Removing distracting sibilance and fricative sounds on vocals and voiceover can make them easier on the ear, but even dedicated tools have their limitations. While other solutions can help, we look at a different tool that needs hardly any input from the engineer.

In Summary

Conventional de-essers usually operate at a fixed frequency that does not cover the range of sibilance or fricatives that can occur on a single voice throughout the upper band. Using an intelligent dynamic tool can chase down the offending noises.

Going Deeper

Why De-Ess?

While recording the human voice and getting it the best it can be has a unique set of considerations when recording and mixing. Listening to a range of voices spanning different ages and genders reveals a wide range of physiology. This can result in a very broad spectrum of hisses, whistles, clicks, and fizzes that can distract the the listener.

The biggest factors in avoiding problems in the mix are getting mic choice and positioning right, with one sometimes alleviating the other. A good example of this is the popularity of the dynamic mic’s often smoother top end helping to play down fricative noise that can develop on-axis and close-up. Using a mic that agrees with a dull or bright voice can help a lot, as can knowledge of how vocal HF tends to propagate forwards more than upwards. Placement can capitalise on this.

When the recording captures too many consonant noises, the de-esser exists as an automatic process to turn them down when they happen.

Conventional De-Essing

Whether for music or spoken word, the de-esser familiar to many is essentially a frequency-sensitive compressor tuned to the offending frequency. Simple tools will apply wide-band reduction triggered by target events, with more advanced solutions offering features such as split band gain reduction, where the information either side of the target is left un-attenuated.

Other Fricative Fixes

The de-esser’s drawback can be its typically single-band mode of operation. The engineer can alternatively lean on other existing studio tools where necessary, although (just like ‘proper’ de-essing), results are not guaranteed. One solution can be to try and cover a wider band to cover the highest octave or so using a static shelf or even a tilt filter; this is rarely successful. An alternative to this can be dynamic EQ set at the offending frequencies, or multiband compression. Anyone who has tried this may concur that the time taken to set it up can be prohibitive and the results underwhelming.

A Real Alternative?

Gullfoss will be known to some reading this as an intelligent dynamic EQ for music mixing in the studio, with uses that extend into mastering and the live sound mixing industries as well. For voice, it can make a useful de-esser thanks to its floating filters that can analyse and move up to three hundred times per second, making it ideal for tracking any moving target such as unwanted vocal noises.

In the video, we demonstrate how a fixed-band de-esser cannot successfully deal with more than one fricative sound. We then show how using an intelligent dynamic tool with multiple filters can track and attenuate a number of fricative sounds in real time. In the case of Gullfoss, this is simply a case of setting the Tame and Bias controls to taste.

A Fix For Everything

While no engineer can expect a simple one-band de-esser to calm down a range of unwanted fizz and hisses in the recorded voice, using an intelligent processor such as Gullfoss can do more than merely salvage an unsympathetic recording. It goes that anything designed to process highly complex mix information could make light work of even the most fearsome of fizzes on channels as well. Predictably, however, still more effective is getting the right mic in the right place.

A Word About This Article

As the Experts team considered how we could better help the community we thought that some of you are time poor and don’t have the time to read a long article or a watch a long video. In 2023 we are going to be trying out articles that have the fast takeaway right at the start and then an opportunity to go deeper if you wish. Let us know if you like this idea in the comments.

Photo by Jonathan Farber on Unsplash