De-Essing Recordings

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Permalink Reply by Fable Goodman on March 19, 2010 at 12:30pm

hello,

It is probably more your hyper awareness of hearing your own voice played back, which is bothering you.

However, In the interest of science, I just did an experiment on audacity using the same samson microphone, and it seemed to work quite well.

start recording, and make a five to ten seccons ess sound, (a long quiet hissing) then take a breath and say out loud, hiss, kiss, miss, abyss, diss, piss.

Listen to it back, listening particularly for the sibilance.

Now select the five second ess sound, and get a noise profile from the noise reduction tool.
next select all, and apply the noise reduction.

listen to it back and compare with before.

It did make a big difference when I listened back.

Hope this is helpful.

Love and hugs,

Fable.

Now back to more usual friday night activities.....

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Permalink Reply by John Maclean on March 19, 2010 at 12:37pm

Do you have a "foam" cover (wind shield) over the mic head? Failing that use noise reduction in Audacity. There is lots of good info about Audacity on the forum, http://forum.audacityteam.org/index.php

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Permalink Reply by Chad Schultz on March 19, 2010 at 1:00pm

Thanks for the tips, Fable and John!

It never occurred to me to think of using the noise removal tool for that purpose! It does definitely make a difference, but also seems to alter and distort the recording... maybe if I play with it more I'll get a little better at that.

John, I've heard that tip mentioned for popping "p" sounds. I don't know if it will help with the sibilance, but what the heck--I ordered a windscreen from Amazon, so I'll see if that makes a difference when it arrives.

Any other tips on diction or software de-essers are also welcome! :)

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Permalink Reply by Craig Eubanks on March 19, 2010 at 1:15pm

John Maclean said:

Do you have a "foam" cover (wind shield) over the mic head? Failing that use noise reduction in Audacity. There is lots of good info about Audacity on the forum, http://forum.audacityteam.org/index.php

Foam covers are more for wind when you are outside. It wouldn't hurt, but what you really need is what is known as a "pop filter". It's a screen that goes between your mouth and the microphone and reduces the impact of certain sounds we make when speaking.

Letters like "P" and as you have discovered "S" are some that can cause problems when recording.

When you see photos from professional recording studios and radio studios almost always the microphones will have pop filters. (see photos below)

You can get a pop filter for home studio use for about $20 - $30 dollars. I recommend you check online sites like Guitar Center and Musician's Friend. If you live in a big city, you can likely find a Guitar Center retail store. The guys in there are usually very knowledgeable and can help you find the best one for your needs.

The Pop Filter will also force you to keep proper distance away from the microphone which will also help with the "S" noises.

Finally, learning some basic Good Microphone Technique can help your recordings sound better.

As far as the noise reduction in Audacity (or other sound programs), it does work, but it can cause 'artifacts' in your recording. And you need to know you can get a sample of pure noise for the filter to be able to work. My advice is to not use this except as a last resort. Learn to create good quality recordings upfront.

All sound engineers strive to get the best possible recording from the very beginning, because once it's recorded you can only subtract and artificially add stuff. Each time you do this, the recording is degraded a little bit. So you really want to minimize any post-production changes to the sound.

Cheers,

Craig

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Permalink Reply by Craig Eubanks on March 19, 2010 at 1:33pm

Oops... forgot the link to Good Microphone Techniques.


Cheers, Craig

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Permalink Reply by John Maclean on March 19, 2010 at 2:16pm

You can add VST plugins to Audacity for de-essing. Download free plugins here. http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5

Pop filters are not terribly good for fricatives or "esses" . A pop-filter prevents sharp popping sounds (known as plosives) like “P” and “B” words from overloading the mic level and distorting. An "ess" isn't a plosive. you can use small wind shield as a fricative filter as they are less acoustically transparent. I agree with Craig though. Aim for the best recording from the start. Hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Donna Carter on March 19, 2010 at 3:36pm

If all of this good advice doesn't get you in the clear.
Upgrade to Magix 16, it has a place you can go to see all the notes, you can soften or delete the pops and ssssssesss...
I love it!

~D.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Eubanks on March 19, 2010 at 3:56pm

John Maclean said:

You can add VST plugins to Audacity for de-essing. Download free plugins here. http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5
Pop filters are not terribly good for fricatives or "esses" . A pop-filter prevents sharp popping sounds (known as plosives) like “P” and “B” words from overloading the mic level and distorting. An "ess" isn't a plosive. you can use small wind shield as a fricative filter as they are less acoustically transparent. I agree with Craig though. Aim for the best recording from the start. Hope this helps.

Yes, I wasn't too clear on that part.

The way a pop filter helps you with the "esses" is by making you have your mouth farther from the microphone. My friend who has studied professional voice overs, said when they did their studio work the mouth was ideally about 6 inches from the mic.

Also if you look at the Good Microphone Technique they talk about the angle of the mic relative to the mouth to help with what sounds are recorded. So if you experiment with different microphone placement that can help.

And I didn't even think before to point out what I think is obvious, but many people won't... make sure you have a good microphone. It's the most important element for a good quality recording. Everyone will have their favorites, but make sure when you look at mics you don't go for the bottom of the barrel budget item. Avoid the $20 mics at radio shack they will cause you nothing but frustration.

Again, this is where going to a good musician's store is your best bet. Guitar Center I like because they only hire people who are trained musicians. They know this stuff like a geek at the Mac store knows computers.

Cheers,

Craig

P.S. The mic I currently prefer for computer audio/video recordings is the Snowball by Blue Microphones.

It's $100 retail. But nobody ever pays retail for musical instruments. I think I got mine on Amazon.com for about $70.

It's brain dead simple to use... just plug it into your USB port and it has nice warm sound to it. There is a version that comes with the little tripod you see in the photo.

I also have an MXL DRK Mic.

This is a slightly better quality mic, but is more inconvenient in that I need a USB sound card (I use an Edirol) and a desktop mic stand which is big and takes up a lot of space.

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Permalink Reply by Duncan Murray on March 20, 2010 at 5:28am

Thanks All

I was getting really frustrated with my own recordings despite using a foam filter on the mike - really useful information!

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Chase on March 20, 2010 at 8:15am

You can make a pop filter with a wire coat hanger and a pair of your wife's old stockings. Or your stockings if you are that way inclined.

I use the built in Mic on my mac which is perfect most of the time thanks to on board background sound reduction which works by shoving the sound through a simple bypass filter, and you can be half a room away.

However I think the easiest 'trick' is to simply add some music in the background and add just a touch of reverb - not echo and not too much or you sound like you are sitting in a concert hall - that will 'cover' 90% of the high and low sounds your mouth makes. :-)

Smiles
JonC
http://www.jonathanchase.com

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Permalink Reply by Chad Schultz on March 20, 2010 at 4:56pm

Thanks for the tips, all.

Pop filters: I had never heard before that these help with "s" sounds, but I'll see what the foam windscreen (microphone cover) does when it arrives.

I have read the Spitfish VST plugin recommended a number of times. I've installed it in Audacity, but no matter what I do with the settings it seems to have no effect on my recording, unfortunately.

In terms of a microphone, as stated in the original post I am now using a Samson C01U, which from reviews I've read (including some here on HypnoThoughts) seems to be in the same league as a Blue Snowball.

Regarding microphone angle, for some odd reason it actually seems to pick up sound best when I have the microphone stand on the table, pointing straight up with the front side facing me. Then I talk over it, so I am already making sure not to speak directly into it, which seems to help with both "p" and "s" sounds.

Jonathan, this may be an overly obvious question, but do you know what tool in Audacity would add the reverb? That's an interesting approach, I'd like to try it out

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Permalink Reply by John Maclean on March 22, 2010 at 1:24pm

You can download reverb plugins for Audacity here. http://www.anwida.com/download.asp?pt=12

Personally I use Adobe Audition 3.0 which has some great effects. I especially like the binaural panning which switches my voice from the left to right channels and back in a nice flowing way. It is expensive but a great tool. As Jonothan said, use music in the background to create a relaxing atmosphere.

Chad Schultz said:

Thanks for the tips, all.
Pop filters: I had never heard before that these help with "s" sounds, but I'll see what the foam windscreen (microphone cover) does when it arrives.
I have read the Spitfish VST plugin recommended a number of times. I've installed it in Audacity, but no matter what I do with the settings it seems to have no effect on my recording, unfortunately.

In terms of a microphone, as stated in the original post I am now using a Samson C01U, which from reviews I've read (including some here on HypnoThoughts) seems to be in the same league as a Blue Snowball.

Regarding microphone angle, for some odd reason it actually seems to pick up sound best when I have the microphone stand on the table, pointing straight up with the front side facing me. Then I talk over it, so I am already making sure not to speak directly into it, which seems to help with both "p" and "s" sounds.

Jonathan, this may be an overly obvious question, but do you know what tool in Audacity would add the reverb? That's an interesting approach, I'd like to try it out

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