HOW TO GET RID OF SIBILANCE MANUAL
HOW TO GET RID OF SIBILANCE SOFTWARE

Given the dread with which most people look on the idea of manual deвЂ‘essing, it's hardly surprising that aВ number of more 'setвЂ‘andвЂ‘forget' shortcuts to solving the sibilance problem have arisen.

HOW TO GET RID OF SIBILANCE SOFTWARE

Manual deвЂ‘essing isn't exactly an enthralling task, but it's nonetheless pretty straightforward to carry out in modern software recording systems, because sibilants show up on the vocal waveform as dense pseudo-random regions, which are aВ doddle to pick out by eye. Dedicated deвЂ‘essing plugвЂ‘ins like Universal Audio's Precision De-esser (left) may be all you need, but attenuating each sibilant manually using automation (above) allows you to be more selective. Some engineers do this manually, either by carefully editing vocal sibilants onto aВ separate track or by using detailed fader automation. The simplest approach to deвЂ‘essing is to turn down the level of the vocal signal whenever sibilance occurs. Basic DeвЂ‘essing: Two Different Approaches So in this article I'll explore in more detail the various tools that the mix engineer can call upon to deal with it. Whatever its root cause, excessive sibilance is aВ persistent concern in vocal production, but discussion of it tends to get relegated to aВ footnote in articles about compression or EQ. Compression is also part of the problem, because most compressors won't react aВ great deal to the highвЂ‘frequency energy produced by sibilance, so the sibilants will be controlled less assertively than the rest of the vocal signal, therefore rising in level, relatively speaking. HighвЂ‘frequency EQ boost is par for the course on many recordings, to get the vocal to sound close to the listener and to cut through the mix, and this will clearly add emphasis to sibilants. Mix processing of vocal parts is also aВ culprit. The choice of mic can compound the problem, because bright mics are usually favoured for aВ forwardвЂ‘sounding timbre, and the most commonly used design, the largeвЂ‘diaphragm condenser, can have harshвЂ‘sounding highвЂ‘frequency capsule resonances, especially in the case of budget models. For aВ start, the overwhelming preference for closeвЂ‘miking vocals tends to highlight the noise components, and matters are often made worse if the vocal mic is positioned on the horizontal plane of the mouth, where sibilanceВ is typically focused. Sibilant sounds (or sibilants for short) often pose technical problems in modern music, because aВ number of routine production decisions can conspire to emphasise them unnaturally.

When we talk about sibilance in relation to aВ vocal recording, we're referring primarily to the 's' sounds noisy highвЂ‘frequency consonants created by the turbulence as air whistles through aВ singer's teeth. If you do that, then the best average Anti-Skating is set correctly.Songs suffering from superfluous sibilance? Study SOS's super strategies for sorting esses. When you have it adjusted right, the arm will track on the SURFACE of the record (not in the groove) at the end of the record on the un-pressed flat space where the run-out groove is вЂ“ it should track SLOWLY INWARDS toward the center at a MUCH SLOWER RATE than IF IT WERE ACTUALLY in the end groove. You may find it doesn't work for you and if you don't have similar problems it might not fix anything but it's worth a shot to see if it makes any improvement.

I highly suggest everyone give this a go. Doing this has completely eliminated any of the previous issues I had and the system now sounds absolutely fantastic. I had to turn the dial to nearly 4.5 before the stylus slowly tracked towards the spindle. Turns out I didn't have nearly enough anti skating. This allowed me to set anti skate by dropping the stylus in a blank part of the record (while spinning) and seeing which way it skated. Then I found a post on the SH forums about setting anti skate using the Soundsmith method. I had set my anti skate to 2 on the dial as I was tracking at 2g so I was pretty sure it was correct and I didn't think there was a reliable way to check it. I was sure the Fine Line stylus on the Benz would solve these problems but no go. I was also finding that the stylus was violently skipping the lead-in groove when I dropped it in. I set everything up, played some records and BOOM! Sibilance again. I also grabbed a Feickert protractor on the used market to make sure set up was bang on. I grabbed a PLX-1000 on a stupid deal (40% off RRP) and used a few contacts to get a Benz Ace SL and Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ at good prices. Then the bug bit again and I decided I would give this one more crack. Eventually I became fed up with everything and sold the lot.

I tried everything I could think of less VTF, more VTF, azimuth adjustments, VTA adjustments, no anti skate, lots of anti skate etc etc. I've been through a VPI Classic and a handful of carts and I just couldn't get rid of this terrible sibilance and IGD. Sorry for long title but I wanted to post about this.

How to get rid of sibilance