Problem with De-essing.

[muzician21]

I've been trying the Spitfish de-esser plugin that I see rave reviews
about

http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5

However, I can't find a setting that doesn't take some of the nice
airy shimmer off a file. Any setting I use that seems to work at de-
essing seems to do this. It's subtle, but it's noticeable. I.e., it
seems to be taking out highs even where the "meter" doesn't indicate
any activity.

Is there any such thing as a de-esser that doesn't do this? So far the
only way I've found to avoid this is to manually cherry pick the
offending spots. A tedious task but better than degrading the sound of
the file.

[Mike Rivers]

muzician21 wrote:
> I've been trying the Spitfish de-esser plugin that I see rave reviews
> about

> However, I can't find a setting that doesn't take some of the nice
> airy shimmer off a file. Any setting I use that seems to work at de-
> essing seems to do this. It's subtle, but it's noticeable.

Well, there's a fair amount of overlap in the spectrum between sibilance
and shimmer.

> only way I've found to avoid this is to manually cherry pick the
> offending spots. A tedious task but better than degrading the sound of
> the file.

That's the price you pay for
(a) not controlling sibilance at the source and
(b) having the power to fix it afterwards

The SPL De-Esser works better than most. I've only heard the hardware
version, but I'm pretty sure they have a software version now.



--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me here:
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

[Scott Dorsey]

muzician21 > wrote:
>
>Is there any such thing as a de-esser that doesn't do this? So far the
>only way I've found to avoid this is to manually cherry pick the
>offending spots. A tedious task but better than degrading the sound of
>the file.

De-essing is a thing that you do as a last resort when you cannot track
properly, or when you are forced into massive overcompression that badly
exaggerates sibilance. It's not a thing you use every day, it's a last
ditch salvage tool and it should be treated like that.

And yes, these days in the digital world, doing it only on the parts that
need it by hand is pretty much normal.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[WillStG]

On Aug 4, 10:23 pm, muzician21 > wrote:
> I've been trying the Spitfish de-esser plugin that I see rave reviews
> about
>
> http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5
>
> However, I can't find a setting that doesn't take some of the nice
> airy shimmer off a file. Any setting I use that seems to work at de-
> essing seems to do this. It's subtle, but it's noticeable. I.e., it
> seems to be taking out highs even where the "meter" doesn't indicate
> any activity.
>
> Is there any such thing as a de-esser that doesn't do this? So far the
> only way I've found to avoid this is to manually cherry pick the
> offending spots. A tedious task but better than degrading the sound of
> the file.

What I would do - in your situation - is note all the essy
sections, and separate them as regions (as small as necessary.) Then
apply deessing as an offline process to each one, rather than trying
to just stick a plugin on the whole track.

The old school version for dealing with a vocal pop; when the the
automation is printing, you reach over and twist down an eq knob where
the pop is (Jay Messina showed me this one.) And this can work fine
with sibilance too, but it's harder to do that kind of thing on a
DAW. I'll usually just use a single band of a C4 multiband compressor
or something.

Will Miho
NY TV/Audio Post/Music/Live Sound Guy
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits

[Scott Dorsey]

WillStG > wrote:
>
> The old school version for dealing with a vocal pop; when the the
>automation is printing, you reach over and twist down an eq knob where
>the pop is (Jay Messina showed me this one.) And this can work fine
>with sibilance too, but it's harder to do that kind of thing on a
>DAW. I'll usually just use a single band of a C4 multiband compressor
>or something.

No, no, the old school version is to take a typewriter eraser and scrape
the oxide off the tape at the point where the pop occurs.....
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[WillStG]

On Aug 12, 9:43 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> WillStG > wrote:
>
> > The old school version for dealing with a vocal pop; when the the
> >automation is printing, you reach over and twist down an eq knob where
> >the pop is (Jay Messina showed me this one.) And this can work fine
> >with sibilance too, but it's harder to do that kind of thing on a
> >DAW. I'll usually just use a single band of a C4 multiband compressor
> >or something.
>
> No, no, the old school version is to take a typewriter eraser and scrape
> the oxide off the tape at the point where the pop occurs.....
> --scott
>
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I never had much luck with that on a Sony 3348... <g>

Will Miho
NY TV/Audio Post/Music/Live Sound Guy
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits

[Laurence Payne[_2_]]

On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:04:15 +0200, (Ralf R.
Radermacher) wrote:

>Reminds me of the day (late 1970's) we had to record the speech of some
>high church dignitary and his false teeth were making funny noises.
>
>Going into the studio and telling him his teeth were rattling was out of
>the question.

Why?

[Laurence Payne[_2_]]

On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:28:42 +0200, (Ralf R.
Radermacher) wrote:

>This was a radio station of H.M. Forces and that guy was in a position
>way above anyone else at the place. Furthermore, he was known to be a
>right royal a...hole. That enough?

Well....suppose so. I have thankfully little experience of the
military. But the little I have has taught me that in a professional
situation they listen to reason, and to the experts. Otherwise
they're dead.

[dwgriffi]

On Aug 8, 6:58*pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

> De-essing is a thing that you do as a last resort when you cannot track
> properly, or when you are forced into massive overcompression that badly
> exaggerates sibilance. *It's not a thing you use every day, it's a last
> ditch salvage tool and it should be treated like that.


Oh, come on Scott. You haven't lived until you add 12 db at 11khz to
a pop singer's track and then de-ess it back to earth : )