Sibilance is a common issue in vocal recordings, a harsh, fatiguing sound at the top end that can be difficult to fix without dulling a vocal. It’s an audio artefact that generally makes for uncomfortable listening experiences.
In this free four-part video tutorial series, brought to you with the kind support of Waves, we show you how to reduce sibilance in vocal recordings using four Waves plug-ins.
The plug-ins we demonstrate in these four videos are ordered in complexity, starting with the simplest. To kick off this series off we took a quick look around a number of typical controls you’ll find in most DeEsser plug-ins.
Episode #1 - Waves DeEsser
In this first episode, we feature Wave’s DeEsser, which provides a no-nonsense approach to sibilance reduction. We walk you through the main controls of this particular plug-in which most plug-ins of this type also feature.
Episode #2 - Waves Renaissance DeEsser
In this second episode, we put Waves Renaissance DeEsser through its paces. Like the Waves DeEsser plug-in which we looked at in the first episode, Renaissance DeEsser is also super simple to use and includes a handy display showing a more detailing representation of the processing in action.
Episode #3 - Waves Sibilance
In this third episode, we showed you Waves Sibilance, which provides an intelligent approach to sibilance reduction. Out of all the plug-ins in this series we feel Waves Sibilance is the cleanest plug-in as it doesn’t over-process. DeEssing can easily be overdone, which can suck the life out of vocal recordings. Overcooked results are not something to worry about when using this plug-in.
Episode #4 - Waves F6 Dynamic EQ
In this final episode, we show you how to tackle sibilance using the Waves F6 dynamic EQ. This is a useful tool to use for reducing sibilance as you can also perform some vocal track tone shaping at the same time.
Vocals and voice recordings can come with plosives as well as sibilance. In this last video, we suggest a workflow that can tackle both sibilance and plosives in a couple of simple moves within F6.
What Do You Think?
There you have it, four different DeEsser plug-ins you can try for yourself the next time you mix a vocal track suffering from sibilance. Out of these videos, which of the plug-ins did you prefer the sound of the most?
Do you already use any of these plugins? If so please share how you use them in the comments below.
Visit Waves more information on the plug-ins used in this article.