Insane "ESSSS" sound

  • Thread starter Thread starter NickSpringfield
  • Start date Start date
N

NickSpringfield

New member
I always seem to get this incredible "ESSS" sound when I record my vocals. I've used dynamic and condeser mics and have experimented with different pre-amps,but to no avail. I now pay attention to other people speak and I realize that I kind of have a natural "ESSS" sound atatched to my tongue. Someone told me it had something to do with the roof of my mouth.... anyway.... is there anything I can do to minimize this in my mixes? I've tried De-Essers, but it only makes it sound like I have a lisp. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Springfield
 
i've heard putting a piece of gum behind your teeth can help, especially if you ahve a little gap between your two front top teeth.
 
we had a discussion awhile back about putting a pencil over the microphone to help deflect the direct sound coming from your mouth. i haven't tried it for sibilance but it works well for plosives. i'm still skeptical about it working for sibilance since sibilance is frequency specific and doesn't throw out a rush of air out of your mouth like saying P....but i don't know...give it a shot.
 
I don't quite understand the pencil thing but the gum thing sounds like it may work. I don't have a gap between my teeth but it still sounds like a good idea. I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know how I made out. If anyone else has any suggetions, please let me know.

Thanks,

Springfield
 
Tilt the mic,, depending on if it;s upside down or straight up. Also mic placement depending on the vocalist makes a difference.

malcolm
 
Depending on the quality of the mic you may not have to sing directly into the element to get a good sound. Like Willis said...change position or even try singing over the mic a bit. It all depends on the mic itself.
 
NickSpringfield said:
I don't quite understand the pencil thing
Click to expand...


you tape a pencil, aligned vertically, to the microphone screen...smack dab in the middle of it
 
the pencil thing pushes the air away at an angle from the center of the mic. also it doesn't help if you have a lisp.
 
I was watching some live footage of the pros last night, and I saw neil diamond singing, it was interesting to watch his style, he would pull away from the mic on his esses... also you can use eq to correct this usually or compression... I think the best thing is to pull back some from the mic, and deaden the esses a little.

FatesWebb
 
...

I tried the gum thing and it didn't work, because the gum kept falling out of my mouth. The pencil thing, I've yet to try, because I'm skeptical. Maybe next time.

Now, you say compression and EQ can aliviate the problem. For me, compressing the vocals only makes it worse. Maybe I'm using it all wrong. I tried EQ and a de-esser plug in but can't pinpoint it. If I were to post a sample of an a capella vocal, would somebody be able to give me a more exact setting to shoot for, or would and MP3 just shade your view of it? Let me know, becuase this has been an ongoing problem with me. Maybe it's the mic, also, but please give me your expert feedback. I trust you guys here. Your all a very big help, ever since the beginning.

Thanks,

Springfield
 
What mic are you using? While it won't totally fix the problem, some mics are notorious for bringing out sibilance. It might at least help cut it down quite a bit.

You can compress and eq, or get a desser. It's basically just a compressor and eq set to filter the right frequencies to cut back the ssss



While some voices will cause more sibilance than others, these two things will help a lot to cut it down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top