Working with whispery vocals (Is there such thing as a de-effer?)

Working with a really quiet vocal track, almost whispery. I've got a compressor plugin with a de-eSSer which works ok, but the Fs are still too hot. Is there such thing as a de-eFFer? How about using EQ? Any suggestions?

A de-esser is essentially a multiband compressor. Use the EQ technique described above to find the centre frequency of the F's, then use a multiband compressor tightly constrained on that area to cut the F's. Better than using just EQ cause this way that frequency is not ALWAYS being cut from your vocal. When the F's sounds get strong, compressor kicks in and cuts it out, otherwise it sits there unnoticed. Use a quick attack and delay. You should be able to work it out yourself but if you need any more clues on it you know what to do!


In movies they do it a much simpler way - simply blank the F's out with a sine wave at 200Hz... Bleeeeep. Yeah OK that was lame.

EDIT: To add lame joke..

Sonitus should work fine. Might be a little more difficult that the Fffs come in at different frequencies... I got to go to bed now so won't get into details, but another option is to simply use automation on your EQ, but that's going to take ages..

If I can get a chance tomorrow (in about 12 hours from now) I will see how I fair with Sonitus Multiband and let you know how if I get it to work. My theory though is that if it don't work with Sonitus, another plug ain't gonna make too much of a difference. There is also Ozone if you have it and want to give it a try while waiting.

Goodluck!

Oh and I like the bleep version Sounds funky!

Ok I gave up on the multiband idea (I think it works better on sibilance). Obviously I am limited as I didn't have the multitrack, but the vocal to music ratio was high so it could have worked.

Now what I can't work out is why I didn't think of what bitflipper just said.. Volume envelopes. Gosh, I use volume envelopes on all my sibilance if I have it and I never even USE a de-esser! And I still didn't think of it! I think I was too tired. Anyway, volume envelopes are the key. If all else fails, this will work. Always worked well for me, just takes ages.

You can do it in either v-vocal as bit said, or just with clip automation. I generally use clip automation as v-vocal can sometimes do stuff to your vocals even with NO pitch correction. It makes them sound terrible. It is much easier, but for this reason, I use clip automation. Try, and you should be happy with the results. Just a warning, it takes forever. And it's even harder with F's because the wave does not stand out as prominently as sibilance does.

Yeah splitting slips could work well enough if you're having troubles with a bug (never had that before luckily). I think the close micing does sound good though, but if you had the luxury of a nice vocal booth and soundproofed walls it would still sound close from a foot away. One other option is to really utilise your mic technique if you must mic so close. Try with the mic a little higher, more near your nose (just don't pick up your breathing!!), so your mouth is not in the direct line of sight so it doesn't 'blow' into the diaphragm. Or you could try slightly moving your head of axis when singing 'just' the F sounds. That one may be a little tricky but if you get it timed well it should sound very good. I think the closer you get to the mic, the more important mic technique becomes. So in this case, it's probably very important.

ORIGINAL: Philip

try slightly moving your head of axis when singing 'just' the F sounds

-- I expect SD may be using a wind shield (whatever its called) on the mic for plosives

uh... oopsie. no shield

The shield I have (a metal one) causes a weird "talking through a fan" effect at whisper levels, so I ditched it. Instead I turned the mic 45 degrees. But with the 'F' sound, the air seems to come out the sides of your mouth--right in the line of fire. Guess I'll just have to back off next time.

ORIGINAL: Philip
(I love Emily D. poems ... so mysterious, sublime, etc. ... I think she died of Bright's Disease (kidney)) SD, Glad to see you're experimenting with whispers. Its a well documented pearl for vocal fx. I hope to hear your song or sketch soon.

Yup, whispers, Emily Dickinson... it's all new territory for me. What a tragic figure she was (wrote 1800 poems, but less than a dozen were published during her lifetime). I stumbled on her poem and it fit the theme of this song as a great prologue. Also that line has a lot of 'F' alliteration which I thought would be a neat idea since I follow it with a line that has some 'S' alliteration.

Don't ask me why I decided to use the two most dangerous sounds in the vocal world. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Thanks P, the song is progressing nicely. I've brought the Fs down with a combination of all the suggestions in this thread. Hope to post in the Songs forum soon!