LilBuddy
Engineer
Joined: 17 Nov 2006
Posts: 49
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| EQ for hiss reduction and de-esser |
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i have a question. i was wondering if anyone knew the roundabout frequencies for hiss, and that nasty SSSSSSSSS sound. i have plugins that supposedly take care of that, but for sum reason, it's not cutting them out as much as i need to.
and i know this isn't actually an EQ question, do the plugins have more effect during real time recording, or being used as post processors??
thanks
yep yep |
Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:41 pm |
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wailingalleycat
Forum Manager
Joined: 07 Oct 2003
Posts: 694
Location: Jersey C.I (UK) |
| Hiss |
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Hiss is generally broadband, but the most audible stuff tends to be above 4K or higher, if u have a serious his problem, drop in a low pass/high cut flter notch a good chunk out of it, then roll the shelving frequency down from 12k until u have cut as much hiss as possible without affecting the original material.
By th SSSSS sounds i assume you mean sibilance, (that you get from saying "snakes") in vocals this is generally between 6-8khz. for this take a decent notch out with a narrow Q factor, and roll the frequency around until u find the main area of sibilance, then adjust the amount of cut you are applying to remove as much sibilance as you want without adversely affecting the vocal sound. however dont go over the top, sibilance is an important part of the vocal sound, and helps with intelligibility.
Re: processors. i would not recommend using anything more than light EQ or very light compression during the recording (pre-tape) simply because once youve done it, its very hard to undo in post (not so much with EQ, but certainly with compression)
-Paul
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If In Doubt...Hit It With a Hammer, If Still In Doubt... Find a Bigger Hammer. |
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Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:16 am |
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amitbarde
Forum Moderator
Joined: 24 May 2006
Posts: 79
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quote:
Hiss is generally broadband, but the most audible stuff tends to be above 4K or higher, if u have a serious his problem, drop in a low pass/high cut flter notch a good chunk out of it, then roll the shelving frequency down from 12k until u have cut as much hiss as possible without affecting the original material.
By th SSSSS sounds i assume you mean sibilance, (that you get from saying "snakes") in vocals this is generally between 6-8khz. for this take a decent notch out with a narrow Q factor, and roll the frequency around until u find the main area of sibilance, then adjust the amount of cut you are applying to remove as much sibilance as you want without adversely affecting the vocal sound. however dont go over the top, sibilance is an important part of the vocal sound, and helps with intelligibility.
Re: processors. i would not recommend using anything more than light EQ or very light compression during the recording (pre-tape) simply because once youve done it, its very hard to undo in post (not so much with EQ, but certainly with compression)
-Paul
.....Try and do everything that Paul said. There's another little trick i use for both the problems you seem to be encountering. Open the eq on whichever track you want to cut the hiss or sibilance on. Sweep the eq around until you reach a point where the hiss or sibilance seems to be at it's loudest or most prominent (resonance). The frequency at which this occurs is in all probablity the one that's creating the problem. Now that you've more or less pinpointed the frequency/ies just use the "gain" on the eq to cut the frequency until you achieve the desired results.
But, you have to remember you will also be eqing out other material in the track too. So use eq very judiciously when you attempt this. And like Paul said a high Q factor should make it easier to pinpoint the errant frequency/ies and cut them.
cheers!  |
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Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:20 am |
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AUdIoCoUrSeS
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 2014
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| phase tricks |
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Some good advise here.
One other trick regaridng noise removal is to capture a footprint of the noise if you can, (the hiss on its own without the wanted signal). Then use this footprint in a noise removal plug-in.
This essentially inverts the phase and applies it back to the signal, thus removing the noise.
_________________
It's all in the ears. - Learn the concepts not the software.
Audio Courses is a way into the music business for you
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Wed Dec 27, 2006 11:58 am |
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LilBuddy
Engineer
Joined: 17 Nov 2006
Posts: 49
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hahahhaha...
are you guys great or what...
@wailing...thanks for the frequencies...gives me an idea on what i need to focus on...i know that messing with a small Q will end up taking away some of the sound of the vocals...i'll be sure to keep a close eye on that, keeping as much sound as i can.
and yeah, sibilance is exactly what i was talking about...i don't want to cut it all the way out...just turn it down enuff to where it doesn't slice the audience's ears up
@amitbarde...that's a very common sense method, yet should be very effective...thanks for the tip...between that and the frequencies wailing gave me, i'm sure i'll be able to cut off enuff hiss and sibilance to get the sound i'm looking for
@audiocourses....i never thought of that...but now that you say it...that's the same concept used to get an accapella when you have the instrumental and the original song. invert...
thanks guys....
i think i need to start thinking about this thing more like math...learn the concepts (as someone always says) and then i can apply them to different problems i need solved....
yep yep! |
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Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:28 pm |
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amitbarde
Forum Moderator
Joined: 24 May 2006
Posts: 79
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Glad we could help you lilbuddy.......you'll probably discover some other methods yourself....like you said it's the concept that matters.....i think everyone over here whose give you an idea has probably stumbled on it while trying something else...so the best thing would be to get your concepts straigt and then just spend a lot of time infront of the DAW/Board mixing things. And try to get ur hands on recordings that aren't clean.....that will help a lot............try and clean it up wihout actually changing the sound drastically.......practice makes perfect! |
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Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:59 am |
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conquistadore
Forum Moderator
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 514
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| Side chain compression/dynamic equalization/cross fades |
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Yes, some good advice here already!
But what about side chain compression? While most de-essers work this way, its quite simple to replicate them using a compressor that supports side chaining (and a DAW that supports side chaining too - if you are using Nuendo/Cubase you can run a search for the article BenM had written on Side Chaining) and an equalizer. One way going about it would be to duplicate the track and insert an equalizer and cut all frequencies except those which have the "sss" sound (as Paul said, between 6-8KHz). That would mean you use a low pass filter at 8KHz and a high pass filter at 6KHz. Then you would have to route the output of this EQ'd track into the side chain input of the compressor which you should have inserted on the original track and set the threshold such that whenever sibilance occurs, your track gets compressed and thereby reduces in level - but just for that instant (better if the attack and release times are short) so it might not be noticeable to the ear.
The waves compressor also comes with a built in side chain EQ (called C1-sc) which can be effectively used to reduce sibilance and plosives,
You could also try a dynamic equalizer (like the Waves C4), it should work!
In case the sibilance is a bit too severe, you could manually reduce the gain at that point in the waveform or add a simple cross-fade - which also works wonders for doing away with plosives and clicks. |
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Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:48 pm |
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