How to stop Siblence?

[Terry Wetzel]

Here's one that will probably get some humorous comments and hopefully, some serious responses. I have a problem with my vocals. You see I wear dentures.(Go ahead, laugh). Now, if your finished, here is the question. I've tried de-essing the known frequencies that fall in to the vocal siblence range. (6khz- 8khz). I've tried the de-essing plugin that came with Pro tools 9 and although it seems to have some effect, the siblence still is evident. How can I isolate the frequency that is causing the problem and eliminate it or reduce it to a point where it is not objectionable? (Please, no smart ass remarks). Thanks.

[JMDNYC]

I'll give you a serious response. One way is to just use volume automation to draw the "s" sound down. In Pro Tools 10 this is even easier with Clip Gain automation (you can see the s go down in the waveform). Other than that, I've had much better results with the Massey De:Esser than with the built-in one. That one can be found here:

http://www.masseyplugins.com/

I would also demo the one from McDSP, as their products are usually very good. Unless you're in a real time crunch, drawing them by hand is more accurate than a plugin.

[Stig Eliassen]

Dentures, huh? Well, then maybe there's some whistling embedded in the sibilance? Sorta like white noise and a high-pitched sine note simultaneously?
I've heard a couple of tracks that had such problems (sporadically), and I ended up with a combination of the Massey De:Esser and volume automation, and a notch filter to dip out the whistling. Some spots sounded so weird, that I had to copy good S's from elsewhere, and paste them in.

[albee1952]

Good advice already, so here's something to try as you record. Maybe use double windscreens or popper stoppers. And/or try rotating the mic 10-15 degrees so you are not singing/talking straight on. Maybe a mic change could help(what are you using, and what is the genre?). I also have to wonder if changing the adhesive(Polygrip?) might allow for some help

[Terry Wetzel]

My vocals are usually recorded with a Shure KSM27 or KSM44 but not always although these are my favorites. I always use a wind screen,(pop filter). The problem appears if the lyrics of the song contain many ss's. I have used the de-esser plug in that came with my Pt's 9. It does some good. Right now I can't afford additional outboard equipment or plug ins. I thought some of you wizards of the frequency spectrum would have some solutions. Thanks to all who gave me things to try and solve the issue. Singing without the dentures is out of the question!

[Terry Wetzel]

Thanks. How does one like me with limited knowledge, implement volume automation. Is that the same as ducking?

[PD-John]

Originally Posted by Terry Wetzel

Thanks. How does one like me with limited knowledge, implement volume automation. Is that the same as ducking?

Put the vocal track into Volume view, select the "esses" and push them down until it sounds natural. Or Cmd + click to make breakpoints and lower the volume that way. Hope this helps.

[daeron80]

Teeth-whistles are a big problem for me, too. Not on my own vocals, but on a lot of spoken-word material that I work on. I find that those piercing whistle sounds are not in the sibilant range, but usually appear just below it in the 2-5k range. Unfortunately, you can't just cut that range across the board - it would kill the bright vowels. What I used to do is use a FFT frequency analyzer (Freakoscope worked best because you can save a setting that zooms in on that range) to identify the frequency precisely. The nasty screech is seldom at the same frequency from one sibilant to the next. It will jump around over a range of about an octave or more, and it must be cut very precisely with as narrow a Q as you can get, or you'll do more harm than good.

Once the offending frequency was identified I'd use EQIII 1-band Audio Suite to notch it out, processing only the sibilant itself unless the tracking room is live, in which case you extend the selection to include the tail, as well. Occasionally, it will be two or three frequencies in close proximity, but usually just one. You might want to make a default setting for the 1-band that is already set to notch at the narrowest Q, so all you have to do when you call it up is enter the appropriate frequency. If you make yourself a Window Configuration that includes the FFT (on the Master, probably) and the 1-band EQ, you can get to it quickly and with no clicking around.

These days, I use iZotope RX, which lets you see the problem, select it, and make it instantly vanish. But until you can fork out the $300 or whatever it costs these days, the manual method should get you by.

P.S. Freakoscope is a VST so you'd need the wrapper. Bluecat has a free RTAS FFT but I don't know of any way to make it tell you the exact frequency. Their graph has coarse frequency markers and you have to judge best you can about things that fall in between. It might be better than nothing.

[albee1952]

Well, neither of those mics would appear on my list of my "go to" models(did a shootout with the KSM44 and 7 other mics and it was the clear loser). But back to editing, here's something to try, highlight a region where you here the siblence and call up the AudioSuite version of EQ III(4 band or 7 band) and click the PREVIEW button(your highlighted region will loop play. Pick one of the upper bands, set it to very narrow, push it to +9 and then sweep it up and down while you listen(and watch the output meter on the plugin). When you find a range that jumps out more(and probably will peak the meter) cut that frequency. Sometimes it takes more than 1 band, so repeat with another set of controls. Finally, hit the PROCESS button and your region will be EQ'd. Roll back a measure and play to judge how you did. if its better, you might repeat the process. If its bad, just hit Ctrl-Z to undo. While you have the EQ plugin open, you can also choose to lower the output gain too. If you find that a similar settings works a lot, save it as a "De-Ess" preset. Speaking of De-Ess, the Waves Renn De-Ess is good(as is the Massey) and both are much better(to me) than the stock plugin.

[SpinningDisk]

If I remember correctly, the Massey De-Esser is only $86.00.