De-Essing theory and practice

[Ricman]

Just curious as to how some of you go about your vocal de-essing process. Not the how-to’s, but more the theoretical.

Do you De-ess the vocal just enough to tame the sibilance and have it balanced with the rest of the vocal . . . . or . . . . do you give it a tad more compression in order to compensate for any future slight Hi-Freq boost you might give the vocal track for a bit of extra clarity during mixdown?

Or would it just make sense to give the vocal track the little Hi-Freq EQ tweak ahead of time, then De-ess that with the presumption that it’ll be all set come mixdown (and if you don’t really need any extra clarity it can be rolled off slightly at mixdown?)

I’m not talking about major EQ adjustments to fix a badly recorded vocal here, just that sometimes (not always) an otherwise good vocal track may like a little boost for clarity once all the tracks are in the mix.

Thanks!

 

[myurbanodyssey]

While this may not be a plugin/eq trick, this has worked for me.

If I'm not getting the results I like, I just use a different mic. Once I started using a modded Oktava 319, I've had no serious sibilance problems. I'm sure there are other mics around that would do the same. Since I'm hitting the problem head-on during tracking, there's far less "mix" work to do

Also, I've realized how OCD I became about sibilance. I listen to songs and recordings I really enjoy, and I'm always shocked with how much those guys get away with, especially in the sibilance department. Sometimes, I think it's all in my head. I've backed-off my crusade and just started shelving the transient frequencies when I can, but other than that, switching up mics has made a huge difference.

=)

 

[myurbanodyssey]

Oh yeah, Another thing I sometimes do, which is a mixing trick, is use a stereo imaging plugin to toss those frequencies to the side a little. Sometimes it helps.