softening the 's' sound in one's voice

[Joan]

Does anyone have some easy tips to accomplish softening the 's' sounds in voice, particularly a word that ends in 's'. I'm narrating audio books, and I cringe when I hear that. Probably more exaggerated to me than anyone else, but I'd really like to eliminate it if I can. Thank you.

[SPINSTERWUN]

You can use a de-esser in your EDITING Program.

p.s The S's you are trying to remove are called silibants.

[Joan]

I know very little about all of this (which is why I'm a newbie) but did download goldwave from goldwave.com yesterday; it's a shareward editing program, and very affordable at $55.00. Canadian

[AlChuck]

SPINSTERWUN, you silly bant, it's sibilance...

[strmkr]

Before you look at processing the signal,you might want to put a pop filter in front of the mic while you are recording.You can make your own by making a loop of coat hanger wire and stretching a piece of pantyhose over it,then put it about 2-3 inches or so in front of the mic. I used to leave enough wire hanging off the loop to bend it around and duct tape it to the mic stand. See if that helps your sibilance problem.It will also keep "p's" from popping on your track.
I just downloaded the shareware goldwave a couple days ago.So far I don't see a de esser in it,but maybe someone more familiar with the program can help you with that.

Good luck!

[SPINSTERWUN]

Originally posted by AlChuck
SPINSTERWUN, you silly bant, it's sibilance...

Oooooops.



p.s. AlChuck, I meant to type sibilance. I was just making sure that you knew how to spell the word.

peace....

spin

[Joan]

But I looked it up, anyway. (Smile.) Thanks so much everyone for your help. Much appreciated. What good ideas. Joan
www.joanhallhovey.com
I'll have sound bites on that site one of these days.

[Roel]

One of my friends really had problems with sibilance. He really got on our nerves and we took out his tongue. Now he's still annoying, but at least no ssssssss.... And he tends to talk less in public too...

[Joan]

j

[SPINSTERWUN]

Originally posted by Roel
.....and we took out his tongue. Now he's still annoying, but at least no ssssssss.... And he tends to talk less in public too...

LMAO

[knightfly]

Actually, a "sibilant" is a one-time occurence of "SSSSS" sounds in speech, "sibilants" are multiple occasions, and "sibilance" is the condition of having more treble response in the frequency band that "SSSSS's" live in than you need or want... Tho, you're both right, now thtop being tho thilly... :=) Steve (Thteve)

[littledog]

Hey, Steve... you're pretty cocky for a newbie

Anyway, pop filters are good for stopping plosives (like p's) but don't do much to fricatives or sibilants.

What does sometimes help is rotating the microphone a bit so that it is off axis to the vocal source.

Good de-essers, while they exist, are not easy to come by at bottom feeder prices. There are ways to "roll your own" using an eq and a compressor with a side chain input, but sounds like Joan wouldn't have that type of gear. Try the off-axis trick - costs nothing.

Good luck!

[SPINSTERWUN]

How do you guys like my "new" title??????????

[AlChuck]

LOL...

I don't recall you asking permission if you could use my neologism...

[SPINSTERWUN]

Originally posted by AlChuck
LOL...

I don't recall you asking permission if you could use my neologism...

You didn't get the $1,000.00 check I sent you in the mail?

[AlChuck]

Not yet... I'll watch for it...

[littledog]

Mr. Bant:

I still think K.O.A. is better (see J-Lo thread).

[Guernica]

.......you know..... ive tryed a de-essssssser and it doesssssssnt sssssssseem to help. The guy at the local musssssssic store sssssssaid that the only thing that might help would be a big gagger of coke to calm down my lissssssssssssp. ...whatya think

[knightfly]

I've always found that recording vocals while laying face-down on a thick rug in my own vomit with the mic behind my head is the best way to avoid the need for a de-esser... Steve

[SPINSTERWUN]

Originally posted by littledog
Mr. Bant:

I still think K.O.A. is better (see J-Lo thread).

Imma' go check it out now.

[SPINSTERWUN]

I think you are right.

[darrin_h2000]

While I have a problem with sibilence. I use my dbx 263 to get rid of it. I have had problems with deessers built into Preamps doing an effective job of this.


I got my dbx 263 for under 25.00 on ebay.

[Joan]

Darrin et all:
There are 2 dbx 263 de-essers on ebay that I think I might bid on, but one is dbx 263 X and one is dbx 263 A and I have no idea which I should get. Can you help? Thanks. And how does this work? Do you plug it into the green port at the back of the computer? Joan

[Sennheiser]

One of my friends really had problems with sibilance. He really got on our nerves and we took out his tongue. Now he's still annoying, but at least no ssssssss.... And he tends to talk less in public too...

Ii oo eaey u ou hi onue??? Amn! Aa mu-ua hur!

[Richard Monroe]

Joan, the big boys are having fun, but I don't think they know how easily they can confuse you, or how useless their banter is for meeting your needs. Don't get sucked in by using gear you don't understand to electronically solve your problem. What Littledog said is a good place to start. Point the mic at an angle to the stream of your breath (off axis) rather than pointed right at your mouth (on axis).
Next, give up the idea that the mic by itself will just capture your voice the way you want. It won't, any more than a camera captures things perfectly, so you don't really need a photographer. God, I know it's work, but you have to control your sibilants/sibilance (both words work in this case, just for the pedantic above). Controlling your sss's requires you to *think* while you're recording, and take responsibility for how your words are formed and sounded. As a singer, I understand that a microphone is a *tool*, which you can use well or badly. First, turn it to the side a little, then simply hiss less, shortening and softening all your s's. If you have a continuing problem that really, really cannot be solved by technique, only then consider de-esser plug-ins. Don't buy expensive gear to cover up poor technique- improve your technique. Hope this helps.-Richie