Your options for pumping sidechain effects don’t end with a compressor
Using a compressor is just one option for making a pumping sidechain effect. Another is a plugin called Nicky Romero Kickstart 2 from Cableguys. This offers envelope tailoring plus various temposynced timing options, as well as MIDI triggering. Similar is the great Duck from Devious Machines, which lets you create pretty complex bespoke curves that go well beyond the regular sidechain compression effects. Ableton Live users should also try the Max for Live device Duck Buddy. These plugins use tailored and triggered volume envelopes, as per the effect they’re trying to create. If you simply want a tempo-synced pumping volume effect, a tempo-synced modulation can achieve that. Plugins like Xfer’s LFO Tool fit the bill, but you might also find that a LFO-controlled volume plugin like an autopan might have enough flexibility to do this. Logic’s Tremolo plugin is a perfect example. If you set the Phase to 0 and choose a quarter note Rate, you can use the Symmetry and Smoothing options to tweak the shape and the Depth setting as an amount.