From the course: Mixing and Mastering with Pro Tools

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Using de-essers to eliminate sibilance

Using de-essers to eliminate sibilance - Pro Tools Tutorial

From the course: Mixing and Mastering with Pro Tools

Using de-essers to eliminate sibilance

Sibilance or the hard S sound of a vocal can be overwhelming and especially bad with certain singers when they are recorded with a less than optimal mike choice. This challenge is so prominent in the recording world that a specific type of dynamics processor was developed to tackle it called a de-esser. So what is a de-esser anyways? Essentially, it's a frequency dependent compressor, in other words, the compression or reduction in level is triggered only when a specific frequency breaches the threshold. In the case of a de-esser, it is generally set up to react only to the high frequencies of a vocals s or shh sounds or other harsh or brittle sounds, like poorly recorded cymbals. Master engineers will even use it on a bad mix sometimes. So how does it work? Well, because only a specified range of frequency is going to trigger the de-esser, in the Digirack De-Esser Dyn 3, we have the frequency definition, which is going to be that center frequency where the worst S sounds occur. And…

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