Strong Ess's on Vocal? Mic Placement?

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singer202

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Is there a mic placement that you find favorable for helping decrease the amount of Ess coming through? I dont like smashing it too hard with de-essers afterward....
 
I had to try a few things to reduce esses recently, with limited success.

I tried to get the singer to sing past the mic, but it didn't really work very well.
The best result I got was to use a ribbon mic with a big ol' foam head on it, but to be honest, that's not ideal.
 
1.) The singer needs to learn how to control the ess better...with some practice and staying conscious of it, it's pretty easy for a singer to control.

2.) If you are recording into a DAW...the easiest and best way to deal with them is to simply edit the ess to taste. You can tailor the ess better than any de-esser can.
 
For de-essing myself, I haven't found de-essers work too well.
I automate the volume to remove a little end-of-word ess. When I record, I try to get my mouth somewhat dried out before singing the 'problem' passage - no slugging water or coffee for at least a 1/2 hour.
Once you (or the singer) is aware of the problem, you can consciously try to minimize the es enunciations.
 
Certain mics might accentuate sibilance, but I think it comes down to technique, like others have mentioned. Another thing that can make it worse is if you use a bright reverb or delay. If you have sibilance that borders on excessive, a bright reverb or delay can really make it more pronounced. That "sssss" sound bouncing around in artificial space can be too much.

I think de-essers can be a little heavy handed. Or I'm just not very good at using them. I'm not a fan of multi-band compressors overall, but I use one with some success as a de-esser when necessary because with a MBC you can dial in the frequency and the attenuation more precisely.
 
mjbphotos said:
I automate the volume to remove a little end-of-word ess. .
Click to expand...

Right...that's the same thing I do, remove the end of the ess with a volume/fade adjustments...though I just cut up the vocal track into chunks and work on the individual objects instead of track fade automation.
Sometimes I will only end to highlight/choose that actual ess and just apply some EQ cut in the 6k-8k area with a tighter Q, and it's enough to take out the real obvious ESS.

You have to also be careful you don't give the singer a lisp! :D
 
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One handy trick is to tape a pencil to the grill of the mike like this:

vox09pencil_s.webp

It diffuses the energy of toppy bursts like esses from the middle of the diaphragm, where the mike will be most sensitive to them.

Hope that helps.

Cheers :)
 
Mo Facta said:
One handy trick is to tape a pencil to the grill of the mike like this:

View attachment 72563

It diffuses the energy of toppy bursts like esses from the middle of the diaphragm, where the mike will be most sensitive to them.

Hope that helps.

Cheers :)
Click to expand...

I've heard of that, but not for sibilance. Sibilance is more a frequency kind of thing. The pencil "trick", if you can even call it that, is supposed to be more for plosives - like hard P and D sounds. That's the way I remember it anyway.
 
Greg_L said:
I've heard of that, but not for sibilance. Sibilance is more a frequency kind of thing. The pencil "trick", if you can even call it that, is supposed to be more for plosives - like hard P and D sounds. That's the way I remember it anyway.
Click to expand...

Well, microphones (especially condensers) are more sensitive to sibilance in the center of the diaphragm where there is the most play. Towards the outside of the diaphragm it is stiffer and therefore more robust to it. The main aim of the pencil "trick" is to diffuse the higher energy (the esses) from the center of the diaphragm and create an indirect pressure wave.

But yes, it could also help for plosives as well.

Cheers :)
 
Mo Facta said:
Well, microphones (especially condensers) are more sensitive to sibilance in the center of the diaphragm where there is the most play. Towards the outside of the diaphragm it is stiffer and therefore more robust to it. The main aim of the pencil "trick" is to diffuse the higher energy (the esses) from the center of the diaphragm and create an indirect pressure wave.

But yes, it could also help for plosives as well.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the pencil can work sometimes on some mics...though the pencil is so close to the capsule that it doesn't always work very well.
I find it's even easier if you just sing a little off-axis...and that's something you can quickly find the sweet spot for by simply doing the ess sound while listening on your headphones, and moving around the capsule's axis until you find a good spot. Angling your body at about a 45 degree angle toward the capsule works well to prevent that direct hit.
 
I personally like to draw in volume envelopes to remove sibalents. You can control it a lot more than a compressor and it's pretty fast once you get used to the workflow.
 
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