 dB of ducking, and a second Compressor with Distortion on Soft last. Tune the 808 first with the Tuner and Quick Sampler's Root Key.

How do I make my 808 louder in Logic Pro? Make it more audible, not just louder: saturate it with ChromaGlow or Phat FX so phones can hear its harmonics, clip the peaks with the Compressor's Distortion setting, keep it mono, and duck it under the kick so the two stop fighting. Turning up the sub alone eats headroom.

How do I sidechain an 808 to a kick in Logic Pro? Insert the Compressor on the 808, click its Side Chain button, and choose the kick's channel strip from the Side Chain pop-up menu in the plug-in header. Then set a ratio of 4:1 or higher, a fast attack, a 30 to 100 ms release, and lower Threshold for 3 to 6 dB of ducking on each kick.

How do I tune an 808 in Logic Pro? Load the Tuner plugin on the 808's channel strip, play a long note and read the note name. Then set Quick Sampler's Root Key to that note and drag its Tune field until the Tuner reads 0 cents, or let Retune in the Action pop-up menu do it and confirm with the Tuner.