What is your de-essing strategy?

[soundmodel]

1) always select the best mic and singer/speaker possible
2) always see what else can be done in the recording spot to tune the sound to your liking, this can include changing the mic somehow or instructing the singer/speaker to sing or speak differently
3) always assume first that you'll get a ready sound at the source (except for artificial effects). If you need to post-process to fix errors, then usually treat it as fixing a fundamentally failed recording, where your problem is either the singer/speaker or the mic (in this order).

Note: sometimes you can have a singer/speaker that cannot be fixed without sounding bad. That is, it's what the singer/speaker sounds like.

[sssyntax]

Hi there, I'm sure someone has already mentioned this but, if the music and mix allow for it, get some more distance between the artist and the mic.
I like proximity effect and used to be right up on the mic for a super rich sound.....but I always struggled with sibilant problems.
Often now days I am around a foot away from the mic and it's much less a problem.
Just something to try if you havnt had a chance to yet.

[andivax]

Sonible Smart De-Esser for English vocals.
TBTech SpecCraft for Slavic Languages.

case closed

[Scoops]

Typically, here are the steps I take to clean up vocals, and not necessarily de-ess alone
I have my favorite tools for each step, but this is my process

1st - Put .wav through tool to deal with the really obnoxious sibilances and plosives if necessary
2nd - Put that output through a de-esser
3rd - Put that output through a spectral editor for anything issue that is remaining

[cryophonik]

I've been reading, just not replying, but there is a lot of great input here!

One thing I've been experimenting with lately is using some multiband saturation on the vocals and tuning it to the harsh "ess" frequencies. I've found that it's most effective when I go fairly broad with the frequency range, although it does add a bit of color or "fizz" to the high end of the vocals, which sounds more pleasant to me than the harshness of sibilance. But, it's definitely not transparent.

I presume you are using pop-filters on the mic for recording? I know some engineers who use two pop-filters to help out with both pops and esses.

I do use a pop filter at all times on vocals, but I've never tried using two. Might be worth a shot.

[SybilSztorm]

Outside the box, best is to use a dynamic microphone, if possible with a dark tone, into a preamp with a slew-rate control knob turned to a slow rise time to round all transients. You can also experiment with a variable impedance knob to darken a bit the sound.

Once you're inside the box the best tools i've found are the Izotope spectral de-esser, you have a knob which you can use brown noise to darken the sibilants and reduce the load of the de-esser, then oaksound soothe/spiff, and once all the heavy lifting has been done if you still have some esses you can use a third conventional de-esser like the waves or the weiss.

Finally you can draw an automation curve to zoom in on the problematic hypothetical last esses that would remain.

Hope this helps.

[fatprice]

Mic placement and delivery #1
Re-record if #1 isn’t right

[gullfo]

pop filter and good takes - try to eliminate it at the source (vocalist). good articulation and mic work is important for good results. just saying...

once recorded, i'll use Melodyne sibilance to work it's magic and some overall leveling. next up, volume/gain automation on the harsh stuff which might poke through. finally, some de-essing via plugins, i might use 2 to catch the things i cannot fix via the other steps and they're a light touch (usually). finally, the regular bits - EQ, compression, etc etc etc with the EQ perhaps with a wide gentle dip of 7K-9K ~1-2db.

mostly done in context as previously noted - some instruments hitting at the same time cause the ess to be exaggerated, and those typically bits need to be reduced.

[djanthonyw]

Either dynamic EQ from Toneboosters EQ Pro or Waves Equator.

[RipleySterling]

As many have said, solve it as early as possible. Once in editing/mixing, it entirely depends on how the sibilance is a problem. I almost always clip gain all my vocals at a pretty fine scale, so usually I attenuate the S there. I really like DSEQ, especially because it lets you set a gain reduction limit, and multiplier. So I can dial in where the sibilance is, just barely catch it, then use the gain multiplier to exaggerate it, but set the limit to whatever sounds right, and now pretty much all the sibilance is leveled evenly. Sometimes just the stock compressor with a sidechain filter works great. Sometimes I end up copy/pasting an S around a whole performance for consistency/the feel.

[Ah_Dziz]

Depending on the application, using automation of volume is the best move past picking the proper mic and distance from the performer along with polar pattern and such. I've found that deessers are very handy for live sound as well as tuning up problematic recordings when mixing from other studios.

[BlackOctopusSteve]

When i hear something fatiguing, I use both additive and subtractive EQ to do detective work find where it is.

Step 1: Boost a notch band by about 5-10 DB and move the notch across the spectrum.

Does the issue get worse?

Step 2: Do an EQ cut at that same frequency.

Does it go away?

Step 3a. Put a de-esser right at this frequency and attenuate. Find the sweet spot of cut where it does not destroy the sound quality, but still makes the frequency tamed enough to not be fatiguing.

Does it NOT go away?

Step 3b. Repeat Step 1 and try again.

[BlackOctopusSteve]

It's also great for aggressive digital basses in dubstep, dnb, and other varieties of bass music.

[Starbright]

Let me start by saying this is NOT a name-your-favorite-de-esser-plugin thread. It’s in the Production forum because it’s meant to discuss techniques for minimizing and reducing sibilance, which also includes plugins, but that’s not the main point. I’m interested in hearing what you do during recording to minimize it, and how you process your tracks to reduce it.

I feel like I’m constantly fighting it. Most of the vocals I record are female singers I work with. I try having them sing with the mic off-axis, sometimes try different mics (although I don’t have a locker full of them, currently just 3 mics). In the past, I’ve owned outboard channel strips with de-essers, which usually helped a bit, but also sometimes clamped down too hard and would ruin a take. There are probably some tips I could give the singer, but I usually don’t think of it in the heat of the moment, and it seems like it would take their focus off their pitch, lyrics, and delivery.

In post, I usually use a combination of surgically automating the levels of the worst offenders to reduce them, then clean up the rest with either FabFilter Pro-DS or e2 Eiosis, my two go-tos. Recently, I’ve been using Melodyne’s sibilance tool with good results. But, I still listen to other people’s tracks and their S’s are so smooth and natural while mine still have this annoying piercing quality.

Anyway, I’d love to hear what other people are doing.

Mine is to keep the singer 15 to 20 cm away aka not kissing the mic. Also I use less sibillant heavy mics, my favourite nowadays is the Lewitt 240. And one thing I'll always do is warming up with the singers. And if needed I'll telll them less sibilant (Which almost never happens.

[apan]

If needed I

1) manually move offending s-, sh-, f-, t- sounds to its own channel (I have a Reaper script that greatly simplifies this process). Usually take 15 min or so
2) use volume, eq, dynamics processing to taste