Sometimes the best mixing decision is the one that no one will ever hear. Today’s tip is one such example. Those annoying sibilance “s” sounds will make your mixes sound amateur and you’ll be doomed before you even start, no matter how awesome the rest of the mix sounds.
Start De-Essing Today!
If you aren’t already using a de-esser plugin for your vocals then starting today you should always strap one on. There’s no excuse. This one simple plugin is easy to use and will get you one step closer to delivering a pro sounding mix. Trust me on this one.
Comments
No comments
Do you actually use the de-esser at the end of the chain? Would it be better to use it before other compression to attenuate those freqs down before they get emphasized by the compressor?
Helllo Graham,
Thank you for this wonderful set of videos, you’re doing an amazing job here.
I have two questions pertaining to de-essing, should I be using it systematically on any recorded singer’s voice? In what order it’s more appropriate I use such plugin after the compression and the reverb or before?
Awesome as usual, Graham! I’ve been really enjoying your 31 days series. It bothers me a bit when listening to my vocals through a de-esser. By the time I get it set to where the sibilance is pulled back, I sound like I’m singing with a lisp. Am I being too heavy-handed? Tweaking the wrong knob? Maybe I don’t have the right frequency dialed in? Can you help?
@bolenti: too much De-Essing may lead to lisping-like vocals, so I wouldn’t use it on every singer, especially not during recording as you probably won’t be able to undo it.
As to the order, I’d place the De-Esser *before* the reverb. Listen to George Michael’s “Jesus To A Child” to get an idea why – personally, I can’t listen to this track because the reverberated sibilants drive me crazy (I still hope that the mixer used this as an effect and did not forget to switch off the De-Esser’s “listen” mode in the reverb bus).
Unless you have to face a lot of sibilants, your compressor adds a lot of colour or you want to compress very “hard”, the order of De-Esser and compressor shouldn’t really matter.
But as in most cases, listen to your ears instead of other people – and don’t be afraid to experiment!
You won’t have to worry about the order so much if you’re using aux sends. Send to a reverb and/or delay bus and all your plugins will happen first. Failing that, I generally do it like this:
Compressor
EQ
De-esser
Reverb or delay
That way you can affect the level en masse, then correct it with EQ, and THEN take out the esses (don’t EQ after a de-esser, because you can undo part of what you did) and then take that “finished” signal and run it through the reverb or delay.
I’ve tried playing with the order, but putting the EQ before the compressor can make for an unnatural sound, and putting the reverb through the de-esser can really cut off the “air” of the reverb sound.
I’m working on a mix right now in which I was using a de-essor, however comments came back to me that the vocal was lacking high-end sparkle. When I removed the de-essor, the high=end sparkle appeared. I think that unless there really is an ess-ing problem, it’s best not to use the de-essor because it can make the vocal get a little dull. Agree?
Yet another demysticifation by Graham! Thx!
Yeah, you’ve got to be careful with de-essing. If it’s overdone, the lisping thing is a standard artifact. Ever wonder why a lot of those Donald Fagen vocals have that funny lisping sound, but he doesn’t seem to talk that way? The magic of over-de-essaying…
GJ