Has anyone used the SPL De Esser ?

[Len911]

It's difficult to give vocal technique advice because everyone is different, but I once had a 414 that had a 'presence' bump in freq. and would sing soft z's instead of s's. At first it doesn't seem natural or comfortable,lol, however sibilance isn't really natural sounding either, but
once you hear the final result, it sounds like an s with a sibilant mic. Another mic occasionally had a problem with p's being plosive, so I adjusted by singing a soft b for the p's. After a while you lose the self consciousness of thinking you sound like you're lizzbing(lisping),lol! Uncorrected, it sounds lisssss(pow)ing, but by adjusting it comes out lisping on the track.

[6bq9]

@len911 I've read that advice elsewhere for dealing with plosives and sibilance. I've also read that a good orthodontist is the way to deal with sibilance, so YMMV.

[Len911]

@len911 I've read that advice elsewhere for dealing with plosives and sibilance. I've also read that a good orthodontist is the way to deal with sibilance, so YMMV.

Orthodontist? For a heavy metallic sound? aka 'metal mouth'

I wonder if the reason you never hear any people with a hairlip sing is because sibilant mics make them sound normal? That's something that crossed my mind when I adjusted technique for the sibilant mic.

I remember something from choir class from way back when, that there are certain ways to sing certain words so they came out normal, but I don't remember what they were.

[mojobone]

I'm using a bluebird mic. I do like the sound of it.
I am my own worst enemy because I like to add
air, heavy compression and saturation to my vox
tracks. I find it cuts better in my style of music.
I have researched mic techniques and apparently
I'm doing it wrong... Lol but the examples given tend to
show engineers using high end gear which I don't have.
I'll definitely look into multicompression as
another option.

It sounds as though you're making life difficult for yourself; if you want the effect of lots of compression, try using multiple layers of milder compression. Chain them together in series, and don't push any stage hard enough to produce harsh artifacts, is my advice. If you need additional sheen without sibilance you may just need a better EQ and/or a better mic. (there's stuff you can do with a Mojave that you just can't get away with on a Bluerbird) You might also investigate the judicious use of a good exciter from Aphex or BBE as an alternative to EQ. Plugins have their limitations; maybe it's time you invested in a 500 series rack and one of these: http://www.sweetwater.com/c1039--Maag_A ... _Series_EQ here's a review of same: http://www.tapeop.com/reviews/gear/88/eq4-equalizer/

There's a neat trick in Tracktion and some other DAWs, where you can throw a plugin on an audio clip/chunk/region, and I theenk you can do something similar in Melodyne, due to the rather unique way it processes audio, you can use it to define each syllable as a region, but leaving out the transient esses; apply your "air" EQ to those regions, and Bob's your relative. (do this on a safety copy of your edited keeper vocal, because you'll likely have to render out your syllables as you go along, and the process is destructive)

I do like bright microphones that bring out the grain in my voice, but to use them, I need to back way off the microphone and turn up the preamp gain. This exposes the limitations of my recording space, but I can gate out the majority of the environmental leakage more easily than I can treat all the esses. The right mic and position can work wonders all by itself; I haven't used a de-esser for any of my vocal tracks in years. Your mileage may vary.

[andygabrys]

Plugins have their limitations; maybe it's time you invested in a 500 series rack and one of these: http://www.sweetwater.com/c1039--Maag_A ... _Series_EQ here's a review of same: http://www.tapeop.com/reviews/gear/88/eq4-equalizer/

I am not going to say that the software is comparable to the hardware, but late last year I got the plugin version of the Maag eq from Brainworx (on sale of course . its totally unlike any other eq I have (and I have a number including the Neve 1073 and 1081 UAD emulations) - and by that I mean it sounds TOTALLY different. its pretty wild. The air band is a really way out kindof deal. it has an incredible effect. all the fixed freq bands have a really wide Q, so its almost like a pultec in that the bands interact a lot. Its definitely an "ear" unit. I can't go to it and just jack a certain frequency expecting something. But if you start to play around with a couple bands up and down, interesting things happen.