#1039480 - 10/06/05 10:40 AM
De-Essing Software & Process
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Craig Sharrow
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Registered: 10/06/05
Posts: 1
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HELP! I've pretty much got the other recording bugaboos like hiss & noise under control, but I can't satisfactorily silence sizzling sibilant sounds.
I've tried Adobe Audition's de-esser, as well as Antarestech's Sybil and Voxengo's Voxformer VSTs- and there is still too much "SSSS" in my voiceovers.
Are there specific settings for these programs, or other software that is more tuneable that will get the sizzle out of a tenor/baritone male voice?
Thanks for any advice.
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#1039481 - 10/06/05 12:18 PM
Re: De-Essing Software & Process
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philbo_Tangent
Platinum Member
Registered: 10/08/00
Posts: 1175
Loc: Iowa
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It would be best to use a mic with less high end, or increase your distance from the mic (try 12 inches or so...).
If you are determined to go with what you have, try this:
Send a copy of the voice to an aux bus, then run it through a high-pass filter, then a compressor, then an inverter.
Solo the aux bus, and tweak the filter and compressor to make the sibilance really obnoxious.
Since you are sending the result through an inverter, the aux bus result will be subtracted from the main vocal channel when it's recombined with the unaltered voice channel.
So, unsolo the aux bus and listen to the main mix. Retweak the filter, compressor and aux bus level as needed.
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#1039482 - 10/06/05 01:00 PM
Re: De-Essing Software & Process
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mudsmith@earthlink.net
Gold Member
Registered: 10/30/00
Posts: 750
Loc: Martinsburg,WV,UNITED STATES
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The trick to making hardware or software de-essing work is adjusting the available parameters. Although I am not familiar with the particular software you are using, I have used plenty of hardware de-essers, digital hardware boxes and the Waves de-essers. The issues are the same for each.
De-essing is a side-chain compression process that compresses the whole signal (or only the high frequencies in some software and digital boxes) whenever signals are present in a certain frequency range....The first parameter to adjust is this frequency range- both in center frequency and bandwidth if possible. Essing tends to live in the 5.5k to 7k range. In hardware de-essing, making the bandwidth of the side-chain as narrow as possible while still capturing the primary essing tends to work well, but it depends, and software de-essers often don't have an adjustment for this but can still be effective. Without frequency adjustment, however, you are SOL. You have to find the right frequency for the track you are working on.
The second set of parameters to adjust are the compressor parameters: Attack, release and ratio if you have them, but the absolute minimum is threshold with some way of metering the gain reduction being applied while you adjust it. You have to have some way of seeing what the de-esser is doing.
Those are the basics. If you apply too much de-essing, it tends to make you sound like you have a lisp....If you cannot get the ess reduced, you might have to think about a different mic or preamp....Sometimes, in the new digital world, excessive essing comes from a poor sync rleationship between the digital source and the digital recorder.
My favorite 3 de-essers: 1)The old, single control Orban de-esser with the very low-level input (pre-mid 1980s, the next generation did not work so well). 2)A UREI notch/peak filter (in boost mode) into the sidechain of a cheap Alesis dual compressor...in a pinch, a cheap graphic equalizer will work instead of the UREI....the only problem with this is that you need to put the graphic or UREI "online" to actually tune in the frequency by ear. 3)The Waves Deesser, at least the version on their 96k and 56k Yamaha cards. The controls are a bit minimal, but the algorithm works and you can monitor the sidechain.......The de-esser in the old Finalizer works pretty well, too.
Anyway, hope that's helpful.
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#1039483 - 10/09/05 05:41 PM
Re: De-Essing Software & Process
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dj jud
Senior Member
Registered: 06/05/03
Posts: 174
Loc: Madison, WI
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I'm a big fan of Spitfish from the fishfillets. It's free, and there is a tuning circuit. Works well for me. The FishFillets
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