minimising mic "sss" and "tttt" sounds in singing

[Matt Darcy]

title may not be the best, but I had a friend around recording some vocal tracks for some music he's working on, he has quite a clear and slightly upper class english speaking voice, which means he pronounces his words very clearly. When signing I found certain letters are "popping" with the mic.

For example if he sang the line "ship"

I'd get a hiss on the "sh" and a "pop" on the "p".

I'm using a pop shield, and tried moving him a little further away from the mic to try to get clear vocals but without the sh, ch, t and p's from picking up so bad.

Any basic tips on this.

thanks.

[vxboogie]

Originally Posted by Matt Darcy

I'd get a hiss on the "sh" and a "pop" on the "p".

Some things to try:
1) Move him a little off axis, so he is talking more across the mic than directly into it. That can be off axis over or under as well.
2) Try using 2 pop filters. The popper stopper type is much better IMO than the foam type.
3) Use a de-esser plug-in for anything remaining.

Hope that helps!

[Matt Darcy]

no problem, I'll move him around more, I was going closer/further away, didn't try angles, seems very worth trying.

two pop shields....ok, can do, I do have two funny enough.

de-esser plug-in sounds good, didn't know that existed so I know what to research now.

Big help, thanks.

[lemix]

Hey Matt,

"upper class english speaking voice" aside.., what microphone are you using ??
I suggest swap mics around, before any plug-in processing.

best of luck

[Matt Darcy]

Using a Trusty Rhode N1

I did try a few others and it didn't make enough of a difference to warrant swapping. I rely too much on the N1 and a few other mics so I think it's time to invest in a few others less generic.

[vxboogie]

Originally Posted by Matt Darcy

de-esser plug-in sounds good, didn't know that existed so I know what to research now.

I've used the one included with the Digi plugins - it's in the Dynamics session. The Digi plug-in guide should help you understand the usage. The one I have in my Waves Renn Maxx plugs is better, but Steve Massey has one out now and his other plugs are the best value of any I've bought. I think the De-Esser is about $89 and you can down load a fully functional non expiring trial, you just can't save settings or presets and would have to reset on each use.

http://www.masseyplugins.com/

[Matt Darcy]

I learnt about massey plugins a few weeks ago from this very forum, I was very impressed so appriciate the pointer at the massey de-esser plugin, I'll be looking into that shortly.

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by Matt Darcy

I learnt about massey plugins a few weeks ago from this very forum, I was very impressed so appriciate the pointer at the massey de-esser plugin, I'll be looking into that shortly.

Considering the guys over in the TDM and Post forums were raving about it that's VERY good sign. These guys can run whatever plugs they want.

Steve Massey is a great guy and I consider his plugs the next best money spent after the VST2RTAS wrapper.