Plosives: the microphone, hit with a hard puff of air from a vocalist singing a P B C H etc. Diaphragm rattlers, input circuitry chokers, and unintentional kick drum mockers... I recently saw a guy simply cut the beginning of the wave off to minimize a plosive sound. I remembered doing it that way about a decade ago, and it made me wonder why I abandoned it for High Shelf EQ, Spot EQ, and/or Low-band Compression. What do you think? What are you currently doing about plosives?

The easiest thing is to get a Reflexion filter and put it in between the singer and the microphone.


But if that seems like too much money you can try getting the singer to turn their head a bit instead of making the mic go splat.


best,
mike

You need a pop filter. It is much better to actually remove the effect before it even happens. Why don't people think of the pop filter before trying to go in and edit actual waveforms. But you can do that too if the plosive still gets through. A HP filter just on the offending bit can really help too.

I remember making a pop-screen from a coat-hanger and a pair of my wife's pantyhose (ones that were new of course). I've noticed that with today's sub-bass producing sound systems, some deep thump still comes through even when I use a pop-screen.

xacto.

That's why the reflexion filter is the way to go.

Reflexion filter is more about controlling room sound from getting into the mic. It is not going to stop a bad plosive hitting a diaphragm if you happened to be up close.

Pantyhose on a coathanger does not cut it either. A proper pop filter usually has two layers of better quality material further apart. Just buy one period.

There are some newer fancy ones now that use interesting steel that has been made in a way that displaces the air sideways and away from the diaphragm.

Any very low subsonic things can be either removed with a decent shock mount which you should have anyway, the HP filter on the mic itself or some eq later on. Nothing beats a decent pop filter for getting rid of plosives.

Singing off axis is not a good strategy either. Vocalists find it hard for a start, they tend to want to sing on axis which sounds better usually and is the more correct thing to do. Also if you are off axis you only have to move slightly and the plosive might harm you again. The sound off axis is not as good as the on axis sound.

But should any plosives get through, if you have a pop filter they will much quieter and much easier to handle editing wise. I like to open the vocal track in a separate editor such as Adobe Audition and highlight just the offending plosive area and apply a steep HP filter on that and most of the pop sound will go away. You can trim it dowm a litle in gain too. But remember the plosive also forms part of the transient at the start of the sound so it is also important to have there.

Yea, that's right, and I remember thinking that the beginning of the "P" was sort of like the fuzzy HF sound of a kick drum mallet. It didn't sound right with that part of the sound missing, at least in soft songs, so I stopped cutting them off by trimming the clip and started using the low cut for mild plosives. but what about with a bass voice, like in a quartet. Once I was dissatisfied with a low-cut on a bass voice because it left the whole mix without any low frequency because the bass voice was supposed to be doing that but it also had mild plosives.

Plosives are not fun to deal with in post. I think you are on the right track. There is no one technique to deal with all of them. Some of them cannot just be trimmed. That is where gates and limiters and eq all start to play their subtle parts and where technique becomes art. If one thing does not seem to be working, try another... and log everything you do. Seriously, a good log will save you much hair. edit - With sonar automation, you do not need to EQ or limit the entire track. You can isolate just the portions that need work.

mike_mccue


The easiest thing is to get a Reflexion filter and put it in between the singer and the microphone.


But if that seems like too much money you can try getting the singer to turn their head a bit instead of making the mic go splat.


best,
mike

Rexlection filter is something you put behind the microphone. You can't do any kind of recording with the RF between the mic and the singer. Just a typo, I guess? You meant pop filter?

Even a pop filter isn't enough, if it's a bad case. You should advice the singer not to sing directly towards the mic, but a little bit sideways.

One trick that often works is a steep fade in. That's also quite fast to do.

How I deal with them:

1. An outboard compressor just to condition my mic signal as it goes to disc. I don't use much, just enough to keep my loudest point from not going over -6dB. 2:1 ratio, maybe -8 to -10 on my threshold.

2. High pass roll-off: I just about always use this if it comes on a mic. Then again, if a voice is thin or maybe a female, I may not touch this. But for most males, I just about always use the HF roll-off.

3. Work the mic: When you know something is going to be a bit more forcefully sung, back off the mic a bit. If something will have a B, P, C/K, S or T sound, sing a little above the mic...as in sing over it top if you have to get on your tippy toes for that part...or bend slightly to duck under the line of fire if need be. Try not to ever turn your head or turn away from the line of fire on a mic. Shift your body or your torso so that it moves. As soon as you turn away, you lose impact and get a totally different sound. When you just move your torso, your sound is still being shot at the mic...you're just not singing dead on for that one word.

4. A real pop filter: Yeah the panty hose thing may work in a pinch, but it's not really the same. A good pop filter...for as cheap as they are, can do wonders.
 
5. Slip editing: You can always soften the blow of a plosive by good, old fashioned slip editing if you need to and just add a fade in on that part. Split the clip at the phrase where you hear the plosive, then add a fade by dragging the fade left to right until it softens up. :) Good luck!

-Danny
Edited for spelling